GR Research B24 AC Cord Review

[uwotm8]

Actually while some people get angry of cables...
...there's a true evil out there

Proudly introducing you THE DOTS

Z Dot Application | MARIGO AUDIO LAB

VTS Tuning Dots
Posted on February 11, 2012 by admin
Ron Hedrich
Marigo Audio Lab

Dear Ron:

I finally got a chance over the weekend to install most of your Watt/Puppy upgrade. I am very pleased.

And although I am amazed that such small devices would have such an impact on my system, they are certainly worth the money in the right system.

Listening Notes:

Since you didn’t suggest any optimal sequence for installation, I began with what seemed easiest: installing the green and white dots on the Watts and the green dots on the Puppy. What I heard after this was a lowering of the noise floor and a reduction of spittiness in the trebles. (I recently installed some Versalab Red Rollers and Wood Blocks to reduce RFI in my system, and the results were similar, although the magnitude of the improvement with your dots was bigger.} I also became aware of more inner detail and that I was hearing more deeply into the music.

Next I installed the basket bands on the Watts, and I got more of the same. Treble extension also improved.

Then I installed the basket bands on the Puppies. I got a lot more bass definition, something that, frankly, I hadn’t thought the Puppies were lacking within their frequency range.

Up to this point I had installed about $350 worth of stuff, and I would have been happy if I’d spent three times that amount.

Next, I installed the bear feet and the speaker interface system. WHOW! Bass became deeper and tighter. The system became more rhythmic; pace was improved. And, on some selections, the bass was growling in a very satisfying way.

I stopped the upgrade process at this point, partly because the next step involves the 32mm disks — the first change that will change the appearance — and partly because I wanted to re-establish my reference expectations. But I continue to become aware of other improvements: Dynamics are clearly better. There is a fluidity in a reduction in “mechanical-ness” — in the system. The system isn’t less colored than before, but it’s less fuzzy in its presentation, and both bass and treble have been extended. I’ve not listened much to vocals, yet, but musical instruments, particularly strings and the piano, are considerably more lifelike.

So, bravo.

Leroy B. Schwarz

OMG

Power Cables | MARIGO AUDIO LAB

“I am mesmerized with the new Platinum power cables. This is really a very good improvement upon the Vanadium power cables.

Perfect. No need for any ‘adjustment’.”

Didi Satelitto

 

[Doodski]

Actually while some people get angry of cables...
...there's a true evil out there

Proudly introducing you THE DOTS

Z Dot Application | MARIGO AUDIO LAB

That's downright voodoo stuff.

 

[Madlop26]

"If you pulled the maximum allowed 15 amps allowed out of the typical US outlet, you would get a voltage drop of 1.8 volt with my longer thin AC cable vs 0.08 volt for the GR Research B24. The former is just 1.5% drop which is negligible. Still, at 0.1% drop, the GR Research B24 clearly has lower resistance."

hmm.... so does it mean you may save some electricity using this cable? , if so how long until you recover your investment, few months, years, decades , centuries? asking for a friend.

 

[Blumlein 88]

You did what? Vote great? If so, how much will you pay me for this cable? Remember, you will have a heck of a time just plugging it into the wall outlet.

You need to work on your salesmanship. You don't say it is hard to plug in. You say this cable will plug in more solidly than any cable you have owned. Or it grips the receptacle better than other cables you have for a much tighter connection to the music.

 

[Doodski]

You need to work on your salesmanship. You don't say it is hard to plug in. You say this cable will plug in more solidly than any cable you have owned. Or it grips the receptacle better than other cables you have for a much tighter connection to the music.

Makes sense...lol. Also making sense is after the overly tight fitting GR Research cable is not used and the wall socket/connector has stretched and become loose for a regular cable the wall socket/connector will need to be replaced as it has not only become intermittent but a fire hazard. Might as well solder the GR Research cable to the mains AC wiring or use crimps for a super gas tight seal.

