Soundstage!- Top Ten E-Mail Interactive Interview

December 1996

Audio Power Industries' Les Edelberg

Interview by Doug Schneider

 I have been the proud owner of a Power Wedge for years. It is one of the finest, most cost-effective power conditioners you can buy. A must-listen-to on any serious audiophile's shopping list. The man at Wedge Headquarters? None other than Les Edelberg and we've invaded his e-mail box!

1) Hello Les, aka Mr. Power Wedge Guy, why don't we start by having you give us a 42 word or less description about how Audio Power Industries and the Power Wedge lineup came into the high-end audio arena.

Well, Doug, you know me well enough to know that I can't say ANYTHING in 42 words or less, so I'll just tell the whole story, and let you edit it down to 42 words. It all started back in the late '80s with our main business of manufacturing power line EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) filters for industry. Those are the filters that allow manufacturers of computers, medical equipment and industrial equipment to meet the very strict government limits for noise emitted back onto the power lines.
 
As the quality and resolving power of high-end audio components had improved over the years, by the late '80s it was becoming apparent to some audiophiles that the affects of power line noise could affect the quality of the sound of their systems. We started getting calls asking if our filters would be effective in improving the sound of audio systems. Having had a longtime interest in audio myself, those questions intrigued me. We knew that the type of filters we were making for computer and industrial use were not ideally suited for audio use, so we began some in-depth testing and evaluation of audio systems to learn exactly what was needed. The results of that two year process told us that there were several areas that needed to be addressed, and that led to the development of the multiple-technology Power Wedge, and the birth of Audio Power Industries. There...I think that's just about 42 words :-)
 
Hmmmm. 247, but we'll let it slide

2) The Power Wedges have been out for what...over 5 years now? From the outset they have been on almost everyone's top product list for years. They have changed very little and the price has remained about the same. What do you attribute this long product life to?

We are actually in our sixth year! I think the main factor in the products' longevity is the multiple-technology approach I alluded to above. Because we are addressing several areas that needed help, there is some benefit to be had by almost any system. The three main areas we are addressing are:
 
1) noise coming in on the power lines from elsewhere in the home, or even in the neighborhood from anyone else connected to your power transformer
 
2) noise that your own components are making and sending back out on their power cords or out through the interconnect network
 
3) and the tendency of some high-current amplifiers to draw so much power that they can actually distort the AC waveform in the wall.
 
So as long as a system can benefit from even ONE of the factors, the Power Wedge can benefit the system. The most dramatic instances are when help is needed in ALL of the areas.

3) My Wedge has been quietly cooking away for YEARS. Does one of these things ever die, need a tuneup, or have to be replaced?

The only time we ever get one back is if it has been hit by lightning and needs to have its internal protection circuitry replaced, or if someone has plugged something like a vacuum cleaner into it by mistake and wiped out one of the transformers. Other than that, they just sit there and do their job.

4) Let's talk music for a bit. When I saw your collection years ago I noticed a bunch of great Canadian musicians throughout. Everything from Daniel Lanois to the Bare Naked Ladies. Who are your favorite Canadian musicians at this time?

There are so MANY, it's hard to pick a favorite. For some reason, there are a disproportionate number of excellent musical groups that come out of Canada. Do you suppose it has something to do with the water? Alanis Morissette has just taken the world by storm, selling more albums than anyone has for a long time. And there are so many other GREAT ones, like the Cowboy Junkies and Leonard Cohen, that it's impossible to pick favorites, so I think I'll just select the LATEST one I've heard, that I really think has some great potential. He's a guy named Douglas September from Nova Scotia. He sounds a lot like a young Bob Dylan, maybe crossed with a young Leonard Cohen. Definitely worth a listen.
 
Wow, Les! I've never heard of this guy and I live here!

5) What is the ONE, THE MOST played LP or CD that get spun on your system?

ANOTHER tough one! But I guess it would have to be Ry Cooder's PARIS TEXAS. I just love the sound he gets out of that guitar, and all of the ambience that was captured in the recording, resulting in such FEELING in his music. The lower the noise floor in your system, the more you can hear in that recording, which is why I use it as one of my primary reference recordings. It's the kind of record you can just put on and know immediately how your system is doing, without having to listen to any specific aspect of the sound.

6) How about giving us a lowdown on the exact components that make up your system today.

Like most good audiophiles, my system is constantly changing, but right now it's made up of a bunch of Power Wedges, Power Enhancers and Power Link power cords (what else?), and to that I've added a Wavestream Kinetics V8 stereo amp (an amazing piece of work, Scott Frankland!), a pair of highly modified Magnapan 3.5R's, with Bill Reno's custom stands and George Cardas designed crossovers and wire inside, a Kuzma Reference turntable with Kuzma Reference arm and Cardas Heart cartridge (the body properly oiled with TC2), a Muse Dac 2 for digits and I've just added the brand new Muse model 3 preamp, which is quite an amazing device in its own right. All cabling is Cardas Golden Cross throughout. There are various other bits of vibration damping and room treatment stuff, but I will leave that arena to the master, Doug Blackburn, to talk about :-)

7) I know you've been on the electronic bulletin boards and the Internet for years. What are your 3 favourite haunts?

Well, there's TAN (The Audiophile Network 818/988-0452), where most of us met, and Soundstage!, of course, and the third would have to be the Usenet groups which is where I like to think I'm keeping my finger on the daily pulse of the vast electronic world out there. Although, sometimes I wonder :-)

8) What is the coolest, niftiest, or just plain greatest product you've seen launched in 1996?

I'm quite taken by Kevin Halverson's new Muse model 3 preamp. I know he's been working on it for about three years, and has finally finished it up this year, and all that work sure shows in the final result. He's using digitally controlled 255 step analog attenuators and balance controls that work beautifully, and his remote control implementation is simple and unique. There are so many other innovations in there, that it is probably best left to one of your reviewers to explain any further. And for less than $2K, it is definitely worth a listen!

9) If I hear Holly Cole's Don't Smoke in Bed one more time I think I'll die. It's not that it's bad or anything, it's just that audiophiles are worse than AM radio by playing certain music to death. What do you consider THE most overplayed demo cut at audiophile shows?

Funny you should mention Holly Cole, as I've just had the privelege of listening to a test pressing of the vinyl version of "Temptation" and it was just STUNNING! I hope it comes out SOON. But back to your question, the one that comes to mind is Bela Fleck's "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" from a few years ago. I think the reason it sticks in my mind is because it was played primarily for its accentuated BASS, so it was always played very LOUDLY, and you could hear it from VERY far away. It was EVERYwhere. Not that it's a bad piece of music or anything, it was just WAY overplayed.

10) If you run out to the record store today, what would you buy?

That's an interesting one. I just read about a group that I've never heard, but after reading the description of the group, I just felt like I had to run out and get their album. The name of the group is Rasputina, and it consists of 3 cellos and a drum set. How can you go wrong with THAT combination???? In fact, I'm going out right NOW and getting it.

 ...A Soundstage! Thanks Les!

Click here for Dave Duvall's December '96 Power Wedge 116 and 113 review