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Thread: Schitt Loki eq. or (Jolida) Black Ice Foz SS-X sound enhancement

  1. #1
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    Schitt Loki eq. or (Jolida) Black Ice Foz SS-X sound enhancement

    Interesting gear. I have been looking for something that may add a bit of bass enhancement at low volume listening sessions and these appear reasonably priced albeit with rca connectors only. Has anyone tried either one? If so, what are your thoughts?
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    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Thanks for asking... I was unaware of both and did a bit of quick on-line research on them. Interesting niche products. I remember back in the day there were literally dozens of little line level boxes you could buy to plug into your system to expand the dynamics, remove clicks and pops, to increase this, or decrease that, add ambiance etc.

    Some years later at the high end, Mr. Mark Levinson introduced the Cello Palette... don't see too much of this sort of thing these days.

    Interesting to see a couple of new additions in this arena at "affordable" price points. I am sure to some extent they do what they claim to do. Will it make your system better? I would submit, it will make your system sound different, and that may be all it takes to please you.


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    Senior Member macaroonie's Avatar
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    Ah yes the Cello Palette , quite a remarkable piece of kit.

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    Senior Member 1audiohack's Avatar
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    HI Tom;

    Would you entertain anything other than these two devices?

    I won't dilute your thread if not.

    Is this for the 4365's? Are you still using the Array1500's?

    Barry.
    If we knew what the hell we were doing, we wouldn't call it research would we.

  5. #5
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    Yes, I still have the 4365. Currently with a Marantz PM-10 and SA11S3 sacd player. Until (and if) I change back to the McIntosh MC601/C50 combo the 1500 Array is sidelined.

    I still have the 1400 Arrays and the Marantz system (MA9S2/SC7S2/SA7S1) upstairs...…

    Been toying with the idea of trying out my Sansui G-8000 on the 4365's for sh%ts and giggles just for the loudness switch....

    What are your thoughts?
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  6. #6
    Senior Member 1audiohack's Avatar
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    I have two solutions that please me.

    dbx has a what they call AutoWarmth. This is only used in the ZonePro and 4800-4820 units. The ZonePro is likely below the quality to be used in your full range signal chain but works great in the sub woofer signal path. The 4800 sounds like a wire but is obsolete and still quite expensive.

    This type of LF fain logic can be built into the current BSS units but this is quite advanced programming that takes some serious study, at least for a dope like me.

    My absolute favorite LF gizmo is the old Audio Control Phase Coupled Activator. I can’t hear any degradation in full range signal chain for my 4435’s or 4365’s. I haven’t put on in the Everest signal chain so I don’t know how far one can go with these.

    This thing takes the range between the mid 30’s to about 160Hz and swells every other wave in that signal creating a subsonic boost of what is really in the signal. I will see if I can find some scope shots and magnitude measurements I took of these when I was working to understand how it worked.

    On the 4435’s I use it at its lowest setting which it says is -200%. On the 4365’s when running without subs I run it about -125%. In a system capable of reproducing solid bass this is all it takes to really make it sound great at low volume. In a tape loop switching it in and out the difference is both subtile and staggering.

    I have found if you plug one into just the subs it will unbalance the system as it wants to extends into the midbass to sound its best. That’s why I asked if you still used the Array 1500 subs.

    There is nearly always one or two on the bay and they sell between $200-250.

    I absolutely love them and have several. You can demo one if you would like.

    Barry.
    If we knew what the hell we were doing, we wouldn't call it research would we.

  7. #7
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1audiohack View Post
    My absolute favorite LF gizmo is the old Audio Control Phase Coupled Activator. I can’t hear any degradation in full range signal chain for my 4435’s or 4365’s. I haven’t put on in the Everest signal chain so I don’t know how far one can go with these.
    Thanks for mentioning this gadget Barry. As a company I really respect AudioControl and use their amps in many of my projects (designing systems for other people's homes), but I was never a fan of their "Richter Scale" or their fairly simple consumer EQ units.

    That said, I was completely unfamiliar with this device. Here is what appears to be a reasonable review of the critter.

    https://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_3_1/v3n1h.html

    Here is the owner's manual with additional useful info.

    https://www.audiocontrol.com/downloa...s%20Manual.pdf

    At the end of the day, it sounds like it is kind of a "loudness contour" on steroids. I think it could be useful in many systems... as long as they can handle the extra bass power requirements.


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  8. #8
    Senior Member 1audiohack's Avatar
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    I have never seen the series three PCA. Thank you Widget.

    Like the review I find using a PCA in just the sub signal path can unbalance an otherwise well integrated system.

    Now if I could figure out how to insert one of these things in a side chain gain logic EQ so it came out of the signal chain completely at a given volume level that might approach nirvana.

    Barry.
    If we knew what the hell we were doing, we wouldn't call it research would we.

  9. #9
    Senior Member grumpy's Avatar
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    Pretty sure something similar could indeed be done with a BSS (I believe there's an example of a signal-level based 'loudness' function that does much of that). Trick would be the subharmonic generator (lots of room for fun experimentation/novel implementation).

    Or... old dbx 120A or 510 (500-series module) 4800 looks like its control set is the same (two bands ~1/2 octave each, Subharmonic level, bass boost)

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