I'm hearing unbelievable detail and transparency now, no problem with bass! Yesterday I did a few things to my computer and have no idea which one was the reason for the improved sound, so I list them all. I wasn't expecting any improvement in the first place, it just appeared.
- Extra rubber bands for isolation feet needed a couple days to break in.
- I moved all music to a dedicated harddrive. I changed my RAID0 setup from 2 drives to 4 drives (my 2 drive array was 50+% fragmented, my 4 drive array is 5% fragmented). Before I was using 3 drives in my computer, now I'm using 5 drives. It increased the wattage with about 25watts which gave more internal power supply switching noise. The current draw of Valhalla cables to the wall has increased as well so the whole audio system is affected.
- Turned off computer without turning off audio system (different combination of burn-in).
- Didn't listen to my system for over a day (normally I listen many times a day).
- Used a different album to keep my system burned in.
- Didn't train my muscles for over a day (normally I train 2-4 times a day).
- Ate a loaf of bread and butter within 18 hours (there was nothing else to eat).
- It started snowing and temperature went from 0 to -5.5 degrees Celsius, it hasn't been this cold for a year. Inside temperature dropped from 20.5 to 19.5 degrees. Window was open when I was sleeping and when I woke up the room was very cold. I closed the window and went to bed with K1000 and watched a couple episodes of Prison Break season 2, the sound was clearer than season 1 which I finished a week earlier. Afterwards I turned on music and was shocked of the low-level detail.
The biggest improvement came from computer. But I'm also surprised that my Cary transport sounds a little better too, I'm hearing the "snowy weather" sound signature but with little more detail from the removal of bass because of more current draw through the Valhalla cable from the wall. It's like making the power cord a little thinner again.
I'm hearing combinations of many things now. The colder temperature should have given less low-level detail but it didn't, something else is the reason for that. The extra current draw from two more harddrives could be the reason, there is not too much bass anymore. I'm hearing more potential from the computer now (plugged into Ultimate Oulet), the transients sound a little broken but it seems that Premier Power Plant would fix that.
When I turned on my Cary transport (connected to P300 Power Plant) it sounded perfect for a couple minutes until I started hearing bass problems, that's a good sign, normally I have something to complain about from the start.
I'm still hearing the "Harvester bassy wall" signature so I know it's still working. I'm also hearing the "extra rubber bands for isolation feet" signature as well, but it sounds like the rubber bands are more stretched now so it causes me to hear more low-level detail. The stiffer the rubber bands are the more the midrange is emphasized.
Computer has unbelievable speed, background is blacker than ever. I can't believe the quiet sounds I'm hearing! Bass is in background like the way I want it, but with Cary it is in front. My transports sound the opposite now!
Computer sounds very different now, I'm hearing more midrange low-level detail, but the bass detail is reduced which makes bass sound cleaner and tighter. I'm hearing more broken surface transient speed but with more midrange low-level detail.
It seems that the internal switching noise of the power supply gives better sound than the noise from the wall, because there is less noise for the amp and DAC. This increases the low-level detail which is more apparent in the midrange.
I like to keep the transport a little jittery to get the illusion of more blackness and transparency. I like the "hairy" sound of the computer as well, the transients are that thin and the rest of the system needs to be good enough to hear it. But I haven't heard the hairiness anymore since I stopped using P300 Power Plant for computer. Today I'm hearing more potential from computer than ever before. It seems like I would like computer more than my 10 times more expensive transport because computer is hairier with less bass. I need to fix bass of Cary somehow, it is using the output transformer of P300 Power Plant, that must be it. Before I got the Harvester my Cary sounded almost perfect with too little bass and too much blackness, computer sounded heavier, smoother, warmer and more dull, I couldn't believe it! It was from the unmodded Valhalla power cord.
Now the Cary sounds a little too heavy with the Harvester plugged into the wall, and the computer sounds too thin after adding a couple more harddrives. The difference between my gear has always been a tweak or two apart.