User Reviews
Published LessLoss Reviews Now Number Over 727
DFPC Original (legacy)DFPC Signature (legacy)DFPC Reference (legacy)DFPC Series (legacy) (all)Digital Cable (legacy)Firewall (legacy)Anchorwave (legacy)Homage to Time (legacy)Tunnelbridge (legacy)Laminar Streamer (legacy)Bindbreaker (legacy)
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Firewall Module
All PCs LessLoss DFPC signature
IC: LessLoss Anchorwave, HMS Sestetto
USB: Transparent Audio
LessLoss Firewall 1st Generation, Furutech TP-609 distributor
Innous Zen Server
Ayre QB 9
Octave Audio HP 500 se Preamplifier
Adam Audio Pencil active
LessLoss Blackbody x3 first generation
Different Resonance Control devices and custom built rack
After I bought the first generation firewall, I listened happily for almost 10 years. I remember calling it the single most important upgrade to the sound quality of my system and my listening experience.
Recently I upgraded from a customized Mac mini to the Innous Zen and was blown away by what is possible by optimizing the way that digital signals are handled on the way to one's DAC. I also had the Innous Zenith at home but decided against it, because of the more natural sound of the zen. Dynamics, Tone, Harmonics, natural integration of details, and emotional quality of the presentation are what I am looking for.
After living with the zen for a while, I was wondering what else could be possible. Having too much time because of the pandemic, I looked at the LessLoss website and contacted Louis, asking about what upgrade path he would recommend. Right away he proposed a custom made distributor, which would bring a substantial upgrade never before experienced. Although in these hard times money doesn’t come to you that easily, I figured, if I had to stay at home for a couple of months, I want at least phenomenal sound. After exchanging a plethora of emails with me asking questions and Louis answering sometimes in a matter of minutes I ordered the distributor and one new C-MARC IC to try. After two weeks I received a box with the distributor and the cable.
Before I get into the details of how everything sounds, I have to talk about Louis. He is the most responsive person I have ever done business with. By far! And I remember thinking this already 10 years ago when I first started doing business with Louis. To keep this level of service up over such a long time is alone an achievement. Thank you, Louis.
If you haven’t read about burn-in on the LessLoss website and remember your experiences everything starts off pretty good and then gets worse and slowly builds up to sounding as good as it can. In between, you experience performance bumps. It was exactly like this with the cable and the distributor. After two weeks everything sounded stable with the usual bad system day.
The Sound Difference
This distributor does exactly what I dreamed of and more. I will not talk about music but more about instruments. Listening to a concert grand gives me the feeling I stand right beside the instrument and look at the performer. I can hear him breathing, have a sense of the size and scale of the instrument, hear the pedals moving and the influence of the pedal work, and the whole mechanic action on the sound of the instrument. Ah, of course, I also hear the performer move. What is most satisfying, is that all this sounds completely natural. Not as if somebody puts a magnifying glass on the scene! More as if the instrument is in your room. If it is recorded that way of course. Before introducing the Firewall, I could maybe hear 25% of this. Don’t get me wrong, people said to my system before, that it sounds wonderful and I thought so myself. But hearing the microdynamics of a gently played chord and the full impact of somebody banging on a piano is so profoundly different to what I was accustomed to, that it is not easy to not sound like someone is extremely exaggerating the effect of a distributor. I was dreaming of this magnitude of a change but was not prepared for the impact this change made on the sound and my listening experience.
Listening to chamber music, it sounds like chamber music, listening to orchestras you hear the size of the concert hall. Sometimes you sit in the first row, sometimes further away. Each recording sounds distinctly different. No need to listen searching for differences, they are immediately apparent. With some recordings, the walls of my room disappear. Sadly not with all ;-)
I also listen to a lot of electronic music. After marveling in the newfound naturalness for days, sometimes wanting to just listen e.g. to the 1st movement and suddenly realizing that I listened to the whole symphony, maybe sometimes a little disturbed by the sheer dynamics I was experiencing. More than once I was worried if my speakers would survive - but not only did they easily take each macrodynamic blow, but also sounded extremely controlled.
