Cables, Power, Tweaks, Speakers, Accessories (DBT-Free Forum)Discussion of cables, power (the electric kind), tweaks, & accessories. I, Objectivist: The Objectivist Audio
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I've owned the Cardas, Silver Dragon V2, Blue Dragon and now the Zu Mobius.
Hands down from the 4 the Zu Mobius cable is incredible. I've been hearing detail and texture in my 10 albums I use all the time with any new amp, source, or can I get in to test them out. Let me tell you that it was like a night and day difference in sound. I didn't think a cable would make such a difference. I didn't even have to close my eyes and concentrate on the music to pick out the improvements or detail. I was working on my computer and heard multiple things in the track that I never heard before. Also, the low end became really tight and had some punch to it. I've been so very happy with it. With my Dragon amp from Singlepower it is really driving my HD650s properly and with the cable upgrade it is phenomenal. Of course with everything YMMV, but for me I couldn't be happier.
Home Rig 1: Audio Research CD7, FLAC -> "The Dragon" from SinglePower Audio -> R10 #0457, HD650 w/Zu Mobius, K1000, Headphiled K340, HF-1 #174 Home Rig 2: Cambridge 840C, FLAC -> Rockhopper ί22 -> K1000, Woodied MS1 & SR225, K701, K500 w/K701 pads Work Rig: Cambridge 840C, FLAC -> GS-X, SinglePower Extreme, SP PPX3 SLAM -> DX1000, DT990, HD650 w/Zu & balanced Equinox & balanced Black Dragon, HD600 w/Chimera Labs Portable: 80GB Ipod -> ATH-ESW9, ATH-ES7
"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." - John Lennon
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." or "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke
Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. - Lance Armstrong
For HD650, I still like the Equinox best, it doesn't change the character of HD650 but embellish it, making everything better/bloom, preserving the beautiful smoothness of HD650. It's like changing from a Target black suit to a Georgia Armani black suit. Still a black suit, but much better. The Equinox is my favorite and basis for comparison.
The silver Dragon (SD) was a bit dry, and the treble was brighter, but very detailed.
I feel the RAL and SD cable changes the HD650 to the extent that HD650 is no longer HD650, for good or bad. For the same money/effect, I might just get DT-880, 990, K701, or a Grado. I strongly recommend against buying an RAL, though, as I am considering filing a small claims suit against RAL after unsuccessful attempt to obtain refund or the cable that I paid for 3 months ago, after BV promised a specific time to deliver but failed to AND stopped responding to emails, and phone lines no longer work.
The Cardas is well extended clearly better than stock cable (improvement worth the price). It's more exciting/lively than Equinox but not as smooth overall. Doesn't change the HD650 as much as the RAL or SD, but not as smooth as Equinox. Overall build quality is also the last place of all cable mentioned in this post (IMO), though this does not necessarily affect durability.
For HD650, I still like the Equinox best, it doesn't change the character of HD650 but embellish it, making everything better/bloom, preserving the beautiful smoothness of HD650.
Thanks for bringing this up, when I finally do upgrade my HD650, I don't want to purchase a cable that will change the character a lot. Can APS v3 owners please describe how it affects the sound of the HD650s too? I'm interested in them.
And thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, I can't imagine trying each one to see which I would like best.
wow no love for Enigma Audio....im in love with the cable to honest with you. Sounds nice and airy, bass is tight and controlled. Kinda what the Zu DOESNT sound like =)
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Headphones: Sennheiser HD-650's + Enigma Audio Oracle cable, Sleek SA6, Grado SR-60 recabled (Canare), Sennheiser MX500
Sources: - Zhaolu D2.5A (4562s, blackgates, txco clock) - Sony SCD-CE595 - Zen Vision:M 30GB - Go-Vibe USB DAC/Asus G1/Foobar-Flac
Amps: Headroom Desktop Millett Hybrid #1 (Home upgrade/12AE6A tubes) - Go-Vibe v3/AD823AN
Speakers: Cambridge Soundworks Model 12's (CE595-Zhaolu-HR Millet Preamp-Model 12's)
Sold: K701's HD580's HD555's HD457's E2G's KSC75's iGrado MS1's SR225 Woody upgrades (HD580) Shure E4 DV336i My FeedbackMy HeatwareListen to my rig at CANJAM '08
I preferred the RAL Paradise cable. In terms of design approach, I think Brad's aim was to make a pure path with the wire and to minimize colorations (i.e. due to the cable itself).
It raises the question: with the stock cable, am I listening to the cable or the headphones? One's preference for an after-market cable that "embellishes" the way the HD650 sound with their stock cable may simply mean that the listener prefers the sound of the stock cable to begin with. IMHE, the RAL brought out the true potential of the HD650 (a headphone I've owned on three distinct occasions)--whose "stock sound" I admittedly did not, do not and probably never will like.
But then again, I'm firmly entrenched in the AKG camp, now. The only Sennheiser I'd reconsider would be the HD600. The HD650, to me, were the mass-market-driven design equivalent to the DT880/2005, another headphone that I think was clearly bettered by its predecessor.
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Iesus autem intuitus eum dilexit eum et dixit illi unum tibi deest vade quaecumque habes vende et da pauperibus et habebis thesaurum in caelo et veni sequere me. (Mark 10:21, Vulgate)
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