Over the past year, I have overhauled my entire system. I had purchased a Koda K10, which is a
tremendous preamp, but it was a component that had its own character. Beautiful, silky- as you'd expect from a designer who used to work at Shindo. The problem was that my cabling then was
also beautiful and coloured, and it became too much of a good thing. Paired with my Japanese 300b monoblocks, the sound was slow, lacked dynamism, and weak. However, I knew that these components were my 'endgame', and so I was pretty sure the problem lay elsewhere. With that, I began my journey.
I first swapped out my Mexcel 9700 from my preamp for a $1k (much cheaper) USD mid-range cord from this Japanese brand called AET, and the sound improved- the speed was better, and the veil was reduced. This brand has a reputation for being ruthlessly revealing- certainly not 'musical', and it seemed to counter the effects of my system well. From there I went up in the range of the AET cords, and ended up changing my 2x RCAs, Power cords to Extreme, Chord Dave, Preamp and Monoblocks; power cords to my conditioners; power cords to my switch and router; you get the drift. Everything was now AET. With each successive change the sound got quicker, clearer, and better. These are not particularly thick gauge chords, but I used them everywhere, to great results. Along the way, I even invested in benchmark AHB2 monos, which have a reputation for being dead neutral and measure really well, to get a better sense of what my Koda K10 preamp sounds like. I then got a benchmark LA4 to really compare and contrast with the Koda K10. This month, the last of my AET cords came in and I thought I was finally at the end.
With the 30 day risk-free trial, I had ordered the Gamma Infinity range to try purely out of curiosity after sterling reviews and good prior experience with QSA. At this point all my Mexcel, Black Cat, NCF and Sablon (I have a King) were out of my setup. The Gamma Infinities arrived last night and I set about trying them. I had ordered the SC, XLR, RCA, multiple PCs. When the first cord went in (XLR, to my benchmark AHB2 monos), I thought that this was more organic, less thin, and yet seemed to retain the speed and detail that I craved. But I wasn't sure- it felt like more brain burn-in was needed, or perhaps they needed to settle more. Then next I started swapping out PCs, first to my preamp Koda K10, then my DAC Chord Dave. Previously when I had made this change, the same power cord had about 2x the effect when used on my preamp vs my DAC. This time, however, adding the Gamma Infinity to the Preamp first, and then the DAC, seemed to result in an equal jump each time around. I read an earlier review that things only came together when they added the Ultimatum SC, but for me, every single component I added seemed to have the same equal jump in impact.
So what was that impact? It is initially disorienting because of how it changes that game. I had mentioned that the sound was initially more organic and less thin, but I thought I may need more brain burn in, because when you get changes like that, my experience is that it is always accompanied by a slower presentation with that glosses over details. Not so the QSA. There is lesser edge acuity, but I am reminded by how when I listen to a live performance, there is no edge acuity either, and yet the sound is extremely detailed- of course, since live performances are analog. Live performances also have a natural speed such that words like 'fast' or 'slow' are no longer relevant. This is what I experience with the Gamma Infinities. The reduction in edge acuity seems to come from such an increase in resolution that it now seems film-like, analog. Microdetail and layering appears greatly improved but does not at all sound forced or emphasised. "Speed" is no longer a relevant descriptor- the music just flows in the way it was intended.
The sound is also extremely neutral to your components- listening to my 300b's and Koda K10, I felt for the first time that I was hearing the magic and beauty that they possess- that organic, true-to-life weight and color that Japanese components tend to have- without any of the downsides of slowness or lack of dynamism. In fact, the dynamism here is also tremendous, in that it feels like it is just reacting immediately to whatever the music throws at it, without increased exaggerated contrast, and certainly not muted veiling. Similar to the speed then, it almost feels like 'dynamism' is no longer a useful word here- I'm just hearing the music.
So here I am, having previously gone 180degrees to find the most ruthlessly revealing, neutral cords to get the most out of my setup, and finally realising now that neutrality shouldn't be compensating for what's missing in the setup. Neutrality should rather transmit the music faithfully, to allow your setup to shine. For the first time, the music sounds musical, not because I'm trying to make it musical, but because it is lifelike and real, with all the goodness that I'd imagined when I'd first bought this preamp.
It is hard to put this in words, but let me try. The 'musicality' I derive from a live performance is different from what I mean when I call an audiophile setup 'musical'. To me the latter typically means warm, mid-centric, rich, and emotional. If that is what you're looking for, you won't find it here. But if you want 'musicality'- the kind you find at a live venue, where you're mesmerised and will never consider all the audiophile attributes that you look for in your system
because they seem completely irrelevant, as if you're now listening to a different species of performance- then you'll get it with the Gamma Infinity.