But back to electronic music. It is as if my whole system has gained a whole octave in the bass region. And the bass is so articulate and punchy. Before, I had to fight with my room modes in the 31 and 62 Hz region, always leaving me unsatisfied with the bass response of my system. I know that the firewall cannot change the physics of my room, but it seems to control the frequency extremes so well, that it does not matter as much in my situation.
This week I invited my brother, who is a professional recording engineer, to have a listen. Before we started listening we had to talk and catch up on each other’s life after not seeing each other for three months. While we were drinking some wine in our kitchen I had some easy listening jazz in the background. We were talking and then I had to finish cooking, so my brother went to the listening room and didn’t come back until I called him and the family for dinner.
After sitting down he said: „Damn that sounds good, what exactly did you change?“ He couldn’t believe that a distributor can have an effect this profound. He was amazed at the micro and macro dynamics, about the naturalness of instruments. „This sounds as if you are in a world-class studio with the musicians, listening as they play live.“
Everything which I love about my system is so much better now. Does everything sound good? No, sadly not. Some recordings are now unbearable. Especially overcompressed ones. But most recordings gain so much from this change in my system, that I am constantly listening to pieces that I skipped in the past. The music does speak more clearly to me now.
Is this distributor worth the asking price? Compare a 5000 Euro amplifier to a 10.000 Euro one. I doubt that the gains you can have by changing a component in this price range can have such a profound effect on any system as the firewall does. Highly recommended.
I hope this helps your customers with their buying decision and I hope you can read past my spelling and grammar mistakes. I didn’t have time to check for it. Since the economy is picking up again I am extremely busy and could only listen for an hour the whole weekend :-(
Hope everybody is doing fine out there
Stay save and healthy
Claudius from Berlin, Germany
Oh and of course I kept the C-MARC RCA interconnect. If there is a LessLoss house sound, then the C-MARC fits in perfect. No idea how Louis and his team do it. Here you get consistency across all products!
Firewall Module
If you are interested in the longer version:
I have been tuning my system for a long time. The speakers are Vivid Giya G2 powered by Line magnetic 508. Got filter, cables, dacs, etc. Most of the upgrades brought me a step closer to the audiophile nirvana.
However, after swapping my cables and installing the firewalls to my LS, I feel like all the puzzles got to the right place and my system has reached the finish line - finally. To name some positive changes that make me so happy:
1. fuller bolder sound allover the frequencies
2. but with increased detail level at the same time. So this is not the typical increased transparency coming with inevitable thinner sound kind of solution. I dunno how this could be done but it works.
3. absolutely zero fatigue - whatever I play, at any volume level. Nothing. Zero. And I am very sensitive to fatigue from hifi. Always watched out for components that would kill my pleasure from listening
4. everything is more natural in size, timbre and soundstage, vocals, everything
5. fuller bass but without syrupy sound. with still higher definition and accuracy (how can this be even done?- fuller more detailed bass is an oxymoron!)
6. highs also more transparent and very natural sounding
I confess - since i installed everything at once (dont have time for testing) I dunno if this all is thanks to the cables or the firewall. Im sure both upgrades did they part. And to be honest, I dont even care!
With this genial purchase I turned my system to P E R F E C T. Period.
So thats it. I m going to listen to some Fleetwood Mac now.
Urge everybody to try out!
PS: service from Louis was top notch as always...
C-MARC Classic Power Cable
Well, after two weeks with both new cables in my system, things have gone exactly as you suggested.
On first listen I could hear some improvement in overall clarity, but nothing that would warrant the cost. Things went all over the place for the next week, but on the eighth night when I sat down to listen, the SQ was simply glorious resulting in a huge smile on my face. SQ has remained consistently at this new level of ‘realism’ during the second week. All of the CDs that I have played over this period sound like they are new remixed/remastered versions with superb clarity and realism to the sound. Some instruments and especially backing / harmony vocals have been given more prominence and can take you by surprise, even on tracks I have listened to for some 40 years.
The most enjoyable and satisfying sensation now, whilst listening to music, is that it has this ‘wrap-around’ feeling that my ‘speakers have disappeared and I am wearing giant, super-comfortable headphones!
Another brilliant product and promise fulfilled by LessLoss!