 

[muslhead]

You need to work on your salesmanship. You don't say it is hard to plug in. You say this cable will plug in more solidly than any cable you have owned. Or it grips the receptacle better than other cables you have for a much tighter connection to the music.

this is a classic and deserves a sticky in the humor thread

 

[DualTriode]

What? dB is a relative scale. It works just as well in electronics as it does in acoustics with a microphone. If the playback system acoustically supports 120 dBSPL, then electronic system will have to support the same dynamic range.

It is also a mistake to bring up masking as that mains driven hum will be active even during silence in music.

Yes dB is a relative scale. When we are speaking volts, dB is relative to 1 volt. On this scale everyone is on the same page, 0 dB is the starting point.

When we are speaking hearing threshold 0dB SPL is the starting point.

0 dB on the volts scale is not 0 dB on the SPL scale. Two different things. We need to bring in some sort of dBr to create some sort of equivalency.

The FFT on your plot is a 1000 hZ test frequency and power supply series and is not a SPL measurement. It is not a measurement of your electronic devices output to your speaker and never measured with a microphone.

In this case dB relative to volts does not belong on the same plot as speaker SPL. dBr "equivalency" or not.

Apples and oranges.

 

[amirm]

Yes dB is a relative scale. When we are speaking volts, dB is relative to 1 volt. On this scale everyone is on the same page, 0 dB is the starting point.

When we are speaking hearing threshold 0dB SPL is the starting point.

0 dB on the volts scale is not 0 dB on the SPL scale. Two different things. We need to bring in some sort of dBr to create some sort of equivalency.

You do and that was done in the review. See the green notation in the graph:

It clearly says reference to 120 dBSPL playback level. That is why that main tone was there. To establish 120 dBSPL. All the noise spikes are now relative to that so can be directly compared to Fletcher-Munson threshold of hearing.

The FFT on your plot is a 1000 hZ test frequency and power supply series and is not a SPL measurement. It is not a measurement of your electronic devices output to your speaker and never measured with a microphone.

They will 100% correspond 1 to 1 if your speakers can reproduce 120 dBSPL without compression.

 

[DualTriode]

You do and that was done in the review. See the green notation in the graph:

They will 100% correspond 1 to 1 if your speakers can reproduce 120 dBSPL without compression.

There will not be a 1 To 1 correspondence.

You tell us often that the amplifier power supplies will remove the mains harmonic H2, H3 ... H9 series. Those spikes will not show up at the amplifier output. The power line harmonics do not belong on the same graphic as the hearing threshold.

Apples and oranges

It is your site you get the last word.

 

[Lambda]

It clearly says reference to 120 dBSPL playback level. That is why that main tone was there. To establish 120 dBSPL. All the noise spikes are now relative to that so can be directly compared to Fletcher-Munson threshold of hearing.

So the green line is 120db Below the peak.
But we don't know the amplitude of the peak. so it is 120db below a unknown level.

The high of the peak is arbitrary chosen by you and unknown to us.
therefore the position of the green line is arbitrary.

All the noise spikes are now relative to that so can be directly compared to Fletcher-Munson threshold of hearing.

relative to an unknown and arbitrary level and the height of the peaks is only accurate if they are pure tones.
but they are not necessarily...

It clearly says reference to 120 dBSPL playback level. That is why that main tone was there. To establish 120 dBSPL.

No reason to have the tone playing while taking the measurement.
The Fletcher-Munson threshold could still be at the same absolute level and input gain adjusted to get a proper input level.
like this its all right at the noise floor of the instrument.

Why not have the 1khz tone at -80dB for example and 80dB more input gain.
or better have it off while taking this measurement...

sure the noise gets "suppressed" trough the FFT gain. but the noise pickup is also what shuld be shown by this test?

 

[DSJR]

When I worked in the industry in the UK, a 'respected' cable brand made in the south of the UK offered a 60% profit margin for stocking their range of cables - purchase a £350 GPB retail cable for 116 GBP trade price ex-VAT and made a profit margin (not mark-up) of £175 GBP ex-VAT on every cable you sold. If you asked for a discount you would first be offered a mega discount on the cables or offered them free as that was where the obscene profit margins were.

