Making a Statement with Plixir!

I started off with a fairly simple system based around the popular Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe Integrated Amplifier, this model uses a streaming network DAC so I connected it to the Melco S100 switch. The S100 was connected to my network with an ADOT fibre kit, speaker cables were Entreq and all power cabling was Shunyata Delta NR. Loudspeakers were the Fyne Audio F1-8 stand-mounts.

Music was streamed from Qobuz using Gold Note’s own control app and I used tracks from a variety of artists such as Celine Cairo, Anouar Brahem, Leonard Cohen, Ibeyi and Jon Hopkins so some nice variety.

The S100 is an excellent product and they’ve been very popular for those who stream music, the addition of an S100 to a system is always positive, even when using the basic supplied PSU, which is where I started with it, but I had an Elite BDC and the new Statement BDC waiting in the wings.

Sonically this system is a really enjoyable listen, the combination of the Gold Note and Fyne is really musical and engaging with superb detail and dynamics, there is superb weight and scale as well, the F1-8 are a big sounding stand mount speaker (that 8 inch driver is really quite something). Overall it is va ery even handed and balanced presentation, listener fatigue is never a concern, it’s a proper ‘just one more track’ type of system.

After spending an hour or so playing some of the above mentioned music I swapped the supplied basic PSU out for the £595 Elite BDC and the improvement in musical performance is instant and quite obvious, there is greater detail and clarity, with improved scale as well, switching back to the standard PSU makes it sound a bit veiled in comparison, vocals have more presence and projection with the Elite installed and it’s a much more enjoyable listen.

For anyone with an S100 the addition of this power supply can be considered money well spent.

Now, I must admit I was curious regarding the Statement power supply, how much better could it get? We are powering a £2100 item with a power supply costing £1450 so to justify a permanent place in the demonstration room it was going to have perform to a very high standard. Swapping power supplies around firing up the Statement only takes a minute or so and the jump from the Elite to the Statement on the S100 is just as instant and obvious as the jump from the basic PSU to the Elite.

It’s important to stress that the addition of this much larger power supply doesn’t push or pull the presentation in any particular direction compared to the Elite, there is lots more scale, weight and authority to the music, but that is not at the expense of losing detail or transparency, the music has become more insightful and there is greater air and space around everything.

It was an interesting initial afternoon of listening and I went back and forth several times over the following days which only further validated my thoughts the Statement BDC is big jump over the Elite BDC and as such is an even larger step up over the supplied PSU.

I also took advantage of the dual outputs on the Statement BDC by using it with the N100 and S100 together.

Comparing the N100’s supplied PSU, the Elite BDC and then the Statement BDC I was drawing exactly the same conclusion as I was with the S100 – the power supplies are tonally very neutral, but you simply get more air, space, clarity, weight and scale as you move up. An N100 with the Statement BDC sounds markedly better than an N50-H60 to my ears.

Anyone who has a Taiko and uses their network switch (or router) the Statement BDC is a superb addition – not too many people have experienced what a Taiko can do and even less have experienced their new Extreme switch, but it’s music streaming done to the extreme (couldn’t resist, sorry!) with no expense sparred and no stone left unturned in their quest for the ultimate in digital audio. The Taiko is sonically invisible with huge levels of clarity and purity and the release of the Extreme Switch last year pushed things on to a whole new level (everyone who has bought a Taiko from Audio Therapy has subsequently purchased a Switch). Adding the Statement BDC to the Switch is simply another step in the same direction as outlined above, and of course the 2nd output can be used to power their new Extreme Router as well! There is plenty of components out there that can take advantage of a power supply at this level, even if you only need 1 output – the quality of it is so good leaving one output unused if you only have an S100 should not be of concern.

In summing up the Statement BDC is a very strong product and I can see it doing really well – I know many customers may think spending £1450 on a power supply to power an S100 (£2100) may seem a bit unbalanced, but in the context of the many systems I see on a daily basis those customers will potentially need to spend considerably more than £1450 to get an improvement as marked as the one the Statement brings.

S100 and Statement BDC is a great combination for £3550, it’s still not as good as the 2 box S10 Switch which is £5000, but that’s another conversation for a different day!

Part exchange of a power supply (Plixir or otherwise) against the Statement is no issue, please get in touch if you have any questions