"To my mind, such originality deserves a moment of silent appreciation. It's Fine Art of the audiophile sort"

"for the true connoisseur."

"If Gideon Schwartz did plan on another coffee-table book for Phaidon, on The Most Interesting Hifi Inventions... today's Firewall for Headphones would surely have to feature."



"heightens the visibility of connective tissue."

"Instantly notable on the piano's shorter more quickly damped high strings, being enveloped in this connective tissue enriches tone with micro reverb. It also gives transients rising inside the overhang of prior tones a less wiry texture."

"Yet turning it off by removing the Firewall for Headphones dries out this atmospheric element. That also hardens the sounds occurring within in. It's easily demonstrable"



"It goes beyond just more suchness of space. It allows us a deeper look into the ephemeral play of harmonics which give instruments their individual timbre. With the Firewall for Headphones out of the signal path, that overtone spectrum dried out just like the atmospherics."

"I found this difference dead easy to hear."

"The Firewall for Headphone's addition is surprisingly oomphy. It's a bit like what direct-coupled or ZOTL'd triodes do; without any concessions to noise or bandwidth. Recorded space occupies a broader percentage of the listening experience."

"the apparent nothing of empty space becomes its own far-from-nothing entity."

"maximizing this purity could become a heady mandate for super-serious listeners"



"it does exactly what Louis Motek's award-winning Firewall for Loudspeakers already does for speakers."

"It's definitely oomph not uff!"

"The more these modules are in use, the more their effectiveness compounds, specifically backdrop cleanliness, spatial focus and moisture."

"Higher instrumental and vocal hydration, more grounded sound, rounder less chiseled edges, tighter bass, improved clarity, less grain and all virtual shapes rendered more precisely on a background that felt sensibly more pristine."

"Not only do I deem Firewalls very useful with all kinds of speakers, I haven't yet encountered one that wouldn't audibly benefit from such assistance."

"free from any sonic downsides"



"In my system I see LessLoss Firewalls for speakers as necessities rather than accessories."

"Their work may seem mild at first, but disengaging them after a week or two of constant use is plainly painful. Then it hits us how much these small barrels actually contribute, or rather how much is lost upon taking them away."

"Firewalls don't add anything audible to a system's voicing that is not already there in the first place. These aren't tools meant to alter its core flavor. Instead they show how it fares without the well-known byproducts of noise; harshness, sharpness, leanness and grit."

"Bass stripped from noise develops extra heft and fullness alright, but also becomes tighter and more powerful"

"The entire musical image grows larger and more robust, while edginess that causes listening fatigue vanishes. Unsurprisingly, the latest Firewall tailored for headphones follows this exact protocol to a tee. As such it introduces only audible gains."

"More body, less pointy outline edges, less sharpness and less textural gloss, then followed by beefier tighter bass, more pronounced meatier midrange and far superior highs, particularly on decay and smoothness."

"Today's Firewall also greatly boosts the sensation of aural space, so that it feels more breathing, moving and alive."

"The very last instrumental reverbs significantly easier to 'see' and appreciate."

"Clarity is yet again the key word. With cans as resolving as the Susvara, well, this single aspect massively gains on importance. The most interesting thing is that the major quality hike introduced in the process happens alongside the additional provision of substance, textures and body instead of it being in the least decreased in trade as is often the case."

"elevated immediacy, energy, bite and snap"

"I heard primarily smoother and more distinct vocals."



"Sounded more clear and with extra bite to it, as if all its snappy jabs got shorter and more impactful in the process."

"With the LessLoss, the first part struck me as calmer, prettier and all in all fancier, while the energetic outro was noticeably more immediate, muscular and feistier. In other words, the two very distinct parts on that track had their specific quite opposite vibes pronounced better. I found that excellent."

"The Firewall [...] made the entire tune more flowing, still calmer and dreamier."

"Increased smoothness, ease, flow, juiciness and less compressed more distinct instruments. Individual bits on this tune registered as more pronounced sounds, which were again easier to follow and focus on. In effect the entire track registered as a more romantic and sensual version of itself with the LessLoss."

"Noticeable gains on rhythm and swing, as if the main instruments' individual notes were more on point."

"With the Firewall engaged revealed a significantly better grip on bass and less coarse yet fleshier more articulated female vocal."

"Sufficed to keep my ears happy and mark the clear quality bump."

"The Firewall injected more air into the view and dynamically expanded these roars to make them more sensible and instantaneous."

