I'm a believer
Nov 18, 2005 at 5:35 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16

nabwong

Headphoneus Supremus
Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Posts
2,916
Likes
70
Hey Guys,

Never thought a piece of interconnect makes a diff. I was using the ipod pocketdock mini to rca to my Cute Beyond. Now i have the Blue dragon and Zu Pivot. Man.... seems like the sound quality jumped a level. And i can actually hear a diff between the dragon and zu. This is quite amazing. Oh no... more money flying away.

Nab
 
Nov 18, 2005 at 6:29 AM Post #2 of 16
It's always rather interesting the first time you hear the change from wire. The first time I tried wire I wasn't particulary expecting any change, but I had a friend who loaned me some speaker cables, Tara Labs ones as I remember. They projected a much more three dimensional sound than my previous cables. I was sitting in front of my system when a guitar solo came in on a very familiar song, one by Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. Fripp's guitar made me almost jump out of my chair when it came in, I literally flinched because the sound dimensionality startled me so much.
 
Nov 18, 2005 at 6:31 AM Post #3 of 16
Cables dont make a difference
wink.gif
icon10.gif


Enjoy!
 
Nov 18, 2005 at 9:03 AM Post #4 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by gpalmer
I was sitting in front of my system when a guitar solo came in on a very familiar song, one by Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. Fripp's guitar made me almost jump out of my chair when it came in, I literally flinched because the sound dimensionality startled me so much.


St. Elmo's Fire from Another Green World?
 
Nov 18, 2005 at 2:44 PM Post #6 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by nabwong
Thanks Enigma. I've gone down another blackhole. Don't think i can get out now. My bike has 1 wheel out the door
frown.gif



No way dont give up the bike! Ide take that any day over audio gear (shhh I mean i did not just say that)
icon10.gif
... I got me a Klien and would not trade it for the world... it sounds much better then any cable
icon10.gif
 
Nov 18, 2005 at 4:45 PM Post #8 of 16
The first time I noticed a cable difference was actually video quality. When your S-video looks better than your Component, you know you have a problem. It was a mildly-upgraded S-video cable (Monster Power) vs. stock super-cheapy component cables. We could A/B them quickly and easily and the difference was very, very noticable. Changing from the stock Component cables to some cheap, but not-that-cheap Radio Shack component cables made the component output look noticably better than the S-Video output. It's a little easier to claim that sound is placebo effect than it is video. Anyone could see the difference in color and clarity - especially with the quick A/B we could do just by pressing a single button.

I can only assume that the same is (more or less) true with audio as well.
 
Nov 18, 2005 at 8:57 PM Post #9 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Wong
St. Elmo's Fire from Another Green World?


Actually Babies on fire from Here Come the Warm Jets when Fripp cuts loose with the guitar it startled the heck out of me!
biggrin.gif
 
Nov 19, 2005 at 1:01 AM Post #10 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by gpalmer
The first time I tried wire I wasn't particulary expecting any change, but I had a friend who loaned me some speaker cables, Tara Labs ones as I remember.


My first experience with cables actually making a difference came from a Tara Labs product as well, the interconnects i currently use. I gave them about 50hrs run-in, then spent an evening switching between them and my former DIY connects (which, incidentally, weren't cheap jobs. 22awg silver-plated-copper belden wire with teflon dialectric and canare terminations). It was immediately apparent that the Tara Labs connects provided greater dynamics, and a certain vibrancy and vivacity of sound that the silver-plated-copper seemed to wash away.
 
Nov 19, 2005 at 1:04 AM Post #11 of 16
Mine was Oehlbach vs. stock Sennheiser cable. I ended up liking the stock cable much better, but definitely heard the difference.
 
Nov 19, 2005 at 1:51 AM Post #13 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by helix
i find this highly amusing especially since tara labs recently got in trouble for buying cheap chinese made IC's and rebranding them.


Really? Any links to these findings?

Can't find anything cheap-looking about mine, the RCA plugs are solid, the cable is solid, and the listening tests were conclusive.
 
Nov 19, 2005 at 1:58 AM Post #14 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by helix
i find this highly amusing especially since tara labs recently got in trouble for buying cheap chinese made IC's and rebranding them.


What does that have to do with anything? If these cheap chinese made ICs sound better than other cables, then they do.

Personally speaking, I only hear very small differences between interconnects (headphone cables appear to be different). Small enough that really I'm just fine with cheaper, well made ICs.
 
Nov 19, 2005 at 2:03 AM Post #15 of 16
Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch
What does that have to do with anything? If these cheap chinese made ICs sound better than other cables, then they do.


That's certainly true, i use a cheap chinese cd player that sounds better than expensive Meridians, after all
cool.gif
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top