Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Clarity Cable 3D/Ultra Focus/Organic Cable by danzins@earthlink.net

Model:	3D/Ultra Focus/Organic
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$unknown
Description:	Power Conditioner and Cables
Manufacturer URL:	Clarity Cable

Review by danzins@earthlink.net on January 25, 2008 at 14:20:34
IP Address: 66.32.152.132 Add Your Review
for the 3D/Ultra Focus/Organic

REVIEW: Clarity Cable Power Conditioner and Cables

Although I have been enjoying Clarity Cableâ€™s power conditioner and cables for many months now, I continue to be amazed by how much they have improved my system--a system that was already providing me with great satisfaction even before this quantum leap in overall sound quality.

Introduction

For quite some time now I have been one of those who regularly peruses the postings on the Asylum, Audiogon, and, less often, a few other audio sites, but have been reluctant to contribute my own musings on this wonderful hobby of ours. There are two main reasons for this reticence: first, I am so terribly far behind on other writing that I need to get done that I am reluctant to spare the time for writing anything about audio until I meet those obligations; second, I have never been and still am not at all comfortable using some of the rather abstruse argot or lexicon peculiar to the audio community that so many other posters seem to employ so unselfconsciously. To say the least, writing about audio is hardly my forte.

But because I have benefited so much over the years from so many others who have taken time to share their thoughts on audio I do feel a responsibility to reciprocate, at least this once. So at the outset of these thoughts I would like to express a huge, albeit most belated, thank you to all who have helped me to greatly enhance the enjoyment of music that I love. I am very thankful for this.

I have little doubt that a lot of audio equipment that is featured regularly in full-page ads (you know where) does in fact sound very good and sometimes even terrific, but we all know that there are countless very talented individuals whose audio products fly under the radar yet might sound every bit as good--or sometimes even better--than those of their much more publicized and celebrated competitors. Thus if I am going to take the time to post a review on an audio site, I would prefer to write about equipment that most of my follow â€˜philes might never have heard about. So here (or hear) goes:

I first embarked upon this hobby more than three decades ago, when I met the the guy in the apartment next to us who was finishing his medical residency. He was an audiophile who had just squandered $3K on a new stereo system--a sum that at the time I thought was insane. Little did I knowâ€¦

Because his system sounded so much better than the extremely modest one I could afford at the time, I was bitten with the audiophile/upgrade bug, and over the years very gradually began spending more and more money and my system continued to improve. Back in the â€˜80s I relied upon the major audio magazines to inform myself about new equipment, but when I finally began using the internet I discovered that there was so much more really good audio equipment than one would ever know relying merely on the magazines.

Fast forward to the beginning of this year. After painstaking research, considerable trial and error, and, as always, ultimately trusting my own ears, I had assembled a system that I felt was terrific. It sounded, at least to me, spectacular. Always very concerned with getting the most bang-for the-buck components, and ever mindful of the law of diminishing returns, I believed that I had a system that was probably pretty close to as good as I would ever have. Once again, little did I know....

My system before Clarity

The system I had put together at the beginning of this years is as follows: a Sony XA777ES cd/sacd player that was very heavily and very adroitly modified over four years ago by Ric Schultz at EVS/Tweakaudio; a Placette Active Line Stage pre-amp; and a pair of Smcaudio McCormack DNA-125 monoblocks with Steve McCormackâ€™s Platinum mods; Zu Definition 1.5 speakers (replacing Coincident Total Victories); BPT 3.5 Signature Plus power conditioner; Grand Prix Monaco audio rack; and the very best cables from ZCable (Cyclone power cords with ZSleeve technology over the entire cord, Passion v3. speaker cables, Live Ref interconnects, which also have ZSleeves integrated into the interconnects themselves. And, for good measure, I had 18 ZCable Ultra Sleeves over my various cables. GIK Acoustics room treatment also helped, as did a Wattgate 381 wall outlet, and the Sistrum platform/large brass spikes under my speakers provided an additional improvement that was not subtle. Tweaks included various liquid potions for cds, Nanotec Nespa Pro, Walker Audio Talisman, and Marigo Labs Signature 3D stabilizer mat. When I played really well-recorded cds I was close to audio nirvana.

Without the internet I would likely never have found out about ZCable and the extraordinary creations of Mark Hampton. I had previously used or tried such cables as JPS, Harmonic Technology, Acoustic Zen (Silver Reference interconnects and Sartori speaker cables), Elrod and Shunyata power cords, etc. But in my system Mark Hamptonâ€™s cables clearly bettered all of these, and I remain most grateful to him for how much his cables enhanced my listening pleasure. Thank you Mark!

