Vera-Fi’s Main Stream is anything but…
Mark Schifter and Vera-Fi have been on a roll lately, introducing some great products offering high performance at reasonable prices. This is a great way for everyone to get into the game. If there’s anything you don’t want to skimp on, it’s power cords and power conditioners. Cheap power conditioners don’t have enough current bandwidth to prevent compression of the audio signal or, even worse, altering tonality.
Main Stream’s passive nature prevents this from happening to your system. Its underlying tech, which we will explore in the full review, makes it easy to install and doesn’t require buying another power cord to make it work. Not much bigger than a standard prescription bottle, its triangle shape is machined from billet aluminum and plugs right into the wall.
My reference system uses two separate 15A and three separate 20A circuits. Initial listening begins with the 15A circuit powering the Pass XS preamplifier, Pass XP-27 phono stage, and dCS Lina DAC/clock/headphone amplifier. The extended review will explore plugging into systems large and small, and perhaps we can even talk Vera-Fi out of a couple more of these.
The $299 question is always (for me, anyway): Does said component or accessory reveal more music proportional to the price asked? Certainly, in my main system, using the highly revealing Clarisys Audio Auditorium Plus speakers, the answer is yes immediately.
Starting with relatively average-sounding digital tracks makes it easiest to hear the Main Stream effect instantly. Streaming Robert Plant’s Sixes and Sevens is full of drum machine antics that are now made more palpable with the Main Stream present. Running through a varied playlist, from solitary female vocals to piano and other acoustic instruments, all deliver the same results. The Main Stream is more than worth the price asked, and the results are consistent across music genres.
The clarity of the overall presentation the Main Stream delivers feels more profound after 24 hours, and whether that is due to break-in or familiarity requires more investigation; however, removing it from the wall after 24 hours makes a significant difference with less resolution and smoothness (from having it out of the system) now easy to discern.
The speakers and amplification for your hi-fi system usually deliver the largest gains for cash spent, with cables and accessories a bit less. It’s still important to look at everything else you change as less dramatic but no less significant. Just like fine-tuning your speakers for optimum placement and turntable setup if you are an analog enthusiast, the Main Stream will make a similar contribution to your system.
We’ll have a wider-ranging analysis soon, but this one gets a solid “buy” from me. I’ve spent more on turntable mats, clamps, and even fuses that delivered far less (if any) real improvement. This is a solid upgrade and, even at this point, worthy of one of our Exceptional Value Awards.
$299
verafiaudiollc.com
intro priced at $235…
