[bozebuttons]

I showed members your interconnects to members at the show
including aeberbach. If you look at the nyc post on members lounge you will see your akg cables hooked up to the norh se9, spades should have been bigger just fit on binding post. didn't get to use interconnects at show though but I will compare them to my audioquest amazon cables in my system.

 

[bozebuttons]

Just an update. I have been very busy lately. I have put Orpheus interconnects and AKG 1000 cable in my system and will do comparisons with stock cables and other interconnects this week and give my impressions. sorry for the delay.

 

[bozebuttons]

First I would like to apoligize to Orpheus
for the delay in getting my impessions on his cables posted.These cables are very well built and could pass for a professional
built cable right down to his signature on
them.
Orpheus sent me with 3 sets of cables. 1 pair of interconnects, 2 extension
cables for akg-1000, 1 set with cardas spades, the other with a regular
headphone plug to plug into a headphone jack. I will leave the detailed info on build perticulars for Orpheus to post.
First let me say these are my
Impressions with my equipment .I am no way a reviewer but I have listened to a lot of equipment in the past.
The cable with the cardas spades will
be the one I will give My thoughts on
compared to the stock cable. I didn't have an amp on hand that could properly drive the akg with the phono
plug cable so I will omit that one.
I used three different setups to test cables.
All used the same source setup.
Sony dvp7700 with modwright level 2 mods as a transport, illuminations d60
digital cable ,mark levinson 360s dac.
I hooked up Orpheus spade connectors to directly to amp binding posts. I connected the stock cable to Monster cable Xterminators and was able to to put cables into the binding posts as if I was using banana plug.
With this configuration both cables are hooked up to amp at the same time.
This made it easier to compare cables
quicker because all you had to do is disconnect akgs from headphone connector and switch cables instantly.
First system up
Melos sha-1 with amperex pw6922 pq tubes,driving a McCormack Micro powerdrive 50watt amp.
Audioquest amazon cable between melos and ml dac . Used Orpheus interconnect between Melos and McCormack amp.
I used A few cds for comparisons but the one I spent the most Time with
Was Celine Dions ,A New Day Has Come cd.
Second system up.
I took out the Melos and Orpheus
interconnect Put in my Hovland HP100
preamp in place of the Melos,and used the Grado signature interconnects in place of Opheus interconnect .
Third system up
nOrh se9 with audioquest amazon my referance interconnects connected to mldac.
Sorry for the long intro before any comparisons between cables. But I wanted to give my impressions of cables with as much differant equipment as I could.
I would like to add Orpheus cables where sent to me as soon as he finished them. They saw some action at NYC meet.
stock cable also had little use.
First listening Impressions in the first system .
The stock cable had the edge right away it seemed more focused. It was easier to hear instruments in there own space. Celine seemed to be towards the back of my head.Switched to Orpheus
cable it seemed like it got louder like I raised the volume up, not by much
but since I could Change cables so
quickley it was aparent. The sound
became more homogenized everything was there but harder to seperate Less focused . Celine voice actually moved up
more to the front of my head with this cable.
My daughter and a freind where over
and I put them in the hot seat. To see if they could tell any differance between cables.Nethier one are any kind of audiophile.but my daughter does sing and write music. I let them listen and change cables by themselfs . MY daughter said that she couldn't believe
that cables could make such a differance that the first cable(stock) sounded clearer And the second cable sounded muffled like there was something covering mike when it was recorded.Karen who also listened Picked up this up to. I let them tell me what they thought first without saying a word on what I thought. I switched interconnects and put in the Grado signature interconnects in place of Orpheus interconnect Things started to improve for Orpheus cable. But not by much.
Second round
With the hovland And Grado interconnect The Orpheus cable started to show improvement. Maybe because it was breaking in moreand the Hovland is also in a differant leaque than the melos
My first impressions between the cable remained the same ,I still felt the stock cable was more focused. but the Orpheus was improving, things began to
take there own space, less homogienized Celines voice Became more seperated from everything else,
instruments also became more defined.
Stock cable still on top but the gap was closing.
Third round
Put the nOrh se9 intergraded in with my referance audioquest amazon
interconnects connected to mldac.
also nOrh se9 had a synergestic referance master coupler power cord in place of stock cord.Hovland and mldac also have the same cord.HOvland and Grado cable now out of system as whell as McCormack.
I started with the stock cable first
and Listened for 5 songs before I realized I was supposed to be conducting a test between the 2 cables. I just got lost in the music. The nOrH se9 and akg are a great match .Things basically
stayed the same with the stock cable
but the soundstage widened up, sounds
started to extend beyond the headphones, It was easier to Hear celine Take breathes instruments just hanging there.The Orpheus cable improved.
you could hear Celine takeing breathes instuments seemed more fleshed out.
things became seperated more.
The cables now sound pretty close but they do have there differances.
My final thoughts on these cables.
I feel the stock cable gives you a cleaner sound and is better focused.
but is thinner sounding .The Orpheus
cable seems as things are a little more rounded but less focused. it has more bass. the one thing that I feel that remained the same is that the stock cable always had a clean window looking
in. The orpheus cable seemed to be like the older conrad johnson equipment I used to own it has what they call a carmell coloring to the sound ,it never got in the way of the music. but it was there.A better comparison some on this site may be able to understand.
The sound differance between the two
cables is like the sound differance
between the grado hp1000 headphones and the rs1 both great headphones and I own both. The stock cable leans toward the hp1 sound ,and the orpheus cable leans toward the rs1s .I will be sending these cables to Ian for him to Review them. I am also buying Orpheus's
cable with regular phono plug for future use.
I preferred the stock cable, but my tastes leans to a more analytical sound
others may prefer the Oprheus cable.
I didn't intend this to be such a long
post but once I started it, it ended up that way.
I would like to thank Orpheus
for giving me the chance to listen to his cables, as I said in the start of the post
this is only my opinion I am not a reviewer.
BOZEBUTTONS

