Opinion: Bybee power conditioner
Jim Knepley
figured I'd research them. The local rep. was kind enough to ship me
an older unit that he had upgraded for a customer (a $700 piece).
Internally it is apparantly identical to the newer units.
I listened to the unit on two systems: My own, a Denon AVR-2600, an
older Denon CD player, and B&W 620i speakers (connected by
Synergistic research cables all around).
A high-end system, Levinson CD transport, preamp, and power amp,
driving B&W Nautulus 801 speakers. Some crazy high-end cable
connected it all (the only one I recognized was the Synergistic AC
Reference Master coupler).
The difference with and without the Bybee unit was less dramatic on
my mid-fi setup. I gained some details in lower level highs, and
things seemed a bit clearer. The difference was there, but trivial
compared to the improvement in upgrading my cables.
On the high-end stuff, the difference was more dramatic. The
soundstage improved, everything got smoother, and the bass was a lot
tighter.
So, basically, if you've got the gear to take advantage of the
conditioning, this box does pretty much exactly what it claims to
do. For me, I'd be better off to spend the $700 on an amplifier
upgrade or a better CD player.
It's a high-end piece, intended for high end systems. Certainly
worth a listen, anyway. They also do interconnect filters and
speaker filters, which I didn't get a chance to hear, but are
apparantly very good (if Bybee's own press is to be believed).
Regards,
Jim
eth...@ibm.net
"Jim Knepley" <jkne...@chisp.net> said:
|I'd heard a lot about Bybee filters (www.bybeetech.com)
|It's a high-end piece, intended for high end systems. Certainly
|worth a listen, anyway. They also do interconnect filters and
|speaker filters, which I didn't get a chance to hear, but are
|apparantly very good (if Bybee's own press is to be believed).
Thank you for a good laugh. I had not heard of Bybee before or seen
the Web site, obviously. I have been chuckling all morning with
visions of where the "bad" electrons, the ones that the Bybee filters
out of the audio chain, go. An electron reformatory, mayhap? I have
decided that there must be an electron Devil's Island somewhere in the
South Pacific, an island with a very BAADD negative static charge,
where misshapen electrons are sent when they get an attitude.
This is better than the Tice Clock.
--
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eth...@NoSpamibm.net
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KBruz...@aol.com
Jim, you are so right! I have a very high end home theater system,
with a brand new dedicated room, five Bryston 7B ams, five
Vandersteen 2wq subwoofers, four Aerial Acoustic 10T speakers and CC3
center speaker, etc. You can see my entire system at
www.avscience.com under Home Theaters. After demoing products, I have
5 pairs of Bybee Quantum Speaker filters, Bybee Quantum Power filters
for my Casablanca surround processor, Theta Voyageur DVD/LD/CD, Dwin
Transcanner, Dwin CRT projector, and Camelot Dragon used for Sony DSS
jitter reduction. The Bybee stuff really works in the context of a
high resolution system. I am just demoing the Bybee interconnect
filters, so far on my cable tv analog input to my processor, and it
sounds so much cleaner and clearer, and I find reasonable improvement
using the filters on my coaxial digital from the Camelot Dragon to
the Casablanca for my DSS audio. However, I demod a broken in Bybee
Pro Power Purifier, which I really liked, vs. a Power Wedge Ultra,
which I liked even better and ended up including in my system. I
found the balanced power of the Ultra controlled the bass better and
was generally softer and preferable to using the Bybee conditioner
instead, again emphasizing that the Bybee was still a great
performer. Now, I have put a Bybee Quantum Power filter on the power
input to the two Power Wedge Ultras in my equipment rack, and wow!
Improvements all around. Bybee really knows his stuff, as my pockets
are now nearly $$$$ empty.
Steve Bruzonsky
Thomas Nulla
>Thank you for a good laugh. I had not heard of Bybee before or seen
>the Web site, obviously. I have been chuckling all morning with
>visions of where the "bad" electrons, the ones that the Bybee filters
>out of the audio chain, go. An electron reformatory, mayhap? I have
>decided that there must be an electron Devil's Island somewhere in the
>South Pacific, an island with a very BAADD negative static charge,
>where misshapen electrons are sent when they get an attitude.
>
>This is better than the Tice Clock.
A very funny page indeed.
"It has also been found that certain ceramics when mixed with precise
amounts of rare earth metals, (zirconium, yttrium, neodymium,
praesadoyium, and lanthanum oxides) become extraordinarily conductive
even at room temperatures."
One might think that a "theoretical physicist who has specialized in
quantum mechanics and supeconductivity [sic]" and who has apparently
from the above statement just invented something approaching
*room-temperature* superconductivity could think of commercial
applications beyond an audiophile power line filter...and maybe even
be sure his company Web page spells "praesodymium" right.
Ah, well...ya gotta take yer entertainment where ya can... :-)
Thomas <now playing: CNN>
http://www.io.com/~nulla (high fidelity and miscellany)
Mnemosyne's page, Dunlavy Audio r.a.* archive to 6 December 1998
"The Universe is the Practical Joke of the General at the Expense of
the Particular", quoth Frater Perdurabo, and laughed.
Thomas Nulla
>>"It has also been found that certain ceramics when mixed with precise
>>amounts of rare earth metals, (zirconium, yttrium, neodymium,
>>praesadoyium, and lanthanum oxides) become extraordinarily conductive
>>even at room temperatures."
>
>One might think that a "theoretical physicist who has specialized in
>quantum mechanics and supeconductivity [sic]" and who has apparently
>from the above statement just invented something approaching
>*room-temperature* superconductivity could think of commercial
>applications beyond an audiophile power line filter...and maybe even
>be sure his company Web page spells "praesodymium" right.
LOL! I fumble-fingered this myself! Make that "praseodymium".
Thomas <now playing: "Witches Brew" (ASV)>
Jim Knepley
>the Web site, obviously. I have been chuckling all morning with
>visions of where the "bad" electrons, the ones that the Bybee filters
>out of the audio chain, go. An electron reformatory, mayhap? I have
>decided that there must be an electron Devil's Island somewhere in the
>South Pacific, an island with a very BAADD negative static charge,
>where misshapen electrons are sent when they get an attitude.
I got a chuckle out of their description of cleaning dirty electrons
as well, as well as increasing the speed that electrons travel
through wire...
That nonwithstanding, I stand by my opinion. Regardless of _how_ it
works, I am satisfied _that_ it works. The same goes for super-duper
high-end speaker wire, I don't know why it's better, but I can hear
that it is.
I just thought up a great marketing slogan, "Black Magic in a Black
Box" -- I'll have to suggest it!
Jim