Ok hi

i know this post could be in most sections of this forum but i decided to post here because i think the main problem could be tubes...

i just received the audio art interconnect, switched from koss cheap yet gold plated rca cables, since then i've runned it for more then 50 houres trying to reach the confortable "break-in" period, and still i dont like what i hear,

the highs are harsh, really fatiguing, i cant stand long listening, trough i can tell voice have more depth and detailed increased but i've lost the round pleasant base i had with the koss rca cables...

on the amp i can't turn the volume knob more then 1/4 or the highs will kill me i'm pretty sure... is that a sign of anything ?

should i spend a hundred dollars going for warm tube that sacrifice some details?

or switch interconnect for some that are more adapted to my setup(if those really exist)?

should i just blame the nad 521bee for being a crappy cd player that cannot feed the rs1 ?

Should i switch from rs1 to hd650 ?

or is there no way to tell until i've tryed everything?

thx a lot for pointers. i just cant invest a lot right now so i would like to make this system worth listening too for less then 200$ extra...

btw its : Nad 512Bee -> Audio Art IC1 -> Cayen Ha-1a -> rs1

Of course it is hard to know for sure what is going on, but if I had to guess...

the Koss cables were "deficient" in that they lost plenty of signal in the delivery, especially in the highs. So, you were able to crank the amp before the switch due to the lack of highs relative the to the rest of the frequency range, and therefore crunching out a round base to the sound. I have experienced a similar effect when using certain Shure IEMs... the highs are rolled off enough that you can edge up the volume a touch more than you could would other 'phones with more accurate highs. Some people would say that the IEM's are therefore base-heavy. Base-heavy/rolled off highs, it depends how you look at it.

Bottom line, it is your money, so you should listen to you music the way you like it! It's easy getting sucked up into the pressure of "accurate" sound when that might not actually be what you desire. (I definitely know that from experience!). And that is an expensive lesson to learn! Ha! So, you might actually have a more "accurate" sound coming from your setup now with the addition of the new cable. The RS-1's are a bit peaky in the highs if memory serves. THe 650's might be a bit more your speed, and would be a breeze to purchase if you were to sell of the RS's for the 650's. You'd even end up with some extra money. Maybe you could upgrade the cable on the 650's! Hahaha!

Good luck with finding your sound.....

Thx a lot a1joe

i do also believe that the koss cable lacked high and turning the nod up would give me that round bassy sound i like

but i remembered i chose the rs1 for the bang, the honest clear sound of grado lines... the one that make you close your eyes and go numb until that specific segment of the song is over.

when testing, i did it with a rega planet and ra1 and
it was awesome but never tested them with tubes before going for this setup, i trusted this community for everyone seams to get warm sound from tubes with rs1

so again i guess everything count, if i go for warm tubes and warm interconnect i might bend the natural curve of rs1 sound and find my spot!

i'll check this out

Thx again

Will

Other than the cable, what's new in the system?

Tim