C-MARC Classic Power Cable
I am 50 years old and sound was a hobby since I was 15.
Without mentioning brands, I have tried everything. I don't read reviews, from my experience it's the wrong way to go.
I ran into your product by accident, as a friend was mentioning that he has a power cable to sell.
I have made that mistake and took it for trial, basically I was so sure of myself and I only wanted to prove him wrong. To make a long story short, I have ended up replacing all my power cables to the LessLoss C-MARC power cables then to the Bindbreaker and now I'm saving for the Firewall filters.
When I met one of the biggest and most expensive Japan's brands I new then that I have met the top of ultra high end, I was still thinking that about them but when it comes to power cables I was deadly wrong.
I haven't tried the signal cable yet, honestly I'm afraid I'll have to try it, moreover I'm thrilled to imagine that something can sound better than what I'm using at the moment.
This is what I wrote to Louis 24 hours after connecting 5 of his C-MARC power cables:
Dear Louis,
I just want to tell you that I'm deeply impressed and that desn't come easy.
I thought I saw it all. I'm not going into details nor micro aspects of your work. In grand, macro view, let me tell you this, you are the real thing!
Your products are real, sadly it's a huge compliment in a time when it's usually all about the package. Your package is a plastic bag, inside that plastic bag I found a big brain and heart.
Your products are simply remarkable, one doesn't need more than minutes to understand, hear and feel you are touching the sky or listening to the sound of heaven, that is how I felt, kind of like nirvana.
It is a triumph, I read that somewhere, but this time it's true.
Please count me as one of your ambassadors, followers,,,,
Yours truly,
Moti
I just want to add one thing that I believe everyone who contacted Louis by mails, phone or in person will agree to. Your attention to customers, your availability at any moment, your advice, those are hard to find. And all is done with modesty, authority and knowledge above all.
Just keep up the hard work and stay as you are.
Moti.
Firewall Module
Back in January I had invested heavily in peripherals meant to clean up the effects of dirty/lousy power. After decades of enjoyable stereo appliances I had bought a Steinway&Sons System S setup, the one that had been Editor's Choice in The Absolute Sound six or seven years in a row. A most wonderful combo to my ears, but I had already found out that, contrary to Steinway's own recommendations, the standard power cords supplied were bettered considerably by some second hand Wireworld PC's I had purchased. A Telos Ground Noise Reducer had added it's wonders after that, but I still wanted more - don't we all?
Sniffing around the internet I, (Thank you, God) stumbled upon a review about something called a Firewall by a company from, of all places, Lithuania. Long story short, I decided to try it out but, since everything seemed expensive to me and I was rather unsure, settled for the cheapest version, the Firewall 64x. The Firewall arrived, and I was immediately sold. Even though there had been no burn-in the sound enhancement was so obvious I found it to be the single most amazing passive thing I had ever put in my system. Everything opened up, became more natural sounding and dynamics improved.
After a week I took it to my son's place. He has a very capable Lyngdorf setup, all digital, using an Innuous Zen mk. III as source. We decided to put the Firewall before the Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 which is an integrated digital amp with digital filters controlling another Lyngdorf driving the subwoofers. On top of that the amp control RoomPerfect room correction, which is probably why the effect of the Firewall was greater on that amp as opposed to on the source, the Zen mk. III. My son was stunned and begged me to not remove the Firewall, so after a week he bought it off me as I had decided to buy a couple of the more expensive C-MARC Firewall 64x.
This has already been lengthy and I could ramble on about all the good things the cheapest Firewall did according to my son, but I will cherry pick two:
He told me, "For the first time ever, I am able to understand every word in all my Swedish songs!" (My son is native in Danish). He also experienced his four-year old daughter who had always enjoyed her childrens' songs singing along, the next morning freezing in front of one of the speakers, then running to the other speaker finally looking at him asking: "Dad, what am I hearing?" listening to a song she had heard and sung along to more or less every day.
Let me finish off by saying to anybody owning Lyngdorf or Steinway equipment:
You have never heard what your gear is actually capable of.
This probably goes for a lot of other fine amps, speakers, sources, but this is what I KNOW now....
and this was only the beginning of my very much extended journey since January '20
To be continued.......
