"Honestly speaking, until now I have not come across a power strip that would be sonically justifiable. The PF-2 is the only such a device - to my ears at least - that actually brings performance of any audio system one level up without any notable side-effects..."
Surrender to power…
Adam Szubert of P.A.Labs is one of those who believe that a success in building of audiotruth raises and falls with a feed of clean power. Though there is a lot of believers, only a handful of manufacturers has managed to seriously address the issue and even less of them remained serious (in terms of marketing claims) and sane (in terms of pricing) after their very first commercial success. I am pleased to introduce a company which is perfectly serious and perfectly sane: welcome to GigaWatt.
Jeff Buckley’s Grace is an album of melancholy and inner beauty with a ´no fillers just killers´trademark. Recently I have spotted the original Columbia’s CD copy (Columbia/Sony COL 4759285) on a shelf, being offered at surprising 8 EUR. Quite a nice sale, isn’t it? If you have the chance, just go and grab it before it disappears from market. The title is selling out as a new remaster is now available, remastered by Sterling Sound, and therefore the ´dated´version is supposed not to attract people anymore. I have both and clearly prefer the non-remastered original with its subtle dynamic shading and natural colors, rather then the compressed newbie. It is surprising to know that the original version was mastered by Howie Weinberg of Masterdisk, who is normally not associated with audiophile qualities.
Anyway, Lilac Wine out of the Grace was hovering in the air of my listening room, being sourced from Accuphase DP-78 and through its soulmate A-60 fed into a pair of Audio Physic Virgo V. Interconnect and loudspeaker cable references are still the same for I haven´t found better so far (i.e. Homegrown Audio DNA and Krautwire Fractal). For the purpose of this test, the system was fed directly from a wall socket. Power cords used for the player and the amplifier were many different due to running series of reviews but for the most critical part I used standard cables that come with the equipment to avoid listening to cumulative effects.
The music of Jeff was delicate and tuneful, though sibilants were a bit overdone here and there and the voice seemed a touch one-dimensional. What I liked were ambient clues of the live studio with generous reverbs that created sense of spaciousness. Similarly to Lilac Wine, more acoustical Dream Brother - with two sets of tabla, that starts off with Sting-like atmosphere, but later on expands into a typical and layered Jeff Buckley´s rock number - proved itself to be a nice listening experience. This is when the GigaWatt´s PF-2 came into the game.
How the serious power strip looks like…
The PF-2 represents in the GigaWatt´s portfolio the highest passive power strip as more sophisticated units are regular power conditioners. In my point of view Adam Szubert found nice balance between overall built and functionality of the strip. It is hefty enough to please the audiophile in us and subtle enough for easy placement.
The simple yet elegant 3kg bar is measuring 9 x 9 x 42cm and is encased in a steel enclosure coated with structural matt-black paint. Its chassis construction already functions as an outside RFI noise shield, protecting the passive circuitry inside. The manufacturer claims that the power is distributed via pure copper slabs and that used electrical components are selected to his specifications - difficult to argue as the unit is seamless (i.e. no bolts and nuts visible) and sealed from the bottom. Unless you prefer to use an electrical grinder you have no chance to look inside. From one side of the unit there is an IEC socket and other 6 Schuko-type output sockets are on the top. Apparently all their pin-contacts are coated with silver.
I liked couple of details with the PF-2. First, the quality of its assembly is top notch and exceeds standards of the industry. Second, you would find two indicator lights on the enclosure - a blue LED indicates that the unit is operational, a red one lets you know that the incoming power cord is attached with incorrect polarity. A nice touch with very practical meaning. Third, manufacturer provides literature enough with each unit to learn about the product and other GigaWatt equipment plus set of rubber feet that can be attached to the bottom of the unit for further mechanical decoupling. Fourth, the power strip comes with the 250,000 EUR guarantee on connected equipment in case the unit fails to protect it from power nasties. And finally fifth, as a bonus, you would receive 1,5m of the proprietary LC-1 power cord. Plug and play - it´s that simple.
To be fair I have to mention the following two dislikes. The blue light is permanently on with quite an intensity. In case the unit is behind a rack I see no issue, but I needed to have it on hand for easy reconnections and the light was way too aggressive in my darkened room. Second issue I had was with the IEC socket - whichever cable I used, the connection was OK, but quite loose. Considering stiffness of most of power cords (including the GigaWatt´s own) it was difficult to keep the male to female straight.
We left Jeff Buckley before insertion of the PF-2. Now, let´s revisit him with the PF-2/LC-2 combination in place.
How the serious power strip sounds like…
The presence of the the GigaWatt in the system was readily identifiable. Music acquired a sense of more weight and I was receiving improved spatial information in all directions. Jeff’s voice was now supported by his body unlike before (direct-to-the-wall) when the sound of the voice had been created rather by his mouth than by his chest. Lateral stage became more relaxed and a tad more organized whereas the depth underwent quite a transformation - not that the soundstage was necessarily deeper but individual sources of sound were more distinct and it was more apparent that both the singer and instruments have a 3rd dimension, a body.
