Qol Signal Completion Stage

[rollo]

 I'm the Guy on the right sitting on the couch. Les in middle and Paul on left. Great time, really good guys.
      Les is one of our club members and Paul on the board of the DC DIY club.


charles

[bhobba]

I have had my Qol burning in for quite a while now and gave it its first outing after about 500 hours with 4 audiophiles present.

First we tried it with some ML3 Reference speakers.  To me and another person the difference, to be frank was staggering - clearer with wider and expanded sound-stages - it was switched in and out to confirm it.  

What did the other two think?  Well probably the most experienced person there was more circumspect - yes he heard what we talked about but was it better?  The other guy was adamant - he heard the difference but preferred it without it engaged - rawer but more real he thought.  Discussion ensured and the way we ended up describing it was with the device in it was like air brushing - nicer but perhaps a little artificial.

But now for something really interesting.  There were some speakers there well below the standard of the ML3's.  I had heard them before and to be blunt are pretty awful.  I could reveal what they were but nothing would be gained by it except to say one guy who prepared a list of the best speakers of all time rated its slightly bigger brother as the 30th best speaker of all time - but as one guy that heard it said - you would be forgiven for thinking only 30 speakers were ever made.  Anyway the difference it made with this speaker was above staggering - it was a quantum leap ahead - it actually sounded pretty good.  What the fook.  We disengaged it and the speaker returned to how I remembered it - rather ordinary.  This was actually very unexpected.  It was so unexpected the very experienced guy wanted to keep it longer to try and get to the bottom of it. Because I am heading down to another place here in Aus (Canberra) to help a friend install his Home Theater system I left it with him.

I suspect time will reveal whats going on but it really is fascinating.

Thanks
Bill

[rollo]

  Bill curious to know where it was installed. After Preamp or before. Try it in both positions.
  I would reccomend using an after market powercord if you did not. Makes a difference. As well as the same ICs if you can.
   Another trick is to move ones speakers closer together anywhere from 6" to a foot. reduced toe in benifits as well. First listen will confuse you a bit as the presentation willbe more open and revealing.  it will tell the recordingEngineers skills or lack there of. Especially pop recordings that are fooled with. Anything boosted or panned left and rigt will be exposed.
  Glad to hear to are putting the qol through its paces. Enjoy the ride.


charles
 
 

[bhobba]

Bill curious to know where it was installed. After Preamp or before. Try it in both positions.

We didn't use a pre amp - we direct connected the DAC to the Qol and used the volume control in Audirvana.

Thanks
Bill

[bhobba]

bhobba, i am curious - when you switched the qøl in and out - were you listening thru the qøl's bypass, or were you bypassing the unit completely?  imo, based on my auditioning of the unit, listening thru the qøl's bypass is not as transparent as listening with the unit completely bypassed.  this can give misleading results as to how much better the qøl makes things sound...

also, on a somewhat related topic of how a processor can improve the sonics of a speaker,  i was amazed how my deqx pdc totally transformed the sound of a pair of sansui sp2500's i picked up for $20 from a local craigslist ad.  all soundstaging cues missing before totally snapped into place.  on their own, the sp2500's are nice - relatively full-range, 98db-efficient w/an inoffensive diffuse full sound.  w/the deqx, they are a different animal entirely...

Hi Doug

We did it both ways - removing it completely and using its internal bypass.  We noticed it seems to add some gain.

Yea a DEQX is an amazing device and it does all sorts of stuff so its no surprise you found it made such a big difference.  However the Qol does not muck around with frequency etc so its scope for improvement is more limited - yet on the rather ordinary speaker we tried it on (as opposed to the reference speakers we did the main listening on) the improvement was huge.  It so surprised the guy that owned the system we were using it on he wants to keep it for a while while I am down in Canberra.

Thanks
Bill

[rollo]

   Bill the amplitude is increased anywhere from .5db to 4 db depending on how out of phase the  recording is. There is no gain stage. When phase is corrected volume is increased. Actually the volume is the way it should be when qol is engaged. Simllar to when a subs polarity is right. More volume.
   Glad to hear your buddy was smitten over the qol. He is not alone. Have fun.



charles
   
   
   

[bhobba]

Bill the amplitude is increased anywhere from .5db to 4 db depending on how out of phase the  recording is. There is no gain stage. When phase is corrected volume is increased. Actually the volume is the way it should be when qol is engaged. Simllar to when a subs polarity is right. More volume. Glad to hear your buddy was smitten over the qol. He is not alone. Have fun.