"Voice also struck me as more alive and here, while all the high-pitched sounds registered as quicker, somewhat uplifted, weightier and more shimmery."

"With the Firewall it was less pointy, denser, wilder, more raw, articulated and blunt. Most importantly, the Lithuanian support made a hugely positive difference on this specific song. To my ears the sensation was comparable to listening to it on a floorstander armed with say two small cones, and i.e. Zu Audio DWX armed with one large paper membrane that needs very little power to pump lots of air very effortlessly. The way how such drivers speak the rock language makes them something entirely different on scale, directness and sheer entertainment. The LessLoss simply knew the dialect."

"The bass dug deeper, claps had more snap and body to them, the vocal was more substantial and lifelike and spatial sizing grew noticeably larger. The song felt more intense, enveloping and grander in spite of its somewhat slow-paced rhythm. At that point I had enough data to understand how much the Firewall actually did, and how beneficial it was."

"The Firewall not only supported such repertoire as per the above, but it also allowed me to enjoy it at really loud volume. This was a personal win that I thoroughly appreciated."

"Considering how greatly the LessLoss Firewall elevated my experience with a specimen as universal as these planars, I can't think of any other headphones which wouldn't enjoy such company."

"The tech inside it has been around for years and proved highly effective for many people including yours truly. More importantly, it introduces gains which are very hard to come by elsewhere, especially at a dosage this high and for less coin. Personally I'm very happy that a Firewall device for cans is now a thing and every bit as effective as its awesome speaker siblings."

Hifi Knights
6moons

"...produced extra bass that dug deeper and scored more points on authority, while the resulting stronger, more controlled, overall feel morphed each bass-intense song into a noticeably more massive, yet at the same time agile version of itself."

"The entire landscape [...] also struck me as a fair bit inkier, more calm and spatially sorted. Tonal saturation went up to make fuller, fruitier sound, which seemed as articulated and brimming with details as ever."

"I saw no downsides to these changes, only improvements."

"The conclusion here is twofold. The efficacy of Firewalls inside these products truly piles up. These modules also make a noticeable difference in spite of all the extra contact points and wires along the road. Because of these mechanical obstacles I thought that the two wooden outlets used as described could've either crippled sound quality, or made no difference at all. Their Firewall squad, however, showed a middle finger to that guesswork. Live and learn, as they say."

"...pushed the performance envelope several notches further in the familiar direction and that made quite the difference."

"It enhanced contrasts, extended the color palette, injected extra blackness into the background and unlocked greater firmness and heft."

Hifi Knights
6moons

"...deep background blackness upon which instrumental moisture, resolution and sensation of the aural space itself blossomed."

"...not only removes excess fuzz, bloom, grain and veil, but it also accelerates sonic MO"

"...makes them more open, vigorous and alive."

"...juicy, texturally generous, propulsive, informational and spatially unrestricted at the same time."

"There's no question that the LessLoss' inherently fetching dark round bloomy anchored sound makes a nice first focal point to stop at and appreciate. Once that early sensation settles in however, the product introduces itself as a resolution fiend capable of casting enormously large landscapes busy with easily served details and pinpoint accurate finely outlined sound sources."

"The Lithuanian's ability to behave this velvety, smooth, atmospheric, aurally gifted, elastic and keen on extracting tiniest dust particles is highly admirable in my book."

"... superbly balanced and free from any obvious trade-offs. As such the LessLoss won't steer a setup's general gestalt in any particular direction. Instead it'll gladly and gracefully elevate what's already there."

"The LessLoss renders music as substantially more flowing and digestible than before, which I see as its primary attractor and most critical task."

"This highly universal and accomplished product will audibly improve every setup I can imagine no matter its core flavor. I also think that it has what it takes to hold its ground even against similar opponents higher up in the pricing hierarchy."

"Considering the LessLoss' price, artisanal execution, usefulness, overall sonic performance and its sheer potency, I've found no evidence that'd work against it."

"It's up there with the very best power distributors I've sampled and the most affordable of them all by far."

"This is a fully mature, elegantly voiced effort built upon very advanced noise-rejecting tech that proved highly efficacious."

"Bravo!"

"You can really hear the effect that it has on loudspeakers immediately."

"I have tried the firewalls with tube amps, and solid state amps. I tried them with full range speakers, high efficiency speakers, horn-based speakers, classical dynamical two and three way speakers and with my Rogers LS 3/5. The effect of the Firewalls is always perceptible."

"There's no question about whether this might be self-delusion or wishful thinking."

