Well, as most of you know, Ken at ALO is working on some great new combinations of metals with his cable creations as of late. I was able to talk him into letting me borrow a handful from him for the 'Sota meet this past weekend. The only unfortunate thing is that I was only able to dedicate some real time to only two...the Jumbo Cryo X Silver and the Super Cotton mini to mini’s. (This was more for my selfish reasons because I wanted to try out his newest top-of-the-line cable…because mine WAS the best at the time I bought it)
Visually, the two minis look awesome.
Back Story on these particular cables:
I’ve had my Jumbo Cryo X Silver for a couple months now and it has +400 hours on it and the Super Cotton was brand new when I received it last week.
My Impressions:
When I initially tried out the Super Cotton, I was pretty confused…it almost sounded identical to the Jumbo Cryo. The only difference was when I listened to Frank Sinatra, his voice sounded a little recessed with the instruments being more forward with the Super Cotton. BUT, I remembered that Ken said that it wasn’t burnt in yet, so I hooked it up after the meet on Saturday and left it until late Monday afternoon. So, I spent the rest of the weekend with my iMod / Jumbo Cryo X Silver / TH / E500 setup…paying attention to what I was hearing. I didn’t get a ton of listening to it, but I got a good 3-4 hours peppered throughout the weekend. I really love that Jumbo Cryo X Silver cable and was perfectly happy with it…that was until I got home and hooked up the Super Cotton again.
I spent a couple hours listening to the Super Cotton. This time it was different. It was really FUN sounding. Some naysayer’s may say that I was just more acclimated with the Jumbo Cryo and the Super Cotton didn’t burn in…because cable burn-in doesn’t exist. I totally disagree with that. This cable sounded really FUN! I spent a couple hours A/Bing them back in forth for 5-10 minutes at a time. I can’t really put my finger on how to describe it. The only way that I can describe it is by saying that with the Jumbo Cryo, it sounds like you’re listening to a recording and with the Super Cotton, it sounds like you’re at the concert live! Now, I’d like to say that this is just what I’m hearing, you could hear something totally different…you hear what you hear.
In closing, I’d like to say that I’m in no way saying you need to get Ken’s most expensive cables to get a great sounding cable. If I could only afford the standard 22-gauge cryo, I would be perfectly happy.
This is the first time I’ve ever attempted writing an impressions thread, so I hope you like it.
Visually, the two minis look awesome.
Here is the Super Cotton:
The Super Cotton is made of 20 guage ALO Super Cotton dock cable terminated to Canare f12 Mini plug and sheathed in a black and gold.
Here is the Jumbo Cryo X Silver:
The Jumbo Cryo X Silver is made of 18 guage Cryo and 22 guage silver…with bare clear coated wires, I love that!
The Super Cotton is made of 20 guage ALO Super Cotton dock cable terminated to Canare f12 Mini plug and sheathed in a black and gold.
Here is the Jumbo Cryo X Silver:
The Jumbo Cryo X Silver is made of 18 guage Cryo and 22 guage silver…with bare clear coated wires, I love that!
Back Story on these particular cables:
I’ve had my Jumbo Cryo X Silver for a couple months now and it has +400 hours on it and the Super Cotton was brand new when I received it last week.
My Impressions:
When I initially tried out the Super Cotton, I was pretty confused…it almost sounded identical to the Jumbo Cryo. The only difference was when I listened to Frank Sinatra, his voice sounded a little recessed with the instruments being more forward with the Super Cotton. BUT, I remembered that Ken said that it wasn’t burnt in yet, so I hooked it up after the meet on Saturday and left it until late Monday afternoon. So, I spent the rest of the weekend with my iMod / Jumbo Cryo X Silver / TH / E500 setup…paying attention to what I was hearing. I didn’t get a ton of listening to it, but I got a good 3-4 hours peppered throughout the weekend. I really love that Jumbo Cryo X Silver cable and was perfectly happy with it…that was until I got home and hooked up the Super Cotton again.
I spent a couple hours listening to the Super Cotton. This time it was different. It was really FUN sounding. Some naysayer’s may say that I was just more acclimated with the Jumbo Cryo and the Super Cotton didn’t burn in…because cable burn-in doesn’t exist. I totally disagree with that. This cable sounded really FUN! I spent a couple hours A/Bing them back in forth for 5-10 minutes at a time. I can’t really put my finger on how to describe it. The only way that I can describe it is by saying that with the Jumbo Cryo, it sounds like you’re listening to a recording and with the Super Cotton, it sounds like you’re at the concert live! Now, I’d like to say that this is just what I’m hearing, you could hear something totally different…you hear what you hear.
In closing, I’d like to say that I’m in no way saying you need to get Ken’s most expensive cables to get a great sounding cable. If I could only afford the standard 22-gauge cryo, I would be perfectly happy.
This is the first time I’ve ever attempted writing an impressions thread, so I hope you like it.
I just ordered mine today!
