Threesome, anyone?

You know what? You get to be lan si (snobbish) being first. First in your class, first to achieve a record, first in competition etc, there is a lot to be proud of. For audiophiles, first to own a flagship, first to own an alien brand, first to discover kick ass power cord and so on are the most satisfying.

Humbly, I also scored some personal first in audio, I'm first to own Mosfet LMos150, first to owe DIY63 dac with outboard 6 independent power supply, first to DIY Lighter Note in Malaysia, probably not. Now, I could add another score to my "First" tally, first to listen to three Power Banks. Hehe! I bet some out there are seriously wondering if three Power Banks worth a go?

The latest FPB replaced the filter setting to input polarity setting

The story begins with me offering to fetch uncle G, FPB designer and a technician to commission Power Bank in a reputable audio system. I'm sorry for nameless heads that I did not get the permission to reveal the identity nor the system but I can reassure you that this is a million dollar system and you do not get many in this level of play in Malaysia.

Infrastructure in Malaysia is among the best, road fatalities in Malayisa is also one of the highest in the world, what does it tell you? Poor civic mindedness. The recent deployment of AES is akin to 24/7 invincible traffic police raise public outcry. I opined that AES makes the road users behave and restores order on the road. It definitely will help bring down the number of accident. Life is tough, no one wants another ticket. With AES in place, everybody adhere to the traffic rules. It is a good thing at least to keep the reckless driving in watch. So, the journey took us close to three hours to reach our destination, a little more than it should.

The host can't wait to receive uncle G, it is like old friend. He was cordial to us and after the friendly hello, the guys went straight to work. Vocal is the host main music staple. He first spun some vocals to establish a standard. Uncle G brought his trusty Clarity 16 and ready to kill. You got to be impressed with uncle G agility, this uncle is no ordinary elder. Don't play play, I bet he can beat all of us climbing stairs, easily. Clarity 16 is a voodoo. Don't try it at home if you don't intend to buy unless of course you can bear with Insomnia.

As its name implied, this thing injects clarity. Better separation, notes are distinguishably detached from notes, more airy, more sparkle at the top and slightly more gain. The host was happy. The host has one Clarity 16 in his rig already and two Clarity 4s, but Two the merrier. Clarity 16 blew Clarity 4 away and the result was astonishing . Uncle G looks real cute. "See, what I told you?" Tips : Clarity 16 is most effective at the source and power amp, Clarity 16 stays.

After a little less than an hour, the guys had Power Banks fired up. Power Banks steamrolled Clarity 16 with ease. That did not surprise us. In combo, the improvements have compounded. It was time for my "Wow!", that's my role on that day play. The host was stunned, his eyes were wide opened in disbelief, speechless. There and then I know that the ice was broken. What could be better than a product speaks for itself? If Clarity 16 brought forth 10% of audio improvement, together as in a combo, brought forth 30% compounded with interest. Bear in mind, Power Banks are new, they should sound better as the breaking process continues.

We stopped at 1:30 pm for food. The host treated us a mouth watering lunch. The menu was, authentic shark fin soup, fried sliced lotus root with peas, steamed prawn with special soy sauce, one Pomfret two cooking styles, steamed on side and fried on the other side of the fish, mushroom oyster oiled chicken and Cantonese fried hor fun. The host has a mission, a taste for us to savour. Excuse me, I start craving while blogging. The lunch was fabulous. Taste versus sound, we are now even.

Power Banks have hit a little more than two hours after the lunch break, my findings are consistent with my first encounter with my Power Bank, the sound has become more liquid but with less than doubly darker background, inner ummph, separation and sparkling. One plus one does not always equals to two. The glossy sound (extended highs) however compensated the rather over damped room. The host hold his smile like most business men do, his poker face. He has finally found his missing puzzle. The Clarity 16 and Power Banks combo is a runaway success.

The clouds of doubt have been thoroughly removed, the host initiated to try the third Power Bank to see how far it can go. We happily obliged as all of us wanted to know the result too. It was a little Armageddon. The third Power Bank brought forth an unexpected leapfrog improvement. "Wow!", that's my role again. I suspected Power Bank hammered the source right. The traditional Chinese plucked strings has a bumpy decay, that was not entirely present and choppy before these upgrades, a full note with some degree of resiliency was audible. It is like chewy glue, no way you could chew them to pieces. The masculine power was immediate akin to additional 200W power. The host dropped the idea of upgrading the power amp and save up. The designer looked and whispered at me "Want a second unit?" Bugger..... @#$%

The fun did not stop there. Uncle G and I were eager to know if a better power cord could make a huge impact on Power Bank. The stock skinny power cord that comes along with the third Power Bank looks pathetic. The earlier Power Banks were connected to the sub DB. The host resisted the temptation. "Enough! Enough! Enough! Don't suck me dry. I'm putting a stop in audio". A stop? Easier said than done! Uncle G ignored the host reluctance, pulled and plugged his power cord to satisfy our inquisition. Hell ya!

