Alright, I finally got a couple of hours today to spend alone in my media room, so I tested out Gordon's Marigo Audio Evolution Signature disc mat. Gordon sent this to me weeks ago, and I am sorry to say that I have just been too busy to test it out. I will state from the beginning that I am a pretty sceptical about the effectiveness of tweaks like this, so was not expecting much. I tried it out first on my normal two-channel system, which is a Wadia 781i feeding into an ARC Ref 3 preamp into Sanders Sound monoblocs into Summits. It was a no go. I tried several times with several discs, but could not get the Wadia to play nice with the Marigo disc. I had halfway expected as much. Oh Well . . .
Ok, so before giving up completely, I decided to try it in my Oppo Universal Player, which is connected through a Meridian G68 surround controller, and then passively through the ARC to the Sanders/Summits, as well as through a Sunfire to the Stage, Clarities, Fresco i's. Long story short . . . it worked in the Oppo. First let me say that I was amazed how good the Oppo sounded in surround sound compared to my normal two-channel setup. I normally only use this setup for movies and listen to straight two-channel for music. It was impressive just how good the Oppo and Meridian sounded compared to the Wadia and ARC. I may need to listen to more of my music in surround sound moving forward.
As for Gordon's disc . . .
I hate to admit it, but I think Gordon is definitely on to something here. And I fully admit that it could just be psychosomatic on my part. It is very difficult to listen to a song or part of a song (without the disc), then get up, open the player, put the disc in, hit play, sit down, get situated, and start listening again and then try to remember the nuances of the sound. Very difficult way to test a product. But even with all of that, I still felt I could pretty clearly hear a difference. Not earth shattering, but definitely enhanced in a positive way. It just made the sound a little more intense and a little more clear. Almost like turning up the volume, but without it actually being any louder. Just more depth and definition to the music. And the music was just a little more, well, musical. To use a phrase I absolutely abhor, it just sounded more analog and less digital. A little less like a CD and more like an album (without the hiss and pops, of course). It made it easier to fall into the rhythm of the music and lose yourself in it. Digital often has a slight edginess to it which limits your ability to really sink into the music. It just doesn't flow like analog does, which is why there are still so many vinyl lovers. I don't know what this disc does, but if I had to guess I would say it somehow reduces jitter. But I don't know.
Now I tried this on several discs: both CDs and SACDs. I played several "Audiophile Voices" SACDs. I played a Diana Krall SACD. I played several regular CD's and a movie soundtrack CD that contain some of my favorite test tracks. I have yet to try it on video, though I plan to. I have yet to try it on my downstairs system which is a very high end system in its own right. I plan to, though. I also have yet to get my musician friend over here to listen to it, but I hope to do that as well.
So, the initial conclusion is that I believe I do hear a difference, which is both subtle and remarkable at the same time. It seems to provide more depth and dimension to the music, and a smoother, more analog-like sound, as opposed to a slightly harsher, more digital sound without the disc. As I go back and read Gordon's first post in this thread, I see that he described it as:
Deeper, denser, saturated presentation. Music is fleshed out from a much darker background. Significant decrease in the feeling you are listening to digital versus high quality analogue.
I would have to concur pretty much with that description.
Now, Gordon, if you can be patient enough with me to let me hold on to this disc for a little while longer, then I would like to do some more testing with it. I do thank you for your patience you have shown me thus far and I apologize again for taking so long to get around to this little project after you were so prompt in shipping me the disc.
