What happens if one day Fabrizio Baretta comes to visit you to listen to your system?
So many things...
Let's start from the beginning. Fabrizio Baretta is one of the well-known Italian names in our industry type. First and foremost, he is the founder of Faber's Cables and Faber's Power – now run by his son Enrico, see here and here – but he is also a man of countless collaborations in the audio field. For manufacturers and exhibitors, both Italian and foreign, he has worked to set up our precious listening rooms, from home studios to trade show halls, from improvised rooms to true "Russian oligarch" dream environments. In short, he is a professional who has worked so successfully in this field for such a long time and at such a high level that we can confidently call him one of the leading experts.
Fabrizio and me
With this necessary introduction, I find myself writing the report of a wonderful day filled with food for thought and unexpected details. When Giuseppe confirmed the feasibility of this meeting, he said, "You'll see, he'll let you hear your system like you've never heard it before." I immediately thought we'd be testing some products, cables or phono preamps, for example. Items that might make a significant leap forward in the final sound quality of my system. But I was wrong.
Here we begin to understand how Fabrizio works. It's true that he's particularly famous for his cables and other gears, which we'll surely have occasion to discuss again. Today, however, let's try to understand the actual method he uses when recommending an upgrade.
The electrical phase, the one you can see
The first visit to an audiophile is dedicated solely to listening to the system, especially to understanding one of the things that, unfortunately, is often only marginally adjusted: the system's infamous electrical phase. But what does correct electrical phase mean? We all know—or should know—that there is an electrical phase, very important for the outcome, which we can easily identify in our power cables and appliances with a simple phase tester. Even more simply, we can test whether our power cable is correctly phased when, once plugged into the mains, we find the phase in the hole on the right, as shown in the photo.
The operation we've all done, or should have done, in our system is precisely this: checking that all the power cables are correctly phased.
This, which until now was the final operation for me, as for many others, now, after speaking with Fabrizio, becomes just the starting point.
The correct electrical phase, the one you hear when you listen
The reason is as simple as it is often overlooked. What Fabrizio rightly points out is that the power cable phase alone isn't enough to ensure that the entire system truly behaves acoustically correctly. Why? Because each electronic device has its own behaviour that varies depending on the electrical phase, which could be internally corrected or inverted, leading to a result that, when listening, translates into the loss or modification of certain parameters that are audible without much effort.
So how do you find the correct phase? You must test it "by ear." We first listened to the system with all the power cables in phase with the phase tester, and then gradually rotated each plug in the socket. This test is accessible to everyone, free of charge, and could surprise many of us.
My perception of the incorrect phase was clear and distinct, resulting primarily in a lowering of the soundstage, a depletion of harmonics, and a weakening of dynamics. A feeling that's easy to decipher, but once I'd found the right balance of all the cables, it led, in my case, to an improvement comparable to the introduction of new electronics!
This is, in fact, one of the aspects Fabrizio tries to get us to reflect on. We're all well-acquainted with our propensity to search for the accessory or new component that will help us on our journey toward the best possible sound. But too often, we forget or give little importance to what's the foundation of everything: the correct power supply. A properly phased power supply, from start to finish, allows us to fully appreciate the potential of our system, making us truly aware of what it can do and providing the right starting point for any further upgrades, which will now be perceived for what they truly are, regardless of a more or less lucky random phasing.
The pitfalls of phase
During this wonderful day of testing, however, this wasn't the only thing that emerged. Another peculiar aspect also emerged by chance, one that gave me particular pause. I know it may seem strange and difficult to accept, but I'll simply share with you what we both noticed.
Once we'd correctly phased all the devices by ear, we realized something was still amiss. Something was still causing one speaker to behave incorrectly compared to the other. Standing in front of one channel, the sound and voice seemed free, "untethered," and tending toward the top. In the other speaker, however, there was a sense of constriction; the sound and voice seemed stuck in the transducer and tended not to release freely. It was at that point that Fabrizio asked me if I had any switching power supplies in the room...
Frankly, I couldn't think straight, so I said no. Naturally, I was thinking of something connected near the outlets I use for the system.
