User Reviews

Published LessLoss Reviews Now Number Over 727

Firewall Module; C-MARC bulk wire and cable

Date Added: 02/20/2020 
[High performance joint partnership recording between LessLoss, Boenicke Audio and Audio Consulting, implemented using C-MARC Hook-up wire and LessLoss latest Firewall technology.]

I've had a chance to listen to the recording by now, and it is really incredible - thank you!

Since I downloaded it late at night, I first listened through headphones. There, I was first struck by clarity and dynamics. But the real thing, I believe, only comes through the speakers. It is there that I really appreciated not only the quality but also the technique of the recording. It is one of the very few piano recordings I’ve heard where you almost get the tactile experience alongside the sonic one. It places you not in the audience but almost on the performer’s stool, as it were. (BTW, I have to listen more to it, but my first impression was that the positions of some mikes were changed for the second CD, no?) The middle parts of Part 4 and Part 5 are truly amazing: the way lower and higher octaves sound together, losing neither their distinctiveness nor togetherness, is, again, something I don’t think I heard before in piano recordings.

So thank you again!
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 02/17/2020 by Udo Baier
[German language original.]

Ich bin so begeistert von dem Klanggewinn, dass ich es dir gleich mitteilen wollte.

Meinerseits kann ich bis jetzt nur gutes über deine Produkte sagen, schreiben und weiterempfehlen.

Meine Anlage ist nicht von den Teuersten, aber vielleicht gerade deshalb wirkt es sich so stark aus.

Nur für dich als Vergleich meine Anlage:

Musikquelle = PC
USB Transport = Mutec MC3+Usb
DAC = Meitner MA1
Vorverstärker = Yamaha CX A5000
Endstufe = JOB (Goldmund)
Lautsprecher = Jamo R 907

Gestern habe ich das Paket erhalten und gleich die Firewall-Teile angeschlossen. Du hast nicht übertrieben wenn du sagst "blown away" auch ohne Einspielzeit.
Schon nach den ersten Takten Musik merkte ich den großen Unterschied zu vorher.

Hatte nie ein gutes Quellgerät gehabt, spiele alles über meinen PC ab, den ich hifi tauglich aufgerüstet habe.

Mit den Firewall Teilen (64X; USB und nun Lautsprecher) von dir und manchen anderen Geräten ist mein PC für mich sehr Audiophil geworden.

Mit diesem Klang bin ich sehr zufrieden. Alles klingt reiner, freier, genauer, tiefer und unermüdlicher, nicht nervig.

Am selben Tag erhielt ich auch einen Mutec MC3+USB den ich nun als USB Transport nutze von PC zum DAC und diese Kombi ist ziemlich perfekt, obwohl ich am Lautsprecheranschluss, der bi wiring ist, nur Hoch-Mittelton mit den Firewall angeschlossen habe.

Wie wird es klingen mit Firewall an beiden Anschlüssen???

Gratulation zu dieser Entwicklung.





[English translation]

I am so impressed by the improvements in sound quality that i wanted to waste no time in sharing with you. 

I have nothing but good things to share about your products, and highly recommend them.

My setup is not one of the most expensive, but perhaps that's the reason the effect was so great.

Just for context, here is my system:

Source = PC
USB Transport = Mutec MC3+Usb
DAC = Meitner MA1
Preamp = Yamaha CX A5000
Power amp = JOB (Goldmund)
Loudspeakers = Jamo R 907

Yesterday I received the parcel and immediately connected the Firewalls for Loudspeakers. You were not exaggerating when you said "blown away," even with zero break-in.  It didn't take more than a few measures of music to realize the large difference from before. 

I never had a serious source. I've always played back through my PC, which I have upgraded to HiFi performance. 

With the Firewalls (64X, USB and now Loudspeaker) and some other gadgets I've managed to get audiophile quality out of my PC.

I'm very happy with the sound now. Everything sounds more pure, more free, more exact, deeper and more pleasant. It does not get on my nerves. 

Even though my loudspeaker terminals enable bi-wiring and I only connected the Firewalls to the Mid/High terminals. I wonder how it will sound if I connect another Firewall for Loudspeakers to the bass???

Congratulations on this development.
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 02/17/2020 by Ravi Balasubramanian, New Zealand
Received the Firewall for Loudspeakers over 2 weeks ago. Connected it to an AV system which uses high efficiency speakers - JBL with Lecleach horns (Be diaphragms) and Altec 416c bass units. All I can say is:

Bloody hell! What is happening here!! way more more resolution and impact across the spectrum!
Well done louis to you and your team!!

I now have a problem- my main system is bi- amped which means I need 2 pairs of these. I need two stereo pairs as I have a bi-amped system that is devoted exclusively to music listening (Accuphase F25 active crossover, 300B SE amp for mid highs and NCORE amp for bass).

