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Thanks for the thoughtful post

We have indeed researched ways to improve immunity. Unfortunately, we haven't found much that doesn't also screw up the sound. A good example is the use of ferrites. The first person to use these in audio was John Bicht, who made the late, great VersaDynamics turntable. He later introduced a series of products called "Wood Blocks" that were sealed, but had ferrite filters inside.

We also used them for a few years inside our products, until we found that their sound degraded over time. So when we did our listening tests, they wrought a clear improvement that led us to include them in our products. But slowly they would (somehow!) become magnetized and the sound would become hard and glassy. You could fix this by demagnetizing them with a bulk tape eraser, but clearly this was not a practical solution.

That is when we invented the "Ayre Conditioner", which works like a ferrite in that it absorbs RFI and converts it into heat. The Ayre Conditioner however, is completely non-magnetic and does not degrade over time. Many others have discovered the downsides of ferrites also. About 10 years ago, it was difficult to find an aftermarket power cord or interconnect that didn't have a tell-tale bulge at one end or the other, indicating the presence of a ferritee. Nowadays, these are much more rare.

But even adding small (eg, 100 pF) capacitors across the inputs causes audible sonic degradation. This is a common tactic with many phono stages, but is unnecessary when using tubes or JFETs, especially without feedback.

As far as the proliferation of Wi-Fi networks, it is rather alarming. There are even cities that have proposed (possibly even implemented by now) city-wide coverage, subsidized by the local government! Personally, I feel that Wi-Fi is just like tobacco, asbestos, or saturated (trans-) fats. It tood decades before people understood just how dangerous they are. I'm not taking any chances with Wi-Fi. Especially when you can install a wired network for very little money that is more reliable and with higher speed.

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  Kimber Kable  

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