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Hammond 193L choke tweak - impressions (contradictory).

Posted by carcass93 (A) on April 30, 2007 at 11:20:01

On recommendations of several members here (Al Sekela, cdc, audionutge - thank you everybody), I decided to try Hammond 193L tweak. Let me tell you right away that it works in my system, but with two caveats:

1. It can make things worse, depending on location - and this was somewhat unexpected, reading posts here.
2. By no means it does wonders, changes are rather subtle.

The system: Proceed CDD, DAP, PRE are plugged into PS Audio UPC-200, and both UPC and PS Audio HCA-2 are plugged into the wall (ACME outlet), on the same line. Line is quasi-dedicated, i.e there are several outlets on it in two rooms, that don't have anything plugged into them permanently. Various aftermarket power cords, interconnects from VD and NBS. Speakers - KEF Reference 3.2.

At first, I plugged the choke into the duplex that's connected in parallel to the one the system is plugged into (both in the same in-wall box). After several days sat down to listen - the sound was unmistakable WORSE. Soundstage became flatter, and bass had less impact. Please note - both the system and my ears are relatively resolving, so there's no second-guessing if that's what I really heard.

Then, I unplugged the choke and moved it to another outlet on the same line in the same room, there's probably 10 feet between them. Here, it is finally doing what it's supposed to - soundstage is marginally deeper, vocals have a little less edge to them, and midbass is slightly more articulate.

I'm not sure what the first anomaly should be attributed to - may be there's some kind of interference between the choke and UPC-200 (that has BALUN transformer inside) - they were sitting literally next to each other on the floor. Or between choke and digital amp, or speaker cables, or who knows what else.

The positives are nice, but I would estimate the amount of changes as less than 50% of power cord swapping (for instance, PS Audio Statement SC and ESP Essence on amp, or Cardas Golden Ref. and VD Nite on preamp), and also definitely less than plugging components into UPC-200 as compared to directly into the wall.

On the other hand, money-wise it's about the cheapest upgrade possible, and with that in mind is definitely worth it. I'm going to try 193M next on yet another outlet, in hopes two of them will give more of the positives listed above.

FWIW.

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