The power supply filter with Firewall 64X power conditioning unit is just as impressive. I used the Firewall 64X to filter a power strip with my Revox B77 and Stax T1 amp and Stax headphones connected to it. The quality of music on pre-recorded and other tapes is amazing with the cleaned power supply. I am not easily impressed as I have tried various improvements such as power cable upgrade, balanced transformer etc., and achieved only reasonable incremental improvements in each step - not quantum jumps!

Cheers!
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 02/15/2020 by Denis
Firewall for Loudspeakers


The wait and the pre-order price were worth it ...

Do you practice witchcraft?

The improvement is global from the installation and is equivalent to an upgrade of electronic equipment, the gap exceeds the change of a good for an excellent cable .... !!
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C-MARC bulk wire and cable

Date Added: 02/14/2020 by Nik
Ich habe meine "WireWorld Mini-Eclipse 7 LS-Kabel" durch C-MARC Exemplare ersetzt. Am meisten beeindruckt, dass S-Laute entschärft werden - ja durch das Lautsprecherkabel! Wenn man zum Beispiel das Pfeiffen von Livingston Taylor bei seinem Song "Isn't she lovely" hört, so war das mit den alten Kabeln ein schneidender, im Ohr fast schmerzhaft klingender Ton. Durch die LessLoss Kabel ist die unangenehme Komponente komplett verschwunden und das Pfeiffen klingt wunderbar natürlich. Interessant ist außerdem, dass der Bass jetzt deutlich tiefer runtergeht und - trotz Röhrenendstufen - deutlich druckvoller und strukturierter daher kommt. Außerdem sind noch mehr Details in der Musik wahrnehmbar, die vorher wohl irgendwie im alten Kabel verloren gegangen sind. Das fuhr zu etwas mehr Luft zwischen den Musikern und noch etwas besserem Raumeindruck.

In Summe also mehr Präzision bei gleichzeitig natürlicherem Klang, zwei Eigenschaften die sich normalerweise gegeseitig ausschließen...

[German language original]


I replaced my WireWorld Mini-Eclipse 7 loudspeaker cable with a C-MARC Coaxial wired as a single polarity. I'm most impressed by the way that - through a change of loudspeaker cable(!) - sibilants are now less harsh. For example, when I listen to Livingston Taylor's whistling in his song "Isn't she lovely" with the older cables, it came through as a cutting, almost painful tone which hurt my ears. With the LessLoss cables, this uncomfortable aspect disappeared completely and the whistling now sounds wonderfully natural. In addition, now the bass is considerably deeper, despite using tube amps, and has better impact and is structured and more solid. Also, I can hear more detail in the music which were somehow completely missing in the older cable. This leads to more "air" between the musicians and a better sense of soundstage.

To sum it up, I'm getting more precision and at the same time a more natural sound, two traits that you'd normally consider contradictory...

[English translation by Louis Motek]
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 01/24/2020 by Joerg Meinhardt
Firewall for Loudspeakers ... Daisy Chained

This is my 3rd report on these firewalls. This time upon LessLoss' claim, that more is better :)

Since I have bi-wiring loudspeakers, I needed 2 sets of firewalls to cover the double inputs of the speakers. I "cheated"on the bi-wiring, by running a single loudspeaker cable into a splitter at the loudspeaker inputs, before the firewalls arrived.

At first, I did not want to risk any sound quality, by adding this splitter between the firewalls and the speaker. After my fantastic experience with daisy chaining the firewalls for power, which ended in ordering a custom power distributor with "lots" of firewalls inside, I could not leave it like this and changed to daisy chained firewalls for loudspeakers as well. So my splitter went right into the speakers again and the firewalls could be daisy chained as single cables down to the speaker cables.

Wow, what a change. Again more of the same improvements, more presence and resolution and space and bass and less unwanted sibilance.

Get yourself a treat and get a second set of firewalls for loudspeakers. Maybe kick out the entire loudspeaker cable and replace it by as many firewalls as needed to reach your amp from the speakers ... Should try this myself :) My wife won't like the looks though :(

And another bravo to LessLoss for a C-MARC replacement of my normal loudspeaker cable splitter. It just did the same as all LessLoss solutions ... plenty more natural and organic, resolved, richer, ...

Now I am sure, I will replace the remaining loudspeaker cable as well !!!

Thanks so much Louis and team. You make me happy with my stereo!!!
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DFPC Series [Reference]

Date Added: 01/22/2020 by Matjaz Kaltnekar, Slovenia
I admit being a little late to the party. The DFPC Series power cables have been in the meantime replaced by the C-MARC power cables. But better late than never.

While I could never dream to own such an expensive power cable as the DFPC Reference at an original price of 1.824 USD, since my whole system consists of components in the 2.500 EUR range (Marantz SA14S1 SE and PM14S1 SE by the late famous audio guru Ken Ishiwata and B&W 805S speakers connected by Siltech Classic Anniversary 330L loudspeaker cables), I am very pleased that by the price reduction I could upgrade from the Original to the Reference range.

