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Published LessLoss Reviews Now Number Over 727

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Firewall Module

Date Added: 06/28/2020 by Claudius
My System before upgrading with a custom distributor with latest firewall tech and a C-MARC unbalanced RCA interconnect:
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!
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 05/29/2020 by Frank C
I recently purchased the Firewall for Loudspeakers and could not be happier with the added musicality they have brought to my listening experience. Simply put, there is a more satisfying presence and refinement to the music across the board. The Firewall for Loudspeakers are one of the best investments that I have made in my system. I highly recommend!

Louis, thank you for sharing your talents and those of your team with me. I love listening to music and the Firewall for Loudspeakers have made listening all the more enjoyable.
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 05/12/2020 by Rainer Weber
Since a while I have the Lessloss Firewall for loudspeakers. It is an unbelievable improvement in terms of natural treble and tone colours. Without it seems to sound pale.

Good job Louis!
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 05/08/2020 by Denis
[Plug-and-Play C-MARC Firewall 64X]

One thing is certain: your products make my system progress in the direction I want: homogeneity, stability, depth, atmosphere, harmonics, control of the extremes of the spectrum, reduction of distortions and "stresses" on treble and "Forte." They allow me to push it to its limits, but above all to approach a soothing listening experience and fullness…
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 05/06/2020 by Chris L
The Firewall for Loudspeakers is an amazing product. The improvement to my system was immediate and significant. Bass is tighter, higher frequencies are clearer, there is more separation between instruments, music is richer and fuller. It's honestly quite a shock to hear the change.

Considering the money I have spent on cable upgrades and other tweaks the Firewall for Loudspeakers is a bargain, the improvements are quite astounding particularly as I thought my system was already at quite a good level.

This is the first LessLoss product I have, looking forward to adding more products to my system.
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C-MARC Classic Power Cable; Firewall Module

Date Added: 05/04/2020 by Michael Hollesen, Klutz Design
[Complete loom of C-MARC Entropic Process power cables and LessLoss power distributor with onboard Firewall tech.]

Everything installed Thursday - but from having played at many shows I truly believe that “gear doesn’t travel well and the molecules need to settle” - which is why day two at shows always sound better. And so it was here as well. Though things were unmistakably amazing yesterday - today is beyond.

Really difficult to put into a few words - but I’ll try:

I don’t have a hifi stereo system any more.

I feel the strings. The air between. And previously compressed complex classical pieces opened up. Cymbals and high hats are just there with their metallic decay, voices so close you expect to be able to reach out to touch the singers, sound staging that makes the already invisible open battle speakers obliterate the room (if the recording allows it), a calmness in the presentation which creates quite an unnerving realness and uncovers finest details. The creaking of a chair, the breathing of a cellist or just the multiple layers hidden within the music.

You hinted at a remarkable performance - truthfully I don’t think you could prepare anyone for such a significant experience. The combination of the firewall distributor (with C-Marc Entropic cabling) together with the Entropic Process power cables is absolutely incredible. Congratulations - to myself for getting this ;-) and for your fantastic work.

Michael Hollesen
Klutz Design
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 04/28/2020 by Steve Braude
[Firewall for Loudspeakers]

Wow, I'm really impressed, and (even more incredibly) nearly speechless at the transformation produced by installing the FW for Loudspeakers. The magnitude of the change was dramatic even after a couple of hours of continuous playing, but it has just gotten better and better as the days rolled on. All the usual cliches about darker background, more detail etc, spring to mind, but the bottom line is that, in terms of clarity, smoothness, dynamic range, subtle detail, my audio system doesn't sound anything like it did before. As days of continuous usage passed, I tested the FWs by playing hi-res tracks all of which had passages that had previously been abrasive in varying degrees, and one by one those recordings just sounded more open and alive and dynamic, without a touch of discomfort. And I found myself hearing subtle ambient information about the recording venue that I'd not heard before. Overall, imaging has become astonishingly more lifelike.

I've now dared to flout advice about social distancing and have demonstrated the FWs to several friends, all of whom were floored by the evolution of my system (and who were quite familiar with the sound of the system pre-FW). One of my friends has 2nd-gen Bybee bullets, and he conceded that they never wrought such a dramatic and beneficial change in his setup. As soon as our local audio club resumes meetings, I look forward to hosting one, if only to see more jaws drop.

I should add that this change was on top of a complete cable upgrade to C-MARC power cords and interconnects (from other previous LessLoss cables). They, too, greatly elevated the sound of my audio system. But these had been broken-in quite a lot already by the time I installed the FW for Loudspeakers. So it was clear how much more dramatic and sweeping that transformation was compared to the cable upgrade. I'm thinking there should be a Nobel prize for audio...
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 04/27/2020 by calloway
I recently auditioned the LessLoss 'Firewall for Speakers' module... used with my Tidal Contriva Dicera-SE speakers. My system, consisting of the Tidal speakers... Chalice Audio 'Grail' mono block SET amplifiers, Lumin S1 network player, and REL 212 -SE subs x 2, as well as my cables... Prior to inserting the Firewalls into the system I read, with great interest, the 6Moons review. I have used a number of Mr. Motek's [LessLoss] products in my system over the last few years, each with mild to moderate success. All in the cable realm. I contacted Constantin, at Atelier 13 Audio in USA, after asking Mr. Motek about dealers in the USA. He is a very professional gentleman with a great website and represents many great audio products. He sent me a pair for each speaker along with a sample of the LessLoss C-MARC RCA interconnects. 'Spoiler Alert'....right out of the box I was just amazed at the improvement to every aspect of my system's presentation. I had one of my audio friends over the next day, who knows my system very well, and he could not believe the improvement. If you want to find out what you have been missing on your CDs, streamed albums, or downloaded discs, this will allow you to hear it. The demo pairs were new and had not been used prior to my trying them. My system is, to my ears, the best system I have heard, and I did not think it could be even improved a little, let alone what I heard. I had tried many potential tweaks in my system without any significant improvements. The soundstage width, depth, the detail, the tonality, the vocal realism and the 'you are there' feeling is just amazing. I might add that when I substituted the C-MARC interconnect in, things improved even more. That replaced a cable 4 times its price. Both products are staying with me. I will be trying the C-MARC speaker cables next and then their new Entropic Process power cables.
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 04/23/2020 by Brendan
I have the Firewall for Loudspeakers in my system for a few days now.

System consists of Innuos Zenith Mk3 ---- SoTM TX usb Utra ---- PS Audio Directstream Dac ---- Audio Flight FLS10 Int. amp. ---- Audiovector Avantgarde Speakers.

After a slight improvement in SQ in the initial few hours the Firewall for Loudspeakers have been a revelation after three days in the system.
The bass is way more solid and tight and treble is distinct without being in any sense bright.
Each instrument is now completely separate whereas before, there was a certain blending which I did not notice until it was gone.
I feel like a veil has been lifted from the speakers and they now are playing to their full potential.
I am so happy I purchased these unique little units.
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Firewall Module

Date Added: 03/31/2020 by The Good Doctor... and his patient wife...
Louis:
Thank you for your support and product. Nicely made, fairly priced and worth the wait. Paraphrasing and plagiarizing those with better ears I will use the terms, "more musical, less mechanical" and bringing a supple fluidity to brass and voice. Tone is more 'elastic' and 'sensual'. This took less time for my wife to appreciate, as is usually the case, but after 16-20 hrs my appreciation of your efforts aligned with those who have previously sent reviews. Not to the same degree but perhaps with more time and more wine... well done.
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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

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