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Will this FIM 880 open up & let some detail in?

Pulled my stock Acme Silver last night for the FIM 880. At same time I pulled a stock 20 cent house outlet near the rig for an Acme Silver w/ Cryo and the stock Acme silver went to the "B" system. I just had to hear the difference myself b/w the FIM and Acme.

I know this is only Day one, so things will change. However, I instantly missed the detail of the Acme Silver? Playing Sara K "Hobo" & Patricia Barber "Companion" I first noticed a smoother vocal presentation that was kind of cool This particularly struck me on the Pretenders Live Acoustic CD. Then I started noticing little things that were not so cool. Bells, Triangles, Shakers and such in the backgroound were much more less distinct. That dynamic snap to the vocals when they go from soft to loud were glossed over some. Now, I know the FIM isn't broke in yet, but also I am thinking that replacing that crappy 20 cent outlet near the rig w/ the Acme Cryo HAS to be giving me LOTs more detail than before so one could extrapolate from this that the FIM is even MORE rolled off on top?

Gear: AES Superamp w/ Amperex EL-34 tubes w/ Double-D getters, Siemens CCa drivers and RCA Cleartop inputs connected w/ David Elrod EPS PC. Theta Data Basic II transport plugged in w/ Shunyata Cobra PC. EVS M2 DAC plugged in w/ Black Mamba PC. Melos Maestro pre using Omega Mikro PC w/ Active Shield. Harmonic tech Magic One digital cable and Pure Silver COnnection R-30 large silver ribbon ICs and speaker cables to Silverline Sonatina speakers. Amp & Theta plugged into dedicated FIM line via PS Audio Ultimate Outlet and BMI Whale PC.

I will check back in here from time to time w/ results. As for now though I would be interested to hear the burn in results of other FIM owners as they process went on. Does the top end open up after a while? In my experience most new cables and such sound sort of bright at first then settle in and the midrange blooms last. Hate to think this FIM will lose anymore top end detail?

For now will pull my CCa driver tubes for a more extended, but harder sounding Siemens E88CC tube to try and gain back some lost sound.

Due to having tube gear it is not really feasable for me to leave stuff on 24/7 to help this, but I may go get a large fan or something and plug in while I am not using the stereo to help speed this up.

Outlets, who wouldda thunk it! ;~)
blazter

Showing 1 response by drubin

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drubin
3,265 posts
 
Wow, this is a great thread!

I have my amp plugged directly into a Wattagate receptical and the rest of the system via a Hydra into a just-installed FIM outlet on the same circuit. The Wattagate is closer to the panel (about 15 feet), the FIM another 10-15 feet away. I have no conclusions to offer up yet except that these things do apparently make a difference and, goddammit, I wish that weren't so. I also suspect that proximity to the panel may be a factor, just to add another variable.

I believe in break-in, but these things should break in very fast, given the amount of juice flowing through them, don't you think?
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