FPB, Lord of Power

This post supposed to come later but I couldn't hold my enthusiasm. Story goes like this, one fine day and we didn't much to do, we gathered for small talk. I challenged the banker if he is to commit to a Frank PB-15000WS Power Bank Storage, I'll follow suit. Knowing the shrewd banker had committed to so many upgrades, that he would eventually slow down. Big mistake, he did not give a second thought about it and went on to commit. I was taken off guard, he threw his chips in. Now, it is my call to follow or done.

Me and my big mouth, too late to back down now. I thought I could take a rest on upgrade and enjoy my audio fruition. And now this, the situation had me play a fat Neo in Matrix. My biggest worry is if FPB would upset my sound equilibrium, tearless for my years long efforts go down the drain. The designer, Dr Mimosa had reassured me that FPB will not. Let's see....


So, Dr Mimosa brought two assistants along with him. First off, I heard a lot of good things about hifi fuse. Out go the standard fuse, come the cryoed hi fi fuse. I could have inserted a 100A fuse but the sound will be coarse and overpowering. The cryoed 60A fuse should receive some credits for added gain and audio elevation.

Housed two oversize transformers in Frank Power Bank

Frank Power Bank weights 38kg, this require strong back to move this thing. At the front fascia, a bright blue lighting indicates FPB is in operation. The damn light is eye piercing in darkness. Sun glasses in darkness is cool but the sound is not, the glass reflects the sound. A masking tape should fix this. According to the designer, FPB is a zero maintenance component and is expected to last forever. Though, do switch off the main if you are away for a couple of days, I was advised. I love zero maintenance stuff, running cost worries me. I hate rigs holding my balls for ransom.

Reinventing the wheel

I always make it a point to ask the objective and the impacts of the product to grasp the logic. Not everyday is a Sunday? Dr Mimosa explained that the power coming into our household is of floating impedance, FPB fixes and stabilizes such floating impedance. Ha! Impedance, that is the only audio jargon that rings my bell. Dr Mimosa revealed that similar technologies have existed more than twenty years ago for non audio applications and he is not reinventing the wheel. After more than a year of R&D on the size of transformer, quantity of transformer, transformer make, power cord, filters and fine tuning, he finalized his design as what I am receiving today. We all know Frank has good ear.

FPB comes in two options of connectivity, direct to the sub distribution box or to the wall socket via power cord. The later caters for those who do not have a sub distribution box and it is said that you can achieve only 70% of the performance connection via sub distribution. Beware, Dr Mimosa tunes Frank Power Bank with standard power cord and he does not warrant the use of other presumably more exotic after market power cords of the desired results. In some cases, those exotic power cords do deliver stellar performance. Hence, it is a double edge sword, use them at your risk. Long power cord, more than three meters is not recommended due to significant power loss. Don't push your luck, you have been warned.

Technicians at work

His assistant connected FPB via three 6mm thickness copper wires to the sub distribution box. Frank Power Bank is a passive component, it only consumes little current, 2-5W. It consumes little power, my worry on electricity bill is unfounded.

You will be sorry

Prior installation, the main have to be switched off. So, please ensure that such inconvenience is tolerable. You might want to avoid your wife's favorite drama before she screams at you!

Lets see what you got

The installation took 30-45 minutes. OK, bring it on, let hear what FPB got. No, FPB requires a minimum six hours to charge up to sound optimum, consider FPB a huge current reservoir. It takes time to store up current. Six hours is not a long time to wait, six months is.

Dr Mimosa and the banker wanted to drop by the same night to have a quick listen. They all itchy back side. Coincidentally, I have to attend a wedding dinner with my wife in Cheras, an obligation I would regret if I did not go. She will fix me right!

Time ticks so slowly, I can't wait to rush home to hear what is cooking. The guys were punctual, Dr Mimosa and the banker showed up at the doorstep at a little over 10. The banker took a long 360 look at my room, wanting to know what voodoos I have installed. Si beh cunning fella, I waited no time to switch off the light and listen what FPB has installed for us.

