Kimber headphone cables...HD600

Equinox, Mobius, Cardas,

Both Equinox and Zu Mobius are my current favourites. The Cardas is also bretty good. YMMV and IMO of course. Have not heard the Russ Andrews cable using Kimber wires. IMO Russ Andrews charges an arm and a leg for Kimber. Check with kimber if they do make it for Russ or does Russ make it himself. Then order one from the US instead if it's available. Far cheaper.

FYI Russ Charges almost 50 -60% more for Kimber IC cables, Power Cords etc (after VAT) so it's really far more expensive to buy from Russ. I believe the Zu cable is probably very similar (in construction) to the Russ Andrews cable. But I cant tell you for sure cos I have never seen let alone heard the Russ Andrews cable.

Sorry that's all I know.

I own the Kimber HD600/650 cable from Russ Andrews. I also own the Cardas, Equinox and Mobius cables. The Cardas, Equinox and Mobius each has some qualities I liked, with the Equinox and Mobius being my favourites in terms of being well rounded. I am talking purely about sound and not about the manufacturing quality, stiffness of the cable, microphonics or quality and fit of the connectors. Unfortunately, there was nothing I liked about the Russ Andrews when it came to sound.

These are my opinions of the cable, it is not a review, it is more of a rant.

Sad to say, I do not like it one bit. When I paired it with my HD600, Sugden Bijou Headmaster and CDMaster, my first reactions were to rip the headphones off my head and then run head first into the wall for stupidly spending so much money on something that made my existing setup sound so bad. I had no idea my setup could sound so awful. After checking everything through and making sure that my setup was fine and all connections were fitted right and tight, I tried it again. I was not mistaken the first time, I really hate the Russ Andrews cable. My reactions maybe over exaggerated, but I really hate the Russ Andrews cable.

Anyway, after the initial shock, I decided to let the cable burn in a little. After 5 days, I tried it again. I still hated it.

I am not an audiophile and my descriptive audio terms is normally limited to, sounds better than and sounds worse than, most of the time:P But I will try to describe what I found so wrong with the Russ Andrews cables.

It was not musical at all, sounds seem to just fall into the abyss at the end, everything ended very abruptly. Everything sounded flat, there was no depth. It was limited to sound coming from the left and sound coming from the right. With the other cables, I would be able to pick out individual instruments and follow them as they played, I was unable to do so with the Russ Andrews.

Thinking it may not pair well with the Sugden Headmaster, I tried it out with my modded X-Can V2. Nope, still hated it.

I think the stock cables may actually sound better than the Russ Andrews.

Having said all that, please bear in mind that this is just one sample of the Russ Andrews, I may have gotten a faulty cable and also because it sounded so different (bad to me) initially compared to the other cables, my mind could have shut down and built a bias against it.

alex,

Try audioadvisor.com if that doesnt work out sned me a PM - I'll try and help you with Kimber stuff (not the headphone cable though).

shard,

russ does offer a trial run so maybe you should send the cable back for checking. Polarity may be reversed or somthing - you can check this by doing a continuity check with a multi meter.

This is exactly what I heard with the Oehlbach, as sorry as I am to say it. I understand Jan Meier is coming out with a new version of the cable.

First of all, in case anyone misunderstood, my post was simply about my experiences with one sample of the Russ Andrews HD600/650 cable.

I have no problems with the service and support of Russ Andrews. I buy tons of stuff from them and have never had a problem. I am sure they will provide me with a replacement if I asked. I will probably get the cables checked in the near future, have been pretty busy in the last month or so.

The Equinox is from Stephen AudioArt (http://stefanaudioart.com/), order information is located on the website.

IMO, the Equinox and the Mobius sound pretty good and I cannot really say which is better, maybe the Equinox, maybe the Mobius, no, I think the Equinox, hmmm, definitely the Mobius, wait... :P

It all comes down to what I am listening to at that point in time. I have 2 HD650s, 1 with the Equinox and 1 with the Mobius. Thats how much I like the 2 cables.

Seriously though, I always felt that how cables sound are very subjective. It all depends on the individual, the type of music, as well as the other components in the setup. The cable is only one small part of a whole system. Of course if you ask some people, all cables sound the same and its all a placebo effect.

You might not have the audiophile lingo down, but I think I got the gist of your message!

Have you ever tried Russ Andrew's CD Attnuated Interconnects? If you have which did you try? Sorry for the OT.

Also does anyone know how to make a Attnuated Interconnects: What are the values of the resistors (I guess I should ask this in the DIY forum).

Cheers
Rameish