Brosseau Audio Video's affordable system

A sub-$5000 system that apparently involved careful consideration of alternatives was the one assembled by Patrick Sareault, Director of Sales for Montreal area dealer Brosseau Audio Video. Serault told me that the first component he picked was the Hegel H-80 ($2000), a DAC/integrated amp (75Wpc) that had impressed him greatly. He combined this with the Dali Zenzor 7 loudspeaker ($1700/pair) and Marantz CD 5004 CD player ($550). That brought the price up to $4250. The next item in the system was one that's seldom considered in assembling an audio system, but which he thought was extremely important in getting the best sound: a high-quality AC duplex receptacle ($50, made by BIS Audio). Cables from BIS Audio brought the total up to $5000—or a bit more, depending on the cables.

COMMENTS
plakey's picture

... who makes that rack? 

Robert Deutsch's picture

See http://brosseau.ca/produit/ameublement/hi-fi-racks/

plakey's picture

... who makes that rack? 

Utopianemo's picture

I tend to keep quiet about the various hotly contested topics in the audiophile world, such as cables.  Having said that, I have to respectfully state that Audiophile-grade receptacles are 97% snake oil.  Fact.  

I'm an electrician by profession, and these so-called audiophile receptacles are nothing more than rebranded standard hospital-grade receptacles, at best.  They are made by plug manufacturers like Leviton or Hubbell, sold bulk to companies like BIS and Shunyata, where they are put in a different box and sold at 200%-500% of retail price. Shunyata's site mentions removing all ferrous metals from the design, but receptacles don't have any ferrous metals that comprise any part of the circuit path.  

zzzzzzzz's picture

also a separate high current line - I found these made a worthwhile difference to my Naim solid state system, but these didnt make any apparent difference to the sound of my vintage fisher 500c tube receiver- was that due to the latter's transformers perhaps doing some isolating and filtering? I agree with what you note here re the plug. I got a bright orange 'hospital grade' or similar plug from a home depot stor for about $5.00. It grips alot tighter than std ones and is sturdier but the metals used seem similar to the cheaper std wall plugs that sell for $1-2. IMO S'phile badly needed a pro electrician to weigh in on their gear reviews and provide technical support. All too often their gear reviews lacked any grip technically, despite the technical specification sound equipment testing discussions,resulting in sometimes lame speculation re why something sounds good or bad.

zzzzzzzz's picture

I bought a heavy duty 'hospital grade' AC 'receptacle' at home depot in cool orange for around 5 bucks about 5 years ago. Well worth it. It grips the line cord from equipment alot better than a regular $2 'home' grade AC outlet. A listening test comparing these two outlet receptacles would be useful; leaving all else unchanged, familiar to the reviewer, does she/he notice a qualitative difference?
I did not make such a comparison myself; at the time I first switched off all house power, then hooked up this new $5 hospital grade outlet to a new separate heavy copper ground wire tied to a 4 foot iron rod [home depot] which I buried outside about 1 foot deep. I then ran a separate 30 amp line to a separate 30 amp breaker in the house breaker box, then installed the cool orange hospital grade outlet back in the wall where the standard AC outlet had been. I did not hear any marked difference in the sound, but I did instantly notice the stereo gear [all Naim] "relax" so my guess is the Naim gear was operating somewhat better on its separate wall outlet, ground and 30 amp breaker. Second, I relaxed somewhat knowing that the gear is on a well grounded separate line. I have never plugged my gear back into a standard wall AC outlet [requiring cheater plugs] to see if I hear any difference.

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