June 2026

World Premiere Review!
Bayz Audio Time Corrector Review — Restoring Temporal Coherence
In-depth listening analysis of preserving and restoring temporal integrity for more natural, coherent sound.
Review By Rick Becker

   I've met Zoltán Bay a couple of times at AXPONA and have always been highly impressed with Bayz Audio speakers. They are an extraordinary omni-directional, C-shaped point-source design with a commanding presence, both visually and acoustically. His Bayz Audio Courante 2.0 loudspeaker was highly praised by Dr. Mathew Clott back in the October 2020 issue, which is worth revisiting to appreciate the context of this review of the Bayz Time Corrector.

When Steven R. Rochlin suggested I review the Time Corrector, I was taken completely by surprise. We tend to pigeonhole people, even from just a few encounters, and Zoltán was 'just' a supreme loudspeaker guy in my mind. Little did I know at the time that he was a physicist as well as an engineer. He was featured in a "We Ask 10 Questions For High-End Audio Manufacturers Featuring Zoltán Bay, CEO And Designer For BAYZ Audio" back in 2020.

I learned he is also working on an amplifier and has interesting prior design experience that never made it across the Atlantic Ocean. But I'm getting a year ahead of this story. There was no reference to the Bayz Time Corrector anywhere on the net, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I've always been interested in tweaks since my early days in this hobby. In emails with Zoltán, who is Hungarian, I accepted the task and requested that I not be told the price until I had solidified my impression of the Time Corrector. That way, I could establish a value without preconception or expectation, which proved helpful.

I was expecting a component in a box filled with electronics that would mysteriously time-align frequencies that somehow get skewed in typical audio systems—something like what we called "time-base-correctors" in the days of analog video, which would perfectly square the horizontal scan lines to improve the resolution of the visual TV image. But no.

What arrived were two short components seen above with a captive cable on one end and an XLR input on the other. The cable emerging from the other end had a male XLR connector. The overall length is 18". The metal capsule is 4.5" long and 1.5" square. An inset black medallion reads "UpBeat-MO". And the cable and XLR connector total 13". It is designed to be used in line with your existing XLR interconnects for the left and right channels. This raised my eyebrows immediately, but I'll get into that later.

What was immediately obvious was the ultra-high quality fit and finish of the product. The CNC-machined metal capsule had a satin finish that did not exhibit any fingerprints after months of handling. The male XLR connector had a carbon fiber shell along with polished metal trim, and the three hollow pins were polished brass, like those seen on very expensive cables. The connecting cable was long enough and flexible enough to connect to my Backert Labs preamp relatively easily, considering that I had to reach around the preamp from the side. I used a piece of leather to keep the units from getting scratched by the rack or sliding around on the shelf.

My understanding was that it is intended to be inserted between your existing balanced interconnect coming from a source component and your preamp (or power amp if it is fed directly from your source component). Most digital source components offer balanced connections, as do most preamps and amplifiers. That's the way the wind blows today. But I asked Zoltán if the Time Corrector could be used with XLR / RCA adapters, since my FM tuner and phono stage are limited to RCA outputs. He replied:

"The Time Corrector is designed to operate optimally in a fully balanced signal environment. With adapters, it may still function to some extent, but the result will depend heavily on how the adapters are implemented and on the grounding scheme of the connected components. I would treat this more as an experiment rather than a reference configuration. When used with RCA sources, the signal is effectively converted to a pseudo-balanced form, which means the result can be system-dependent."

That said, he shared that he is planning on a single-ended version, possibly within the year. I had considered sourcing RCA / XLR converters from Cardas Audio as they make adapters of commensurate quality, but since a single-ended Time Corrector is in the future, I thought I would wait for the real thing and do a follow-up review to compare it with the XLR version.

The Bayz Time Corrector is like a monaural line conditioner for the left and right channels, so I had the option of using it on the balanced interconnect from the preamp to two solid state Class D amplifiers that were in-house, one of which was my reference AGD Audion monoblocks, and the other a prototype ArgentPur Isis stereo amp (review forthcoming). With the Time Corrector being a monoblock configuration that could be plugged into each monoblock amplifier, rather than combined in a single chassis, this was easily accomplished without requiring an additional set of balanced interconnects. But my understanding was that the optimal position for the Time Corrector was immediately following a source component. Maybe that was just some residual thinking from Ivor Tiefenbrun floating around in my brain.