Blackbody
Congratulations to yet another success!
Blackbody
So, I have 5 Blackbodies with cabling since about 2 weeks.
And it really is another surprise, what Louis brings to the market here!
I could name all benefits as for all other LessLoss products that I wrote reviews on. But this has another perspective. So first the “standard” LessLoss benefits as from the other products:
A jaw dropping soundstage, especially into the background
More silence in the background … some call this blackness, so “Blackbody” it is!!!
Less graininess of sounds and voices, but at the sane time more details and micro dynamics
More natural timbres of instruments and especially from voices
Strong presence
More liquid flow
Many sounds, that I never heard before
Better deciphering of lyrics
But what does this mean for the listener? The obvious soundstage extension goes as far as wrapping you into the music scenery … Not all recordings but many. On according recordings, voices will stand free and close, with very natural believable human touch. The engagement goes as far as suddenly feeling almost like being in trance … Without drugs :) Plenty more of toe tapping and head bobbing for me!
So, highly recommended … And I am ordering more :)
Better is the Enemy of Good …
At the same time, as the early bird started, I just received a device, that I had ordered 2 months earlier. This device was aiming for some overlapping goals as the Blackbody by dealing with EMI and RFI issues. A very highly acclaimed brand from several shows, which I will not name here, in an according high price range. So I had a week of listening with it before the Blackbodies came in. It was also a jaw dropping experience and a fantastic soundstage. But when the Blackbodies were installed, voices and instruments sounded more natural, rich, and less grainy, and there was more ambient information, especially in the background. So I tried the Blackbodies without the other device and it was even better. Only after this other device was completely removed, I got unstressed and everything started to be consistent.
So even more congratulations to Louis and his team, to bypass this other super high tech solution with ease … And a lot of work.
C-MARC Classic Power Cable; Firewall Module
Now I have received 2 C-MARC Firewall 64X and 2 Entropic Process power cords.
The cables and firewalls are used with my Lampizator GG 2.5 and LDMS server.
Directly connected to the separate power supply for the HiFi system, without additional filters or power conditioners.
And again I immediately notice an additional, significant increase in musicality.
The in and out swinging of the tones, as well as the fine details of the sound, are even clearer.
The music sounds even more powerful, dynamic and homogeneous.
WOW, what an experience.
I do not want to repeat all the sound descriptions of the superlatives.
For me, the purchase of the Entropic C-MARC Power Cable and C-MARC Firewall 64X is another great success and a stroke of luck.
With every addition of LessLoss products I have increased my music system to a musicality I have never experienced before.
And as long as I notice a significant increase every time I add LessLoss items, I will add new LessLoss items as finances allow.
All the best and many greetings
Ulrich Schulz
C-MARC Classic Power Cable; Firewall Module; C-MARC Digital Cable

You made me literally cry, tears pouring down both cheeks during “Sunrise” from Kingdom Come’s “Galactic Zoo Dossier”, and I loved crying from emotion over the wonderful transitions going from the quiet “Simple Man” into the crescendo madness of “Night of the Pigs” finally conquered by the most beautiful Ode to the gentle but overwhelming powers of the Morning Sun, I have ever heard on any record. Not since I heard “Sunrise” for the first time back in ’72 have I been touched to such a degree.
Everything due to my new LL C-MARC Entropic Processing distributor and my new C-MARC digital cable. Talk about a technical masterpiece.
THIS IS ABOUT THE LESSLOSS C-MARC ENTROPIC PROCESSING DISTRIBUTOR CONTAINING THE LATEST BIG FIREWALL CONNECTED WITH A C-MARC ENTROPIC PROCESSING POWER CABLE.
Previously I described the very emotional impression that overshadowed everything else yesterday evening. I shall be back with much more later, but the Arthur Brown album, I know so well, opened up in a plethora of different sound landscapes, all artificial of course, but still impressive in their three dimensionality at certain points (for instance in “Creeps”) only to shift to a completely un-dimensional sound at other points. Typical for recordings from that age/genre where High Fidelity did not relate very much to the naturalness of sounds but to a fidelity tied to the message, the artificial bubble if you will, of the concept presented by the artists of the album. Impressive also in relation to the limited technical tools of that age compared to modern computer age. Sound coming from far outside the speakers, behind the speakers and sound moving towards you, seemingly coming from non-existing speakers two meters in front of, and meters off axis to the outside of the speakers.
