Timi

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac late 2020 with Ventura 13.4, 40GB RAM, Audirvana Origin, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-6 & SW-8 network switches, Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box at 100Hz/4th-order hi/lo-pass; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & EX-M7 stereo; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Phones: HifiMan Susvara; Loudspeakers: Qualio Audio IQ w. sound|kaos DSUB 15 on Vibra 68 footers, Audio Physic Codex, Cube Audio Nenuphar Cables: Complete loom of Kinki Studio Earth; 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 Krion and glass 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
2nd system: Source: Shanling M3 Ultra, Soundaware D300Ref; DAC: Sonnet Pasithea; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box at 60Hz/4th-order hi/lo-pass; Amplifier: Crayon Audio CFA-1.2 Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini, Dynaudio S18 sub on sound|kaos Vibra 68 footers; 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; Headamp/DAC: iFi iDSD Pro Signature; Masterclock: LHY OCK-2; Headphones: Final D-8000; Headfi/speaker amp: Enleum AMP-23R; Loudspeakers: EnigmAcoustics Mythology M1
Upstairs headfi/speaker system: Source: smsl Dp5 transport; DAC: Auralic Vega; Integrated amplifier: Schiit Jotunheim R; Phones: Raal-Requisite SR1a
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: €130

The emailer was reader Mevlut Dinc from Turkey. "Today I visited Adnan's hifi shop in Istanbul. While I was in Japan for three months, he developed this very interesting audio gizmo. Sorry its page is in Turkish but Google Translator should do the job. I was quite surprised by its positive impact on the sound and thought that you may want to try it. One simply takes the lid off to reveal the inner white element—whatever that is—and places it close to the listening position on a coffee table. You should take it out of the room for accurate comparisons." The devil on my left shoulder twitched with giddy excitement. The angel on my right rolled her eyes, shook her head then yawned suggestively. Throwing caution to the wind, my fingers hoofed it over to the site. Google Translator did its job except found zero explanation for the device's operation. A quick exchange-rate check made it ~€130. I thought that the mysterious 'active' white element might be a porous stone doused in a dried essence. Does it release subtle smells like a miniature opium den of iniquity? No wonder it improves the sound. Ha! High and good-bye? Mevlut rather thought that Timi mirrors his SteinMusic Blue Diamonds. Their brief reads "carbon-reinforced epoxy resin containing nine precisely balanced active elements".

It all sounded like Twilight Zone stuff. I saw the mocking headlines already. Hit by silver Bybee bullet. Stoned by Holger Stein. Shun-spooked by the monks. Resonated by Franck Tchang. Black-bodied by LessLoss. Except I use Franck's resonators. I use LessLoss Firewalls for loudspeakers. I use Akiko parallel noise traps filled with synthetic sapphires and other elements. I use passive Furutech power distributors lined with nanocrystal formula². Just because it's easier to smirk than really work for a living didn't mean I had to brush off Timi for being one 'd' short of timid; or looking like a Shiva lingam in frost-bitten not aroused state. So I accepted a sample. The angel on my shoulder flew off. Worst case, Timi wouldn't do a thing I could tell. I'd put the lid back on it, say so and be done. The naysayers would be right, my angel happily aflutter, my reputation intact. Easy. Right? I know that most reviewers and editors wouldn't touch Timi with Jack's beanstalk. They still have shiny reputations to uphold. I'm the man in the moons. Sergeant eBay. What did I have to lose?

As I began to ponder ramifications, my mind kicked tyres. If putting the wooden lid on kills Timi's effect and taking it off releases it, this couldn't be about an HF field from an irradiated object like tachyonic programming. Very high radiation passes wood and brick alike. Smells do trap and release but Mevlut hadn't mentioned any fragrance. Yet if the lid must be off as though Timi isn't active otherwise, why was I still told to move the gizmo out of the room for a 'without' check even with the lid on? Having flunked Physics at school and never taken any classes in advanced logic, my mind blipped off again. I'd have to treat this as the proverbial mystery box. Okay, I could live with that. I gave Mevlut my phone number which he needed for FedEx. Hey, Ireland is full of stories about fairies and leprechauns. A prior neighbour of ours had hired a seer to speak to the little folk on her property and negotiate that they resettle farther from the house and stop their mischief. Really. Minds are like parachutes. They work best when open. Ireland is full of pubs, red noses and tall tales, too. So what gives? Let's go for an Irish joke:

Anto's missus is in the Rotunda Hospital of Galway ready to give birth to their first child. When the nurse asks, ‘How dilated is she, sir?' Anto replies, ‘Delighted? She's over the fecking moon!' When Timi landed on the moons, the accompanying letter from Adnan Arduman said that "we do not exactly know how it works but think that it increases the acoustic permeability of the air between speakers and listener. Quantum mechanics will certainly have a concrete explanation in the future. Men usually first observe the phenomena, then try to explain it or associate a theory like in the case of the law of buoyancy and gravity." Cynics know that inexplicables always get blamed/claimed on the quantum or nano. Personal experience is about neither claim nor blame, just experience. If mine was nil, Timi with its white center extracted would still make a fine mini candle holder or wooden pill box. Since Adnan's cover letter invited questions, I had some. "How did you come across the white 'stone' and what is it in the first place? What made you think it would have beneficial sonic usage? These things tend to not fall ready-made from the idea tree. There must be a genesis story behind it. I think prospective buyers might like to know about it." Back on the notion of air's permeability, I knew of a high-profile CES presenter who combated the dry Las Vegas air with a plant mister to insure that his demo room's moisture was to his liking. I've also heard a Frenchman and maker of electronics opine that one reason why class A amps sound different is that they warm up the air which as a result behaves different. I even reviewed his device which he claimed interacts with air molecules. Reviewer Roy Gregory is very smitten with it. It's a curious fact that just because air is invisible, we don't give it a second thought yet it's the very medium which conducts our speakers' physical motion as sound waves to our ears. Can air be made more or less 'conduc(t)ive' to our aural pursuits? I haven't a clue. Still, it seems a valid question.