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Going passive yet massive seems popular in Asia. Furutech's PurePower 6, Orb's Mikado Kyoto and Weizhi Precision's PRS-6 with carbon top and nanotech coating all pursue this path though not in the round. For that (oval to be precise) there's the semi-translucent more femmy Crystal Cable power strip. Fellow cynics will wonder. Is the fascination with mass rampant machismo? Trophy hifi? Believers in active voltage stabilization, filtration or power regeneration blow off passives on principle no matter their weight. |
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Purists come to blows over caps, coils and active circuits on their AC. Woodies diss metal enclosures and exotic plating jobs. The live-vibe crowd smiles over attempts at combating micro resonances with sheer mass. Drag strippers hear the word 'torque' and roar. Disagreement about the best approach is endless. Curiosity and an open mind are easier. Use actual experience to determine personal sense and sensibility, be that conditional, unconditional or not at all. Only worry about plausible or implausible explanations afterwards. Or not even then. Satisfaction is its own explanation.
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| A Furutech RTP-6 handles my power amps, a Polish GigaWatt PF2 my front end. iMac server and Thunderbolt backup drive have a separate wall outlet. The RTP-6 would juxtapose the Telos. This passive Furutech is as massive as my used Subaru was cheap. On the wowie meter that's not terribly impressive. Even so the Furu replaced an older Velocitor by making more open dynamic sound. Earlier isolation transformers à la BPT BP-3.5 Plus had shifted allegiances. I favored the quicker more energetic kick of passives. Those aren't proper power conditioners. They're output multipliers. Think of them as fancy cases of generic power strips spruced up with premium socketry and uncompromised power distribution rails. The open Kyoto above indicates the latter. Shunyata's Hydra-α Model 6 exhibits more common loop wiring. |
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Next are the innards of my GigaWatt. They show what one should expect for €1.290 inclusive of upgraded power cord. Here one gets substantial and premium-copper power rails which connect the outlets to the incoming AC with no current losses. Protection is by plasma spark gaps. The power sockets are GigaWatt's own. They demonstrate this maker's serious commitment to his craft.
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With precision-torqued bolts locking out personal inspection of the Telos since I couldn't reseat things to spec, the maker would have to provide a photo of the guts. Or not. Responses to such requests vary. As their website explains, the company's Jeff Lin began his professional career as a cook before an unexpected fascination with hifi derailed him in 1999. He started work in an audio dealership which imported Audio Note, Living Voice and Von Schweikert. Seven years later he launched his own audio firm. |
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Telos is Greek for end, purpose or goal. That's a good name. Should we rename the TD-04R to Midas for that winning touch à la gold is the mold?
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Whilst still on that theme, the 'Midas' is delivered in a custom flight case. A new owner might briefly feel like a security courier who dispatches hefty gold bullion to a private bank. The only thing missing is being wrist-chained to the crate. My contacts at Audio Exotics of Hong Kong would really appreciate this way of doing the biz. I was more curious about the sound.
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