HiFi Unlimited: Magic In a Box! Audio Magic Pulse Gen ZX, Quantum Physics Noise Disruptor.

This is an old post of ours in the blog we previously contributed to.

Audio Magic Pulse Gen ZX.

The Pulse Gen ZX as shown, meant to be installed inside your audio equipment.

I picked up 2 of this plastic little box, very light weight have a few holes drilled out around the sides and two wires, coloured black and green sticking out. I asked Mike about the cost of each, he quoted RM$1,500 each plus RM$100 if you want Audio Creations to install it for you. Other wise, you may opt to save yourself a hundred little ones to DIY install yourself, which is a perfectly simple option, if you're used to holding the soldering iron like me. A word of caution though, installing the Pulse Gen ZX voids your equipment warranty. So if you have recently purchased equipment, do spare a thought on the matter.

The Pulse Gen ZX is meant to be installed in to your equipment's IEC power cord input, on the inside of the box. That usually means opening the top cover and accessing to the IEC terminal from the inside of the box. The black wire from the Pulse Gen ZX is to be soldered on to the "Live" pin and the green wire is for the "Neutral" pin. Be very careful not to mix it up as the Pulse Gen ZX doesn't work, if soldered in reverse. The Pulse Gen ZX only works as per specified polarity connection. A sticky velcro is provided for you to mount the unit anywhere suitable inside your equipment's box.

You can also hook up to a plug top and use it for anywhere in your system's power supply. You're encouraged to be cretive in placing anywhere and using as many as you wish!

You may also hook up the Pulse Gen ZX to a plug top, like I did in this case a BS rated 13amp plug. Wiring instructions are exactly the same as above. This is actually the easiest way to enjoy the Pulse Gen ZX. Now if you can't even wire up a plug top, I suggest you get Mike to do it for you safely! You can then mix and match the Pulse Gen ZX in any variety of location(i.e., from PLCs, any unused wall socket on the same line with your hifi, and any unused distributor sockets) with multiples, and try till you get the best sound! The manual warns of a certain "addictive effect", as you add more and more units of Pulse Gen ZX. As I only have 2 units, my addiction is very much limited!

A closer look at the polarity, black wire for "Live" and green wire for "Neutral".

What's inside the little black box? you ask. From my limited measuring abilities using a multimeter, indicates the presence of a diode or two, resistors and capacitors. It's very likely to include a small regulation chip of some sort, as the unit gets pretty hot when functioning, prove of active circuitry at work inside the lill' black box. If after 10 minutes or so of plugging unit in to power supply or IEC socket, and unit stays cool, means you've got the polarity connection wrong!

Marantz CD7 outboard, temporary install.

First, I tried wiring a Pulse Gen ZX to my Marantz CD7 player. For this case, as it was meant to be a temporary installation, I used crocodile clips to hook up the IEC instead of opening up the who player. I made sure I did not "short" the "Live" and the "Neutral" pin together, other wise there would be no review possible! As I fired up the CD player, everything worked as per normal, then I load up a disc to play some music. The first thing I noticed was a quieter back ground and lower noise floor. The highs have a little bit more "air" and the mids have room to bloom a little more than usual, and the bass seemed to went a notch lower too. When playing vocal music the voice seems to have more density to the body. So far so good.

Crocodile clips "temp" install at CD player IEC terminal.

I then removed the Pulse Gen ZX from my CD player and used them to tweak my Torus Power RM8A and Wireworld Electrifier distributor block. I plug one Pulse Gen ZX on to an unused outlet at the Torus Power RM8A, listen for a short while, not really impressive, but you could more or less sense the same as described improvements as in the case of the CD player, if only to a lesser degree. I then add the second Pulse Gen ZX in to an unused outlet at the Wireworld Electrifier and felt like the result was better than before.

