It was Lord Acton (John Emerick Dalberg-Acton - 1834 - 1902) who famously wrote "Power Tends to Corrupt." While I am quite certain that Lord Acton was not considering high-end audio when making this assertion, it is nevertheless applicable, especially in these times. With more and more new-build houses competing for space on power grids, and with homes being bombarded by radio-frequency interference (RFI) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) in unprecedented amounts from wireless networks, cell phones and switching power supplies, clean power is increasingly under assault.
In a seemingly constant state of product evolution and innovation, Audience-AV, led by Company President John McDonald, has, over the past several years, iteratively improved all of its product offerings, including its line of adeptResponse power conditioners designed to combat dirty power. Having previously reviewed the aR2p-TO back in the January / February 2012 issue of Positive Feedback (HERE), now seemed like a good time to check in with the latest version of the aR2p-series of Audience power conditioners.
The aR2p is the smallest of Audience's adeptResponse series, and is unique among power conditioners, being designed to plug directly into a wall outlet, thereby obviating the need for a power cord. The aR2p measures 3.56" wide by 6.31" high by 3.56" deep and weighs just under two pounds. The external appearance is nondescript, consisting of a polycarbonate case containing two AC outlets and a power switch / circuit breaker. Don't let the understated appearance fool you, however; internally, the aR2p series of power conditioners are essentially identical from the perspectives of parts and design to those of Audience's larger and more expensive conditioners. The aR2p is available in three versions, the standard aR2p, the aR2p-T3, and the aR2p-T4. The aR2p includes Auricap XO+ polypropylene film capacitors, oxygen-free copper (OFC) internal power wiring, hospital-grade power outlets, proprietary rhodium-plated copper wall plug, magnetic circuit breaker, fully filtered outlets, and cryogenic treatment of all parts. The aR2p possesses extremely low DC resistance for optimizing dynamic range, and Audience imbues the aR2p with partial power-factor correction by bringing the voltage and current into relation with one another for ensuing proper phase, which is claimed by Audience to result in a subjective 10% increase in amplifier power output. Audience hard-wires all connections, avoiding the need for circuit boards. The aR2p is designed to fully isolate components to which it is connected from EMI and RFI. The aR2p comes with a 15-amp on/off breaker switch, and is able to deliver 1,800 watts of power on a continuous basis, with a capability to deliver at least 3600 watts for an unspecified short period of time. Options for a 20-amp breaker and/or 220-volt compatibility are available at no additional cost. Finally, the Audience conditioner possesses over-voltage protection utilizing a non-wearing, non-MOV solution that can withstand a 20,000 amp discharge and is said to be sonically transparent. Like all Audience power conditioners, the aR2p is warranted for a period of 10 years.
The aR2p-T3 goes beyond the standard aR2p in replacing the filter section's Auricap XO+ film capacitors with premium, newly-improved Aura-TR versions of Audience's celebrated Teflon capacitors for greater resolution. The aR2p-T4 represents the pinnacle of the aR2p family of power conditioners, and adds a number of additional features and technologies to those already found in the T3. First, the T4 employs a premium Wattgate Rhodium-plated copper wall plug, as well as a proprietary Audience Hidden Treasure duplex AC outlet that incorporates RF-blocking crystals for preventing unwanted radio-frequency noise from entering the AC path. Additionally, the T4 is wired internally with Audience's Au24 SX OCC power cabling. Perhaps most importantly, the T4 includes Audience's revolutionary S-Filter, which consists of a large-core balun transformer, along with circuitry designed to provide filtering down to the 20kHz - 30kHz range, for additional lowering of the noise floor. Lastly, the T4 is treated with Audience's Ultra High Voltage Process (UHVP), which subjects the electrical circuit to somewhere in the neighborhood of one million volts, in pulses, to create predictable paths through the crystalline grain structure.
So what do the larger Audience adeptResponse power conditioners confer? Well, for starters, the aR6 and aR12 units provide additional outlets for conditioning larger systems with multiple amplifiers and/or source components. The larger units are also more robustly constructed out of metal enclosures, as opposed to the polycarbonate casings of the aR2p models. Lastly and most notably, the larger adeptResponse units provide individual outlet filtering, whereas the aR2p models share a common filter across both outlets.
The aR2p-T4 arrived safely from Audience AV well-packed and included a comprehensive instruction manual explaining usage and features. Installation could not have been easier; I simply plugged the aR2p-T4 into the wall outlet, plugged in my Marantz SA-10 SACD/CD player and AVM A3.2 integrated amplifier, and turned on the aR2p-T4 and my components. What about break-in? That's where things got rough. On account of the Teflon capacitors, Audience recommends the aR2p-T4 be plugged in and switched on for 500 hours before serious evaluation. I feel that number to be optimistic. Fresh out of the box, the aR2p-T4 was spatially flat, dynamically pinched, and generally a little shut in and veiled. Things improved at the 40-hour mark, and again at 150 hours, at which point the unit opened up considerably. From there, performance continued to improve steadily and subtly up to and beyond the specified 500 hours. Be prepared to be patient as the hours pile up; your patience will be rewarded.
During the course of the review period, my system comprised the Marantz SA-10 SACD player, AVM A3.2 integrated amplifier, Focal Sopra 1 loudspeakers, Kimber Kable Select KS-1036 and Nordost Heimdall 2 interconnects, Kimber Monocle X and Nordost Heimdall 2 speaker cables, Audience aR2p-TO power conditioner and Au24 SE-i power cords. All components were placed on a SolidSteel 6.2 Audio Table, with Symposium Acoustics Rollerblock Jr HDSE footers. Acoustic treatments were by GIK Acoustics.
