Review: ISO 1100va AC filter


Category: Accessories

Well it has been three days since receiving the ISO.Upon plugging the unit in, I have to admit I was not very impressed but knowing how break-in of components works I was not going to be quick to judge. I plugged a lamp(100w bulb) into the unit as well as my cd source and left both of them powered on until the next evening.

The following evening I arrived home from work, had a bite to eat and was ready to listen. I cannot emphasize to you enough how much the unit came around. Within the first few seconds of listening my jaw dropped to the ground, could this possibly be happening? Am I hearing what I am hearing? Sometimes we as audiophiles want to believe that the piece of equipment we just put into our system will elevate performance to the next level. We then realize after the excitement of inserting the piece of gear has worn off that, it was just a figment of our imagination. The new piece of equipment actually made things worst (power conditioners our notorious for this)! This is definitely not the case with the ISO! The improvements I heard after 24 hours of break-in only seemed to continue to improve.

The most apparent improvements I heard from the get go were, the level of increased transparency, air, focus, blacker background but most importantly musicality. As I said these were the most apparent, but not the only ones. I spent hours upon hours going through my Cd collection, only to find myself craving more. This craving only confirmed how much more musical my system had become. I found it hard to focus on the frequency spectrums, I could only just sit there and enjoy music. Every time I thought I hade a grip of what the ISO was doing it threw more at me. I started to realize how much more detail was coming through, bass seemed much tighter and more focused and there was a weight to pianos that prior to the ISO was almost non-existent.

I have used many power conditioning products, those costing much less and those costing much more. The thing that I noticed about the ISO, unlike other power conditioners it did not make things sound sterile, analytical or rob the system of musicality. The ISO did what I like about other power conditioners I have tried and managed too add a new level of musicality to my system I had not yet experienced.

Music Used For Review,
FIM CD006 Audiophile Reference (Classical)
FIM CD007 Audiophile Reference (Popular)
FIMCD009 Songs My Dad Taught Me
FIMCD010 Patricia Barber Cafe Blue
FIMCD016 Feelings
FIM SACD034 Jazz At The Pawnshop
Saint Saens Symphony # 3 Organ
LA4 just friends
Radka Toneff Fairytales
Diana Krall Live In Paris
Sting Dreams of the blue turtle
Jennifer Warnes Famous Blue Rain Coat.
Gary Karr Adagio
ECT........

Associated gear
Gamut CD
Sony 777ES Sacd
Rogue Magnum Pre-Amp
Rogue Magnum 120 monos
MMF 7 Turntable
Messanger Pre-Amp, only available from
(Info Link)
http://www.acousticimage.com/MessengerPreamp.shtml

Acoustic Zen Silver Ref MkII
Acoustic Gargantua MkII
Acoustic Zen Satori
Acoustic Zen Hologram MkII
Acoustic Zen Tsunami MkII
Acoustic Zen El Nino

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dave_s

Showing 1 response by dave_s


Sean,
Thanks for your input,I actually put a small portable heater unit on the ISO to help with the break-in.I have no affiliations with the manufacture of the ISO. I do feel it is truly a great product and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.I have no gain in recommending the ISO , I want to make that perfectly clear.I also have no problem stating that I am indeed employed by Acoustic Zen.
David S
Acoustic Zen Technologies
760-471-4899