How much did your ICs cost compared to your source? - Page 2

Marantz CD63se - £300 ($450)
AudioQuest Quartz III - £130 ($200) for 50cm

Oops thats like 43.333333... %

I hope no one hurts me - my $100 Sony Minisystem from the early 90s. RatShack ics = $4. So, 4%. LOL!

OK, lets see now...
2nd hand Meridian 206B, £250.
2nd hand Chord Company Chameleon 2's, £40
(40/250)*100 = 16%
Of course, if we're talking vinyl, then it's gonna be different...
Systemdeck, with rewired rega arm and Dynavector 20x-h cart, £650...
Ixos i/c was free with my cd player!!!
so 0%. cool.
Andrew

Exellent thread mcbiff. I was just going to ask the same question. Well, you guys have convinced me to ditch my Recoton wires (or whatever the heck they're called) and get me some real bonafide cables. Hope the difference is substantial.

My problem is that there's more grain and brightness coming from my Creek amp compared to the lineout on the cdp. I hope that's not an issue with the amp itself. Its detail and soundstage are nice. Now if I could just tone things down a bit.

well, lets see...

JVC "micro-hi-fi": $220
came-with-mdp mini-to-RCA: $0

err...

thats 0%

Man, I thought I was nuts spending money on good cables but jude and moo take the cake. This is my first venture into a cable upgrade, and a perfectly priced one for a newbie like me($35 CAN). I got the Acoustic Research Pro Series ICs for my cdp -> hp amp. I was a skeptic before this purchase but I was totally stoked about the results.

Treble ( ~ 10KHz ) is no longer painful. Cymbals are relatively silky smooth and subdued. +10KHz is now discernible. Hooray.

Midrange is more fairly represented. The frequency curve on the signal is much smoother and fat in the middle. Vocals ( ~ 1 - 3 KHz ) are better articulated but ambience ( ~ 4 - 7 KHz ) is still lacking.

Bass is less powerful, naturally, considering the louder mids.

Overall, the sound is much less distorted than with the Kmart cables. Its like someone took a bad equalizer out of my system! The imaging is the same, and the tonal characteristics much resemble those of the cdp hp jack. Detail is better in my Creek amp though (of course [heh heh]).

So thats my instant review of these nice little cables. I hate to sound like a fake with these mentions of frequency ranges, because all that I know about them comes from my experience with an Audiovox graphic equalizer . Feel free to comment.

ps. I wish the salesmen at these electronics stores would shut the ****** up and let me shop in peace. Twice in one morning, I was swooped upon by an aggressive rep who would push me to buy something I did not want. They would tell me what I did and didn't need in my system without an informed opinion about it. Then, when I made a suggestion, they'd try to steer away from it and push what THEY wanted me to buy. These guys were desperate vultures man! What gives? These greenhorns don't seriously make commission on cheap cables do they?

btw, cute title Jude. Thanks. Kraft gourmet chef eh?

Hmmmm..... (all prices are those actually paid)

Bedroom headphone system (used in the poll):
Marantz CD63 (with a few custom mods) - NZ$600
QED Silver Spiral (1m) - NZ$150
Cable percentage = 25%

Main HiFi System:
Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1 - NZ$4995
Audioquest Lapis (0.5m) - NZ$300
Cable percentage = 6%

This poll will have some skewing, as the shorter interconnects you use for better sound quality, the further the price drops. If my Lapis was 1m long my percentage on my main system would be around 10%, and if I had them I'd ideally be using 0.5m cables in my headphone system at around half the cost.

Hi Guys,

In my case, I tend to use ICs that synergise best with my system needs and ratio% will inevitably be distorted. Also, I rarely buy my ICs brand new (indicated below) and I bought most of my existing ICs from friends.

Some examples ...

A) Meridian 206 Delta Sigma CDP to Cyrus preamp uses Kimber Kable Silver Streak IC ;

The KK Silver Streak, WBT, IC = $NZ400.
Meridian cdp (2nd hand, and modified) = $NZ1500.
Ratio is therefore 27 %.


B) QED MB45 custom modded headphone amp, with uprated external PSU and regulation - used in the tape loop of preamp. Since its a loop configuration, I am using 2 pairs of half meter ICs ;

2 pairs of AudioQuest/Truth Emeralds x3 ICs = $NZ 360 total (secondhand - 6 mths old when I bought them).
QED MB45 with customised parts and PSU = $NZ 280 (secondhand).
Ratio is about 130% (!!).


C) Denon TU600 tuner, also modified, and IC used is AQ Lapis x3 ;

AQ Lapis IC = $NZ200 (secondhand - 6 mths old when I bought these). Denon tuner = $NZ500
Ratio is about 40%

Cheers,