How come there is no thread on the RealityCheck?

Kana813,
Thank you; I'll ask my technician to replace the stock power supply with a battery PS.

Kana813,
When you refer to "jitter" in the following statement,

"the unit is powered by a switch mode power supply. The noise level on these supplies can increase jitter in digital equipment"

are you referring to mechanical vibration or to clocking problems?

Stanhifi,
First up, in audio terms, $600 isn't 'serious money'.
Secondly, if I didn't like the product I would have returned it to George and got my money back rather than trying to "justify my purchase by writing a rave review".

The fact that the original and the copy sound different is not even debatable. Whether or not the copy is 'better' than the original, is. There is certianly more openess and better depth on the copy.
Stanhifi,
You should post the details of your system; it might give us some idea of why you can't hear what is blatantly obvious to the rest of us (and our non-audiophile friends).

My RC is with my technician and he is building a transformer-based power supply for it.
He tested it today and it crapped out. He will have to make the power supply *much* more robust. I'm a little worried about the cost of this; I hope it will be worth it.

RealityCheck with Linear Power Supply Modification

If one were to express the difference between duplicates made with the RealityCheck (RC) and original compact discs (CD) in percentage terms, one could argue that the duplicates are 20% better than the originals.

If one were to express the difference between duplicates made with the RealityCheck with Linear Power Supply Modification (RC/PSM) and duplicates made with the standard RealityCheck (RC) in percentage terms, one could argue that the RC/PSM duplicates are 40% better than the RC duplicates.

Yes, there is a greater difference between the RC/PSM and the RC duplicates, than there is between RC duplicates and the CD.

Differences:
Harmonic structure is greatly increased. The insides of drums and wooded instruments are more apparent as are the inflections in a singer’s voice.
Transients are quicker and have much better attack. Drum hits have much more snap and definition.
Pace, rhythm and timing are improved.
The digital glare (digital screen) in front of the presentation is greatly reduced. The presentation is less aggressive, more relaxed, and less chaotic.
Vocals sound more natural and there is less emphasis on sibilants.
Cymbals stay back with the drum kit rather than projecting out to the front of the soundstage.
Images are more distinct and there is less smear.
There is greater space between images on the soundstage.

The bottom line is that one gets a much better appreciation of what the musicians and vocalists are trying to get across. The presentation is simply much more real and emotionally satisfying.

I had a linear power supply custom made from individual parts.
All I really know is that I now have a two-box unit and that there are some relatively big transformers and new capacitors in the boxes.

Now that I know that it works great I will ask the technician:

1. to try and explain to me -exactly- what he did.
2. if he would do anything different if he had to do it over again.
3. is there anything more that could be done.

Aproximately 1.5 amps per rail.
Make sure to look at the unit first to see what you are getting into. There a *lots* of conections to deal with.
Off the shelf linears are one not the best approach because the power supply should be decoupled within the unit itself.

After listening to a number of live recordings I am reconsidering my blanket position on the duplicate CDs.

Tvad identified... "two definitions of "air" that are bandied about on Audiogon. One means blackness, or silence, between instruments and vocalists. The other definition of "air" means a sense of the recording venue: ambience, echo, reverberation...those aural cues that give the listener a sense of place."

I personally would never use the first of these to define "air." The second definition of "air" is just about perfect.

In my experience, the CD duplicates create a silence between images, but reduce "air." This tends to make poorly recorded studio albums sound cleaner and clearer.

Tbg,
I burned 5 CDs on George's black discs prior to modifying the unit. My comments refer to these 5 CDs and to the CDs I've made with my modified unit.

Tbg,
Yes, that is me. The modified unit has an outboard power supply (transformer-based) and a second power supply installed in the unit itself. The original switch-mode power supply has been removed. This allows one to disconnected or remove the fan as well. The modification can be done so that the AC cord goes in the RC or in the new outboard unit.

I sent three original CDs and the copies I made of each using my modified RC, to another member of the Audiogon community. I've invited him to post his honest responses, good or bad, to this thread.

I often compare:
1. the orignal CD
to
2. the RC copy
to
3. the modified RC copy

Sometimes I like number 1, sometimes I like number 3.