I have had several audio revelations over the past few weeks as I have upgraded my portable (and only) system. First to come was the importance a well designed amp has on what we hear. Jan Meiers Stepdance is nothing short of a astounding in it's breadth and capability.
It provides a firm, stable foundation for my source.
Then came the Denon AH-D5000's. How does Denon do it! Deep, deep bass, to the point the other day where I felt rather than heard bass I never knew was there before! Nice and tight, underpinning the rest of the music and yet at the same time mids to melt butter and treble so silky smooth and transparent one just marvels!
And so there I was, thinking it could not get any better but inside of me a voice was shouting, Cable! I turned to Ken at ALO for the solution and ordered his cryo SXC 22G LOD. It arrived today!
Now I know a lot of people will be scratching their heads thinking who on earth would spend $135 of five inches of silver plated copper wire. I can't be worth it surely?
Well, let me tell you! As I sit and type I am listening to Patricia Barber singing use me from the album companion. When I auditioned the Denon's I compared them with the much more expensive D7000's, absolutely wonderful headphones and I can imagine anyone who owns them to be in heaven.
For me, at the price differences I had to hand though I just could not justify the extra expense (over $300) for minimal improvements (to my ears any way!) The biggest difference was in listening to this track, there is an instrument that comes in after the bass solo, I am not sure of the name of the instrument but I have seen them and they look like a block of wood with ridges and one runs a stick over the ridges to give a wooden rasping sound.
Well, that sound was more forward, more alive on the D7000'S and deeper in the mix on the 5000's.. That is until I plugged in Kens cable!
Now there is no difference! The mid's have come forward in the mix, the treble sparkles even more and the bass is even tighter and deeper.
This is what a well designed and thought out cable can do! To me it is a veritable bargain, after all it has saved me $165!
On top of the thought and detail is the build quality and service.
Ken is a legend amongst us for his outstanding business practices and attention to sound quality. Now as a new customer I can fully see what folks are raving about! His cables really have to be seen in the flesh! The quality is outstanding! I particularly love the LOD connector, why can't all connectors be like this, built to last!
The whole cable exudes class and craftsmanship but more importantly it is the sound. Cables, good quality cables represent a very sound (pun intended!) investment in the total experience.
When, as in ALO's case, those cables are meticulously thought out and executed and provide such an outstanding upgrade to the overall sound it becomes crazy to think that they are not incredible bargains for the enormous gains achieved!
I just wanted to add I have no connection to Ken or ALO other than as a brand new customer who is very, very pleased to have found them!
To Ken and team, thank you, you are a credit to high fidelity musical reproduction!
Edited by ianmedium - 12/14/10 at 11:40pm
Well, you have a part of me right, part of my work is writing!
