I have had the ADD Powr Wizard in my system for a couple of weeks and I'm impressed


The audio writer's conundrum: How do you find the right words to describe sound? It's not easy. It's like trying to describe a color. You will get a sense of it but in order to really get it you have to hear it. We have all read many audio writer's attempts to do so with varying degrees of success. What does the writer wish to convey about how a particular component sounds? And more problematically, how does that get put into words?   Here is the bottom line for me- how strong is the emotional impact of the sound when I listen to the equipment? That is it. And of course that can not be separated from the companion question- How strong is the emotional impact of the music? One reason that this hobby is so amazing is that these questions are two sides of the same coin and complement each other beautifully. Collecting fine (and well recorded) music is a great hobby in and of itself. Couple it, however, with the equally enjoyable hobby of component swapping and tweeking and you have a match made in heaven. It's like what happened when John met Paul.
All of which brings me to this review of the ADD Powr Wizard. What I keep returning to over and over again with this thing plugged into a nearby outlet is how intense my emotional connection to the sound and the music is. To use a well worn audio writer cliche, It's like I'm listening to my collection for the first time and hearing things I never heard before. But it is so much more than that. It's not just that I am hearing more of what is on the record it is that I am hearing more of what the artists on the record are intending to create with their music. The ADD Wizard allows me to do this more completely than any other addition to my system over the last 10 years. It lets me fully relax into the music. With all my other tweeks, at least the good ones, the ones that work, I was able to get a better sense of space and detail each time I added one. The benefit of the Wizard is on a different plane than that. Yes it adds to the sense of space and detail in the sound, but it also creates a stronger impression about the music itself. It's a feeling of being one with the music. Hard to describe but very powerful!
You will have to read the literature to get a sense of what ADD Powr is doing with its algorithms and how they are being applied to the household electric circuit in order to filter out the audio nasties so that the music can come shining through in all its glory . That part of the review is way above my pay grade.  I would love to be able to understand that. But hey that's what makes tweeks so much fun. The fact that you may not understand the electronic or physics of it doesn't mean that you are not hearing amazing things from it. And in the case of the ADD Powr Wizard what I am hearing just makes me smile.
bradmorris1
The product is discussed on the website: The AC line is "re-referenced" or re-clocked with low frequency harmonics to increase the s/n ratio.  Uses 2 AC transformers.  Let me guess, another Schumann Resonator in a different package. Perhaps? 

Precisely what is the advantage of adding noise to the electrical circuit, and what is the benefit of, "electrical environment conditioners rather than AC line conditioners." 

I would like to know from electricians and designers with power gear how is a line "re-referenced" and re-clocked? 

I have suspicions when I read about "harmonizers". 

I would like to know the impact of an "algorithm derived em field" upon an audio system. Seems quite a bit like other products I consider gimmicks. 

Some technical explanation would be appreciated. This would be a product I would perhaps demo, but certainly not buy unheard. Also, I might be tempted to use my Imbalanced System Test approach to testing it, i.e. put it on one side of the system and see if it makes the system sound skewed or imbalanced. If not, then it's not worth owning, because it's not doing enough of anything to be detected. 

Perhaps the unit could be put on one leg of the room's electric supply in order to test it. i.e. have one amp on one leg of the supply, and one on the other, and place the unit with only one leg of the electrical supply and amp. If it could not be vetted through such informal comparison/testing, I would not be interested in it. i.e. if it was said that even though only half the room's electric supply was treated, that it would still affect the entire room, etc., I would pass on the product. Way too squishy to nail down if it did anything demonstrably.  

I suspect the product would fail my Law of Efficacy, but I will not make a definitive statement, as I have not used it.  There are certainly enough people who have given testimonies, but that does not sway me. My Law of Efficacy is what matters. 

So, this thing shoots a tiny LF noise on the electric lines. You're actually adding a noise to the operation of your components, purportedly to condition the environmental energy. Sorry, unimpressed. 

"The product is discussed on the website: The AC line is "re-referenced" or re-clocked with low frequency harmonics to increase the s/n ratio. Uses 2 AC transformers. Let me guess, another Schumann Resonator in a different package. Perhaps?"

You have raised a legitimate point. ADD-Powr explains why Schumann resonators affect audio signals and systems. 

"Precisely what is the advantage of adding noise to the electrical circuit, and what is the benefit of, "electrical environment conditioners rather than AC line conditioners.""

This is not the "noise" familiar to many - that of the RF interference type.
Here the term "noise" is a very low frequency disturbance. It is not filtered away, unlike EMI and RFI, by power supplies and power conditioners.

It is conditioning the power line itself with added harmonic energy that indeed changes the reference or environment from which emerges the "juice" to power and render audio signals, for example. The idea is about adding something to create a tangible benefit. In this case it is harmonic frequency information that will resonate other electrical signals, such as audio.

If you read further, ADD-Powr asserts that pulsing the AC line (the reference) with a very low frequency square wave will impress a vertical modulation such that this "up - down" movement results in a small square wave that is carried into power supplies. Transformer secondaries,  AC bridge rectifiers, and the DC filter stages will behave as normal but with this signal pattern on the DC voltage. 

The square wave is comprised of, or is the summation of sine waves, cosine waves harmonically related. This discovery was made by the physicist, Fourier. Perhaps when such a signal is introduced, of a very low fundamental say 10 Hz, it will affect the frequencies of another complex signal like an audio signal? It and its harmonics will affect a complex audio signal and its harmonics. Makes sense to me.

The key to adding energy is the process of resonance. The idea of a tuning fork resonating another tuning fork at the same driving frequency (or harmonic) is understandable.
ADD-Powr claims that it is electronically doing something similar here.

I am sure that the technical details could be given, as with any amplifier, DAC, speaker, etc.
It is not really necessary.
The overall idea is all that is necessary for the layman audiophile to subjectively evaluate the merit and claims of the inventor or manufacturer.
But would that information aid in auditioning the product?

Of course, one must demo before buying any product. There is a 30 day money back guarantee, which is plenty of time to determine whether the product works for your system and your ears.
Use whatever test you are comfortable with.
The products work on single phase circuits and balanced power configurations.

Again, it is not "noise" in the way that you are used to thinking.
Give it a chance. You will not be disappointed.






Doug, you may want to give it a go - seriously...demo it. I am doing the same with Iconoclast cables....
So where is the test data to support the claims of ADD-POWER?
So far is seems all subjective commentary.
Look forward to AMIR -Audio Science Review, getting his hands and analyzer  on one of these .
I guarantee he will find zero benefits from having this unit in the power supply .