Then Fabrizio looked behind me, on the back wall, and spotted my two Ikea shelf lights, with their two... switching power supplies. You won't believe it, but they were enough to create a disturbance in the mains and compromise the result. Once I rotated the plugs in the wall outlets... magic! Here are the two speakers again, behaving in the same way, with a more expansive soundstage. The voice is higher, more focused, and with a sense of greater energy. Again, in my case, we're not talking about a change that's difficult to perceive, quite the opposite!
I realize that this in itself may raise all sorts of skepticism, but what I can recommend, absolutely free of charge, is to give it a try. Once you've identified the electrical phase of the cables with the phase tester, be curious and try rotating the power plugs of your electronics: you might have some truly unexpected surprises. Free of charge, I repeat. So, try to overcome laziness, which sometimes alone is enough to prevent us from achieving a better result.
If you later discover that you don't hear any differences, or that fortunately you already had everything in place, that's great. However, you'll be certain that you're giving your investments the right value, making them work as best as possible. Which is better for them and for you!
Put one evening in pause
Finally, here's another little curiosity, a gem Fabrizio shared with me. Do you have a CD player or a streamer? Great, try this. Play a song, listen carefully for at least a couple of minutes, and then press Pause. Press Pause/Play again and the track resumes. Notice anything strange? Does the sound result seem exactly the same?
Now try another test. Same song, start it, then press Stop, start again with Play, and listen again.
These two simple tests led Fabrizio to confirm his hypothesis with me: when we press the Pause button and resume listening from the same point, a sort of change is created that presents the same characteristics as a signal polarity inversion!
Try to notice. I clearly noticed a reduction in the soundstage and overall listening pleasure, which wasn't the case when I stopped playback with the Stop button.
Regarding the phenomenon of signal polarity or phase, a parenthesis is in order: each song was originally recorded with its own polarity or absolute phase, and if you don't listen to it again with the correct, original polarity, the result will be different. It's estimated that the vast majority—over 70%—of the songs we listen to are phase-inverted.
I finally understand the presence of that Phase button I occasionally find on our beloved electronic devices. Think about it for a moment: how many of you have noticed it on? I only remember seeing it on the DCS Bartok DAC. At the time, not realizing its important function, I honestly struggled to understand it and, alas, didn't give it the importance it deserved. Now, after the day with Fabrizio, I appreciate its great value and frankly, I would hardly do without it.
Phase in brief
Ultimately, what you need to achieve to have a system capable of fully expressing its potential is the simultaneous achievement of two parameters:
- correct electrical phase of the system
- correct phase/polarity of the track you're listening to
Optimizing these two factors will lead to achieving acoustic phase coherence, the correct imaging of the sound event, which will translate into soundstage stability even outside the optimal listening position, the complete separation of the sound from the speakers, and the realistic pitch of the voices and the spatial arrangement of the instruments.
The best record is in the curves
However, the ability to adjust the phono preamp's playback curves is also crucial. Always with a view to achieving the most consistent result possible with the software we're using, depending on the recording, a correct curve will certainly help find the right timbres and attenuations.
We had a field day trying to find the right curves for listening to some Deutsche Grammophon records from the 1950s and 1960s using the curve settings on my Gold Note Ph10. This gave us the opportunity to explore fundamental aspects such as cartridge impedance and RIAA curve, for example. This allowed us to find the best configuration for the record we were listening to. This was achieved by knowing, thanks to Fabrizio's experience, the type of curve used primarily for the various recordings and setting the appropriate loads for the cartridge currently in use. All this was possible thanks to the enormous convenience of being able to adjust the settings entirely from a knob on the outside of the unit, unlike many other phono preamps, which often require some laborious adjustments, sometimes even requiring opening the cabinet.
Following these reviews, Fabrizio showed me his new phono preamp, produced by his other company, Faber's Power, which focuses on power distributors, grounding boxes, and, of course, phono preamps. Specifically, we're talking about the Faber's Power GM_PHONO V3.0, a beautiful equipment that I'd like to discuss more in the future, given that the technical specifications alone speak to a very high level, with great adaptability to truly bring out the best in our cartridges and our beloved magical grooves.
See you again
I truly hope to have another opportunity to host Fabrizio, because this is just a summary of a very pleasant day spent in the company of an expert who has turned his passion into his profession and who is truly recognized for his results in the field.
Great Fabrizio, see you soon!
Associated equipment: to Andrea Bolognesi system