Since I listen mostly to female vocal jazz like Patricia Barber, Jacintha and Melody Gardot, I prefer a certain sound – let's call it a seductive midrange. I abhor shrill highs and don’t really need an extra deep bass, since the B&W 805S don’t go below 46 Hz. I prefer stand mounted loudspeakers like the 805S over floor standers since they “disappear” better in the room. A precise stereo image is also very important to me.

So much for the introduction. Now to the first impressions. Thank God I have been informed of the long burn-in time by Mr. Motek as the first sound was one of very shrill highs. I usually use Patricia Barber's song The Thrill is Gone from Cafe Blue for checking cymbals and the double bass. The cymbals were very zingy or should I say glassy. While listening to the double bass I had the impression of listening to a bass guitar like Santana’s. The imaging that before was very directional, came out from just the speakers. I said: “OMG, what have I done. Buying something without prior auditioning.” The fact about getting 70% of the final sound during initial listening referred to by an article about burn-in by Mr. Motek seemed very far-fetched. Thankfully that is why a 30-day money-back guarantee exists.

But I knew I had to persist. I let it run through the whole night and another day and on the third day the image nicely opened up. The same song with the title The Thrill is gone should be renamed to The Thrill has returned since Patricia Barber's voice now gave me goosebumps. The instruments were settling down nicely an octave or two, my wife even commented that maybe the piano sound was even a little bit too dark. But for me the sound was just perfect and I was in seventh heaven.

A perfect example was A Taste of Honey from the same CD. It starts with the guitar. I have never heard the fingering of the strings as clearly as that evening. When Patricia started to sing, it was really a taste of honey. After that the drums joined the guitar and as I have already said I really don't need a super deep bass. What has gotten to me, was the uncanny rhythm of the bongo drums. I couldn't help myself to start tapping with my foot to the rhythm of the drums.

Another singer that always gives me goosebumps is Jacintha. Moon River from her CD Autumn Leaves is a perfect example of her seductive voice. It is supposed to be a cappella singing. Only if you listen very closely you can hear a piano in the back of the hall during the first 2:20 minutes. The LessLoss DFPC Reference power cables with its quiet background have produced these details as no power cables before.

Jacintha's bonus track from the same CD Here's to Life is a brilliant performance by Jacintha and the famous jazz pianist Kei Akagi. By the sound of it I could swear it was a Steinway. Only the best power cables bring out the texture of the piano like this. I am not sure if I can describe this correctly, but the note from the hammer strike on the piano string takes much longer to decay than with previous power cables giving the music a much more powerful presentation. There is some theory involved with this - you can google it under "Modelling the Decay of Piano Sounds". I am more and more amazed how many more details I get out of the same recordings that I have thought I knew so well.

Now for my final impressions after two weeks of burn-in. I have a sampler CD Ballads in Blue from Enja Records where for testing purposes I usually listen to the first two songs by Melissa Walker (A Time for Love) for the piano and Dusko Goykovich (No Love Without Tears) for the trumpet. I usually jump over the next songs to the last song by Chet Baker (I Fall in Love Too Easily) for his unusual voice where I never know if it is really a man singing or is it a mezzo-soprano voice like Ella Fitzgerald. Also the trumpet and string instruments (orchestra) are very nicely recorded. As it is a live recording it starts with applause. You can always hear a cables time coherence by listening to hands clapping or fingers snapping. With lesser cables the image is very diffuse, it seems to come more from the loudspeakers as from a central audience. Here you can really feel like you are sitting in the audience

Now for the piece de resistance. Before that last song there is a piano recording by Abdullah Ibrahim (Eleventh Hour) which I usually jump over during testing as there has been nothing special to the recording until now. Now for the first time I could really appreciate why Enja Music have put this song on the sampler. There are some cymbals which until now were all seeming to come from the same space in the recording. Now for the first time I could hear that there were actually 3 distinct directions (very close but nevertheless in separate space). I have read something like that in one review but I always take such reviews with a grain of salt. Now I can really understand what the reviewer was trying to convey. There are some authors that swear they can identify a brand of cymbals like for example the Zildjians from other cymbals. I am not nearly that far but the same as with piano notes I can distinctly hear the longer reverb/decay of the cymbal strike. Also in the piano you can hear the pedals being pressed, the very details that have been missing until now.

Also all the shrillness that I have heard on the first day has gone out of the recordings. The cymbals have now the right sound, the brushes don’t sound like sandpaper any more. The trumpet still has the brassy sound that I love so much and the piano has a very lifelike appearance.

