Early in my audio journey, I was infatuated with the idea that power conditioning affects the sound of an audio system. I have Paul McGowan to “thank” for that. I was a PS Audio retailer back in the 70s’- 80s’, and one day, I was talking with him about the different size power transformers PS Audio offered for their preamp. We were discussing the impact power supplies had on the sound of a component. It was then that he made a statement that changed my thinking about power forever. As he tried to explain the impact of power quality on the sound of a system, he said, “Ken, in the end, what you are listening to is modulated wall current.”
From that day forward, I have paid attention to what comes out of that wall socket and listened to many power conditioners. Along the way, I have had misses with products that crushed dynamics or added their sonic signature to the sound. Yet, there have been some notable successes like the Silver Circle Tchaik 6 and Dave Magnan’s Signature power strip, and more recently, the P.I. Audio UberBUSS.
As my ongoing quest for a lower noise floor continues, I have come to believe the “character of silence” that composes the background in the recording makes a significant contribution to the musical presentation. After all, it is this background from which the music springs. And, as the music ebbs and flows, the background is always where the music returns. It simply must have a quality that, at the very least, does not distract from the music, and at best, provides the proper background to allow the artist and music to connect with the listener.
My interest was piqued when I heard about a company using unusual designs based on their research to make a power conditioner with no capacitors, inductors, or coils.
Based in Lithuania, LessLoss Audio was founded in 2007 by designers Louis Motek and Vilmantas Duda. Louis’s extensive musical background, coupled with Vilmantas’s (Vil for short) electrical engineering prowess, has made an excellent partnership that explores various aspects of things they feel impact sound quality.
Louis describes:
“We began with power, seeing as how it is the absolute foundation to great sound. It is easy to get a super high-performance interconnect to sound bad: simply plug it into a system with really poor power, and it will act as a window to help you hear all the nasties the power is supplying to the system.
Reversely, take a cheap interconnect which really has no specially good performance, and plug it into a system run by supremely high-performance power, and you will thoroughly enjoy the sound.
… we spent the first several years concentrating on power quality. We developed power cables first, then our power conditioning technology which we call the Firewall…”
Eliminating noise in the signal chain is the goal of virtually all power conditioner manufacturers. What caught my interest here is that LessLoss is paying particular attention to eliminating environmental noise that pollutes the power entering the system. Environmental noise such as RF, Wi-fi, Cell phone, and more makes its way into the signal chain through your system’s wiring, which can act as an antenna. Many people speculate that environmental noise is the culprit in making a system’s sound quality vary throughout the day. Color me interested.
While LessLoss makes signal cables, speaker cables, and even an R2R DAC, we agreed to start my experience at the wall outlet with their Firewall 640X power conditioner. LessLoss feels that the power source is the place to start and where you will get your most significant return on your investment. Addressing power first, you can now make better decisions on downstream wiring in your system, which the impact of noisy power will not skew.
This excellent video from their website describes their thinking:
The Design
This part of the review describes the component and delves into some of its technical aspects. However, in this case, the deep theories and complex technologies used to produce this outwardly modest-looking component are best left to LessLoss to explain. Instead, I am going to touch on the highlights of the construction and electrical theory.
If you opened the Firewall 640x’s unassuming 5.5” x 2.5” x 1.5” oak case you would find an assembly comprised of three sets of aged copper rods, each surrounded by a matrix, formed by 3D laser metal sintering, and then encapsulated in a special slow-curing, very hard epoxy resin. The resin is injected in liquid form, and over two to three days, it hardens rock solid and secures all the soft copper bars and the matrix. The wood casing was chosen over a typical metal housing to absorb the micro-vibrations as current flows.
This module is the basis of the LessLoss Firewall noise reduction system.
At this point, I will turn it over to LessLoss to explain the manufacturing process used to treat the skin of the copper rods:
“The heart of our solution is the special Firewall technology we have been constantly working on and perfecting for over a decade now… It is made by laser. Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), also known as Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), is an Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique designed to use a high power-density laser to melt and fuse metallic powders together. This process has the ability to fully weld the metal powder material into a solid three-dimensional part of any conceivable shape or form.
We are using the most advanced AM system called Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS). Research on this process began in 1995 as a German research project at the Fraunhofer Institute. This new technology was first commercialized only in the year 2000.
Any approach to the machinery must be made wearing protective gear, as seen below in an image of the very people working on our Firewall production.”
Treating the skin of the copper rods LessLoss forms the basis for their Firewall noise reduction technique called “Skin Filtering.” They explain it as follows:
“Skin-filtering makes perfect use of the way that alternating electrical current naturally travels down a wire. Its functionality is based on the principle of attenuation over distance, and on the high-frequency skin effect first described mathematically in 1883.”
“Because nature determines that high frequencies reside at the skin of every conductor, it is easy to understand why LessLoss Skin-filtering is the audiophile’s best and most efficient tool to condition the power before it enters his or her audio component. Treating the skin of the conductor attenuates HF noise, preventing it from entering your gear. Because this filtering solution is employed only at the skin of the conductor, the solution never restricts the low-frequency power flow your gear relies on. This way you get enhanced HF attenuation without compromising dynamics or coloring the sound.”
