A probably provacative question about "re-cabling" - Page 2

Quoted for Great Justice

I'll back Golden Ears up on everything he said, down to the statement that even a non audiophile could probably catch the differences in the stock Ed 9 cable and the APS v3

I personally report on having noticed almost immediately upon putting the v3s on for the first time that there was more weight to the bass. It also extended deeper. The highs were no longer fatiguing / borderline fatiguing for me. They had been tamed perfectly. These were my two biggest issues with the Ed 9s. I was really thinking I would have to sit down and work hard to find a difference with the recable, being still fairly new to analyzing gear / audiophilia at large.

It was so easy to catch! It made more of a difference than I was even hoping a recable would have.

I expect to find that the highs also have a little more extension as well - I only spent a handful of moments with these at the meet, and, well, meets are not exactly a quiet situation. And, to clarify - I did go back and forth between the recabled and the stock ones several times just to verify these changes. Both cans were very well burned in, over 600 hours each, at least.

Final testamony - I ordered my v3 recable two days ago =)

Ha! I just paid for my APS V3 recable too! Yes I really wish we had gotten the cable non believers to hear this for themselves.

Also to note- the two Ultrasone Edition Nines we heard... I believe were close in serial number. So it is unlikely there were differences in the construction of the two headphones. I sent back a pair... #645 that sounded like a slight channel imbalance- and got a new pair that so far sounds good- and tonally to my ears they sound the same.

So I highly doubt the sound difference between the v3 cabled headphone and the stock one was due to unit to unit variance... it was simply a very large difference in sound.

I also am excited because I found a new unopened 5.5 g 80 gb ipod and sent it off unopened to Vinnie of Red Wine Audio for the Imod..I am hoping there will be good synergy between the Edition 9 with APS V3/TTVJ portable millet tube amp/ALO jumbo Cryo cable.

I will a/b the 6th Gen Ipod 160 gb vs the 5.5 g Imod with the aforementioned set up. I realize the Imod 5.5 g is better than the 6g Ipod- but the overall synergy will determine my decision.

So after a burn in period for my 5.5 Imod of 100 hours in my drawer I'll make my decision and if I decide I like the 6g better... I'll sell my new Imod for a $50 loss.
-The thing is... the Edition 9/APS V3/ALO 22 guage cryo dock/Millet sounded so real to me...that I am not sure if the Imod might move it further from real...or closer...

Whatever the case...I just could not go on with doubt in my mind so I bought both...


After reading this post.... I realize I have become infected with things I swear I thought I would never bother with or care about.... I read about people recabling and comparing dock cables and I thought they were OCD lunatics...(nitpickers I thought- likely imagining over 1/2 of the differences they heard- swayed more by cable jacket cosmetics and shiny plugs than actual differences)

But hey... there is a difference... it is readily apparent... it is NOT small.

As one great audio salesman once said to me...

Lenny Bernstein (now owner of Lyric hi-fi in NYC - You should all take a flight to his store)... he demoed a pair of Infinity Reference Standards RS-1's to me..... I heard Ruby from Donald Fagen the Nightfly.. on vinyl/Goldmund Studio turntable with T3f linear tracking arm- and I think a dynavector or Koetsu cartridge...and I decided.. I would likely never hear a better presentation. I stood there- Jaw dropped in shock..stunned..until the end of the song...- hearing the end lead out groove- the arm quietly lifting (a pause) .....(A quiet long pause for nearly a minute) and Lenny said quietly..."We can either go backwards or forwards"

2 months later I had the speakers in my house. I loved them for over 20 years.


"We can either go backwards or forwards"


I suggest we move forwards at all costs.

We? because a few years ago I was stupid enough (...Read: I'm A DAMNED, STUPID, SHORT SIGHTED MORONIC FOOL!) to sell those speakers...and that is why I got involved with headphones...

I will never move backwards again so long as there is a way forwards.

I'll keep it short:

I prefer my 4 wire braided SPC to the stock cable.