ADD-Powr Wizard in the house!

[Masterlu]

Ben… Outstanding!

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by Clyde2

Hello All. I’m a little late to the party with regard to Add-Powr products but I’d just like to echo the comments by Vintage Pete in his review and evaluation of the Wizard. After much discussion with Masterlu, and you’re probably aware of his thoughts on these devices, I decided to take the plunge. I can only speak for myself, but each and every recommendation Ivan has given me brought great improvement to my system. The Wizard arrived promptly but it sounded like “a screw was loose” within the unit. I reached out to Bill Stierhout, the man behind the curtain who designed and built these units. Bill was responsive and talked me through the issue that was literally only a loose screw on the chassis. He initially offered several generous remedies but all I wanted was to hear this in my system! (Not only is Ivan at the top of the customer service ladder, the people behind the gear he recommends are too). The Wizard just plugs into the wall….. That’s it. I’m sure everyone reading this knows that but the utter simplicity bears repeating. The effects are immediate and once heard, won’t be easy to do without. For me, it was another level of “realism”. Everything just sounds more vivid and natural. The soundstage became larger and even more independent from the speakers than I had heard it before. The effects increased after a few days with the Wizard being powered up. Well worth the investment for me. A 30 day return window eliminates the risk but I can now see why they never get sent back.

I was so impressed with the Wizard I took another leap and purchased a Symphony I/O. This is a USB and Ethernet signal “Harmonizer”. It does for the digital signal what the Wizard does for the power in your system. Bill Stierhout tried to explain it to me. I say he tried because my scientific background in this area is quite limited. I’m not in the “show me the measurements” crowd. I’m only interested in how it sounds. The I/O stands for In/Out and is implemented like a switch. The sense of realism and natural presentation increased again for digital. I couldn’t be happier with these devices and will keep an eye out for additional products from Coherence/Add-Powr. Put simply, they just work. Thanks Bill! And thank you to Ivan!

I'm not sure if your name is Clyde, or Ben....but reading this review puts a smile on my face. I would never take the Wizard out of my system. I still don't fully understand how it works, but work it does!

BTW....I too had a loose screw in the unit upon arrival. Don't know what's up with that....

Congrats and enjoy!

[SX-626]

Originally Posted by Vintage Pete

I'm not sure if your name is Clyde, or Ben....but reading this review puts a smile on my face. I would never take the Wizard out of my system. I still don't fully understand how it works, but work it does!

BTW....I too had a loose screw in the unit upon arrival. Don't know what's up with that....

Congrats and enjoy!

Wow. I had a screw loose in my Sorcer also, a couple of years ago…

[brownbear]

Not trying to turn this into a loose screw topic, but I also had one on my Wizards arrival.

[dkorbal]

What a coincidence, I’ve been told I have a screw loose!

[brownbear]

Originally Posted by dkorbal

What a coincidence, I’ve been told I have a screw loose!

I don't think that's news to anyone

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by dkorbal

What a coincidence, I’ve been told I have a screw loose!

Doug.....truth be told, we probably all have a few screws loose around here!

Seriously, one has to wonder what's up with that. I found I wasn't alone with the loose screw thingy at the time I bought my Wizard. Now it seems we're coming out of the woodwork...

[crwilli]

Catching up and Yes, My Wizard was also loose as a goose. If I remember correctly, the top was loose - barely secured, and after that I found multiple screws that were loose. It’s been two + years since I installed lt.

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by bart

Pete..., I'll purchase this early next year.

What happened to Bart? He has not posted this year. Hope all is well with him and his delightful wife and children (now young adults).

[Clyde2]

Originally Posted by Vintage Pete

I'm not sure if your name is Clyde, or Ben....but reading this review puts a smile on my face. I would never take the Wizard out of my system. I still don't fully understand how it works, but work it does!

BTW....I too had a loose screw in the unit upon arrival. Don't know what's up with that....

Congrats and enjoy!

Thanks for reading my post and for the kind response. In all seriousness, your comments regarding the Wizard weighed heavily on my decision to give it a go. My username, Clyde2, was originally bestowed upon me many, many years ago by my daughter when she was 5 years old. (She is into her mid 20s now. Not sure how that happened…) At that time I decided to employ it as my username for a different audio site whose name I refuse to pollute AA with! For consistency and simplicity, I decided to keep it across the board. My actual name, as you may have guessed, is Ben.

Very interesting comments by several members about the Add-Powr units arriving with loose hardware. I’ll admit, given the Wizard is obviously and exclusively a “power” device, I was reluctant to use it if there was a potentially dangerous flaw. My worst case scenario fears were unfounded. I’m very thankful Bill Stierhout was kind enough to be on the phone with me and talk me through some “surgery” on the unit during which I discovered it was only a screw from the chassis. That issue was rectified immediately and the Wizard went in. Like Pete said, I’m not taking it out.

Thanks Pete and everyone else here on AA. I have found this site to be by far the most enjoyable and informative I have had the pleasure of reading.

Happy 4th!

Ben aka Clyde2