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REVIEW: Nanotec Systems 8500 Accessory

140.244.104.162


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Model: 8500
Category: Accessory
Suggested Retail Price: $79
Description: CD treatment
Manufacturer URL: Not Available
Manufacturer URL: Not Available

Review by Quint ( A ) on March 10, 2006 at 07:41:15
IP Address: 140.244.104.162
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for the 8500


This review probably belongs in Tweaks, but I think it’ll get more play in General, so please pardon the intrusion. :)

I’m a relative newcomer to Nanotec Systems, a Japanese company that specializes in various system tweaks, including the popular Nespa Pro and the new Flemming Warps. I own both the Nespa and the Warps, and both have proved very effective in my rig, particularly the Nespa.

So it was with some anticipation that I awaited the arrival of another Nanotec product, the 8500 CD-treatment fluid. I’ve tried pretty much every popular CD treatment out there, including those by, among many others, Walker, AudioTop, George Louis, L’Art du Son, Auric, Mapleshade, and Record Research Labs.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have all those contenders on hand for an A/B with the Nanotec—and I probably wouldn’t have had the energy and requisite lack of sanity to do it even if I did have them—but I did have George Louis’ Real Disc/ClearBit/ClearDisc, L’Art du Son, and Shine Ola, so hopefully my results will carry some weight.

For comparison, I used two of my frequent reference CDs: Randy Newman’s impeccably recorded "The Randy Newman Songbook" and Bettye Lavette’s chest-thumping "I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise."

First, I burned both discs on my RealityCheck CD duplicator. This took some time, as I had to burn a copy of each disc for each treatment. CD-Rs were the excellent Verbatim Digital Vinyl (I wanted to save my ProDisc black discs, as they’re my reference). I then treated each disc with one particular fluid: Nanotec, Shine Ola, L’Art du Son, RealDisc/ClearBit, and ClearBit/ClearDisc.

I was especially interested in how the 8500 stacked up to George Louis’ RealDisc/ClearBit combo, as that was my current reference. After treating the discs—another time-consuming task, especially with the RealityCheck potions—I started comparing them. First up was the Newman disc. I cued up Track 1, “Lonely at the Top,” and played that song on each treated CD-R, going through two rounds of comparisons. The 8500 had the clear overall edge here. It was easily more resolving than either the L’Art or Shine Ola—I could hear more of the piano’s action and Randy’s breathing—but that resolution didn’t come at the expense of smoothness and naturalness. The Nanotec allowed Newman’s voice to come through with a smooth, continuous, easy flow (the kind of continuousness normally associated with good analog playback). The L’Art was just as smooth, but that smoothness came at the expense of dynamics and overall transparency. The RealityCheck fluids were a closer competitor. The Nanotec still had the edge in naturalness and flow, but the RealDisc/ClearBit combo was definitely right up there in terms of resolution, dynamics, and bass articulation. If I had to call it one way or the other, I’d probably give the 8500 the very slight edge in the latter three categories. The presentation—i.e., the entire frequency spectrum—just seemed to cohere a bit better with the Nanotec. The same basically held true when comparing the Nano with the ClearBit/ClearDisc combo, though I must say I preferred the RealDisc/ClearBit to the CB/CD for its superior smoothness in my system. Another plus was that the Nano was a lot easier to apply: just treat the play side and inner and outer rims, and you’re done. With the RealityCheck system, which has been simplified, one still has to treat each side and the rims twice with the RealDisc or ClearDisc, before applying the ClearBit. (This is hard work, boys and girls!) I tried a few more tracks on the Newman disc, and my results were the same. I’m giving short shrift to the Shine Ola, as it lagged behind in every category.

I then popped in I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise. This disc is a sonic powerhouse, with bass that’ll likely cause heart palpitations if played loudly enough. In my room, it literally sounded like Bettye Lavette was growling and screaming right in front of me—you know, the whole he/she’s-in-the-room-with-me cliché. My results were similar on this CD. The 8500 possessed the best overall balance, bringing out a warmth in Lavette’s voice that was MIA with the other fluids. Again, the L’Art was closest in the naturalness category, but it was overly smooth, rubbing out some fine details that were audible with the 8500 and RealityCheck treatments. The RC fluids were again the closest competition, with the RealDisc/ClearBit combo very close in terms of dynamics and resolving power. But, as with the Newman disc, the 8500 did everything just that much better, and gave the treated discs more of a sense of continuousness.

Drawbacks? The only ones I can think of are its retail cost of $79 (though a bottle will reportedly treat up to 500 discs) and the fact that one needs to wipe the 8500 off within 10-15 seconds of applying, or else it will leave a residue that can’t be removed. I recommend trying it on a few blank CD-Rs to perfect your method. I find that, if you follow the instructions and wipe/buff in a circular direction, you needn’t worry. Other than that caveat, the Nanotec is a wonderful product that has extracted a level of clarity and naturalness from my CDs that I wouldn’t have thought possible. It’s definitely a winner.


Product Weakness: Cost, you need to wipe it off within 10-15 seconds or it'll leave a residue
Product Strengths: The clarity and sense of flow it adds to a CD are quite striking


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: JRDG Concerto
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): None
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Arcam DV-29 CD/DVD player
Speakers: Von Schweikert VR-4 HSE
Cables/Interconnects: Argent Audio, VH Audio, Jena Labs
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Rock/pop
Room Size (LxWxH): 24 x 20 x 7
Room Comments/Treatments: EchoBusters, ASC tube traps
Time Period/Length of Audition: Two days
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Shunyata Hydra-8
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Nanotec Systems 8500 Accessory - Quint 07:41:15 03/10/06 ( 16)