"You hear the effects immediately."

"The music gains a peacefulness without becoming damped."

"It's not as though you're sitting in a room and try to damp it out with curtains, damping material, that sort of thing."

"On the contrary, you gain clarity through peacefulness."

"Bass is for sure more precise and I'd say springy."

"It's extremely audible that acoustic bass becomes more differentiated, and extremely more colorful and impactful."

"This is not something that is added to the signal, but it really comes from the absence of distorting impulses. This is how I perceive it audibly, because it was immediately noticeable."

"This is also noticeable in the midrange. It sounds more analogue."

"It sounds more sonorous, without at the same time losing any differentiation between lows and highs."

"So really it's a focussing effect which allows you to hear more than you could hear before."

"So for instance listening to a soprano voice, I get the feeling that that's really a human voice I'm listening to."

"This is by no means wishful thinking. For certain it is not."

"Especially with acoustic instruments, the differentiation increases drastically."

"So let's say, in baroque music, with smaller ensembles, with, say, harpsichord accompaniment, one can really hear the differentiation very well."

"This is all to say that, according to however much noise casts its shadows on the sound, this noise is suddenly removed and it improves the overall resulting performance."

"When you can clearly make out bass and lower mids, this can also have a side-effect that it seems the high frequencies have been lessened, for real musical tones are never made up of just one frequency band. So if we make lower and low-mid frequencies finer, softer, but also more differentiated, this will also seem to influence the high frequencies, as it seems new frequency bands appear."

"Don't worry about the Firewall influencing existing speaker cable influence."

"The Firewall for Loudspeakers don't influence the sound's characteristics."

"And the speaker cables, like I said, their sound characteristic is not influenced, it is merely helped by the lack of negative influence in that the signal is cleaned."

"With speakers the effect is the same. With amps as well. I tried tube amps and transistor amps. The effect is exactly the same. You can still hear all the characteristics of each piece of gear."

"I switched back and forth several times between transistor and tube amps. The Firewall did not influence their individual characteristics."

"Instantly recognizable, obviously better, more colorful bass."

"The changes are definitely there and you can hear them."

"Certainly you should really test these."

"You hear it instantly."

"Is it always a positive change? Yes, I would say so."

"For many, this can be a real eye-opener, especially when you consider your system to already be well balanced and mature, these will take it to the next level. Fantastic."

View full german language review here.

An in-depth video review has been published in russian language featuring a whole set of LessLoss equipment.



Professional reviewer Evgeny Shvedov goes into fine detail presenting all manner of LessLoss solutions, and explaining his unusual experience with using our high performance products.



Among the items reviewed are:

Firewall for Loudspeakers.



C-MARC Entropic Process power cables.



Bindbreaker equipment feet.



C-MARC Entropic Process RCA interconnect cables.



Blackbody v.2 ambient field conditioners.



Our new state-of-the-art power distributor with onboard C-MARC Entropic Process cabling and integrated Firewall technology.

This is a new product whose product page is found here.



The plug-and-play C-MARC Entropic Process Firewall 640x.



The Echo's End Original DAC.



The Echo's End Reference Supreme Edition dual chassis DAC with outboard power supply and special C-MARC DC cabling.



If you engage auto-translate on YouTube and choose your native language you can follow along if you don't speak russian.

Product details:

• C-MARC RCA Interconnects
• C-MARC Power Cable
• Firewall Module
• Echo's End
• Bindbreaker equipment feet
• Blackbody


• Power distributor

"It really works, it does make a difference."

"It was immediately apparent and easy to pick out the sonic impact of the Firewall. The very top-end, as well as transients, were exceptionally clearer and with a slight bit more volume to them. This resulted in the sound stage being more apparent and everything at the cymbal frequency range, or other high frequencies, being exceptionally clearer and much easier to understand. The mid-range, as well as the bass, also sounded cleaner."

"It is as if yet another small layer of the obfuscating film had been removed from the recording."

"I also noted the tail-end of the drum strikes or last vocals on a track, whenever a sound was given time to completely decay, was clearer. The slope of the decaying sound was more sustained and natural sounding, and the lower level tail-end of the sound was easier to hear. Plus, when the decaying sound finally faded so low as to no longer hear it, it did so with just a bit more presence in that final transition from life to death."

"During the music, the high level of detail in the decay was also more noticeable, giving what seems like more "space" between the notes of the music or the vocalizations of the singer. For example, Lenard Cohen's lips smacks were a bit more discernible and his voice, on the whole, sounded less compressed and more fully dimensional."

