Everyone must be familiar with the highly popular Chang Lightspeed power filter processor from the United States in recent years. It was founded by Chinese-American Michael Chang in 1991 and has over 32 years of experience in developing power filters. Being both an electrical engineer and an audiophile, Michael Chang was dissatisfied with the power filters available on the market, so he invented this unique passive power filter processor, featuring a one-of-a-kind noise absorption technology. It boasts of purifying power without using capacitors, inductors, or other components, ensuring that it operates without compressing dynamics, making power filtering no longer a "necessary evil" in audio systems.
Whether it's a power filter or isolation transformer, if it incorporates coil structures, it inevitably introduces signal delays (time-lag) when high-current power amplifiers attempt to reproduce large dynamic music that requires instantaneous high current. This leads to undesirable effects such as transient blurring and a lack of speed in the music. In terms of video, it can result in reduced detail in dark areas and delayed changes in brightness.
All Chang Lightspeed power filter processors use the same passive technology. First, when the mains electricity enters the device, it passes through a metal oxide varistor (MOV) to prevent surge currents. Then it goes through Chang Lightspeed's unique technology. Taking the top-tier Reference Ultimate series power filter processor as an example, it uses 24 round tubular components. The power inside the machine passes back and forth through these tubes, which are lined with proprietary magnetic absorption materials, though the exact materials are a company secret. The filter tubes are classified into different grades: Core-K4, L4, L5, and R3, and are also categorized by filtering levels. The more levels, the more filtering occurs, and the better the effect.
The main functions of the power passing through these filter tubes are twofold: first, to absorb RFI/EMI electromagnetic interference, and second, to perform Power Factor Correction (PFC), which corrects the time lag between voltage and current. Most conventional power filters include capacitors in their circuits, which work by charging current and then generating voltage once the capacitors are fully charged. This process results in a mismatch between current and voltage timing, negatively impacting sound phase. Therefore, Chang Lightspeed power filter processors avoid using any coils, capacitors, or inductors, allowing full power output with no dynamic compression and eliminating phase differences between current and voltage. In theory, this makes Chang Lightspeed power filter processors the most perfect power filter available.
Traditional power supplies that rely on conventional filtering often compress music dynamics to some extent. You may notice that the sound becomes cleaner, but the high frequencies feel somewhat restricted or unable to fully extend. In contrast, the Lightspeed power filter processor not only avoids compressing dynamics but also enhances the brightness of the high frequencies, deepens the bass, and strengthens the sense of musical energy. It gives the impression that every musical detail is fully powered, thanks to its "lossless" noise cancellation technology, which purifies the power without diminishing musical energy. Finally, you can have the best of both worlds!
The Lightspeed passive power filters come in four series: the C series includes models C319, C419, C519, C619, C719, C819; the X-Series includes models H1 and H2; the Reference series includes Mk5; and the Reference Ultimate offers three options: Analog, Digital, and Power Amp, catering to high-current power amplifiers.