 

[Orpheus]

thanks man. as long as you had fun.

 

[lan]

Orpheus, bozebuttons, I just got the cables. Thanks guys!

I'm also using a nOrh SE9. I'm going to let these cables burn in a bit before doing a comparision. My first impression is the stock cable is a bit clearer in instrument separation. I also notice the stock cable seems to have a little less volume. It's time to rock!

I'll take some pics later.

 

[bozebuttons]

Your welcome. looking forward to hear your thoughts on cables. happy listening.

 

[lan]

Ok, I think I've listened to Orpheus' cables long enough. First here's my setup.

SOURCES: Panasonic DVD-CP72 (for CDs and DVD-Audio) or Computer 1 (digital coax via M-Audio Audiophile 24/96) or Computer 2 (digital optical via M-Audio Sonica). I'm a computer geek so computers just have to be part of my audio life. Both computers are upsampling to 24/88. Computer 2 is the super quiet one.

---->

M-Audio CO3 (digital convertor/selector/jitter corrector).

---->

DACS: ART DI/O or SONY JE500 MiniDisc Deck.

---->

AMP: n0rh SE9 (integrated tube amp). This has 2 input selectors which are going to both of the DACs mentioned above. Orpheus' interconnect is going to JE500. Boldercables Type II is going to ART DI/O.

MY IMPRESSIONS

K1000 stock cable: Clearer, has more airiness.
K1000 Orpheus' cable: More bass, highs are less harsh, greater soundstage, slightly higher volume.

I don't believe there's a winner here. It depends on your music and tastes. For rock, jazz, and latin, I preferred the stock cable. The extra clarity allowed better positioning of certain instruments, their depth to be felt, and percussions were just there. I imagine myself being in a small club w/ the rock, jazz, or latin band playing. It was more in your face. For classical, I preferred Orpheus' cable. It's characteristics made everything very smooth and together and in a larger space. This was more laid back but quite sweet for this type of music.

In the end, I prefer the stock cable as I don't listen to much classical and I like things clearer. I also think I can tweak my system to gain more bass and less harshness although at a price more expensive than just using the Orpheus cable

I'm going to have another go but this time w/ DVD-Audio going from the DVD-CP72 to nOrh SE9 using Orpheus' interconnect. I read DVD-Audio has limited digital output and I'm not sure if I was getting 24/48 instead of 24/96 so I'll be doing analogue out this time.

 

[lan]

Just updating w/ some pics of Orpheus' cables. My camera sucks and so did the lighting so pics are a little grainy and color is a bit off. I'll take some more during sunny daylight.

Here we have K1000 stock cable on top and Orpheus' on the bottom w/ his signature. It's a greatly built cable definitly worth signing.

As you can see, Orpheus' is much thicker but it's quite flexible.

Next we have the XLR end.

It's a nice silver colored Neutrik connector. Very nice.

Now the other end.

Here are the thick Cardas rhodium spades at the end of the blue and white wires. The stock cable are just those "puny" strands on top. His interconnect is the one closest to us in the picture w/ the Neutrik RCAs. Can't see much detail here since it's black and the lighting sucks. I think it's surrounded by techflex.

 

[Orpheus]

k... lan's done. anyone else wanna try? otherwise this cable's coming home for some rest.

orpheus

 

[Orpheus]

last call.

 

[Gariver]

OK. Here's two reviews of Orpheus and the AKG cable.

My friend Carlos...
He listened to both cables for a while. Then he made his decision: He really liked the AKG stock cable better. Reasons? He is into singing and listening to singers. That, of course, makes him focus on the midrange. Clarity is what he's after.

My review...
At first, I liked Orpheus's cable quite a bit. It had more bass, and it played louder. After a while, though, I began to realize that I missed the transparency and clarity that I heard with the AKG. So I agreed with Carlos, and I picked the AKG as the better cable. It's the separation of the different instruments that did it for me. That's the reason I liked the AKG.

What I really want is a cable that has the clarity of the AKG and the bass of Orpheus's cable. I just wish I knew how to build such a cable.