As I said to me it was staggering as well.  As soon as I get back from Canberra it will be heading to my system to stay except I now have told some guys I know who are now keen to try it and I of course will oblige.

Thanks
Bill

[bhobba]

Hi Guys

I have finally got around to popping this into my system on a permanent basis - I had been waiting to get some decent cables first.  Well I now have them and can confirm this thing to my ears is simply awesome.  Sound-stage widens, everything has more air about it, more detail is present, the detail is cleaner and more defined.  I can easily switch it in and out and I much prefer it with it in.  I personally love it - simple as that.


I am trying to think of words to describe what I hear - and cant really do it.  I read the TAS review and they hit it on the head - its illuminated from within - that's it - spot on.  Vivid is another word that pops to mind.


The only thing is the battery is dead in the remote - at least I think its the battery.

Thanks
Bill

[bhobba]

The other thing I will mention is I previuosly preferred listening with upsampling as much as possible - it revealed more detail to my ears.  But I am finding with this device upsampling is simply too much to my ears - yea you get even more detail but it sounds artificial and even a bit sibilancy on some masterial - non upsampling sounds 'just right'.  I conjecture thats because this device fixes up phase errors.  This however is supposed to be where upsampling helps - you cant hear any nor indeed does upsampling add any frequencies above the original sampling rate but it is supposed to recover timing errors better ie phase that your ear is sensitive to hence the supposed increased detail.  To me the combination of the two doesn't sound quite right.  It doesn't seem to apply to stuff already recorded at a higher samplying rate - simply stuff upsampled.

Thanks
Bill

[rollo]

   To my surprise adding a second QOl in the system was a well jaw dropping.
   We were breaking in a unit for a customer in another system using a Sony CDP, passive Pre. I hooked it up [ from passive] to the QOL unit in between the Pre and Amps in the main system into the number [2] input. Tuned in on and was taken back by the sheer dimension of the sound. With Eric Claptons Unplugged CD track 13 we never heard the venue meaning the auditorium where recorded. Well not to that degree anyway.
    Yes the Sonys character was evident after the initial listening so in went the Plinius. #*&%^$ now I want two.
   While one is quite good enough adding the second was revelatory. Real as real can be for a reproduction. Never thought it would make such a difference.


charles

[richidoo]

John Atkinson lays out how the Qol works in his review in current Stereophile mag. He read the patents and realized it is a modern take on the Blumlein Shuffle.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/chris.burmajster/Blumlein.htm

And here's a white paper just for Scotty... 
http://www.audiosignal.co.uk/Resources/Stereo_shuffling_A4.pdf


Alan Blumlein was the Nikola Tesla of our hobby. He invented stereo, and his inventions are still used today, especially in vinyl and tube amps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Blumlein

[rollo]

    John Atkinson liked it and is keeping the review sample. I wish I could put one in every system here at AN for free. 
    For me no component or anything to date can equal what QOL brings  to the table.
    The reviews have all been positive from 6 Moons to the Absolute sound.
     It is rare occurrence when several reviewers agree, especially Sterophile and the Absolute Sound.


charles















   
   
     

[bhobba]

Hi Richidoo

Just a note of thanks for posting the technical detail - really appreciarted - must aquant myself with it.

Hi Charles

Mate just love mine and cant live without it.  But interestingly some people I demo mine to dont like it - they say its sort of like air brushing - yea in a Hi Fi sense better but maybe a bit too squeaky clean.  Always interesting getting others opinions.

Thanks
Bill

[rollo]

Hi Richidoo

Just a note of thanks for posting the technical detail - really appreciarted - must aquant myself with it.

Hi Charles

Mate just love mine and cant live without it.  But interestingly some people I demo mine to dont like it - they say its sort of like air brushing - yea in a Hi Fi sense better but maybe a bit too squeaky clean.  Always interesting getting others opinions.

Thanks
Bill

   That is surprising to hear as the QOL has no character of its own. Makes me wonder about the front ends used.
    To date over 500 units sold with one return. Cannot please them all eh



charles