Hello all. I wonder, how many of us are using products from Akiko Audio from the Netherlands? I’m afraid I’ve become a total fanboy and I’m really hoping I’m not the only one! My main system is Innuos Zen - Chord TT2 - Pass Labs INT30A - Focal Kanta 2. My best power cable is a CommonGround, digital cables from AudioQuest and analogue cables from Aurealis.
My suite of Akiko products is…
Corelli power conditioner
Phono Booster (attached to the Innuos)
Triple AC Evolution
E Tuning Gold II
2 x XLR Tuning Sticks
2 x Universal Tuning Sticks
4 x power cables
Loudspeaker Tuning Chips
That seems a long way down the rabbit hole, but every piece I add reduces noise, listening fatigue (now nonexistent) and glare, and gives the system a real sense of ease, dynamic scale and soundstage depth. This collection was acquired mostly on the secondhand market through forums with the other purchases direct from Akiko (although there’s an Australian distributor the product is very thin on the ground).
I’d love to hear about the experiences of others, and I’m especially interested what the Castello ground conditioner is like, as I suspect it’s my next, and probably final, Akiko purchase.
Of course, if anyone wants to sell their Castello…
Somewhat predictably it’s the Corelli conditioner. However, the Triple AC Evolution is a big chunk of the Corelli’s performance. Having said that, the effect of universal sticks on my speaker cables is always obvious when removed and reinserted. The least effective in this system are the XLR Sticks in the Pass Labs amp, but that might say more about the Pass Labs, because they did really good things in the back of my M700s, to which they’ll probably return.
Importantly, it seems as though the more pieces I add the stronger the result, without it ever tipping into going to far or smothering the system.
I have the Phono Booster hooked up to my TT. The d@m#ed thing works. I don’t know how, but it does. A fellow audiophile brought it over one day. I didn’t have a clue what it was (I’d never heard of Akiko to that point). We listened to one of my albums. He did something that I didn’t see (he hooked it up), and he started the same album. It was a WTF moment. Not life changing, but obvious to a well seasoned audiophile. He disconnected it and it was a “what happened? it doesn’t sound as good” change. I’m looking to try more of their stuff, but I’m in the middle of room acoustic treatments and waiting for the MkII right now.
Audiofacts in the Netherlands installs an Akiko Audio Stick (USB stick) in the Sbooster linear power supply. This means there is less noise. The soundstage is enlarged with improved resolution. A remarkable real difference to a normal sbooster.
Michael … sorry to let you know but the Corelli has been updated to the Corelli Corundum.
They have updated the resins within the Corelli to get to the new version, the only part that isn’t changed is the case.
I’ve purchased it and it is better.
My friend who has purchased my original Corelli says it’s susceptible to power cord changes and he has settled on an Audioquest tornado powering his which he says is ‘remarkable’.
I haven’t gone far down that rabbit hole, I’m still using the Akiko Audio power cord, I think it’s the HDflex they call it. That’s what the Corelli was developed with.
What I have done though and very recently, is based on my friend’s experience I’ve upgraded the fuse to a SR purple and that has brought significant improvements.
Planning to update the power cord connectors shortly to Furutech NCF connectors to see what that does.
I’d be interested in your experience with the loudspeaker chips?
I also have Furutech NCF connectors. They make a difference. A supplement or alternative is the Furutech booster brace. I ordered one and can then see if it helps.
Although I don’t have an Akiko for that, I have some Epluggs to test today.
The loudspeaker chips are more of the same, just on a more subtle level. More removal of glare and that fabulous Akiko trait of appearing less “airy” yet with more upper register clarity and detail.
I’ve just updated my Akiko Audio HDFlex power cord, (the one that Akiko Audio recommends to be used with the Corelli as it was developed using this power cord), to NCF connectors at both ends.
I’ve yet to try it out.
I’ll post within the next couple of days what the results are.
Oh, I also have an Evolution, the successor to the AC triple enhancer, I changed the Furutech gold mains plug to the Rhodium ncf plug last night and I heard subtle, yet significant updates, better timing, cleaner and more treble extension, so well worth while.
Listened to music last night with the Akiko Audio HDflex power cord with Furutech NCF connectors and a SR purple fuse, which was well broken it powering the Corelli Corundum.
Music sounded pretty much top notch, very controlled, excellent timing, all the frequencies very well integrated, probably the best my system has ever sounded .
Hard to see how my system could be bettered … but I’m going to try.
My friend, who purchased my original Corelli, says it responds to different power cords.
I recently purchased a Furutech TSC31 power cord, (big thick cable mainly for power amps), with NCF connectors and I just added a new SR purple to it.
Straight away I could hear differences, much more bass, but ‘woolly’, and the top end was recessed.
As it’s a new fuse it’ll take about two hundred hours to break in, so more critical listening to be done next weekend when it should be getting near the 200 hours mark.
The cable makes a big difference. The Furutech trippele 31 has a powerful, full bass and, as far as I remember, a rich voice reproduction. The Furutech DPS-4.1 plays more neutrally with slight warmth. It provides more details and shows the room in which the musician is playing. A Dragon Clone from Aliexpress is also very interesting for wall connection.
Interesting about the DPS-4.1, I have a couple of them, one for my pre-amp and the other for my theatre processor.
I got the TSC31 for a really good price and couldn’t turn it down.
I used it briefly on a Rel sub and it was great there.
So currently using it with the Coreili, if I ever get a DPS-4.1 power cord I can revert the TCS31 back to the sub.
Even with less than a day on the Coreili the new fuse is settling down, lost the bass woolliness, but the treble is still a bit shut in.
New Purple fuse should have 200 hours this week, 300 by next weekend.
I’ll re-evaluate the sound then as SR states 200 - 300 hours for Purple burn in to be completed.
The Akiko HDflex power cord I was using on the Coreili before trialing the Furutech TSC31 is pretty much perfect, everything just sounded right. The TSC31 will need to go some before beating the HDflex, I’ll know by the end of next week.
Should be around 200 hours on the purple fuse this weekend.
A brief listening session showed the TCS31 power cord top end was really opening up now with the purple fuse, not much between the top end now between the Akiko and TCS31 power cords.
Turning out much closer than I expected.
Still another week until the purple is fully burned in.
Played 2 or 3 albums last night so see how the system was sounding.
SR purple fuse now 200+ hours.
Very detailed and top end now fully open.
Not sure whether the improvement are down to the Furutech power cord with the SR fuse or the Corelli Corundum still burning in?
I’ve sent an email to Akiko asking how long for the Corelli to burn in, they’ve previously told me customers are saying it’s still improving after 3 months, (I’m just over half way into that period), I’d like to know their response…
Just thought I would complicate things further.
I had a spare Audiophile base platform not being used and Stillpoint 5’s under my 5 channel home theatre power amp.
I’ve always though the 5’s added a lot of bass energy to anything they are used with.
I remember trying them with my P10 many yead ago and had to remove them straight away as the sound was too bassy.
So I ended up with using the 5’s underneath my pre-amp and the Akiko power cord with the Coreili and the Audiophile Base unit under my 5 channel power amp.
This combination works well because the Akiko power cord works really well with the Coreili, the 5’s under the pre-amp adds more bass to the sound but not too much.
The Furutech TSC31 went back to working with the Rel subwoofer, another good fit.
