Landing between timid and total, I first stepped out with eight. Two/ea. BluTac'd onto the speakers' plate amps; two/ea. sat along either lateral edge of the DAC/pre to cover both its linear power supply and digital sections whilst also sitting right below and in front/back of my curved monitor screen. This looked at my hifi kit and screen whilst leaving my computer and fibre-optic modem alone. I'd live with this for a full day of office work. Whether anything registered or not, I'd then remove the lot since experience knew that my best noticing often comes by subtraction. Since I hadn't a clue what to focus on, this seemed as good a start as any. And yes, a small refrigerator magnet proved that the centre of Louis' footer is magnetic indeed. Invoking potential for 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' by relocating my starter kit to the far side of the house, I preferred that 'without'. Not knowing the best Giant Steps placement yet, my first small step showed that even though I didn't fancy the effect, it was there. What I responded to by removing the below octet whilst listening to the same tunes was more energetic gush. It's as though Louis' lot had put a damper on it which now lifted again like a cooking lid releases steam and smells. I felt like a caveman discovering fire. At first you burn yourself to curse. Then you learn of cooking; that warm water cleans better than cold; how to sleep toasty. Having heard that mere proximity of these mildly magnetic pucks had an effect, now I had to learn whether I could exploit it to elevate not damp my subjective perception.

Like a car mechanic who tracks a complaint by a process of elimination, I began by reattaching two/ea. pucks to the backs of the speakers. Off they went again to instead slip underneath. Out they went again. This told me that my earlier dislike of the energetic damper was due to this juncture. With speakers using very strong magnets, perhaps exposing those to external albeit weak magnetic fields was a bad idea? Hindsight. It's so smart. Basking in that, my next rounds left the speakers alone (ha!) and used just four GS atop then beneath the DAC/pre. Voilà, no complaints. And wins? From a €1'668 quad? In a scenario where resonance attenuation needs were slim to non-existent, the €1'099 component's WiFi/Bluetooth transmitters disabled, the PSU a linear sort; I didn't hear wins worth my while. But I did hear a small offset. With the GS acting as footers or toppers, playback's reverb times seemed very subtly extended. It gave my tunes a faintly bloomier richer feel. Without they felt more dynamically athletic and sharper on the attack. Tastes obviously diverge. Folks who assign different sonic and fiscal ratings could favour the effect and call it worthwhile in their hardware context. My money wanted bigger returns so reshuffled this deck with two presumed aces.

Enter everyone's favourite anti hero in the RFI universe: high-feedback class D with big SMPS. Out with the active speakers, in with Zu's passive Method monitors fronted by nCore NC500 amps as repackaged by Nord Acoustics with their Rev.D discrete input buffer.

The only problem with this hardware? My monos cost £1'720/pr eight years ago. To mollify my mon(k)ey mind, forking over nearly the same for four tiny pucks would mandate a Moses moment of parted seas. I simply had no exotic D-amps from AGD or Merrill to play these percentages better. Though I could pile on potential sonic payback by parking up to 10 GS on each mono, no paying punter would. No matter the sonic sizzle, the ask would be beyond the pale. Even as footers one needs at least six so €2'502. That well exceeds my amps. The mere mention gives tweaks a tawdry taint. That said, was there any sonic upside? I again heard 'without' as energetically freer but sharper and slightly grainier, 'with' as mellower, rounder and richer. Also, my brain bummer of electric prickling lessened with the GS in place, my eyes relaxed more. In this weird but efficacious context, those were noteworthy gains. Sonically I prioritize energetics over ultimate refinement. Blame my disdain for diminished dynamic range. Many musicians and/or their mastering choices put a dull damper on expressive vitality. I favour raw and raunchy over genteel and gorgeous. If it's either/or, I'll nearly always go R-rated. This being far from my first LessLoss rodeo, Louis is more of a G-man. Gorgeous not raw is his aim. In that he's fantastically consistent across his portfolio.

To attempt my own consistency, I had another wacky idea. In reading I'd come across at least two cable brands which promote 'magnetic conduction'. Without digging into their details, checking out arbitrary magnetic action on my speaker cables suited today's angle. My snark had gotten me into this gig. I'd better hit it hard or never live it down. Downstairs AudioQuest FogLifter stringed cable risers do the light lifting, upstairs it's more solid Furutech issue. The latter's construction would make for convenient GS parking spots by having the cables run right over them. Excuse the accidental phrasing. It reflects my awareness of possibly looking for luv in all the wrong places. But one parental lesson during my teens had been to finish what one starts. I no longer worried about hearing nothing. I was just aware that the ongoing cost discrepancy of whatever I applied the LessLoss to made little personal sense regardless of sonic effects. Whilst in the high-end sector 5-figure speaker cables are a dime a dozen—that'd shrink the addition of one or two GS per leg to an inoffensive percentage—my Kinki/Exact wiring doesn't hit those numbers. Never mind. Let's roll with those punches and head upstairs.