"Easier picking out and understanding all that is going on."

"obvious sonic benefits"

"bass also sounded faster and more detailed"

"doesn't seem to compromise or obscure the effectiveness of good power cables"

"I have enjoyed the benefits of the Firewall, and like Ken, I think I am going to purchase the C-MARC version, as now that I've heard it, I don't want to take a step backward in performance."

LessLoss products reviewed:

Entropic Process Firewall 640X
Entropic Process Firewall for Loudspeakers
Entropic Process C-MARC power cable
Bindbreaker equipment feet



"improvements were pretty much qualitatively consistent among the entire group of LessLoss products."

"definitely give the Entropic power cord consideration."

"Entropic Firewall 640X provided a more significant quantitative improvement"

"Firewall for Loudspeakers and Entropic Firewall 640X: the combination of the two was better than either one alone. Synergy."

"Firewall for Loudspeakers and Entropic Firewall 640X and the Entropic C-MARC power cord: better still."

"becomes obvious once you recognize that it's missing. And this is the key to these products."

"It wasn't until I removed them that I recognized the noise and distortion they had removed. Once I was tuned it at this level, I could then easily recognize their contributions on a relatively quick A/B comparison. In a way, it was just an extension of the process of becoming an audiophile - learning how to listen, but at a higher level than before."

"The removal of noise, more obvious in the treble, but effectively throughout, allowed more inner detail to emerge from the now blacker background."

"improved transparency"

"Without the LessLoss the music had a certain low level of what I'll call "wild behavior". These were micro flashes tone bleaching out, or amplifier clipping or ringing or notes smearing - tiny little distortions, similar to what many recognize as "grain" that reminded me that I was listening to electrically reproduced music, not the real thing."

"These micro distortions can be somewhat exciting at times, such as the striking of a cymbal, and somewhat distracting at other times as I "struggle" to interpret what a musical note or a syllable "should" have sounded like."

"this "struggle" takes mental energy and it tenses up the body."

"The LessLoss works against that "struggle" by removing a layer of haze, making the music and lyrics more obvious. Micro-dynamics and nuance of tonality appear that were unheard of before. My body relaxed and absorbed the music as it came to me, rather than forcing me to lean into the music. The difficult lyrics were more easily understood."

"On my compilation CD I have many signifiers; phrases of words or notes that are challenging for a system to reproduce and challenging for me to hear clearly or cognitively comprehend. With only these few pieces of LessLoss gear in the system, I sailed right through these rough spots, and in most cases, they were the best I had ever heard them."

"strips out noise without interfering with tonal quality or dynamics"

"noise-free listening experience"

"I can testify that it does not interfere with tonal quality as my rig continued to sound the same in that regard, and dynamics seemed unimpeded, too."

"it was very relaxing."

"The Bindbreaker footers outperformed the MiG SX and I expect the current version with the dimpled bottom plate will yield an even higher resolution."

"they [Bindbreakers] performed astonishingly well throughout the audible spectrum with my DAC."

"the Bindbreaker may work best with solid-state gear, but you have to try it with your gear. When it works, it works very well."

"my biggest gains were with the Entropic Firewall 640X and it worked best on the AC line directly feeding my DAC."

"The 640X also worked very well on my preamp where the improvement was experienced with each of my sources."

"keep in mind the forthcoming [LessLoss] power distributor with built-in Firewall 640X technology"

"the Firewall for Speakers made a relatively cost-effective contribution that benefited each of my sources."

"do not make the mistake of thinking power cords are less significant than the main components in your system."

"Sometimes we discover something we like that we didn't even know was an option or a benefit at the outset of our quest. This is what happened for me with the LessLoss gear reviewed here."

"The emotional seductress was replaced by the silky voice of a polished jazz singer. Firmly planted in the 'here and now' of my listening chair, I relaxed and enjoyed the music, unencumbered by any personal emotional drama, just experiencing the beauty of the music. That's the essential difference LessLoss brings to the game. Relax and enjoy. And they do it as well, if not better than anyone else."

"If that's your audiophile destination, I highly recommend you give LessLoss a listen. This Lithuanian company deserves a lot more recognition in the USA."