With relief I was listening to the closing Forget Her where complexity of instruments from the 3-minute mark was resolved without clumping together. The sibilants of Lilac Wine that were mentioned in the first paragraph did not disappear, the focus of the voice had improved, however.
Comparing the GigaWatt PF-2 to the best (I am using a heavily modified version of Nordost Thor currently) we may miss a bit of transparency here and a bit of immediacy there, recognizable especially in microdynamic scaling. We are also not receiving the finest of textures in which the Nordost is exceptionally good. But don’t be misguided - after all we are listening to a passive power strip that costs less than half of the Thor (deducting the price of the power cord, the PF-2 worths 1100EUR vs 2600 EUR for the Nordost). Considering the gap the unit works flawlessly.
Here comes Elvis…
I was listening to the PF-2/LC-1 powered system for 2 weeks. Meanwhile numerous power cords from around the world have found their way into my house (you know that we invited many to participate in our big power cord test). GigaWatt have supplied their reputable LC-2 power cord for this occassion so it would be pity to miss the opportunity to explore if the PF-2 power strip could benefit from power cord swapping.
The LC-1 was born to complement the range of GigaWatt’s line conditioning products. The buyer of any of these is receiving the LC-1 as an extra bonus - the customer is delighted and Adam can be sure that the potential of his devices is not limited by the use of unsuitable power cords. The LC-1 uses 3mm2 copper wires shielded with a tin plated copper foil, which are then isolated by PVC and wrapped in a plastic fibre braiding.
As you can guess, the LC-2 builds upon that with increased cross-section of wires (6mm2), improved geometry and shielding and usage of better performing terminations. Its power plugs are cryogenically treated, demagnetized and galvanically protected from oxidation to keep resistance as low as possible. Also the LC-2 is covered in a carbon black mesh jacket that gives the nice finishing touch to the overall professional design.
The CD aptly titled Elv1s 30 #1 Hits (BMG/RCA RCA07863 68079-2) is a little audiogem. Listening to the carefully re-sculpted and re-mastered collection leaves no doubt about the genius‘ musical and artistic impact. On top of that, this CD puts sonically to shame most the stuff that’s available on vintage vinyl and it already means something! More information on the collection you can find in our audiofeel section.
Surrender was recorded in 1960 and peaked #1 in the US for 2 weeks and #1 in the UK for 4 weeks respectively. Give it a spin and I bet you’d understand why. The emotionally charged piece with inimitable Elvis‘ voice on top of the beautifully layered and complex instrumentation offers some nice audiophile treats. Starting with jingle bells to the left, balanced by wooden blocks clicks on the right, and supported by a vibrating acoustic guitar in the back, it is an example of extremely well recorded music and a lesson for the today’s recording engineers.
Through the PF-2/LC-1 the track was nicely focused, the power strip locked the musicians into proper positions within the soundstage, not leaving them wandering around, like when the system was powered directly-from-the-wall. I was enjoying the same song over and over for circa 15 minutes when I disconnected the LC-1 cord and swapped it for the LC-2. Now, let me say, that I was not prepared for such a change! And it is not just a reviewer’s polite statement. Literally everything had improved; the instruments only now came alive and jumped out of the speakers with believable three-dimensionality and their separation in the soundfield grew significantly. While with the LC-1 we had a nicely defined chorus in the background, with the LC-2 there was no doubt that the chorus consists of individual people.
The somewhat ´unisex´sound of the LC-1 became much more balanced tonally with the LC-2, the major improvement however was in terms of its dynamic extension: soft sounds became softer and more textured, loud sounds were louder without any perceivable limitation on the top end and richness of the song just filled the listening room with radiating warmth and emotions.
Having achieved such a state of pure indulgence I cannot but assign my highest recommendation to the GigaWatt power system.
Final thoughts…
Do not let yourself be put off by a relatively unknown brand - GigaWatt offers such a solid base and improvement in the sound quality that the money we have to pay are easily justifiable. Honestly speaking, until now I have not come across a power strip that would be sonically justifiable (apart of the benefits of surge protection and multiple connectivity, of course). The PF-2 is the only such a device - to my ears at least - that actually brings performance of any audio system one level up without any notable side-effects.
As said, just go and get it, but be prepared for one extra investment: without the GigaWatt LC-2 powercord you might be missing a lot. Audiodrom was using the PF-2 as one out of two power distribution units during our extensive power cords test, and, quite surprisingly, as we had many reputable wires on hand, the PF-2 performed always the best with the LC-2. Hope this piece of information saves you some time…
Products reviewed:
GIGAWATT PF-2 power strip, 1290 EUR include the LC-1 power cord
GIGAWATT LC-1 power cord, 190 EUR (1.5m)
GIGAWATT LC-2 power cord, 490 EUR (1.5m)
Kontakt: GigaWatt, Marii Sklodowskiej-Curie 1, 95-100 Zgierz, Poland
© Copyright - images and text: Audiodrom
