Audio Magic Stealth Mini Reference
Any audiophile worth his salt would know that a power conditioner is a must in any decent hifi setup. The reason for this is simply because a good hifi system would need the cleanest electricity that it can get to sound it’s best. There are now a plethora of brands of power conditioners available namely Shunyata, Richard Gray, Transparent, MIT etc. Another name which audiophile should note is Audio Magic.
Although new to these shores, Audio Magic has actually been in existence for a number of years. Audio Magic manufactured a wide range of products like power cords, speaker cables, interconnects and also power conditioners. The object of this review is the Stealth Mini Reference power conditioner.
The Stealth Mini Reference
This new Stealth Mini Reference (SMR) employs 3 high quality duplexes for power cable hook-up. Two red duplexes red provide the electrical juice for low powered components (source and preamps) while the third duplex, which is white, are to be used with higher-powered components like power amps. All the AC entering the SMR is filtered for RF and EMI internally, which is later, turned to heat.
Listening
My system comprises of the Meridian 508.24 cd player, Audio Research LS5 MkII preamp, Jeff Rowland Model 8 amplifier driving a pair of ATC SCM100 speakers. Interconnects and speaker cabling are from Audioquest. The source and amps are all hooked to the Richard Gray 600 which in turn is connected to a Powertrans 1.5KVA.
My friend Les, has helped me by burning in the SMR for roughly 200 hours before handing it over to me for the review. I have also been told that Jerry Ramsey burn-in his power conditioners for at least 200 hours before shipping. So I basically have the SMR well burn-in for review. Life could not be simpler!
Upon hooking the Audio Magic conditioner in my rig, the first thing that struck me about the SMR sounds very neutral. Unlike my Powertrans plus Richard Gray power conditioning which has slight emphasis on the mid and highs, the SMR does not seem to enhance any spectrum of the audio band. And because of the neutral sound that I get with the SMR, the highs seem to be more rounded. Teddy Goes to the Movies by Teddy Robin (Music Net MN1004) cd illustrates this point extremely well. With my Powertrans-Richard Gray combination, the highs when the cymbal is truck has more bite that the sound that I got from the SMR. But the wallop of the kick-drum seems to be heftier with the SMR. Another cd that I tried, Ngan Lin Mou (Music Net MN1002), also shows that the highs are not as airy or extended when compared to my own combination of Powertrans-Richard Gray. Extended listening of the SMR has also revealed a slight graininess of the highs with the Powertrans-Richard Gray combination.
The soundstage with both types of power conditioning is equally wide though the Powertrans-Richard combi edge the SMR slightly in terms of having a better layering. Listening to Reference Recording Tutti (RR-906CD) which include some of the most dynamic classical music ever recorded does show that the SMR does not slouch in the area of dynamics. I do not feel shortchanged when I listen to last 2 tracks of this cd. The glorious tympani whack in Great Gates of Kiev retains it’s stunning power.
Summary
So should you go for the Audio Magic Stealth Mini Reference? Well, if you have a system of decent resolution, you owe it to yourself to listen to the SMR. It is not always that you will get power conditioners that seem to so many things right, especially at the price that it will be sold. Recommended.
Any audiophile worth his salt would know that a power conditioner is a must in any decent hifi setup. The reason for this is simply because a good hifi system would need the cleanest electricity that it can get to sound it’s best. There are now a plethora of brands of power conditioners available namely Shunyata, Richard Gray, Transparent, MIT etc. Another name which audiophile should note is Audio Magic.
Although new to these shores, Audio Magic has actually been in existence for a number of years. Audio Magic manufactured a wide range of products like power cords, speaker cables, interconnects and also power conditioners. The object of this review is the Stealth Mini Reference power conditioner.
The Stealth Mini Reference
This new Stealth Mini Reference (SMR) employs 3 high quality duplexes for power cable hook-up. Two red duplexes red provide the electrical juice for low powered components (source and preamps) while the third duplex, which is white, are to be used with higher-powered components like power amps. All the AC entering the SMR is filtered for RF and EMI internally, which is later, turned to heat.
Listening
My system comprises of the Meridian 508.24 cd player, Audio Research LS5 MkII preamp, Jeff Rowland Model 8 amplifier driving a pair of ATC SCM100 speakers. Interconnects and speaker cabling are from Audioquest. The source and amps are all hooked to the Richard Gray 600 which in turn is connected to a Powertrans 1.5KVA.
My friend Les, has helped me by burning in the SMR for roughly 200 hours before handing it over to me for the review. I have also been told that Jerry Ramsey burn-in his power conditioners for at least 200 hours before shipping. So I basically have the SMR well burn-in for review. Life could not be simpler!
Upon hooking the Audio Magic conditioner in my rig, the first thing that struck me about the SMR sounds very neutral. Unlike my Powertrans plus Richard Gray power conditioning which has slight emphasis on the mid and highs, the SMR does not seem to enhance any spectrum of the audio band. And because of the neutral sound that I get with the SMR, the highs seem to be more rounded. Teddy Goes to the Movies by Teddy Robin (Music Net MN1004) cd illustrates this point extremely well. With my Powertrans-Richard Gray combination, the highs when the cymbal is truck has more bite that the sound that I got from the SMR. But the wallop of the kick-drum seems to be heftier with the SMR. Another cd that I tried, Ngan Lin Mou (Music Net MN1002), also shows that the highs are not as airy or extended when compared to my own combination of Powertrans-Richard Gray. Extended listening of the SMR has also revealed a slight graininess of the highs with the Powertrans-Richard Gray combination.
The soundstage with both types of power conditioning is equally wide though the Powertrans-Richard combi edge the SMR slightly in terms of having a better layering. Listening to Reference Recording Tutti (RR-906CD) which include some of the most dynamic classical music ever recorded does show that the SMR does not slouch in the area of dynamics. I do not feel shortchanged when I listen to last 2 tracks of this cd. The glorious tympani whack in Great Gates of Kiev retains it’s stunning power.
Summary
So should you go for the Audio Magic Stealth Mini Reference? Well, if you have a system of decent resolution, you owe it to yourself to listen to the SMR. It is not always that you will get power conditioners that seem to so many things right, especially at the price that it will be sold. Recommended.
