Please welcome me as an official convert into this deep rabbit hole "dark side" thread of HeadFi
. Of course prior to hearing myself through a series of demos and auditions, I was skeptical that these expensive power cords/interconnects really mattered. Yet, I went with a mostly all TWL loom a couple of years ago once I got my Ferrum stack and Rockna WL to help "offset" any bottlenecks. I did some brief "A/B" tests against the stock black cords and liked what I heard, but it was more of a "set and forget" for peace of mind. Did they really matter? I didn't care.
However, after recently solidifying my core components by upgrading the Ferrum stack to WA23 Luna and by adding the Rockna WLServer for i2s and upsampling, I noticed that the overall system has become much more revealing and
sensitive to cable swaps. While I was switching around some relatively mid-entry level cables like Digital American vs Shunyuta Venom V14 Digital vs Audience Forte F5 across my components, I also noticed considerable changes in i2s ICs between the Pink Faun (warmer, analogue, euphonic) and Tubulus Concentus (fast transients, airy, precise yet natural). So I figured **** it, why not keep slurping up the alleged snake oil and see if
ethernet cables make a difference as well (whom I consulted with some respected members such as
@Roasty , thank you sir). I just got my TWL Freedom Ethernet cables and was shocked to see that it
thickened up my overall system in a pleasant way...and this is
without the Etherregen that will be coming in on Friday. Definitely beats out the 15 foot black cord I was running across my room into the living room.
So in short, I am happy with the ethernet cable benefits + TWL Seven Plus on my WA23 because now it allows me to keep the blacker background, treble extended Venom V14 on my streamer and the technical, dynamic Tubulus Concentus without being too bright or thin. I couldn't find the right synergy prior with too many warm accessories such as the Audience F5 and the Pink Faun which rolled up the treble and congested the black background despite lush, seductive mids and rumbly, liquidy bass.
Am I done? Absolutely not-the upgraditis will continue to be there I am sure, but definitely happy with
finally feeling I am mostly there and can stop neurotically obsessing as much
. Now to figure out how to afford the AQ Hurricane for my power conditioner, and perhaps the AQ Dragon HDMI to compare against the Concentus/Pink Faun...and maybe a Niagara3000? SMH.