First Listening Impression
When the Time Correctors arrived, I was in the process of burning in new cables for review from Tiglon (Japan) and ArgentPur (Massachusetts). To do that, I had inserted my vintage solid state Calyx 24/192 DAC from South Korea and a Douk Audio passive attenuator to save hundreds of hours of tube life on my LampizatOr DAC and Backert Labs Rhumba Extreme 1.4 preamplifier. I could run classical music from my tuner or a burn-in CD from my transport set to repeat 24/7 into the Class D amps without running up the electrical bill. So I added the Time Corrector between the DAC and the Douk.

It didn't take more than a minute to realize the Bayz Time Corrector was something very special. I was amazed that the music sounded so good with the Calyx DAC. Of course, it was also being helped by some delicious new cables and the Synergistic Research PowerCell 14 that had found its way into the system. The immediate impression was that the digitally sourced music sounded amazingly like an analog source. The resolution was undeniably higher, and the bass was taught. The treble seemed rolled off, but what remained was very highly resolved and analog smooth.

The performance went through some ups and downs over several days, but settled in quicker than most components and cables I've reviewed. Once that happened, and I began listening with more intent, I realized what was missing in the treble was simply a lot of noise. The shimmer and decay of cymbals and the notes of violins were coming through with more clarity than ever before, and the instruments were placed more accurately in the soundstage. In particular, the drum kits were more recessed, as they typically are in rock music.

With the Backert preamp reinstalled in the system, I replaced the Class D amp with my Coincident Turbo 845 SE to see how the music came through this Class A SET amp with 845 tubes. I was worried that the treble might be too rolled off with a tube amp, but the music was still excellent. This was good news, as I prefer to use tube amps when listening for pleasure. Since the Acora Acoustic QRC 2 loudspeakers are supplemented with subwoofers powered with Class D amplification, the bass remained tight and exhibited excellent timbre with the Time Correctors upstream at the DAC.

The music was so enjoyable that it was difficult to be in critical listening mode. I became quite lazy as I listened to one CD after another, reveling in the newfound music which had been hidden behind noise I didn't know existed. I kept telling myself that I'd get around to taking notes "tomorrow," but "tomorrow" became a week, and one week became a month. It was easy not to worry about the task at hand, I told myself, because many times it is easier to detect specific strengths and weaknesses when a component (or cable) is removed from the system. And that's exactly what eventually happened.

Whenever I removed the Bayz Audio Time Corrector from the stereo system, there was an immediate loss of sound quality in the form of a splashy treble, poorer resolution, evidenced by lower cognitive recognition of song lyrics, and a loss of inner detail and microdynamics. The slightest shift in a sustained note, whether it was sung or played on an instrument, was simply lost. The moistness in a singer's mouth, the three-dimensionality of an instrument, the timbre, and the sense of physical presence of music being performed in a real space (when those clues were present in the recording) would all diminish when the Time Corrector was removed.

Another vector of measurement was the mental energy required to convince myself that I was listening to live music. Of course, we never truly reach that point, but the closer we come to it, the less our brain has to work to try to convince us. We can relax more. That is exactly what led to the laziness I referred to above. I experienced a notable shift away from analyzing the sound quality, toward simply enjoying the music. Often, it would be a mesmerizing experience, even with music I was intimately familiar with. Goosebumps? Not as often as I thought I should have. Mostly, I was in a steady state of amazement with the music. Maybe I should have turned the volume up louder? That's what I would typically do to try to comprehend an obscure lyric, but I didn't need to. The edges of notes were perfectly drawn; even the piercing blues harmonica solo of Shakey Horton was not painful. Rather, it was so smooth and realistic that it felt like he was right in the room. Sure, I could easily turn up the music without pain, but not without damage to my hearing.

Form Factor
When I first laid eyes upon the Time Corrector, I raised my eyebrows. Why didn't he simply add a length of cable on each end of the metal unit to create a 1m or 1.5m interconnect? Surely that would save a consumer a healthy sum of money as well as eliminate another point of connection. Zoltán wrote back:

"It was a deliberate decision not to make the Time Corrector a complete interconnect, but rather an element that integrates into an existing cable. One reason is to keep it independent of the user's chosen interconnect, and another is that its function does not belong to the traditional "cable upgrade" category. The goal was not to create yet another interconnect, but to introduce something into the signal path that operates on a different principle."