As some of you may know, due to health problems, Mark was compelled to relinquish ZCable. He sold his designs and construction techniques to Chris and Melissa Owen, local die hard audiophiles who clearly share Markâ€™s unbridled passion for the relentless pursuit of ever better sound. I was told last year, during a casual phone conversation with Mark, that he had been working on an innovative power conditioner for quite some time. When he gave up ZCable, I assumed that, because of his health problems, the unit might very well never come to fruition.

From ZCable to Clarity

So it was a most pleasant surprise to learn that this power conditioner, the 3D Max, would indeed become a reality. Many variations of Markâ€™s adaptation of ZSleeve technology to power conditioning were built by Melissa Owen and tested by the aforementioned trio of â€œgolden ears.â€ The power conditioner was brought to market after some additional tweaking of the conditionerâ€™s unique grounding system by Chris Owen of Clarity Cable. Chris is an industrial control electrician whose day job involves controlling motors consuming hundreds of amperes of current using tiny radio signals from miles away. He says that this challenging job gives him a unique perspective in the area of noise control. His application of industrial-strength grounding to the 3D Max gives this conditioner a major performance boost.

My first power conditioner was the original Shunyata Hydra (some of you might recall its gorgeous aesthetics). Mated with some expensive power cords from Shunyata and David Elrod, the Hydra made my system sound considerably better. But as I learned more about power conditioners, and specifically the Balanced Power Technology power conditioners, I became curious about whether they would give me more of what I was looking (or listening) for, and thus decided to audition a BPT in my system. My initial BPT clearly bested the Hydra, and when I later upgraded to the BPT 3.5 Signature Plus, it was noticeably better yet. I assumed that I would probably keep this power conditioner for a long time--I was very pleased with what it did for my system.

But because I had so much respect for what Mark Hamptonâ€™s cables had done to elevate my system, when I learned that his power conditioner would soon be available, I of course just had to try it. From earlier conversations with Mark, my expectations were so very high that I was prepared to be at least somewhat disappointed.

The 3D Max Power Conditioner

On the contrary! Right out of the box I was simply stunned by what the 3D Max power conditioner did for my system. To use one of those cliches that pervade writing about audio, compared to my BPT it was a whole â€˜nother league--not even close! The additional transparency, micro details, ambient cues, presence, blacker background etc. that the 3D provided transformed my system, raising it to a level that I could have scarcely imagined. Everything sounded so much more natural, the way, at least to me, music should sound. And this was with grounding cables from the 3D Maxâ€™s massive ground lug simply plugged into two spare wall outlets.

When I gushed to Chris Own that I was amazed at what the 3D Max was doing for my system, his response was, "Oh, itâ€™s going to get better." I was so happy with what I was hearing from my favorite discs that I didnâ€™t pay too much attention to this comment. Once again, little did I know....

The Cables

After being thrilled by the 3D Max for a couple of months, I was informed by Chris that he had a new interconnect, called the Organic, that I might like to try. Since I had ZCableâ€™s Live Ref interconnects (with two additional Ultra ZSleeves over each interconnect), I simply assumed that the Organic would not be as good, let alone better. But since I was given the opportunity to audition the Organic before deciding whether I would purchase a pair, I figured I had nothing to lose, so why not. Wow! I immediately noticed another improvement that was anything but subtle. The Organic interconnects provided even more of the very qualities that I prized so much in the 3D Max.

I discussed the changes in the sound of my system with Chris as every Clarity Cable product entered my system. When I explained to him that I could not believe the improvement to an already wonderful sound, his comment was, again, "Oh, itâ€™ll get better." Several months later I worked out a deal with Chris to stop by my home while he was on a business trip. We installed two 8â€™ copper ground rods and attached them to the 3D Max with some cable he said was used for lightning protection on some of his job sites. This addition made another immediately obvious improvement of no small magnitude. Later that day we tried Clarity Cableâ€™s ultimate interconnects, the UltraFocus, and the venerable Organics were themselves eclipsed. Needless to say, after all of this I just had to try Clarity Cableâ€™s speaker wires and power cords, and they too now grace my system to wonderful effect.

I tend to characterize improvements to my audio system as subtle, significant, major, or huge. At the beginning of this year I was not particularly interested in merely subtle or very subtle improvements, unless they involved only a very modest expense. But my system, at least to my ears, had evolved to the point that I would be very happy with any improvement I would deem "significant" (if it did not cost too much). I could hardly have imagined that the overall improvement in my system provided by the 3D Max (especially with the cooper grounding) would be absolutely huge. And while I was enjoying the 3D Max so much during February and March I surely could not have imagined that soon there would be yet another absolutely huge jump in my systemâ€™s overall performance. But this is exactly what happened with the addition of the various cables from Clarity. I felt truly blessed to have the system I was already greatly enjoying at the beginning of 2007 (I try to take nothing for granted), and now I am well beyond merely blessed.