The sales team would push the most revenue making items, to be honest they were not rubbish but were severely over-priced, the What-Hi-Fi type magazines did us a all a favour and spread the myth that at least 10 - 20% of a hi-fi budget should be spent on cables etc.

I know the company you speak of.. Only caveat was that you stocked pretty much the whole range - they gave you a nice display rack too I recall.. A couple of decades back now, if you ordered enough, another cable supplier popular with the UK dealer chains, offered a 75% margin, so lord knows how much the wire cost in real terms.

 

[Deleted member 19122]

60% is such a low margin lol. Some boutique PHAT KABLZ such as NBS are being selled withing community by a small individual sellers and 50-60% is a typical "disconut" from some RRP but I believe that's just a made-up sales model. And, the second one, MapleShade... Worth to have a dedicated thread here. Epic brand. So I think real margin on these is 95+% of RRP at least

Thanks for that Maple Shade suggestion.Endless hours of comedy they do provide.150 dollar brass feet,200 dollar ugly HDMI cables,1000 dollar speaker cables

 

[Spkrdctr]

In that case it seems Danny bought in far east and didn't do his homework...

Are you saying Chinese Junk?

 

[Spkrdctr]

I visit sometimes, but I can't stay long in those places or I start to feel my brain exploding.

My doctor is to the point he said he will not give me any more Xanax as it is not made for reading subjectivists claptrap. So, I have to stay away from subjectivists as much as possible. due to the Florida lockdown on any drugs that do any good for the average person.

 

[amirm]

There will not be a 1 To 1 correspondence.

You tell us often that the amplifier power supplies will remove the mains harmonic H2, H3 ... H9 series. Those spikes will not show up at the amplifier output. The power line harmonics do not belong on the same graphic as the hearing threshold.

Apples and oranges

It is your site you get the last word.

You have lost the plot. That measurement treats the power cord as an audio interconnect and it still shows that interference is inaudible. I suggest reading the review carefully before raising objections.

 

[amirm]

So the green line is 120db Below the peak.
But we don't know the amplitude of the peak. so it is 120db below a unknown level.

Only if if you didn't understand a word of what I just explained. I suggest reading AES papers by Fielder to understand how this kind of analysis is done.

 

[Spkrdctr]

Oh, and I know this has been forgotten in this review. Anyone who knows anything about plugs knows you just cut off that hard to plug in ground connector and voila! you have a nice easy to insert high performance power cable. To do it right, make sure you cut the ground pin off both ends. UL will not mind as they haven't seen the cable. Good friends teach their friends to get rid of all grounding plugs on all wires, they just get in the way of lifting more veils and really opening up the music. At least that is what I heard on a subjectivists site, too much noise, static and hiss coming from the evil ground pins!

 

[Lambda]

Only if if you didn't understand a word of what I just explained.

I can say the same.
We don't know any absolute levels.
We know the 0dBrA peak is supposed to be 120dB SPL. but we don't know its absolute level in voltage.
could be 2Vrms could be 120Vrms. it makes a huge difference.

 

[amirm]

I can say the same.
We don't know any absolute levels.
We know the 0dBrA peak is supposed to be 120dB SPL. but we don't know its absolute level in voltage.
could be 2Vrms could be 120Vrms. it makes a huge difference.

Good grief...

 

[DualTriode]

You have lost the plot. That measurement treats the power cord as an audio interconnect and it still shows that interference is inaudible. I suggest reading the review carefully before raising objections.

If the issue is not using this cord to plug into the wall mains I will take another stab at it.


We have a new standard or benchmark, "inaudible"

In your graphic you show 15 or 20dB improvement over the other tested cord tested using the cables as a interconnects. So your test clearly shows the GR cord as the superior product.

Worth the $350, still no.

A side note I just bought a new LA90 for $875 to gain 15 or 20dB's in SINAD performance. By the new "inaudible" standard I guess that I wasted my money.