No, this isn’t a wacky kind of sandwich, it’s another handy way to get high frequency switching noise out of your mains without breaking the bank.
Being bathed in noise so much these days from all the wi-fi, cell phones and nearly every device in our world either having a switching mode power supply to power it, or charge the batteries that power it, it’s tough to get away. This is one of those accessories that while it benefits nearly everyone, it will do more for budget components, because they have more primitive power supplies than those pair of D’Agostino monoblocks your snotty audiophile neighbor has.
By plugging it into the outlets closest to your gear, Vera-Fi says the SnubWay is a parallel noise filter. It has multiple resonant snub filters to remove up to 28db of unwanted noise in the AC mains.
Putting this to the test, we used the SnubWay in two environments – my main listening studio, which is a 24 x 36 foot metal building behind my house. This building acts like a giant Faraday cage, to the point there’s no cell phone reception once you walk through the door. And, there is only one switching power supply (which is about to be removed) for an Ethernet switch, so this room is dead quiet. All computers, Roon Nucleus and both dCS and CH Precision streaming DACs are all with ethernet cable (no wifi in my studio). Using a modest reference system consisting of a PrimaLuna EVO 100 integrated amplifier, iFi Phono 3 and a Technics SL-1200G table with Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, the SnubWay had next to no effect.
Moving the same system to the living room in the unshielded house, where we probably have at least a dozen wall warts powering stuff and charging phones all the time was dramatically different. The soundstage of the phono section flattened out so much it didn’t even sound like the same system anymore. It was so uninvolving, it almost sounded like digital.
This is where the SnubWay makes a big difference. Plugging this into the Cardas Nautilus power strip tying all three components together, the sound was much more like what was happening out in the steel building.
As most of you probably don’t have the luxury of living in a big Faraday cage, the SnubWay makes a massive difference in reducing the overall graininess of your system’s sound. Like so many other great power products, it’s easy to adapt to the smoother, more relaxing overall presentation. Once unplugged, you’ll hear its absence instantly.
SnubWay is available for $295 in 120v US and 240v Schuko versions, so it can be used nearly anywhere. Where Vera-Fi’s Main Stream removes more RFI-type interference from other appliances on the AC line, SnubWay takes care of the higher frequency noise. My noisy (electrically speaking) home system has benefitted greatly from using both in tandem.
Now if Vera-Fi will only make a plug in filter to absorb Bull Terrier barks, I’ll be bathing in complete silence. But for now, the SnubWay is a great addition to the home system.