As I thought about it, people willing to spend a lot of money on something like the Time Corrector probably already have an expensive loom of cable that they are not interested in replacing. Plus, having a Time Corrector as a short additional segment makes it easier for someone who might reconfigure their system and require a significantly different length of interconnect in the future. I'll also point out that I used it with three different sets of cable from three different companies: Synergistic Research (silver-plated copper), Tiglon (copper), and ArgentPur (pure silver). The sound signatures of the different brands varied to a degree, but adding the Time Corrector did not alter the signature, except as I have noted in this review.

I also asked Zoltán the obvious question: What's inside the metal capsule? He replied:

"I intentionally speak only to a limited extent about the underlying technology, but I can say that it is not DSP, not active electronics, and does not involve any manipulation in the frequency domain. Its operation is much more closely related to the time domain."

"It is not a correction in the classical sense, but rather something that allows the temporal relationships present in the signal to settle into a state that our hearing perceives as more natural. In my experience, the effect of the Time Corrector appears on a very subtle time-domain level, one that seems closely connected to the way our auditory system processes musical information, and this becomes clearly perceptible in the listening experience."

"This way of thinking did not originate from theory, but from many years of measurement and listening experience. My own loudspeaker developments played an important role in this. In my designs, I use first-order crossovers, and the behavior of the BRS driver, particularly its wide bandwidth and coherent response, made these time-domain phenomena very clearly observable and audible to me. ... I believe the listening experience speaks for itself."

Yes, it does! And it is completely understandable that, like others who manufacture such "mystery" products, he wants to protect his proprietary technology. He also sent me a waterfall plot of the frequency response of the nearly full-range BRS omni-directional speaker. It was supremely clean, particularly in the treble, which suggests his concept of "time corrector" refers to the temporal decay of notes, rather than the temporal arrival of different frequencies at the ear of the listener. Here is a look at the BRS waterfall measurement:

Zoltán commented:
"What stands out to me is how quickly and cleanly the energy decays, without the more complex, long-lasting structures that are often present [in other speakers]. I feel this has a direct influence on what we ultimately hear."

Most of us are familiar with the concept of time alignment to address time coherence in loudspeakers such as those by Wilson Audio. Others address this issue electronically in the speaker's crossover. But Zoltán's concept of time coherence is about the shape of the notes from the perspective of attack and decay. The Time Corrector provides a precise, non-irritating attack and improves the perception of decay, allowing the listener to better appreciate the music. In effect, it eliminated a lot of noise (or distortion) in the treble (and elsewhere), very much like a power conditioner does for an entire system, but the Time Corrector works directly in the signal path.

Zoltán added:
"The Time Corrector is not meant to replace time-coherent loudspeaker design, but rather to help preserve and partly restore the temporal integrity already present in the signal before it reaches the speaker... [whereby] the entire presentation somehow becomes more coherent and natural."

To this, I say "Mission accomplished!"

One of the signifiers on my analytical compilation CD is a refrain overdubbed in the far left channel of Bruce Springsteen's "57 Channels" where Bruce echoes "57 Channels an there's nuthin on." Over the decades in which I have used this CD, that refrain has become progressively more cognitively recognizable. With the Time Corrector, it is almost completely recognizable.

Time Out!
As I was writing this review, I recalled that I could also use the Time Corrector between the preamp and the Class D power amps. And with that came the realization that I could then use my tuner and turntable as sources. Time out!

Keeping the CD source, I compared the stereo ArgentPur Isis amp with my reference AGD The Audion monoblocks, both with and without the Time Corrector. I was once again schooled in why so many audiophiles prefer monoblocks. It was also clear why The Audion cost more than twice the price of the Isis, although I have to admit I was thoroughly enjoying the music for a couple of months with the Isis. I'll have a lot more to say about that in a future review.