Louis Motek summarizes: “… we have thus split the conductor into two parts: a well-conducting part at the core for low frequencies, and a highly resistive part on the outer skin for the high-frequency noise. Thus, we achieve noise reduction simply because nature dictates that the noise resides at the skin of the conductor.”
Here is a graphic from their website about Skin Filtering that may clarify it for you.
Suffice it to say that there is a lot of technology going on here, more than I can cover in the length of a regular review. I will refer you to the excellent LessLoss website for those who want to do a deep dive. There you will find some of the highest quality information videos you have seen from a specialty audio company. They are very informative and help you understand the unusual design and manufacturing technology behind the products they make.
My purpose here is not to validate or refute their theories. I will leave that hornets’ nest to someone with more time and intelligence in this field than me. There are a few reviews out there that go down that rabbit hole. I won’t take that trip.
What I can tell you is how this product worked in my system.
And work it did! Let’s get to it.
Firewall 640x and Firewall 640x C-MARC™
The Firewall 640x lineup encompasses two models. The standard 640x and the top of the line 640x C-MARC™ (Common-mode Auto-rejecting Cable). While the main module and box are the same in both, the C-MARC™ version uses the C-MARC™ flexible power lead and C13 plug that has undergone their Entropic Process and includes a micro-vibration absorbing chuck inserted into the power plug.
C-MARC™ pertains to the winding method and type of cable used by LessLoss. The Entropic Process is what LessLoss has named their proprietary process used to “age” or “condition” the cable to reduce the rollercoaster sound quality of the break-in period.
Louis tells me that the Entropic Process is not something that they do to finished products. This technology goes back to the beginning of the build process and represents crucial steps at all stages of production.
I spent most of my listening time with the Firewall 640x C-MARC™ version, and my comments about sound quality are based on it. However, do not take that to mean I was not impressed with its sibling.
On the contrary, as I listened to the two, each time I inserted the standard Firewall 640x in place of the C-MARC™ version, it retained the same quality of improvement, just to a lesser degree. How much less?
Well, you can’t get more subjective than estimating a percentage difference in products! But to my ear, the difference would be about 30% less. That makes the Standard version a good value when compared to its twice as expensive costlier brother. However, there is no question the C-MARC™ performance outshines the standard version.
Good Night… Let’s Listen
Have you ever had that “3 am in the morning” listening experience when everything seems to lock into place and the system’s sound ascends to a higher level of emotional involvement than it usually provides? I know I have. I know a lot of other Audiophiles that have experienced this as well. LessLoss says that one of their goals in the design of the Firewall 640x was to combat environmental noise that prevents you from experiencing that “3 am in the morning” listening experience all day long.
The idea of environmental noise pollution impacting an audio system is not new. Companies like Kemp Electronics, Synergistic Audio, and others try different technologies to address it.
I have not tried those yet, but in the case of the Firewall 640x, it succeeded in giving me that “3 am” listening experience. The Firewall 640x seems to strip away the electronic haze or fog that you did not previously realize was there, impacting the music. You don’t know it’s there until it’s gone. It is not the usual noise that you associate with music reproduction like hiss or electronic circuit noise. It is more of a layer of artificiality that is removed to reveal a more truthful presentation of the music and the artist’s intent.
I sold Flat-screen TVs for many years, and for the first 15 or so years, 1997-2015, LED TVs always looked artificial to me. The colors were less than accurate, and motion issues gave it an unnatural feeling. However, one flat screen looked a lot more natural, and it was the Pioneer Kuro Plasma TV. The Kuro had a broader color palette with more gradation in the colors and, frankly, a calmer picture. It was a new benchmark for flat-screen TVs.
Adding the Firewall 640x to my system resulted in a similar enhancement. The colors were richer, the palette was more profound, and the background canvas was calmer. Everything results in an acoustic image that is less distracting and more evolving.
In the System
The 640x’s combination of plug-n-play design and the fact that you can add it to your system without replacing power cords or conditioners is quite appealing. I mentioned earlier, LessLoss advises the most significant impact on your system is achieved by inserting the Firewall 640x as early in your power chain as possible. I inserted the Firewall ahead of my P.I. Audio UberBUSS power distribution block.
Upon initial listening, I was immediately struck by the change the Firewall 640x brought to my sound. By the end of the first few discs, I quickly wrote two words in my listening notes, “calm” and “relaxation.”
The tension that I associate with electronic reproduction in general and digital reproduction specifically was significantly reduced and therefore, so was the mental work to combat it. It was simply easier to listen to music and allow myself to be fooled by the illusion and bathe in that illusion for long periods.
