October 18, 2016

  • Simaudio 750D, Part 17

    For months, audiophiles have kept badgering me about how the Simaudio 750D "sounds." That is almost impossible to answer, because it all depends on (a) the powercord, (b) powerline conditioning, (c) signal cables, (d) sources, and perhaps most importantly, (e) the fuse.

    In my previous coverage of the Audio Magic Premier Beeswax, Hi-Fi Tuning Silverstar and Supreme, and Synergistic Quantum Red, the 750D sounded radically different with each. Because of the 750D's high native resolution, it "took on" the sonic personality of its fuse. If you had two Simaudio 750Ds side-by-side, each with a different fuse, you would swear that you were listening to two distinctly different models. Think about all of your radically different girlfriends. They were not the same person, and no two were exactly alike.
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    Let us, for the sake of argument, say that the SR Quantum Red is the Patricia (above, in the white sleeve-less shirt) I knew and spent time with. She was always in uber-casual settings: sports fields and courts, bowling alleys, the fair/dance at Justin Herman Plaza, the Japantown street fair, city streets and buses, the mid-summer dance at S.F. State, hanging out at my place, and the road trip down the Central CA coast. Patricia was always in raggedy clothes. The sunlight, beach sand, wind, soot, fog, and dust made her skin kind of crusty, goose-bumpy, and salty. She didn't wear makeup or get her hair done.

    You may have heard the buzz about Synergistic Research's new Quantum Black fuse. My audio buddies and I have tried at least a dozen of the small (20mm) Blacks. Regardless of equipment, the Black takes a looooooooong time to burn-in. It needs at least a month, sometimes three. Moreover, if the Black is pointed in the wrong direction, the sound will be f----- up.
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    In the 750D, the wrong direction is when the fuse points to the middle of the unit. Images are of the funhouse mirror variety, and the music moves at various speeds. Things are just "off," as if Patricia stumbled off the mound, got hit in the pelvis by that comebacker, slipped and staggered at the bowling foul line, or keeled over due to menstrual cramps.
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    But if you use a burned-in Black in the correct orientation, it picks up where the Red left off. You get a more even tonal balance, with even greater freedom from grain and hash. Treble instruments are not robbed of their sheen. No, it does not address the lack of punch and snap to snare drum, so PRAT is still subpar. But if you need a cleaner presentation, especially if you are running MP3 through the 750D, you seriously need to audition the Black.

    So let's say you already liked the Red/Patricia. Going to the Black keeps the same 19-year-old Patricia, but cleans her up, without making her pretentious or over-glamorized.

    What if Patricia did the whole spa thing, with exfoliating body scrub? What if she got a mani-pedi with clear nail polish? What if she got her hair done, with moisturizing agents? What if she wore nice, modern, good-fitting, new, but not pretentious clothes? What if she donned nice, but not expensive, necklace and handbag? Doing all of these would be the equivalent of the Simaudio 750D going from Synergistic Research Red to Black.

    But what if you simply do not like Patricia, cleaned-up or not? No problem, get another girlfriend. That is, take your 750D, and use a different fuse.