Leaving the AGD The Audion driving the Acora Acoustics loudspeakers, I turned my attention to my Charisma Audio turntable fitted with a $1700 Charisma cartridge, a respectable rig, but a far cry from the mega-buck systems I hear at shows. The improvement with the Time Corrector was absolutely stunning. While CD playback had merely captivated my attention and drawn me into the music, it rarely produced goosebumps. When I put on my Rickie Lee Jones LP and played a song I use in the finest rooms at shows, it was goosebumps over my whole body, and yes, tears in my eyes. And those rooms were half a million dollars and more. It was like that almost throughout the entire album. When I put on a live album of George Thorogood and the Destroyers, the lyrics, which he spits out like bullets from an AR-15, were entirely intelligible. I felt like someone had slipped a $10k cartridge on my tonearm.

The reaction was similar when I turned to WXXI-FM, a classical station with a strong signal that broadcasts with very little compression. Aside from some minor artifacts of over-the-air broadcasting, it was sounding very close to CDs. Listening to Hearts of Space on Sunday night, relatively minimalist electronic music, the sense of air and space, and the bloom of music in the room was close to transcendental, just the way I like it. Without the Time Corrector, the room sounded over-damped in comparison. And that held true for any of my sources.

Value
I have invested in many accessories that have each improved the system in some way, but the task, it seems, is never-ending. Things like the Audience Hidden Treasures 30A dedicated line, the LessLoss BlackGround and BlackGround for Speakers, and the Synergistic Research PowerCell 14 were all expensive components that made significant contributions to noise reduction and subsequent improvements in resolution. Smaller items like Stack Audio footers, Synergistic footers and fuses, the fabled ERS paper, and environmental clarifiers like the Nirvana Audio Chronos and Heartsound Audio Holostage have all added to the sound quality of my system. The Time Corrector entered the scene when the system was already highly refined, yet it has managed to make a very significant improvement.

At the point where I had only listened to CDs, I asked Zoltán for the price of the Time Corrector. My gut feeling was that it would be a very popular product in the range of $2500 to $3500. It would sell like hotcakes. Of course, I knew nothing of the technology enclosed in the capsule. Given what he had eliminated, I was suspecting something like rare earth elements or technology similar to that of LessLoss or Nirvana Audio applied directly around the signal path. So when he came back with a figure of €5,980 per pair [$6,969], my heart kind of sank, and I had to think about it for a few days.

My disappointment was clearly rooted in what I was comfortable spending on the Time Corrector, but I came around to a broader view. My $6k DAC was now sounding like one that cost maybe $15k. And my entire rig is giving me thrills with my LPs that compare with the mega-buck systems I hear at shows. That alone is a discrepancy of many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Learning that a single pair of Time Correctors works for all three of my sources when used to feed the power amps virtually triples their value in my mind. I get even more excited when I think about adding Cardas adapters to try them with my single-ended tube amps, but I'd best wait for the dedicated single-ended version. From these perspectives, the price becomes much more realistic, and there are certainly many in the high end who will not blink an eye at the price. Many more will write "Bayz Time Corrector" on a piece of paper and drop it into their jar of aspirations, as well they should.

Summary
High-end audio is a game of evolution, and the addition of new components over the past few years has accelerated the performance of my system. Adding the Bayz Time Corrector has been another significant advance, not just in analytical sound quality, but in the emotional enjoyment of the music. Expensive? Yes, which means it may only find its way into rigs that are already ultra-expensive. But in a system with mid-level components, the Time Corrector has allowed me to leapfrog over components I wouldn't dream of owning. By installing it right after my digital source or directly before my power amp, the benefits are bestowed upon the entire system, reaffirming my previous purchasing decisions and raising the bar for future ones—or possibly eliminating them altogether. It's that good.

Zoltán Bay will have his Bayz Audio speakers driven by AGD amplifiers at High End in Vienna in a couple of days after publication. I expect he will be using the Time Corrector in his presentation. Catch it if you can. For the rest of us, I leave you with those alluring words sung by Rickie Lee Jones:

Well, I hear you wanna go back to Coolsville
Well come on honey, take you back to Coolsville

The Bayz Time Corrector has taken me there.

Specifications
Bayz Audio Time Corrector
Price: €5,980 per pair (~$6,969)

Company Information
Bayz Audio
Voice: : +36 30 99-88-781
E-mail: z.bay@bayz-audio.eu 

U.S. Distributor
AV Luxury Group
2130 Park Center Dr, Suite 140
Las Vegas, NV 89135

Voice: (702) 910-4913
E-mail: info@avluxurygroup.com 
Website: AVLuxuryGroup.com