Product details:

• Entropic Process Firewall 640X
• Firewall for Loudspeakers
• Entropic Process C-MARC power cable
• Bindbreaker equipment feet

"it succeeded in giving me that '3 am' listening experience"

"a layer of artificiality is removed to reveal a more truthful presentation of the music and the artist's intent"

"The colors were richer, the palette was more profound, and the background canvas was calmer. Everything results in an acoustic image that is less distracting"

"Upon initial listening, I was immediately struck by the change the Firewall 640x brought to my sound."

"The tension that I associate with electronic reproduction in general and digital reproduction specifically was significantly reduced"

"It was simply easier to listen to music and allow myself to be fooled by the illusion and bath in that illusion for long periods."

"It is as if my whole body relaxes and does not feel the need to "work" to listen to the music."

"The entire performance was raised to a level I had not previously heard in my listening room"

"The performers' individuality was more outlined, and the Wah-Wah sounds of the different horns were very distinct. I could tell if the horn was directly facing me or slightly off-angle."

"the Firewall 640X takes applause to a new level of reality in my system. The individuality of the clapping hands and the character of each clap is much better distinguished. Crowd noise and whistling in the background, along
with the applause, were all the best I have experienced in my system."

"quiet details are more fully revealed and subtle notes have a bit more dynamic quality standing out against the background in more significant relief."

"The decay of notes and the sense of space is magnified, pulling you into the music. As the piece progresses to its peak, instruments remain locked in place and maintain their individuality."

"I did not sense any dynamic compression with the Firewall in place."

"I was enamored by the impact of the Firewall 640x. Piano tone and body take on greater weight, and individual notes become more easily understood. The very subtle nuances of Ms. Horn's singing were more apparent. Sighs and breaths took on a more significant role in the emotion of the song."

"Brushes on the skin of a drumhead are more detailed, and I was able to understand better the drummer 'working' the brush on the drum."

"The impact of the Firewall 640x was not subtle, and it was quickly apparent in my system. Many types of information were more readily revealed, the space the recording was made in, the reverberation trail of the instruments, the individual components of harmony, subtle inflections of the artist on their instrument. Voices and instruments have a more truthful timbre and occupy a more believable space and yield more dynamic expression within that space. All of this led me to feel more connected with the music as it sounded less reproduced and more accurate. I will say this 'connection to the music' was more consistently present in my system throughout the day and night than has been in the past."

"I will tell you now that I will be adding the LessLoss Firewall 640x C-MARC to my list of 'waypoint' products that have reset my expectations in a product category."

[This article appears in original Dutch language in Music Emotion print magazine.]

"...a very different and special product."

"...a startling increase in ease, tranquility, fluency, relaxation and integrity."

"...you are closer to the actual intent of the music itself and much less concerned with reproduction."

"Significant strides have clearly been made here."

"The Firewall 640x shows very well that the blow with the brushes on the snare drum and the bass lines played by John Illsley sound completely natural and more importantly, that all band members really audibly playing together!"

"With the Firewall 640x really new insights arise. It sounds more intimate, involved and colorful and when I equip all the devices in my chain with these wooden devices, there really is next level insight into this beautiful album. Magnificent."

"...being able to disconnect even further from so-called 'hi-fi' listening and thus make even better contact with the intention of the performers."

"...the almost complete disappearance of the previously observed rounding that strikes me the most."

"This Firewall 640x makes music anything but soft and soft. No, what I mean has more to do with the observation that most hi-fi equipment applies a subtle (or less subtle) 'hard' edge along the contours. Think of it as a make-up eye-liner. The Lessloss 640x removes this line and thus shows the person or in this case the music in a more natural way."

"The mains pollution is dealt with in a more natural way and as a result you can get closer to the performers. As far as I'm concerned, the strength of this product lies in more and deeper musical satisfaction in the long term."

"It is downright clever and intriguing how Louis Motek and his team time and time again, with almost insatiable hunger, an increasing level of knowledge and enormous motivation, manage to improve their existing designs time and time again. Anyone who has been acquainted with Lessloss products before will immediately recognize the hand of the master here as well. But on a much higher and more refined level."

"This is another one of those rare products where you miss them when you take them off the chain."

"It is also clearly a long-term solution that you will appreciate more and more and where the 'magic' takes more and more possession of the user, as it were. A fact which is caused on the one hand because the audio set will perform more easily and smoothly, but also because of the increased naturalness with fewer artefacts that invites longer listening sessions."

"The beloved reproduction of your own beloved audio system remains completely intact and recognizable. Only then further stripped of clutter in the mains and in terms of tuning with an intriguing ear for the best aspects that get even better."


Original review in Dutch
Automated English language translation
Republished review in FWD magazine