I tried another configuration, which is to leave the Pulse Gen ZX in the Wireworld Electrifier, un hook the distributor block from the Torus Power and plug it straight from wall, meaning all my sources and pre amps are now essentially only filtered by the Pulse Gen ZX. The results were again similar to above. But then I took out the final remaining Pulse Gen ZX from the Wireworld distributor, meaning there's now no power filter what so ever for my source and pre amps. The sound took a turn for the worse. Noise was clearly audible from the speaker tweeters(a high frequency hiss), vocals, now took on a rather sibilant high note and the density observed earlier is no more! This proves the Pulse Gen ZX really does work very well on it's own.

I then re-plug the Pulse Gen ZX in to the Wireworld distributor and added the other remaining Pulse Gen ZX in to an unused wall plug, however the Torus Power is still off line at this point, ahh..... musical bliss again. Based on my experience with the Pulse Gen ZX in the context of my system, it certainly works best when hooked up directly inside the hifi equipment. And should you not already splurged on a dedicated power line conditioner like I have, I am sure that you'll find the Pulse Gen ZX to provide your system with a very high performance lift!

With a PLC already in the system, I believe the results from the Pulse Gen ZX would be diminished, due to the PLC already doing it's work. Adding the Pulse Gen ZX in this case may not help very much further. Should you buy a few Audio Magic Pulse Gen ZX, or just a full power line conditioner with the same money? That's something only you can decide for yourself.

Audio Magic Quantum Physic Noise Disruptor.

Big Disruptor and small Disruptor.

Here is a simple black plastic box, seemed to contained some loose bits inside. All four sides of the box is tightly seal to prevent tampering. The user manual clearly states that "Opening up of the box will result in permanent and irreversible damage" to unit. I do not know, and unable to find out, what is the "magic" ingredient in the box. So much for curiosity!

Quantum Physic Noise Disruptor placed on top the big, big tranny in the Torus Power.

The product is supposed to be placed on top the your equipment where the power supply transformer resides. When the Quantum Physic Noise Disruptor is placed, on the top panel where the transformer is, it should result in lower noise floor. I started by placing on the biggest transformer in the system which is the Torus Power, but resulted in no audible difference. I proceeded to place the Quantum Physic on my CD player and my Pass Labs X2.5 pre amp. Again, I heard no audible difference! I felt perturbed, and decided to bring the Quantum Physics to hifikaki's system for a try.

Again, when placed on top of his Shunyata Hydra 8 PLC, again we both heard no difference! When put on top of his Copland CD player, again nada, zilch, no difference heard! We proceed to place on his Pass Labs X-2.5 pre amp, I heard no difference, but hifikaki thought there was a small improvement in terms of noise floor and a fuller mid range. However, at this point, even himself became doubtful.

Placed on top of the Pass Labs X-2.5 pre amp tranny, did not hear a diference, if at all!

I then sent the Quantum Physic Noise Disruptor to a friend to play with for 3 days. His system consist of Torus Power, Marantz CD17 KI, Audio Analog Pucini integrated amplifier and Rogers LS 5/9 speakers. When I met up with him 3 days later, he ask where can he buy this Quantum Physic from? He reported when the Quantum Physic is placed on top of various equipment in his hifi chain, he heard improved focus in sound staging. Music became more precise and easy to follow. Transparency at low volumes improved too. He also noted better bass impact, transient and definition. He also reported a slight compromise in the fact that when he played music loud, he did detect some hardness setting in, and mild saturation in the musical presentation. I am in no position to prove him wrong or otherwise, as I did not get the opportunity to listen to his system at the time, but I have a lot of faith in his ears. He certainly knows what he heard.

I told Mike of Audio Creations about our perplexing findings, he reply was that, he's "not amused!". He said that he'd been warned by the manufacturer, i.e Audio Magic that "the Quantum Physic doesn't quite work with Pass Labs gear!"

But it does seem to work with other manufacturer's equipment as proven in my friend's system. I would suggest you try before you buy. There are two sizes available for the Quantum Physic Noise Disruptor. A smaller unit cost RM$285/unit and the larger unit I tried cost RM$800/unit.