[BlakeT]

I ordered a Gigawatt Powerprime with the Gigawatt Powersync Ultra (upgraded cord)
Meanwhile, i was loaned a Gigawatt PC1-EVO
Quite an upgrade from the Atlas EOS strip. The imaging, dynamics.

Congrats on the purchase! Be sure to let us know your thoughts on the PowerSync and Powerprime.

At least in the USA, Gigawatt is a lesser known brand, but I think that will change as more people buy/try their products. I remain impressed with my Powersync Ultra cord and it compares favorably to some other highly-regarded cords in my system.

 

[audiophilac8]

Congrats on the purchase! Be sure to let us know your thoughts on the PowerSync and Powerprime.

At least in the USA, Gigawatt is a lesser known brand, but I think that will change as more people buy/try their products. I remain impressed with my Powersync Ultra cord and it compares favorably to some other highly-regarded cords in my system.

I think it's unpopular here too. Its not cheap.
Its possible to test using the dealer's audio setup but I prefer home demo/trial.

Would you be testing Gigawatt's LS2/LS1 cable?

 

[BlakeT]

Would you be testing Gigawatt's LS2/LS1 cable?

That is my plan, eventually. I don't have any local dealers in my area. The Gigawatt dealer I bought from in another state didn't have any loaners available for that cable, but said that he might in the future.

 

[BlakeT]

At the moment, I am settled on, and very happy with my cabling, but experimenting with footers.

It is crazy to me, how much certain aftermarket footers can impact the sound of components and my speakers and subs. The sonic impacts to me, with certain footers, are much greater than cabling upgrades (not to downplay cabling, as I'm all in on cables, and everything matters).

In my experiments, the sonic impact is most profound with speakers and subs and tube gear.

I'm currently experimenting with the Sound|Kaos Vibra 68. These Swiss-made footers are causing my speakers to disappear as the sound source, to an even much greater degree (and they already excelled in that respect). Hall reverb, soundstage and ambient info significantly increased, plankton is more apparent, a clearer window to the soundscape.

I've also found certain aftermarket footers can be a detriment to sound quality, making things worse than just going with the stock footers.

 

[RobertSM]

At the moment, I am settled on, and very happy with my cabling, but experimenting with footers.

It is crazy to me, how much certain aftermarket footers can impact the sound of components and my speakers and subs. The sonic impacts to me, with certain footers, are much greater than cabling upgrades (not to downplay cabling, as I'm all in on cables, and everything matters).

In my experiments, the sonic impact is most profound with speakers and subs and tube gear.

I'm currently experimenting with the Sound|Kaos Vibra 68. These Swiss-made footers are causing my speakers to disappear as the sound source, to an even much greater degree (and they already excelled in that respect). Hall reverb, soundstage and ambient info significantly increased, plankton is more apparent, a clearer window to the soundscape.

I've also found certain aftermarket footers can be a detriment to sound quality, making things worse than just going with the stock footers.

OK so I'm (still) in the never-ending rabbit hole of cables.

BUT

These are some SUPER handsome footers. You've definitely piqued my interest. I'll have to read up but my initial thought is that I could easily get behind something like this.

 

[audiophilac8]

At the moment, I am settled on, and very happy with my cabling, but experimenting with footers.

It is crazy to me, how much certain aftermarket footers can impact the sound of components and my speakers and subs. The sonic impacts to me, with certain footers, are much greater than cabling upgrades (not to downplay cabling, as I'm all in on cables, and everything matters).

In my experiments, the sonic impact is most profound with speakers and subs and tube gear.

I'm currently experimenting with the Sound|Kaos Vibra 68. These Swiss-made footers are causing my speakers to disappear as the sound source, to an even much greater degree (and they already excelled in that respect). Hall reverb, soundstage and ambient info significantly increased, plankton is more apparent, a clearer window to the soundscape.

