Country of Origin
Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Laiv Audio Harmony and Sonnet Pasithea; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monoa on subwoofer; Headamp: Kinki Studio THR-1; Phones: HifiMan Susvara, Meze 109 Pro; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Kinki Studio Earth, Furutech; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra on all source components, Vibex One 11R on amps, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, LessLoss Firewall for loudspeakers, Furutech NCF Signal Boosters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini + Dynaudio S18 sub; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF, Akiko Audio Corelli; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Audioquest Fog Lifters; Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
Desktop system: Source: HP Z230 work station Win10/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC: iFi Pro iDSD Signature; Head/speaker amp: Enleum AMP-23R; Speakers: Acelec Model One Headphones: Final D-8000 & Sonorous X, Audeze LCD-XC, Raal-Requisite SR1a on Schiit Jotunheim R, Raal 1995 Immanis & Magna [on loan]
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: $4'918
What is it? Modern Art? A Fremen artefact? A tribal African object?
It's 21st-century human not alien tech. It's a passive signal conditioner which strips out-of-band noise from a headamp's output before its signal hits our XLR4-connected headphones. As the header gave away, mine is a 2nd opinion piece. For the full-fat skinny, get with Dawid's review. He already explained the what, how and wherefores. Framing its exposed innards for my far briefer intro, I delight in imagining viewers from well outside the audiophile space gazing at it in a Fine Arts gallery whilst nursing the opening question. What would they make of it other than calling the apparently photographed mystery object in noble brass and copper exceptionally well made? Would they suspect or guess at any possible function and utility? Would they peg it a purely artistic statement?
Framing it visually and in such terms feels like the best segue into our esoteric subject matter. It represents very original thinking then an execution that's been refined over many subsequent generations. The core concept remains Louis Motek's skin-effect noise filtering whilst manufacture entails hi-tech direct metal laser sintering with Ytterbium fibre lasers; a proprietary accelerated aging process to alter copper's molecular structure; and for the outer dress panels, resin-hardened laminated Kraft paper. Upscale performance hifi is, I think we can agree, full of old wine in new bottles. Once you dig into what this is, you should join me in calling it something whose likes we haven't seen before. That's to say, we haven't other than with LessLoss' very own precursors for speaker and AC applications. To my mind, such originality deserves a moment of silent appreciation. It's Fine Art of the audiophile sort after all. It would fit right into Gideon Schwartz's next coffee-table book for Phaidon; on Exotic Hifi Inventions.
After gazing at the Firewall for headfi with appreciation for its sheer industrial beauty, you'll have need to know all about its practical applications between headphone amp and headphone. For that I have four amps and four headphones. How about the mystery matter of a kilometre worth of C-MARC cable becoming dedicated headfi leashes in a neighboring country? "That design is about finished. Just some wooden parts remain to be done. First production should commence in a few weeks but I've already had severe delays elsewhere when certain parts weren't up to snuff. Finding good subcontractors isn't easy these days. For your LessLoss review with Louis, I could already send a prototype without wooden trim. It'll preview the sound just fine. I happen to inventory the 2.5mm micro jacks for your Susvara so that's convenient." I welcomed that proposal when Dawid had confirmed that extra C-MARC wiring intensifies the Firewall effect including the amp|interface link. From his photos we already know that this component is the hammiest of LessLoss' boxy lot yet. Marketing predicts an eventual cosmetic overhaul for the catalogue's tankwood models. And it's not lost on me that today's ask buys my Kinki THR-1 amp, FiiO R7 streaming source, Meze 109 Pro and still leaves enough money in the till to add a $2'195 Palma DHS-1 should we splurge. FoH—my shorthand for Firewall of HeadFi—really is a 'purchase of last resort' for the true connoisseur. Everything else should already be finalized to a premium degree before the Lithuanian contender ever even pings our radar.
This collage of 'bleeding edge' headfi shows a HifiMan Susvara Unveiled, Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC and the 10th Anniversary Headonia amplifier from Serbia's Auris.
Once it does, what will we make of its sonic effect? For my best crack at making that edge bleed, I planned on starting at my desktop where Audirvana Studio on a Win10/64 work station spits out USB 3.0 over a special iFi cable and inline purifier into a Singxer SU-2 bridge which syncs to a LHY master clock. I²S over HDMI feeds Laiv's Harmony DAC which connects to Enleum's AMP-23R. Loads were a Raal 1995 Immanis triple ribbon and HifiMan Susvara and Final D8000 planarmagnetics.
As it happened, the lone XLR4|XLR4 cable in my collection terminates in two male plugs given Raal's deliberately inverted wiring scheme for their impedance interface. So I had nothing to connect FoH with. Louis had to rustle up a 50cm link.
The conductor density and Litz nature of C-MARC make accommodating the small pins of an XLR4 connector a challenging task.