Vinyl aficionados will know what I am talking about. This same reduction of tension and sense of calm is apparent when, after listening to digital, I get up off my lazy butt and put an album on. It is as if my whole body relaxes and does not feel the need to “work” to listen to the music. It is not a vinyl vs. digital thing; there are a lot of warts in vinyl reproduction. But if you are a vinyl enthusiast, you will know that of which I speak. I believe the feeling of less tension and a calmer sound draws many hobbyists to the vinyl sound.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra – Live in Cuba
Don’t miss this album. The second cut on this recording called Baa Baa Black Sheep, is not only one of my favorite tunes due to the masterful work of the musicians. This is also a favorite piece for me to use to evaluate a piece of equipment. At the opening, the different horns in the orchestra are used to make sounds like sheep. This quickly reveals to me the capability of a component to unravel the different timbres of the instruments and their dynamic expressiveness.
The entire performance was raised to a level I had not previously heard in my listening room with the Firewall installed. The performers’ individuality was more outlined, and the Wah-Wah sounds of the different horns were very distinct. I could tell if the horn was directly facing me or slightly off-angle.
Applause
Strange as it may sound, I use applause as one of my guides to determine correctness in setup and components. For one, I find it to be instrumental in setting VTA and anti-skating on a turntable.
Over the years, I have heard recorded applause sound quality vary wildly. However, the Firewall 640X takes applause to a new level of reality in my system. The individuality of the clapping hands and the character of each clap is much better distinguished. Crowd noise and whistling in the background, along with the applause, were all the best I have experienced in my system.
When I removed the Firewall 640x, the applause became more homogenous and had a more limited scale and size. I no longer felt like I was in the room. Without the Firewall 640x, rather than listening to applause and reveling in it at the end of a song, I wanted to immediately move on to the next song and cut the applause short.
Gladiator – Motion Picture Soundtrack
One of my late-night favorites is Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s excellent Gladiator soundtrack. The track that captures it all for me is The Battle. At over 10 minutes long, it ranges from soft and quiet, with excellent detail and space, and finishing to an almost overwhelming conclusion. After which, you feel like you have been in a multi-round heavyweight fight. The track puts the system thru its paces and allows me to assess everything from very subtle detail to very complex orchestration.
With the Firewall 640x in the system, the opening quiet details are more fully revealed and subtle notes have a bit more dynamic quality standing out against the background in more significant relief. The decay of notes and the sense of space is magnified, pulling you into the music. As the piece progresses to its peak, instruments remain locked in place and maintain their individuality. I did not sense any dynamic compression with the Firewall in place.
Shirley Horn – You’re my Thrill
Throughout this excellent album, I was enamored by the impact of the Firewall 640x. Piano tone and body take on greater weight, and individual notes become more easily understood. The very subtle nuances of Ms. Horn’s singing were more apparent. Sighs and breaths took on a more significant role in the emotion of the song.
Piano notes seem to start and stop much quicker and more firmly against the background.
Brushes on the skin of a drumhead are more detailed, and I was able to understand better the drummer “working” the brush on the drum.
Conclusion
The impact of the Firewall 640x was not subtle, and it was quickly apparent in my system.
Many types of information were more readily revealed, the space the recording was made in, the reverberation trail of the instruments, the individual components of harmony, subtle inflections of the artist on their instrument. Voices and instruments have a more truthful timbre and occupy a more believable space and yield more dynamic expression within that space. All of this led me to feel more connected with the music as it sounded less reproduced and more accurate. I will say this “connection to the music” was more consistently present in my system throughout the day and night than has been in the past.
When I reviewed the DS Audio EA1 optical cartridge a few years ago, I called it one of my Audio Waypoints, saying:
“As I think back about my audio experiences over the years, there are a number of “audio waypoints” that stick out in my mind. These are significant events that are markers in my audio career, and I can recall these individual moments with exceptional clarity. They are moments when I experienced a major departure from my expectations of a particular product category.”
I will tell you now that I will be adding the LessLoss Firewall 640x C-MARC™ to my list of “waypoint” products that have reset my expectations in a product category.
This time it is power conditioning.
A recommended component for your consideration.
LessLoss
Firewall 640 x $654.00
Firewall 640x C-MARC™ $1272.00
Manufacturer’s Comments:
Many thanks go out from LessLoss to Ken Redmond for your review of our Plug-and-Play Firewall products for power conditioning. We share in the experience that, often times, subtle things like the revelation of actual individual humans clapping instead of that homogenous “frying pan” type sound during crowd applause provides real conviction that we’re on the right path. I may add that this same thing is experienced yet again when listening to choirs performing in ensemble. A sense that we have before us many individuals actually striving (emphasis on striving) to achieve a musically homogenous sound is far more riveting, and allows us to feel much more appreciation for their individual efforts towards that goal of meshing into a single musical unit, thus resulting in a deeper appreciation for their art. This in contrast to the typically perceived choir sound that rather mimics a type of sampled electronic depiction of a choir, seemingly played on an electronic keyboard by someone in a highly controlled recording session based on processing equipment (emphasis on equipment). In general, anything we can do in the art of audio reproduction which leads to the greater appreciation of individual musicians’ effort (emphasis on effort) is, in our eyes, a furthering of our art. And we’re very happy to see you are in the same camp. So thank you once again for your published assessment and we hope to serve many an audiophile with similar ambitions and expectations!
Louis Motek, LessLoss Audio