DeoxIT® GOLD G100S - THE ABSOLUTE SOUND

DeoxIT® GOLD G100S
THE ABSOLUTE SOUND (R)

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Issue 109 ............. The High End Journal(TM) ............. Winter 1996
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The CAIG Labs DeoxIT® GOLD G100S

Of all the accessories that can be labeled as "tweaks" I've come across in the past two years, nothing quite gave me the turn that the DeoxIT® GOLD spray from CAIG Labs has. After using it on the connections in the Sea Cliff systems, I came to the unnerving conclusion that the colorations introduced by untreated connections might be greater than I would have supposed, and that these might be one of the prime sources of distortion in an otherwise highly-defined and resolving reference system.

This spray makes more difference in the sound of a system than does the switch from a bad solid-state amp to a very good tubed one. And some of those differences are like those you would hear by just such a switch. Once you've applied the DeoxIT® GOLD in your system, you're going to find yourself able to identify the sound of treated contacts-and perhaps even better than you could, in days gone by; the sound of dirty versus clean LPs. A contact treated with DeoxIT® GOLD (which comes from the once distributors of Cramolin, cancelled because of its chlorofluorocarbon content) will open up the sound of your system, particularly at the top end of the spectrum, in breath-taking ways.

The treatment removes noise artifacts and grain. It restores the leading transient edge of hard-hit percussion, an edge softened into something that sounds like some Japanese or Canadian tube products in the top octave-that is sandy and softened in texture. A sense of immediacy and "thereness" is evident on components that have those characteristics in the first place.

(Maybe some will find it significant that Warren Gehl of Audio Research was the first to urge its use upon me that I might the better hear the Reference electronics. No less striking was its effect on the Accuphase 90/91 digital playback units, which went from sounding merely good to that approaching state of the art.) I shall return to this product, but, for in the here and now, this one you've got to hear to believe.

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This review has been reprinted in its entirety from The Absolute Sound. The Absolute Sound is the journal of High End audio and reports its findings on audio components and recordings without fear or favor from any commercial interests. It's literate evaluations and tests take place in real space, hence, music (the absolute sound) is the measure of reference.

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NOTE:
DeoxIT® GOLD
DeoxIT® GOLD GxL (formerly ProGold GxL)
DeoxIT® SHIELD
DeoxIT® FaderLube (formerly CaiLube MCL)
DeoxIT® FaderGrease (formerly CaiLube MCL P20 & P40)
DeoxIT® Grease Type M260 & L260 Paste (formerly CaiLube Grease).