After eight years living with the aR2P-TO power conditioner, I was intrigued to hear what the newest incarnation, the aR2p-T4, could do. Audience adeptResponse power conditioners have always excelled at clarity and transparency, with no curtailment of dynamics, but the aR2p-T4 took that performance to a new level.
Mike Oldfield's third album, Ommadawn (Mercury UIGY-9630), is an aural feast, and the Japanese SHM SACD reveals even more nuance. With the Audience adeptResponse aR2p-T4 in my system, I reveled in the enhanced layering of instruments, the panoramic, wide-open soundstage, and the crystalline reproduction of transients. Oldfield's masterful guitar playing leapt from the speakers with verve and snap. Coupled with the enhanced resolution that allowed me to hear way into the acoustic was a newfound ease, a continuousness that contributed greatly to the sense of realism. Indeed, it was this temporal continuity, this organic flow, that separated the T4 from the previous TO version of the aR2p.
Transatlantic is a neo-progressive-rock supergroup comprising Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings, Neal Morse, previously of Spock's Beard, Pete Trewavas of Marillion, and Mike Portney, previously of Dream Theater. Transatlantic's first album, SMPT:e (Metal Blade Records 3984-14290-2), is generally well recorded, albeit with a fairly dense mix, and like many digital releases in recent years, is mastered hot with resultant dynamic compression. The aR2p-T4 opened up the mix, separating the vocals and layers of instrumentation, making it easier for me to discern Morse's Hammond B3 organ as an entity divorced of Stolt's guitar. Underpinning it all, Trewavas' fluid bass line bubbled along, holding the musical picture together. There was more air around Portney's cymbal work, which helped to ameliorate the digital ceiling so redolent of today's studio-crafted and Pro Tools-juiced recordings.
With the aR2p-T4 powering my system, I experienced unfettered dynamics. From the micro-dynamic contrasts evinced by Lindsay Buckingham on his acoustic-guitar solo introduction to "This is the Time" from his Out of the Cradle release (Reprise 9 26182-2), to the bombastic macro-dynamic strains of "Wrong" from the same album, the little Audience power conditioner enabled effortlessly-rendered dynamism.
On Spyro Gyra's 1999 Got the Magic (Windham Hill Jazz 01934-11439-2) CD, Scott Kreitzer is credited with flute on three of the album's tracks, but his playing is so muted as to be nearly indistinguishable amidst the cacophony of the broader mix. With the aR2P-T4 on duty, however, I was able to clearly make out Kreitzer's contribution to "Havana Moonlight," juxtaposed as it was against the backdrop of Jay Beckenstein's saxophone, Julio Fernandez's multi-dubbed acoustic guitars, and the myriad of percussion instruments.
The blacker background and lowered noise floor afforded by the aR2p-T4 manifested themselves in pellucid and dimensional soundstages. Images were crisply defined and layered on a stage of considerable depth and width. I heard a marked increase, too, in apparent soundstage height. Justin Hayward's vocal on "Voices in the Sky," from the Moody Blues' seminal In Search of the Lost Chord (Polydor B0011211-02) CD, floated between and above my speakers, and the Aum chorus on "OM" spread itself across the width of my room at near ceiling height, serving to enhance the emotion of rapturous enlightenment clearly intended by the Moodies.
The best measure of a component's additive or subtractive effects on one's system is its removal. Taking the Audience adeptResponse aR2p-T4 out of my system resulted in the soundstage flattening, with a noticeable reduction in air. While tonality was unchanged, there was now a patina of haze overlapping the performance, with a resultant obfuscation of musical detail. It didn't take long before I rushed to put the adeptResponse conditioner back in my system. Comparing the aR2p-T4 to the older aR2P-TO led to more nuanced differences. Despite being a little long in the tooth, the TO version of the aR2p remains a formidable performer. With that said, the T4 eclipsed the TO in a couple of key areas. Detail retrieval was improved with the newer T4; paradoxically, this enhanced detail was presented in a more relaxed fashion, with a temporal continuity that served to knit the musical performance into a more cohesive whole. Soundstaging cues were more pronounced, especially with respect to height portrayal. Subsequent to completing numerous back-and-forth comparisons, I concluded that the T4's performance exceeded that of the TO to an extent that more than justified the incremental cost increase.
How about downsides? Sonically, the aR2p-T4 left me desiring nothing. I mentioned the protracted break-in period, but that could have partly resulted from the low current draw of my system components. Functionally, the smallest Audience power conditioner is limited to two outlets, but one can always select one of the larger adeptResponse units, albeit at significantly higher cost; as with many things in life, there are compromises.
With RFI / EMI sources more abundant than ever, the assault on clean power has never been more pervasive. Fortunately, John McDonald and team at Audience are ever vigilant, and the fruits of their ongoing research and philosophy of continual refinement are borne out in the latest iteration of their adeptResponse power conditioners. The aR2p-T4 builds upon the aural benefits conferred by previous generations of the venerable aR2p platform and extends the performance improvements to unprecedented levels. The aR2p-T4 opened up the performance envelope of my system in ways that equaled or exceeded those bestowed by any previous component addition. Audition an Audience adeptResponse power conditioner at your peril; you may, like me, find that, upon experiencing how much musical enjoyment it brings, you simply can't live without it.
Audience aR2p-T4 Power Conditioner
Retail: $2400
Audience AV