Right off the bat, FPB has a magical way of purifying the contaminated current. The occasional irritating hum was reduced to a new level, the stage was more "blacker". I could now hear the blowing of my air conditioner even though it was in low fan mode. It is a new Daikin air cond, ok.

Tonal quality improved, clean, articulate and vibrant, definitely not bleached. I got a tad smoother, less edgy sonic texture. On the winning duo Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb's Stranger In A Strange Land, a beautiful number, you folks owe a listen to this number, the edge delineation outlined. FPB distinguished two voices o so palpable. You have no idea how difficult to achieve this. The images have shed some weight, no more fluffy images that many consider warmth. Warmth my foot la, who is whispering?

Kidding? I am dead serious. Presence is one of the audio elements that gets you involved. The degree of presence separates a high end system and the mid fi wannabe. Single driver and horn are exceptional in this regard. Single driver suffers from limited bandwidth while horn sounded honky. The presence accorded by FPB akin to single driver speaker, close but not the same level. I am using a 3 way speaker, this is nevertheless phenomenon. Nothing beats the rawness of single driver and horn thanks to simple crossover. Complex crossover have an appetite for details

On Youn San's gut wrecking Pancake, the banker jumped, sighed and told that he was experiencing a biblical episode of Jonah swallowed by a fish. The bass ate him? Very interesting description, these type of remarks definitely get me into trouble!!! He was shook up by the authoritative, taut and whopping bass. Dr Mimosa said the bass driver have grown 2 inch bigger in diameter. The bass quantity and quality were simply leaping into a different league. I am not suggesting my bass is similar to Wilson Audio. That's deceitful.

The PRaT thing, the immediacy got better. The musicians were pumped up to give a more energetic performance. Another glaring virtue of FPB, micro and macro detail retrieval were astonishing. Difficult subtleties shine, no guesswork. Tons of details. The stroke of drum, the plucking of guitar, the brush of strings and the ripple of percussion, more bite, more direct and more decisive. I thought my sound is clean but this FPB opened the hell gate! It makes you want more, more, more.

Sucking air

Speakers suck up current during the complex passages. This is an acid test to determine if your amp is up to the task, capability to meet the demand. FPB can not resolve the power of your amp if under powered. If your amp could not supply the current at low ohm, Frank Power Bank is no cure. Change the amp instead!

But, if your amp is up to the task, FPB acts like Lord of Power, my 150W power amp sounded more like 250W. A modern Hercules. Eat that out! Dynamic and transient benefited the most. No sluggish if you know what I mean. With great power, come greater volumetric soundstage in dimension. The images were rock steady, no wobbling during complex passages. The stage was akin to spooky electrostatic. On Brendan Perry's This boy, the banker sworn he heard the sound coming from the back wall.

After the grueling test, nobody is complaining about the noise which itself is a compliment in disguise. There is a toggle switch at the back of the FPB, offering three tonal balance setting. We prefer the default setting as it sounded the most natural to our ears.

Probably I did not expect all that much improvements from FPB. For the sake of supporting a friend, I found FPB improves my sound in many ways. None of my tweaks improve all departments. Most of them improve only on two or three departments. Three, you got lucky.

Russ Andrew Clarity 16, nearly got smitten

Power is the lifeline to our system, I drink to that! This goes without saying FPB does not come cheap, by my standard, OK. It costs more than my amp! For the results, my audio performance leapfrogged and I do not think you can look elsewhere, probably those five times priced power plant. I don't know. Russ Andrew Clarity 16 is good but still a distance close. Some guys who had installed FPB keeping coming back for more. And they are no fool. The back order is building up and the wait is getting longer. The banker will get his in October.


You need to get this FPB in your system, you may want to tighten your belt or sell off your other gears but please do some things. It is that good.