On writing this review, and a few final thoughts

As a former college humanities professor, I always exhorted my students to fiercely resist becoming cynical (often terribly difficult, I know!), but rather to do something very different, i.e., cultivate a great deal of healthy skepticism about everything they read and hear, including whatever they heard from me. And that is the spirit in which I would like all of you to read my assessment of Clarity Cableâ€™s products. If you are somewhat skeptical about what I have written, I fully understand that. As I just noted, I consider a good dose of healthy skepticism to be an especially important human quality, and I would like to see a great deal more of that and a great deal less of the malignant cynicism that we see all around us. In a sense writing this review is not unlike those occasions when I was asked to write letters of recommendation for students who were not merely excellent, but truly superb, or, on a very few occasions, beyond superb. (Iâ€™m talking about a very small percentage of my former students here, of course.) How could I convince whoever might read the letters I wrote for them that they were in fact that incredible? I am thinking about those students that I was especially humbled to teach, the ones who should have up in the front of the room, rather than their professor. (And of course I did learn a great deal from them.) So that is why I post these comments with a modicum of trepidation.

I have found that generally the more "objective" someone claims to be (name the topic), the more likely they are to be unaware (often willfully unaware?) of their own biases and prejudices. What I have written above are, then, simply the very subjective--but honest--conclusions of one truly elated Clarity Cable customer. We all hear differently, and have different tastes, preferences, etc. As you all know, myriad factors affect how our systems sound, for good or ill. For me the only way to truly evaluate any component (and because cables can make such a huge difference, I have come to view them as nothing less than components) is to hear it in my room with my system with music that I am very familiar with. Of course. because there are so many variables, I cannot possibly know how many other audiophiles might get the same incredible level of system improvement that I have enjoyed. And if Clarity Cable did not offer an essentially risk-free in-home trial, I would never have bothered to post this review. As was the case with me, only by trying Clarity Cable products in your own room with your own system, with music that you know very well, can you too make an informed judgment about these products. But if you get anywhere near the overall improvement that I did, I suspect you wonâ€™t be spending any money to defray return shipping costs. I have long felt that all audiophiles should be very grateful whenever they are allowed to try any audio component in their own systems with the only risk having to pay (usually rather modest) shipping charges if not completely satisfied (I do concede that there may be a few exceptions to this, e.g., 400-lb. speakers....).

FWIW, I listen almost exclusively to cds, and an occasional sacd if a disc I especially like is available in this format. As for the kind of music I listen to: rock (especially what is now called "classic rock"), pop, r&b, folk, and blues, from the early 60s to the present; some jazz; lots of "world" music, especially discs featuring drums/percussion; Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, and a few other reggae artists.

If I may be permitted another cliche: I am truly rediscovering my cd collection. Of course this has happened in the past, when I would make an especially significant improvement in my system. But this has never happened to the extent that it is happening now. Whenever I pull out a cd that I have not played since first receiving the 3D Max, I am invariably shocked at how much better it now sounds. I trust my audio memory in that I have a rough idea of how good any particular cd sounds if I have played it at least several times. Again and again I find myself saying, "Wow! This cd never sounded *anything* like this!"

As for my poorly recorded cds: however much better they now sound, these cds continue to frustrate me--I am convinced that there is no system on the planet that could make me happy with their sound. But cds that are reasonably well or exceptionally well recorded continue to delight me as never before. So in a very real sense these amazing Clarity Cable products have significantly expanded my cd collection: I now find myself playing more and more cuts on many cds that I used to skip over, simply because these previously ignored tracks now sound SO good!

Of all of the audio equipment I now own, or have ever owned, my 3D Max and Clarity Cable cables are the pieces of the puzzle that I would be most reluctant to ever have to be without. And I rather doubt that any particular piece of audio equipment that might be out there now or that becomes available down the road (that I could afford), would be something I would be willing to swap for Clarity Cableâ€™s products--I deem them that indispensable to the amazing sound that I am now enjoying.

Finally, Clarity Cableâ€™s stellar products have been matched by the exemplary customer service I have received--something which I assume other audiophiles find every bit as important as I do.

Product Weakness:	None that I have found.
Product Strengths:	Amazing improvement in overall system performance (see review).

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Panasonic SA-XR700
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): none
Sources (CDP/Turntable): modded Sony XA777ES/Sony DVP 9000ES
Speakers: Zu Cable Definition 1.5
Cables/Interconnects: see review
Music Used (Genre/Selections): various (see review)
Room Size (LxWxH): 12 x 14 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments: GIK Acoustics
Time Period/Length of Audition: 8+ months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): see review
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition): see review

Amplifier:	Panasonic SA-XR700
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	modded Sony XA777ES/Sony DVP 9000ES
Speakers:	Zu Cable Definition 1.5
Cables/Interconnects:	see review
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	various (see review)
Room Size (LxWxH):	12 x 14 x 8
Room Comments/Treatments:	GIK Acoustics
Time Period/Length of Audition:	8+ months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	see review
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	see review