Let me say at the end that I am very thrilled by the improvement the power cables have made to my system. I have spent a lot of money on my system already but this was one of the best investments I have made until now.
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 01/17/2020 by Ken Sternberg
Very pleased with everything I’ve recently added...

Combined with all the Firewall 64Xs, those two sets of Firewall for Loudspeakers have made for a substantial improvement in the sound.

Musicians sound closer - very much like they’re in the room.

Listening is more involving, engaging, and it has become easier to let go and relax into the flow of the music.

I am more frequently riveted by how natural the recordings sound now - the timing and tonality of instruments come through so beautifully!

Everything’s more coherent and just more believable.

This has been a worthy upgrade!

I had an audiophile and musician friend over this evening, and we listened together to assess the effect of my two biwired sets Firewall for Loudspeakers.

We listened to two tunes.

Johnny Hodges: Blues-A-Plenty (Verve):

Playing with, then without the Firewall for Loudspeakers.

W/out FWfLS:

Washed out, not as focused, less depth to the sound - things sound thinner, more diffuse and rather too bright.

There aren't as much overtones in the lows, making a piano seem more clangy sounding by comparison

Cannonball Adderley: Somethin’ Else (Blue Note):

Playing without, then adding back LL FWfLS:

With FWfLS:

There's more body, resonance, depth, more three dimensionally to the music; it is just less electronic sounding - everything feels more natural, like real instruments sound & less like reproduced instruments heard on a good audio system.

Timing and space seem improved with less overhang. For instance, a quickly played string bass has more woodenness to it, while intonation and incisiveness are maintained.

Hearing the plucked strings' pitch, the notes' decay trail off in volume just as they should.

(We remarked we are probably hearing everything with much cleaner sound and with better resolution even than what Rudy Van Gelder was getting as he listened over the monitors in his studio.)
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 01/14/2020 by Colin Gray
The Firewalls for Loudspeakers are another HUGE success in my system!

This is a perfect example of how one thinks all the ‘noise’ has already been removed from the system, after the great success of the Firewalls for mains power, but with these new modules now added, yet further dramatic improvements have been achieved.

These improvements are along the same lines as with the power Firewalls, i.e. simply put, yet more clarity and realism.

The clear message is that, no matter how good you think that your system sounds, you simply don’t know what ‘noise’ is still there, degrading the SQ of the music, until it has been removed.

Thanks again for yet another remarkable product.
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Echo's End; Bindbreaker; C-MARC XLR balanced signal cable, stereo pair; C-MARC Classic Power Cable

Date Added: 01/06/2020 by Arthur Ross
I would like to tell all of your potential future owners and/or current owners of any and all LessLoss products, past or current, that because I have a coterie of close friends and former associates who are always anxious to buy (for the past several years, only LessLoss offerings) from one owner (me) of LessLoss products, I have been in the process of upgrading. Because of that fortunate position I have been an owner of virtually every power cable, USB cable, USB keys, interconnect, Firewall 1x through 64x, analog hardware from the Echo's End Original to the Reference and now to the Reference Supreme twin-chassis unit.

These statements are not driven by an ego trip or braggadocio. It is jut a statement of fact based upon my personal experience as an audio hobbyist which began decades ago by building much of my original equipment. Over those many years my systems grew enormously with much legendary equipment to my current system which is solely sourced from audio streaming to digital output DAC, and amp listening via headphones only.

As one might expect over my many years of experience in this hobby, at every upgrade, I experienced the hope for improvement. Something I did not anticipate nor expect since beginning to incorporate LessLoss products into my system was the extent, the level of the immediate and future improvement that resulted. Such was beyond any prior experience with non LessLoss equipment.

In my communications over recent years with other owners of LessLoss products I have come to find that my experience was not unique. We have all noted that the improvement actually realized, frequently "out of the box," far exceeded the results experienced with products from other manufacturers.

In every case when an upgrade was suggested, the resulting revelatory experience was always immediate, and improved even more over time... And always exceeded what was expected. Candidly, LessLoss is a breath of fresh air in this industry of "grandiose promises resulting in nano-delivery."
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LessLoss History From the Very Beginnings

LessLoss started its business on Audiogon in late 2007. Within the first couple of month, word about LessLoss spread like wildfire among Audiogon members. Here is the feedback received from our clients during our first year of operation. This is from even before we had our own website.

Louis is one of the best in the business, truly professional and very fast production and delivery. I am very satisfied by your superb service. Many thanks.

Positive by Buyer Sebastian (135) on 07-29-2008

Excellent transaction with Lessloss on dynamic filtering power cord. Good communications & fast shipping. A+++++

Positive by Buyer Sennett (45) on 07-03-08

Bought 3 pc's from Liudas in Jan/08. Outstanding product as advertised. Performance is everything and more than I expected. Kudos to Lessloss cable for a great product. Very highly recommended...A+++

Positive by Buyer Phillykid (33) on 06-19-08