Finally got around to installing my Chord S6 block today. I’ve had it for around a week or so but was awaiting some other bits and pieces. Well, WOW!!! What an improvement!
The system: Melco N100/Plixir power supply / Sim Audio Moon 340i amp / Klipsch Forte III speakers.
The S6 replaced an Olson Electronics block, which as many will know is a high quality standard mains block but not specifically for audio use (they do make the Sounds Fantastic block but I just had a standard one).
In fairness I should say that the Olson was connected to the mains with a Chord C Power mains cable whilst the S6 is connected with a Chord Epic cable. All equipment power leads are Chord C Power (no longer available). Mains is the standard house ring main - switched Crabtree double socket.
Where to start? I’m truly blown away. I heard both the S6 and M6 at my dealers and was impressed but the effect in my own system seems so much more profound. Probably because I of course know the system far better.
I’ll run through my impressions. A total removal of any digital hardness and glare and a complete cleaning up of the sound. Very noticeable with high frequencies which are so much more controlled and natural. The sound is much more expansive and ebbs and flows far more naturally with a complete removal of any sense of strain on crescendo’s. To be honest I didn’t think there was any sense of strain anyway - but the Chord block has shown me that there was and it’s now noticeable by its absence.
Musically speaking - well there’s just far more of it! Musical lines and phrasings are so much more explicit. Much more detail but in a proportionate natural way - not exaggerated. The music has become so much more interesting and nicer to listen to. Keeps bringing a smile to my face. Familiar tracks I know well seem fresh and renewed. Vocals are incredibly realistic and ‘in the room.’ The music flows so much more naturally.
Downsides? None at all - except, and I’m not sure about this, or even if it is a ‘downside’, but there sometimes seems a very slight reduction in transient ‘slam’. Sometimes. Maybe. Not really sure. Actually I’m inclined to think that it’s simply as a result of the removal of hardness and edginess, which perhaps superficially could give an impression of increased transient slam.
But overwhelmingly the result is far more music and less hi-fi. Absolutely no doubt about that in my mind. If I had obtained this sort of improvement from spending a few grand on a new amp or whatever I would be chuffed. So my verdict is it easily justifies it’s place in my set up. I thought the results I was already getting were excellent but with the S6 installed things have gone to another level entirely. One of those moments when you know something special has happened.