Wow! What a notably improvement. On Dave Garret live in concert, his pale skin colour (from the projector) became accurate. Even the unlearned technician can tell. What amazes us was the colour depth of Dave's violin!!!The wears of lacquer on his violin was visible. The strings on his violin were articulate. Black becomes blacker, white becomes whiter. Contrast increased. The colours vibrancy was to be appreciated, saturated. The shade, brightness, chroma improved. All of us fell from the chairs. This power cord is essential.

On the action packed "Da Wu Sheng", the knockings, the gush of wind, the shrill of Chinese sword and spear, the percussion and the drum were vivid. The wind, O my God! Can you guys enlighten me wind in hertz? GSC and TGV are no contest.

Audio wise also benefited from the uncle G's power cord. Cai Qin's Lao Ge is high on musical value but average on recording quality. Lao Ge was recorded in 1985, if your Cai Qin sounded milky, thick and ripe, go check on your system. The host rendition of Lao Ge was pin point and transparent, and with the right age, supposing in her late 20s. You can rob a bank but don't rob Cai Qin voice. She was 27-28 when she records Lao Ge.

These virtues alone on Lao Ge are unheard of, really. Dare I say, the Cai Qin mouth is of the size of 20 cent. The images were rock like. Phenomenal for a more than six foot height multi drivers speakers that could have the ability to image like bookshelf speakers. Separation was breathtaking, reveals plenty of space around the musicians. Eat that out! This track can serve as his showcase reference. The host has set a very high bar on Lao Ge, difficult for others to surpass.

"I have finished with my power cord, I will now pull my power cord, thank you." says uncle G. "No, no, no, don't touch it! Let it as it is."
"Please check how much is the power cord, buy it, courier it to me and I will mail you a cheque"
"No, no, no, what was I thinking? Leave the power cord here and I will write you a cheque." His audio adrenalin never cease.
"Hey Mr designer, I want to order another Power Bank to make it four." Surprise order! God only knows when he will get his unit.

The host was lucky to receive three Power Banks ahead of his time. I looked at uncle G and teased him a bit "Now that you know what can Power Banks do, how to wait?" Anxiety, I knew that he has been waiting for his second unit for some time now.

"Damn @#$%! I will definitely have Insomnia tonight. The highs and mid better mine and they will haunt me in my sleep. The wait for Power Bank is killing me!" Uncle G was on a roll, the passion of audio rose higher.

Clarity 16, Power Banks and the undisclosed power cord combo has reignited a cold audiophile. The host sound has now elevated many storeys in performance. Shouldn't he be thrilled?

FPB aftermath

Hyperbole

Frank Power Bank rave review raises doubts as if I'm hyperbole. The smell of it, the story, the grammars, all lead to nothing but paid reviewer. Too bad, I wasn't paid a single dime. Well, I seldom write rave reviews as detailed as my posting on Frank Power Bank. I felt that I have to go thorough on this because the bloody thing deserves it. And so, I checked with the banker on his views on Frank Power Bank. Even though he is a newbie, he rides the steep learning curve with ease, the Oppa Gangnam style way. Anyway, he is always in super duper high spirit. A woman slightly exposed is enough to drop his pants, just kidding. The truth is he is swear by it, I mean Power Bank. What were you guys thinking? And what about KF? He has shifted into Neverland, further than where he used to reside. He has a lot to catch up though his passion is somewhat cold.... Poor man has priorities.

I got Power Bank

The door guy have had his Power Bank installed just yesterday. He seldom text Chinese, not tech savvy but I received a long Chinese message from him. The enthusiastic message goes "Noise floor plunged to incredibly low. The super low noise floor expanded the soundstage, so much depth, layering, airiness, penetration, has ascended my system a few notches up. It was easy to depict the musicians' spirit, by how hard they strike the cymbals and drums. The experience was so vivid and distinct. The permeating of violin was lifelike. I felt the weeping of Chai Qin. The control accorded by Power Bank was beyond my imagination!". 

I hit you all with Power Bank! Screw you all.

Awesome remark. Group audioing is much more fun than lone audioing. You get to share your excitement and pull some legs. In group, we push each others to the next level.

To bad, the wait seems forever. Waiting is a silent torture. Dr Mimosa can really make you wait until your hairs turn white. The banker is biting his nails wondering when his Power Bank will come. He got an audio statement to make, man slaughtering "First Degree Audio Murder" act for his audience at his place. You will walk away fine if your audio is meaner than his. If unfortunately not, he will run all over you. Mind you, his friends were stunned with the progress the banker has made so far. He is determined to shake high performance cost perception off, high performance cost means lots of compromises. In short, good sound but not great. He gladly surrender the title to KF.

On Power Bank, 莫待無機空折枝! It means you should pick the flower while it blossoms. He smiles helplessly looking at the queue. Anyway, he has installed a super ribbon tweeter that he claimed "You guys never get to hear what I hear from my system, hek, hek, hek."

Ain't that right? We are not Lolo.

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.