I've also found certain aftermarket footers can be a detriment to sound quality, making things worse than just going with the stock footers.

Was the first image related to your speakers?

 

[BlakeT]

Correct, first pic is under the speaker.

 

[audiophilac8]

OK so I'm (still) in the never-ending rabbit hole of cables.

BUT

These are some SUPER handsome footers. You've definitely piqued my interest. I'll have to read up but my initial thought is that I could easily get behind something like this.

Have you purchased any cables recently?

 

[DP42]

My limited experience with cables and footers:
1) Speaker Cable - Audioquest X2 vs Mogami 3082, the Mogami definitely sounded worse, there was some kind of high frequency noise / harshness, stuck with Audioquest
2) RCA Cable - I have a set of Hero's, Beldens, Audioquest, and Snake Oil. Have not done extensive A/B, but I have not noticed better or worse on any of these.
3) Footers - I have footers under some components (doubt there is any sound difference), however definitely a sound difference with my KEF R3's. The R3's seem a bit muddier and more bass (to their detriment) without out the footers, I A/B'd this a couple of times.

 

[RobertSM]

Have you purchased any cables recently?

The last cable I purchased was the Shunyata Research Delta XC V2 power cable in September. This was a significant upgrade and goes from the wall into the Shunyata Delta D6 power conditioner

 

[RobertSM]

So Shunyata Research is having a 20% off sale on all the Alpha and Sigma line of cables per a telephone call I had with Scott at Shunyata yesterday. He also told me that the Delta line is effectively out and is being replaced by a new line at that level called Theta.

I had called looking for a replacement for the Venom NR V10 I'm currently using on my Weiss DAC501-4Ch. I was asking about the difference between the Delta and Alpha V2 NRs. Scott was super helpful and shared his thoughts.

Needless to say I couldn't resist the 20% off on the Alpha V2 NR so I placed an order with my dealer today. Again this will be for the Weiss DAC.

Also having lived with the Cardas cygnus XLR from the Weiss to the Cayin HA-300B MKII I have also decided that I didn't like some of the grain I was getting in the treble. I'm running a very revealing pair of Elrog ER300B-Mo as output/power tubes fronted by a really nice pair of NOS Marconi Canada 6SN7s. The Elrogs are wonderful and very technical but I was just getting too much grain and just a touch of etch. So I've also placed an order for a 1m pair of Cardas Clear reflection XLRs to go from the Weiss into the Cayin.

I have experience with these cables, as I was running a .5m pair of RCAs from the Weiss into the ALO Studio Six before I did a big system reconfiguration and added the Cayin into the stable. It's a shame that the short .5m clear reflection RCAs don't work for me at all now. They are just too short for my needs. But regardless I think the newly ordered clear reflection XLRs for the Cayin and Weiss will be exactly what i need to add some inner glow into the sound. I have resolution to spare so if I loose a tiny bit and grain and add some overall weight and can smooth a bit of the top end then I'll be good. OG Utopia is still my daily driver and you know that headphone already has a touch of upper frequency energy that needs to be tamed. I'm almost positive that this will be what I need.

I'll report back as soon as I have both new cables installed. Excited about refining my sound a bit more and hopefully maximizing the small tweaks to get the sound just as I'd like.

Always a process and journey.

 

[572217]

(reverse censorhsip)

 

[theveterans]

My limited experience with cables and footers:
1) Speaker Cable - Audioquest X2 vs Mogami 3082, the Mogami definitely sounded worse, there was some kind of high frequency noise / harshness, stuck with Audioquest
2) RCA Cable - I have a set of Hero's, Beldens, Audioquest, and Snake Oil. Have not done extensive A/B, but I have not noticed better or worse on any of these.
3) Footers - I have footers under some components (doubt there is any sound difference), however definitely a sound difference with my KEF R3's. The R3's seem a bit muddier and more bass (to their detriment) without out the footers, I A/B'd this a couple of times.