I started out, as you had suggested, with “Quark”, but was seriously underwhelmed at first. A mixture of a few issues. I blame it mainly on the virgin C-MARC Entropic Process power cord, which was actually to be expected, but in the anger of the moment my logic didn’t work well enough to grasp that, and I only seemed to hear fancy elevator music not involving me emotionally. As you had described the beautiful way the distributor was playing over last week-end, my emotions got the better of my mind and I heard almost the same sound as before the swap out. “Quark” didn’t hit me right until the last ten minutes of the record. Being too emotional, I fell into the trap of expecting an expensive top-of-the-line distributor to remedy all faults of sound and make the set-up transcend immediately, my subdued logic at the moment not being able to pass on the message that, of course, the best distributor will lay bare all of the faults as well. The virgin C-MARC Entropic Process feeding the distributor was obviously, well, virgin but couldn’t be remedied by anything other than burn-in time. Being an Entropic Process this was of course a matter of about four hours until it showed, not it’s full potential, but enough capability to not get in the way.
The first fault that struck me was, of all things, the discovery that the two meter antenna of my Schumann Resonator had fallen off the wall between the speakers during the distributor swap. Taping this to the wall again gave “Quark” the size and dimensionality I was used to. Still the total sound was too dull, un-dynamic and without real sparkle. I had, on purpose, not changed the digital connection between streamer and control amp/DAC, to better be able to hear, what was what.
I figured using my old Eichman digital cord as the final connection in the link: LessLoss legacy digital with the Eichman RCA plugs – Wyred4Sound Remedy Re-clocker, LPSU fed from a c-marc PC – 15 years old Eichman original cord, made me hear everything the original Eichman was not capable of. So, I ran the LL legacy solo, without the re-clocker, to the DAC and the whole soundstage shrank to a degree I had not experienced prior to getting the re-clocker and prior to getting the distributor. Principles are great, great sound is greater, so I reconnected the re-clocker now using the virgin c-marc digital cord to go to the DAC. Within seconds this reshaped the soundstage, dynamics and sparkle to greater than ever levels. I was now four hours from launch time and Arthur Brown and his fantastic musicians hit me with a power and a nerve I have always hoped for but never experienced in real life.
I don’t know if I succeeded in luring you into listening for real to that album, if not, I shall hope that you some time soon, when you have 38 minutes of undisturbed time and an open mind, will play it loudly. Preferably not the YouTube – but the Tidal MQA version. They may not be musicians of classic skills but they are superb in their genre in this recording. All of them, Hammond player, drummer, guitarist, bassist, all of them so tight, so inspired.
David Brubeck’s Take The A-train with the original b/w video also excelled as did David Bowie’s Heroes and Scary Monsters. I was in rock mood yesterday, so haven’t really listened to demanding classical recordings, but I have a wonderful week-end ahead of me and shall enjoy it to the brim.
I soon, after combining the right cables, found out exactly what you, Louis, stated about almost no recordings are bad. That made me search out what I previously considered bad recordings, and that was so much fun that I never got off that game until I had to hit the sack. I didn’t need any sleeping pills, as my newly obtained sound poised me as much as it excited me, realizing that a years long strive for good sound has now gotten on the right track.
I did, though, wake up exceptionally early this morning, all excited but wonderfully poised.
It has been, and shall continue to be, a pleasure entering your world of sound designed to pass the dreams and emotions of the finest of artists.
Another update of the wonders of the Entropic Processing distributor with the brand new big integrated Firewall module and my new C-MARC digital coax cable:
I had a great experience over the last couple of hours watching Swedish TV casting from the CIOC organ competition from Montreal. The winner, a 25 year old Texan out of a black Louisiana family, Alcée Chriss. Winner of the price of the audience, Yuan Chen, a sweet but wild at heart Chinese girl. Both of them spanning from lyrical to crazy wild virtuosity. Number three, Nicola Vitozzi even played a John Cage piece on the pipe organ of the Notre Dame, Montreal.
