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What exactly was that effect? Actually not all that different from what I recall with Gilbert’s statement BC6000: blacker quieter backgrounds, longer decays, wider and deeper sense of space and greater definition between instrumental and vocal images. Inner detail—the stuff between the notes—was also more apparent. However, what impressed me more than anything else was the overall more relaxed feel. Music just flowed more freely. I also seemed less aware of the adverse effects of lousy hydro quality at those times of the day where all our neighbors have fired up their HVAC, dishwashers, televisions and other noisy household appliances.

I didn’t notice any tonal shifts other than cleaner more pristine highs and a bit more bass definition and punch. The variable effects I heard with Gilbert’s previous filters was probably due to the equipment I had in my system at the time or perhaps Gilbert has tweaked his design over the years to eliminate or hide any dips or peaks across the spectrum. Whatever the reason, I was unaware of any tonal manipulation with the 12X or 6X. Everything just sounded better, more real and captivating.


I experienced similar results if to a lesser degree with the BC85 MK5 Noisehound I purchased a year ago which adds MOV and TVS surge protection. It’s fairly effective at sucking away detail-obscuring low-level noise while protecting my system from minor transient spikes and hopefully from something far nastier, aka The Big One. While not possessing surge protection, the X6/X12 offered a considerably greater effect than the MK5. Adding them all together on the same line reaped even greater benefits. I didn’t have a BC6000 on hand to compare but aural memory suggests that the ABS filters were awfully close in effect. And if there’s a downside to them I didn’t hear it.


I also tried the Sillycone Filters in our TV system for a couple of weeks. As with my audio system I did not observe readily apparent differences in picture or sound quality. It was only after a couple of days that I noticed the sharper clearer picture. Blu-Ray and DVD were a tad more vibrant and defined. Removing the filters immediately brought picture and sound quality a step down. Not a huge omygawd degradation but quite noticeable all the same. However since the AC feeding our TV system is already filtered by MIT’s Z Duplex Super wall outlet, perhaps the results weren’t as great as they would have been with a regular outlet.


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