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PAC IDOS, Part 11

Amazing how many audiophiles have reached out, telling me that they used to have a PAC IDOS. Moreover, with the passage of decades, there's no pressure, and they can be honest, in sharing their experiences. And that's such a wonderful phenomenon, audiophiles from all over the world, revealing what their lives were like, what they were doing, what their mindset was, what their environments were like, and what music they used to listen to.

In late summer 1991, I learned about the PAC IDOS via the July/August TAS review. At the same time, my college friend, April, was home in SoCal. Having moved out of the dorms, and in anticipation of moving into an apartment, April was going to take what I think was a mid-80s Mazda 323 hatchback. It had the two roof rack bars, plus an accessory to hold a surfboard. Yeah yeah, so California. April's dad removed the surfboard carrier clips, and installed a cargo basket. All of a sudden, that little subcompact car could handle Costco runs and short excursions.



From our on-campus UCSC apartment, April now could explore areas in and around Santa Cruz. We loved the swimming holes along the San Lorenzo River, which flowed not far from campus. At the so-called Garden Of Eden, visitors loved to jump off the rocks, and sunbathe nude. Unfortunately, when we did our first September 1991 visit, there was an algal bloom, making it unsafe to go into the water. The biology majors surmised that (a) we were in the middle of both a drought and the dry season, and (b) what stagnant water was there had above normal temperature.

Any rock music audiophile will have Overkill's late-1991 album, Horrorscope . For whatever reason, the song "Killogy" was left off. They should have included "Killogy," and removed one of the middle's dead weights.



During the rains of January 1993, I could not stand the hardware powerstrip, used with my college stereo. So, during the first weekend of February, I made a trip back home (no, not in April's car) to San Francisco, and fetched the January/February 1993 TAS, which had arrived late. Lo and behold, its back cover featured a shot of the Big Sur coast. But anyway, the purpose of that trip home was to purchase a $150 PAC IDOS. When I brought the IDOS down to Santa Cruz, I thought of it as the economy subcompact car of powerline conditioners.

In Spring 1993, Overkill came out with the disappointing I Hear Black . The Japanese pressing included "Killogy" as a bonus track.



Disappointing or not, 2020 is coming to an end; and we not only have an audiodharma Cable Cooker, we also have the so-called Ground Breaker adapter, which treats all three prongs of a powercord. In addition, the PAC IDOS itself lends itself to the Cable Cooker. We treated each of the IDOS' five outlets to a day of GB Cook time.

Whoa whoa whoa! Whereas the PAC IDOS, even when Cooked on the OEM 2-prong adapter, "did nothing," given the GB treatment now "does something." Changing nothing else in your system, the images now are not as "dull No. 2 lead pencil." The images are larger, rounder, more 3D. With less grain, the music is less garbled, scrunched-up, grayed-out, or spitchy. Music is smoother, less uptight and artificially in a hurry. If you are using an FM tuner, reception seems less static-y.

Using the Cooker's original OEM 2-prong adapter was like getting new tires and windshield wipers, plus a full tank of gas, for your economy subcompact car. Using the Cooker's GB goes even further, so with the IDOS' smoother sound, it is like getting new shock absorbers for the car. In addition, the GB treatment adds a roof rack, plus your choice of bicycle holder, cargo basket, kayak bay, ski rack, or surfboard clip. That same little car can now do and hold so much more.

The IDOS' small size allows you to place it behind or even between the (audio/video) racks. The IDOS can even be nailed to a wall. Functionally, the IDOS reminds you of the subcompact car being so short, that you, without a step stool or ladder, can access the roof rack.

Due to economic factors, many audiophiles are downsizing, and/or selling off their expensive gear. But they still need something . That is where investigating old, but still salvageable and affordable audio products comes in. Using the Cooker's GB breathes new life into, and expands the potential of, the IDOS.

This revitalized IDOS works well on, for example, our Adcom GCD-700 CD changer, GFT-555II tuner, GTP-500II tuner/preamp. We don't have an Adcom power amp in-house, but the IDOS works well on an old Arcam Alpha 5 integrated amp or Rotel RB-1092. Scrounge around for some old AudioQuest cables, stick them on the Cooker, and you can not only survive, but enjoy music with those in the household.

-Lummy The Loch Monster



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Topic - PAC IDOS, Part 11 - Luminator 15:46:45 12/25/20 (3)

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