Once again I sat with tears in my eyes listening to church organ sounds so wonderfully emotional that it defied the fact I was in my own living room listening to broadcast music. My LG OLED TV, by the way, has improved in picture sharpness and color richness and naturalness. It is like going from a standard lens on an SLR to a professional lens. It just keeps getting better and doesn't stop surprising me.
Church organ music in your own home can actually sound really, really well.
Fabulous work, respect!
Everything sounds so wonderful now after the first full week, that it puts a big smile on my face every time I listen to it. I just love the way I can hear not just the note being played but HOW the note is played. Mmmmm.
I am not the biggest fan of baroque music, but yesterday, as my radio station announced a Haydn piece and I was about to switch away, the cello player administered his bow over the strings in a way that, simultaneously with the vibrato of the finger of the other hand, caught me completely off guard. I just had to listen to the piece, I didn't really want to keep playing, such was the insight into the work of the performer. Isn't this exactly why we put our money into this hobby of ours?
René


Blackbody; Echo's End
Please check my previous review from August 16 about my first set of 5 BBs.
Of course, I had my doubts about this upgrade, but Louis knows me pretty well by now and offered ample insurance. And, yes, it is worth every penny. I received them almost 2 weeks ago and feel ready now to offer my descriptions.
BBs do need some time to come to full performance. This might partially be caused by the ground cables burning in, but most of it must be the full adaption of the EMF in the room, which seems to take quite some time (sorry, just a guess after playing with many former radiation tweaks). The first hour was not yet enjoyable, incoherent, no solid groundwork for the sounds, although generally bass was there. By the end of the day, a clear improvement was there, especially with the timbres of instruments and voices. Richer and fuller. But the 3-D space was quite flat, which changed strongly during day 2 and 3. And then a huge punch suddenly was available from my system. Lots more air moving. And even this morning, I was shocked how well it sounded compared to my last sessions.
Most of the last improvements were more stable stage objects. And yes, most sounds seem to become objects with bodies. Very palpable with “grounding”. It feels very natural and believable. Out of nothing, there is suddenly an entire human body and sings. Better close your eyes.
And for the first time, I can really claim that the loudspeakers and the entire system disappeared... again close the eyes, and crank it up. It doesn't happen at lower volumes. But as Louis described his sessions with the BB, you simply catch yourself at way higher volumes, just because everything sounds undistorted at these volume levels, which was not possible before. I can confirm this!!! And this factor lets you discover details that you would not at lower volumes. And about confirmation: I actually checked whether the purported orientation was just a hoax… (sorry, Louis) …but after a night of pointing the BBs into other directions than those specified, it all fell apart. Harsher voices, though rich, and very flat 3-D.
Back to the review… all these extra details come with no stress at all. Cannot find any disturbance of my body, just the opposite. Can hardly leave my sweet spot… totally addicted to what I hear and feel. And this was not nearly as much with “only” the first 5 BBs.
So, bottom line, more “oomph” and more meat on the bone, more believable and stress free, and addictive. And as budget allows, I will order more of these wonders. Btw: THC will not give you a cheap alternative, even if legal where you live :)
In my previous review of BBs, I mentioned another product which costs about double that of a set of 5 BBs. So now with 10 units I am at the same price, and I fully stand by my decision. This is so much more believable and natural. This other product's manufacturer claims not to put more radiation into the room, but they alter it in such a way that my body was aching. And with the BBs, I feel even better with more :)
So my final recommendation: get more, if you can!
And talking about addiction… My most played (daily) records that easily reveal all these differences:
Nine Horses (David Sylvian): “Snow Borne Sorrow” and “Money For All”. Not for everyone's taste, a mixture of Pop, Indie, Experimental, Ambient, and Jazz (mostly a little melancholic), with rich instrumentation from acoustic to electric and electronic, and the mesmerising voice of David Sylvian.
Only CD resolution, downloaded from Qobuz. CD is great with the LessLoss Echo's End DAC !!!
Thanks again to Louis and his team. This is an enormous jump!!!
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



































