Playing the Andante con moto from Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto, performed by Mitsuko Uchida (Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker, BPHR 180243) the QB8 delivers a crisper, poised and measured piano sound: note weight and placement, the pace, placement and shape of phrases was far more purposeful and definite. The orchestral backing is more powerful, both bolder and more subtly textured. The significant advantage in terms of dynamic range, discrimination, focus and immediacy elevates the QB8 significantly above the Power Block, especially if musical excitement and involvement are your priorities. If the system needs calming and bringing together, if you prefer a more distant, cohesive and holistic perspective, then the Power Block may well make your day. But ultimately it was the QB8 that went forward to square off against the Chord PowerHAUS.
New block on the block…
This comparison was far closer. The QB8 still enjoyed a slight edge in terms of dynamic discrimination and precision, attack and timing, but the Chord bettered it in terms of overall scale, dimensional coherence and acoustic definition. With a perspective that sat slighter closer to the QB8 than the Power Block, it didn’t possess the same obvious clarity as the Nordost unit, but it still projected serious presence and musical purpose. Textures were more developed and combined with the larger, better defined acoustic space that made for greater separation and a more convincing orchestra. Aimee Mann’s vocal was smoother, more refined and its phrasing even more natural than the QB8’s even if those same qualities slightly muted the ‘spit hitting the microphone’ attitude and immediacy so compelling with the Nordost. The bass and drum support delivered by the PowerHAUS was big and weighty, subtle and beautifully paced, maintaining the measured momentum that is so important to this track.
The piano recording further underlined the differences, the superior expressive range of the QB8, the natural weight, scale and stability of the PowerHAUS. There’s a discernably lower noise floor and lack of edge or grain that makes the Chord unit sound super-refined and solid – indeed, echoing the way it feels. Larger scale orchestral works really benefit from its instrumental textures and colours, the volume of the acoustic it creates and the easy sense of planted power that the band is able to project. Combining either distribution block with its own-brand cables underlined the overall characteristics/differences: Mixing one brand’s cables with the other brand’s block narrowed the gap, but at the cost of some coherence and tonal refinement. The Epic cables brought a bit of (entirely uncharacteristic) edge to the upper mids on the QB8, sharpness to vocals and a little extra bite on strings. The Frey power cords added some transparency and pace to the PowerHAUS but at the expense of that easy sense of substance and dimensionality. In either case, the matched sets were ultimately more successful than the hybrids, further underlining the significance of overall coherence in cable strategy.
Finding solid ground…
One interesting operational difference between the M6 and S6 (and between the Chord units and the competition) is that the recommended plugging order differs. On the M6, the company recommends placing the ‘noisiest ‘ unit nearest to the AC input – and thus closest to the GroundARAYs. With the S6, the order is reversed, because the (less powerful) SuperARAY technology is anchored at the other end of the unit. Befoire embarking on the close comparisons, I experimented with plug order. Clearly, the digital components are going to be the most problematic in terms of ground noise. The question is – which one will be the worst offender. using the X1 power supply means that all audio functions are driven via that unit, with the D1.5 and C1.2 power cords only carrying AC to the software running the operational and housekeeping functions. On that basis, you might think that the X1 would be the first priority, but in practice the best results were achieved connecting the units in the following order: C1.2, D1.5, X1 and then the two integrated amps. Positioning the X1 first (closest to the AC input) definitely brought a sense of olid substance to the low-frequencies, but positioning after the C1.2 and D1.5 opened up the soundstage, reduced the grain, increased the colour pallette and improved the sense of musical flow. Playing Shawn Colvin’s album Cover Girl (Columbia COL477240 2) clearly demonstrated the benefits. On the duet, ‘One Cool Remove’ (with Mary Chapin Carpenter), the two voices are more distinct, with a wonderfully natural purity of tone and harmony, while the intentionally awkward and stilted picking on the opening of the poignant ‘Someday’ takes on a new significance, the catchy melody a more explicit shape. At the same time, the weightier balance of the M6 mandated a nudge forward on the speaker placement, relative to the QB8, a shift that improved rhythmic articulation and allowed instruments to step away from the speakers into a deeper, more dimensional soundstage. The resulting performance was both more engaging and more intimate. Don’t assume that you can simply drop the M6 (or any other power block) into an existing system without compensating for the alteration in the quantity and quality of low-frequency energy that will almost certainly result. It’s a step that might complicate comparisons, but it’s a step that’s essential if those comparisons are gioing to be valid.
