Eichmann Toppers
Are you a closet audio obsessive? Rob Woodland at Eichmann isn’t shy about coming out with products that on the face of it seem, well – I have to say it – a little left field. But without fail they actually do work and we seem to be populating our own system with an array of their products – first the Bullet plugs, then the eXpress AC power leads (this is a worry – one sounds great, two sound better and soon they are connecting everything) and now the ‘Toppers’.
Sharon tells the story... these resonance soaking devices sit on top of components (or can be used to good effect by being attached to the sides of components with double sided tape). They look like your HiFi is about to beam up to Scotty so by saying we treated these things upon their arrival with scepticism would be an understatement. ‘I’m never going to have those at home!’, Sharon cried. But after fiddling a little at the shop with them curiosity got the better of us and home they went. We’ve been getting so much enjoyment from our stereo at home lately that old records are sounding like new ones at that magical third listening stage where tracks are becoming familiar. It’s had a lot of ‘tweaking’ this last year and our enjoyment has stepped up at every new addition – Slinkylinks, Eichmann Express power cable, Bullet plugs on the phono leads, new Linn Arkiv cartridge. Now Toppers – the super hero to combat resonance, that dark force that lurks in the shadows of your HiFi sucking the life out of your system by eating up detail, ambience and smearing the sound. For me it was like sparkle. No Toppers, not there. With Toppers, sparkle. ‘But John’, I said laying my hand on the amplifier, ‘I don’t feel any resonance.’ ‘Ah’ replied the sage, ‘It’s the high frequency resonance that you can’t feel but can hear’.
To be more scientific, Toppers control resonance by preventing the accumulation of standing waves, attenuating standing waves and disrupting the transference of resonance to component areas that may be adversely affected. You place three Toppers on each components. They may look a little strange but to achieve the same result would require dramatic disruption to your living room. So, they’re small and inexpensive – and could turn around the sound of your HiFi. If you enjoy your stereo it’s worth adding Toppers.
Toppers – Pack of 6 | NZ$ 115 |
Other products
Eichmann produce a range of audio interconnects and speaker cables based on proprietary technology – the Eichmann ratio and specific conductor layouts. These are OFC solid core designs that we are presently evaluating. In the context of the New Zealand market there is an obvious parallel with Slinkylinks cables and it’s clear that these have the march in terms of straight performance – the use of pure Silver and an air dielectric being the key points of difference. We are however keeping an open mind (and ears) and will soon report on what we see as the value for money products in the cable range that are worthwhile options.