Lizard Wizard "Unidirectional Current Accelerator"(Back EMF eliminator)

Lizard Wizard Unidirectional Current Accelerator (UCA)

Lizard Wizard is not a “me too” company but I guess the name rather gives that away. Based in Budapest, Hungary it only lists two products on its site, namely an integrated amplifier that looks unusual and operates as a ‘virtual coil’ to produce a specified 30 watts with a massive output impedance, and a pair of colourful little units called Unidirectional Current Accelerators (UCA) that retail for £500 a pair. 

The UCA is a compact block made out of anodised aluminium with a pair of speaker cable terminals at either end. It’s designed to sit between amplifier and loudspeaker at the amp end and is claimed to ‘solve the problem of moving coil distortion in loudspeakers’, which can’t be bad for a small, passive device. Use is restricted to amplifiers up to 200 watts.

Build quality is good but there is no way to open the clam-shell case and discover the precise nature of the technology within. In effect it acts like a one to one transformer, level drops by 6dB when the UCA is inserted into the signal path which is typical of such devices. This should mean that you need more power to drive a given pair of loudspeakers, after all a drop of 6dB in a speaker’s sensitivity would not be insignificant but in practice you use more of the amplifier’s current reserves and fewer of the resistors in your volume pot.

In use with a pair of PMC Fact 8 loudspeakers, a Gamut D200 MkIII power amplifier and Townshend Isolda DCT speaker cable the UCAs had quite a dramatic effect on the tonal balance of the system. Primarily it seems to increase the sense of grip that the amplifier exerts and this makes for considerably more solid bass. You get a great sense of precision and power with these blocks in line and this gives the impression of having a more powerful amplifier even though you are using more power to achieve the same level. 

The UCAs make instruments and voices stand out more clearly in the room, allowing them to escape the speakers in a precise and solid fashion. The effect is particularly appealing with bass instruments, MeShell NdegeOcello’s bass guitar is incredibly solid and extended and what is usually an overly thick recording is rendered with an impressive degree of precision and clarity (Peace Beyond Passion). They focus on the fundamentals of the music which enhances imaging without affecting timing. 

Replacing the Gamut solid state amp with a Quad Classic Integrated with its mere 25 watt output produced a very similar change in the sound, the bass becomes more substantial and the imaging more precise. One less positive factor is a loss of high frequency detail but this is probably caused by the combination of UCAs with Townshend speaker cable which has unusually high capacitance. Using Chord Signature in its place the balance didn’t change and yet the strengths of the UCAs continued to be apparent.

It’s a pity that Lizard Wizard is not more forthcoming about the way the UCAs achieve the positive result that they do but they are nonetheless a relatively inexpensive way of increasing the perceived power of an amplifier. If you enjoy taut, solid bass and clear-cut imaging I would be surprised if you are not impressed by the transformation that these colourful blocks achieve.

Output impedance: 4-8 ohm per device.
Output power should not exceed 200 Watts per channel
Dimensions: 85mm x 60mm x 20mm (width x height x depth)

Available colour combinations: magenta, cyan, neon-yellow. 

Weight: 340g

Author: Mark D Fuller

Source: Golden Ears Club

Manufacturer

www.lizardwizardaudio.com