Any Mogami wire in any form: as interconnects and even AES:EBU has that excess energy trait. Might measure incredibly well but in practical use they seriously act like unshielded wires with all those high frequency hash manifesting as fatiguing sound

 

[RobertSM]

Resonance control has a very noticeable impact on music presentation.

I use it under the rack, under components in the streaming path and under the tube amp. In the streaming path, the level of resonance control goes up, the closer the signal gets to the streamer. Using these devices for streaming is counter–intuitive. But I have learned, that improving the physical layer of the network (which includes the power going into all devices) yields great results. Get power, filtering, the electrical representation of traffic and resonance control right and streaming becomes amazing–better than any CD player can become. Seriously.

Heavy, well built components like my dCS gear and the JMF power filter do not benefit from further measures beyond being on the rack which has resonance control footers underneath its spikes.

You might want to look into Ansuz Darkz. They come in levels, which have progressively higher impact. Employing them in a system is like tuning a piano. Apply too many or too high a level and things go south. Up to that point, music becomes more right, micro timing improves, the listening experience becomes richer. The effects are profound and I would not live without them. In my experience, they make sense up to T2S, not higher. Three is the right number for a component.

PS. My system is still settling in, so I will write in re cables when things are perfect. I already know, that I have found the right combination of Luna cables for power and RCA plus Network Acoustics for streaming and USB. The system unfolds its synergy and I get what I am looking for when sitting down and listening to music.

Yes, I've also read your posts in the Cayin HA-300B MKII thread. And you're right, you have alot of new equipment and cables and tubes. So it will be interesting to hear how it all works for you as you get some time with it. You definitely have high quality gear, no doubt. It will just be interesting to hear how it all works together and how it all suits you. But I guess that's all part of the fun. Learning about what you like and don't like.

 

[David222]

So Shunyata Research is having a 20% off on all the Alpha and Sigma line of cables per a telephone call I had with Scott at Shunyata yesterday. He also told me that the Delta line is effectively out and is being replaced by a new line at that level called Theta.

I had called looking for a replacement for the Venom NR V10 I'm currently using on my Weiss DAC501-4Ch. I was asking about the difference between the Delta and Alpha V2 NRs. Scott was super helpful and shared his thoughts.

Needless to say I couldn't resist the 20% off on the Alpha V2 NR so I placed an order with my dealer today. Again this will be for the Weiss DAC.

Also having lived with the Cardas cygnus XLR from the Weiss to the Cayin HA-300B MKII I have also decided that I didn't like some of the grain I was getting in the treble. I'm running a very revealing pair of Elrog ER300B-Mo as output/power tubes fronted by a really nice pair of NOS Marconi Canada 6SN7s. The Elrogs are wonderful and very technical but I was just getting too much grain and just a touch of etch. So I've also placed an order for a 1m pair of Cardas Clear reflection XLRs to go from the Weiss into the Cayin.

I have experience with these cables, as I was running a .5m pair of RCAs from the Weiss into the ALO Studio Six before I did a big system reconfiguration and added the Cayin into the stable. It's a shame that the short .5m clear reflection RCAs don't work for me at all now. They are just too short for my needs. But regardless I think the newly ordered clear reflection XLRs for the Cayin and Weiss will be exactly what i need to add some inner glow into the sound. I have resolution to spare so if I loose a tiny bit and grain and add some overall weight and can smooth a bit of the top end then I'll be good. OG Utopia is still my daily driver and you know that headphone already has a touch of upper frequency energy that needs to be tamed. I'm almost positive that this will be what o need.

I'll report back as soon as I have both new cables installed. Excited about refining my sound a bit more and hopefully maximizing the small tweaks to get the sound just as I'd like.

Always a process and journey.

Great post - super helpful.

I was literally just on Cardas website and considering the Cygnus - I currently have the Reflection RCA and really enjoy their timbre. Probably going to double down and go for the XLR as well.