Psychobabble: A matter of how you listen

Eichmann Series 2 Power Enhancing Cables

By John Groom

March 2005

Psychobabble is a column to explore the twilight zone of hi-fi. That strange place where the improbable meets the impossible, the fussy meets the obsessional, and the physical meets the psychological.

Eichmann Series 2 Power Enhancing Cables. $495 for 2m

I was taken with the Eichmann AC cable when I listened to it in May 2003. It brought out a lush and silky quality in recordings. There was added weight to the bass, a fuller mid-range and less fatigue. It joined a personal short-list of favoured items and I almost bought it.

At the time of the original review I was struggling to find a way to adequately fill a 6x5.5m room with a cold acoustic. At the end of the day I decided that the charming sound was at the expense of some sense of 'air' in the recordings and was putting me further back in the audience than I wanted to be.

A new friend

Well I have to give it to Mr Eichmann - in producing a Series 2 he has not just rehashed the old model. Okay, it still looks as hideous as ever and might struggle for acceptance in even the most aesthetically challenged homes. The sound however is different. Sure he has kept some of the good qualities of the warmth and weight but boy has he brought the sound forward. I even started to wonder if he had in fact read the review?

The sound

I love the work of Tony O'Connor, a great modern Australian composer who combines natural and electronic sounds to capture the outback experience. On his Uluru recording we get a feeling of the size, wonder and expansiveness of Ayer's Rock. With the Series 2 in place we are really 'there' and can taste the harsh dry dust.

With the more subtle sound of the Mozart piano trios (Phillips 446 154-2) the instruments are not just in the room but the players bring an enthusiasm and urgency to their performance. Even with one of my most subtle and audiophile recordings, A Meeting by the River with Ry Cooder and VM Blatt, this cable lays out the Bottleneck Guitar, Mohan Vina, Tabla and Dumbek in explicit detail.

Juliet summarised it in her own terms as 'transforming the system' and later as a 'good party sound'.

What do you want?

The hobby of hi-fi is ultimately about enjoying recorded music. My experiences with the Eichmann cables have left me wondering about two different enjoyable ways to listen. With the Series 1 cable I was wanting and enjoying a 'pleasant' sound. The series two cable however can be enjoyed for how much it impresses.

If you don't like to listen for pleasantness then you might get bored with that sound. If you don't listen to be impressed then you might find that sound unsubtle or as one reviewer described an inexpensive Naim component, 'relentlessly musical'?

Horses for courses

The Eichmann cable showed its best promise when partnered with a powerful Plinius amplifier. Even there however there was some question in my mind, about the cable's impact on the sense of timing.

A more central question I think is: what is the problem that you want to solve in spending $495 on your system? Keith Eichmann promotes his products as 'a way to deliver better AC power to electronic components... controlling RFI and EMI'. To separate the two issues, a simple way to check if you are getting RFI or EMI into the system is to disconnect the Sky decoder and cable or the normal TV cable (and any associated signal amplifier). These components are the most likely suspects and obviously if it is practical to unplug these for serious listening then it costs you nothing.  

Another alternative is to spend the $495 on a dedicated spur power supply. I am very impressed with the work done by Chris Murphy, the Naim importer and distributor, in finding the best set up for mains distribution and earth cabling. Chris makes no claims for performance improvements other than with Naim equipment however; my own experimentation suggests the re-cabling benefits a wide range of components.

Nirvana

I look forward to Keith's future Series 3 cable as his first cable put me too far back in the 'gods' and his second one has me sitting on the 'footlights'. For a really good concert I like to be about a third of the way back. I guess at the end of the day I want the best of all worlds and a system that will both impress, and give me pleasure.

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John Groom is a psychologist working in private practice on Auckland's North Shore. John has over three decades experience in both hi-fi and psychology.