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REVIEW: Dakiom MA203 Accessory

Model:	MA203
Category:	Accessory
Suggested Retail Price:	$109
Description:	Negative Feedback Stabilizer for monoblock amp
Manufacturer URL:	Dakiom
Manufacturer URL:	Dakiom

Review by Bazza ( A ) on June 27, 2006 at 21:41:45 IP Address: 154.20.45.98

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My belief in tweaks began about 20 years ago when a local high-end retailer gave me a money back offer on an Original Cable Jacket to be used over the ground wire on my turntable interconnects. I was astounded by the reduction in the noise floor and my quest for “tweaked” improvements began. Products such as A.R.T. blocks, myrtle wood blocks, Seismic Sinks, Black Diamond Racing Cones, Aurios, Caig Pro Gold, Blue Circle Noise Hounds, all of the Last record products, tube dampers, and Bybees have entered my system. Power conditioning in the form of Power Wedges and Power Plants have also provided me with much enjoyment. Over this time I have come to realize that, although each tweak may produce a different sound, the difference is not necessarily better. Silver coating for contacts is an example of one. The Dakiom Negative Feedback Stabilizer is good enough to deserve passing the news to other audiophiles in the form of this review.

My system is now all tube based. When looking for a tube amp to drive my Quad 988s I had wanted the BAT VK75SE but the $8500 price tag was just too much for me. Its zero feedback design has much to do with the special sound (as well as Jensen paper-in-oil caps). The $4000 Rogue Audio M150 monoblocks that I did buy sound great, with Electro Harmonix tubes, and have been described as “giant killers” but they do use negative feedback in the circuit. Since putting them in my system a year ago I have continued to wonder how much better the BAT would sound over the Rogues.

While looking through the Tweak section of Audiogon.com I came across Dakiom’s ad for this negative feedback stabilization device with a money back guarantee (including return postage). I researched the product on the audio asylums, google, and their website and found that the inventor is Kim Dao, a University Professor, and even came up with the link to his patent for the product ( http://www.pandathumbaudio.com/download/Patent2.pdf ). Although what I read seemed to lean towards turning a $200 amp into a $2000 amp I thought that the money back guarantee assured me of not loosing anything by trying to turn $4000 amps into an $8000 amp. I ordered a pair of MA203s that are specific to monoblocks for $218 including shipping. Dakiom does have products for 2 – 5 channel amps as well as interconnects.

I followed Mr. Dao’s listening test instructions by hooking the MA203s up and listening for 30 minutes, then taking them out of the system to hear any differences. I chose to play vinyl, rather than cds, so that I wouldn’t get fooled into thinking that a perhaps softening of the cd sound was good. At best I was expecting to hear the sort of improvement that the Bybee filters provide which is an overall better “coherence” to the music that is very noticeable and enjoyable after much listening time.

I began the test with the German reissue of Cat Steven’s Tea For The Tillerman LP. I know this album very well. As the first track, “Where do the Children Play?”, began I sat back listening for that special feeling of connection with the music that I believed would happen by taming the negative feedback so I was surprised by immediately noticing an increase in detail and bass. I became aware, for the first time, of the plastic pick that Cat was using. There was so much more detail to hear including bass articulation that I didn’t think could get any better on my system. It was as though the window to the music was opened rather than just cleaned. In the past I was fooled by extra detail being better without initially being aware that the harmonics and musicality, that are very important to me, had been stripped away. Too much silver wire vs. gold or copper is an example of this for me. The MA203s did not rob the music of its sense of connection in order to provide hyper detail. In fact I found the music to be more “alive” and dynamic – as though I had moved to row 10 from row 20. My foot always tapped involuntarily and as I relaxed I found that I was swept away. The same experience was duplicated playing cds. As soon as I took the MA203s out of my system I felt that something was lacking but I have gone back and forth for 10 days to validate my initial findings. Those feelings have become even stronger to the point that I won’t take them out of the system again. The downside to these would be for people who like their music muted and laid very far back in the soundstage

In summary, the MA203s cleared the sonic window and provided a more “live” feeling to the music. They allow me to hear more details while maintaining the harmonic richness that I love. They did seem to remove a layer of distortion or lower the noise floor that allowed the music to flow more naturally. Most importantly, they have made the music more coherent, neutral, and believable and must be considered a bargain at their price. So, have they turned my $4000 Rogue Audio amps into an $8500 BAT? I don’t think so. What I do know is that my music feels and sounds so good now that I am close enough to stop spending any more time speculating about it. Good luck with your pursuit of great music.

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Product Weakness:	May be "more alive" than many audiophiles want
Product Strengths:	Alive, dynamic, detailed sound

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Rogue Audio M150 monoblocks
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Sonic Frontiers Line 3+ with Valvo tubes
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	VPI Scout with Grado Reference. Consonance Droplet cdp
Speakers:	Quad 988 and Mirage BPS-400 subwoofer
Cables/Interconnects:	Cardas Golden Reference, Z Squared gold, Silver Surfer speaker cable
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	All
Time Period/Length of Audition:	10 days
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	PS Audio Ultimate Outlet & P600 power plant
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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