Getting More Out Of Streaming Audio Pt 3: QSA "Jewel" Stones

Romancing The Stones

The QSA Small Stones, or as I like to call them "Jewel" Stones are not new. I have carried them as long as I have carried the fuses. Until very recently I found it difficult for them to find a place in my system. Other customers have had success , but for me, they kind of screwed up the sound. 

I have since learned much about these little red, clear, and blue stones that come 5 to a package. Glued to some kind of black damping material that has an adhesive backing. 

1. The colors that are easiest to work with - It took awhile to understand what these three colors do sonically, as there is a bit of overlap between them. 
1. The red stones add body, warmth, and decay all the way up to the midrange. 
2. The Blue add openness to the midrange but also overlap somewhat with the red, and even more with the clear stones. 
3. The clear stones affect the mids and high frequencies. But there is much overlap with the blue here and I don't recommend the clear stones unless your system is very dull sounding.
2. The most effective use case to date - as of this writing, the most positive impact I have had with the Blue and Red stones are with streaming audio and network components. I actually got the idea from looking at the QSA modified network switch.

If you look closely, near each ethernet port is a Red or Blue stone. There is also a Red stone placed near the power input. Of course there is a lot more going on with the switch than just the stones, but this was something I could do to my own network switch, the Innuos PhoenixNET. My PhoenixNET already has a QSA fuse inside, but to be honest, the improvement was minimal. Not at all like the effect the fuses had on my other audio components. I chalked that up to the switch being a data component, and whatever magic the fuses did to audio components, it didn't correlate as well to data components. The stones however were far more like the fuses in their effect however. It was quite remarkable. I placed the Red and Blue stones on my Modem (a Red and a Blue on either side of the single ethernet port), My wireless router (alternating Red and Blue stones on each port, and finally on my switch (alternating Red and Blue on the ports). One more placement. My internet provider is Spectrum, and they use a coax cable running from outside to their modem. they used a splitter on my run of cable, so I placed a Red and a Blue stone on either side of the splitter as well.

If you are familiar with the QSA products and their sonic effects, I would liken this to be like upgrading my network to a Red fuse or AC adapter. The sound was much more holographic, natural, with startling transient attack. Highs were super defined and transparent. Instrumental decays and hall ambiance lasted longer, and the soundstage had incredible density you could almost reach out and touch. 

I would say my system needed  1 or 2 more Red Stones than Blue stones. Too many Blue stones and the midrange becomes too forward, leaning out the overall presentation. Too many red and the sound has too much bloom and warmth. 

The Final Tweak (To date)

I listened to my system for a few days with the stones in place, and as things settled in I felt very pleased with the results. It was time to add the QSA switch to the mix. I had one on hand, QSA calls for two, but I felt with the PhoenixNet being engineered so well, and tweaked with the stones, that it would do just fine. The PhoenixNet sat next to my modem and router about 30 feet away. The run of ethernet cable that went from the PhoenixNet to my statement now went from the PhoenixNET to the QSA switch, then another run of ethernet cable took the output from the QSA switch to the Statement. Whoa, this took the sound quality up a significant level. I mean, really significant. I would compare it to the jump from the Violet level to Red Black, maybe even Silver. The soundstage was THICK. It was wrap-around, in the room, around you, so detailed, natural, rich. Unbelievable. This is the best streaming audio I have heard from this system, or any other. I literally have to pull myself away while I am at the Studio. It's hard to get anything done besides listening.

I am receiving a second QSA switch in a few days. It will be interesting to see if it improves over the PhoenixNET.