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Originally Posted by Alwayswantmore /img/forum/go_quote.gif
This is a unique tread for K1000 owners, in that you had so much great gear collected in one controlled environment. Thanks for doing this.
I have not yet seen or heard my new SDv2 hardwire, but from these initial comments it appears to trail the SAA... could attendees please expand on what they heard when comparing the two hardwire alternatives -- like was the SDv2 bass shy, too much treble, what??? How about resolution and soundstage? Was the SDv2 a clear step up from stock?
Also, from best I can tell from the pictures, the SDv2 sure looks pretty. So if I told you my SDv2 “promotes world peace, and won the swim suit contest,” would you reconsider the rankings?
Did the Sig 30 – when matched with the same cables – hold it’s own against the pricier glass-powered competition? Again, any additional details on where the sound differed would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Kent
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Have no fear, Kent, your new cable will rock your world! Is it a clear step up from stock? Funny question because yesterday the question was whether the SDv2 hardwire was the
best they had heard the K1000 sound or whether the Equinox edged it on some setups. I am not trying to put words in peoples' mouths, especially because I hope they post plenty of impressions of their own, but I just want to assure you that it is a spectacular cable!
There certainly are differences, and I hope to shed more light on that when I finally get some more impressions into this thread, but there may be some areas where the SDv2 excels and some where the Equinox excels but they both cream any tail to stock combination out there. Including the tails made by SAA and Moon, which are very fine upgrades in themselves. The hardwire makes the most intense, most immediate difference to the K1000, and both of these (as well as the Mogami hardwire of JP#s that was at the Int'l) make the cans much more cohesive, balanced and natural sounding. Open cans become more open. Congestion that can impede those beautiful drivers is flushed away. The BASS enters the image in a big way.
OK, so I am slipping into impressions in what was intended to be my "thank-you" post, so I have to finish expressing my sincere gratitude for the many people who contributed to this epic K1000 event.
I am going to start with Jack Wu and Woo Audio because his long-term loaner of his WA-5 prototype loaner was the catalyst for this whole meet (as well as the stealth all-300B meet with foo_me's Zanden and my Moth a couple weeks ago -- more on that later). Jack's loan has made me doubt other purchases and wish that I could go back on others, but it certainly has allowed a lot of great comparisons in the Bay Area Head-Fi community. Finally, and assuming I can give it up, the WA-5 is heading next to Florida for the upcoming meet there. It will be good to get more detailed thoughts, also assuming some of the Floridians are sober (we're counting on you, Saint V!). Thanks Jack, it's been a blast to borrow your beauty.
Kent and Drew from Moon Audio are next for their very generous joint effort to get Kent's cans rewired and get them directly to me for the meet. That was above and beyond for the community and I know you are desparate to get them yourself and give them a listen. How many compulsive Head-Fiers out there would delay their satisfaction of a new item that was much-anticipated so that other Head-Fiers could paw them and listen before you ever even see them?! This effort provided a great opportunity to get head-to-head comparisons in a very controlled environment. So thank you Kent for volunteering and thank you Drew for making it possible by working your butt off to build the cable, hardwire it up, and burn it in all in a very short time span.
Drew gets another big thanks for the continued loan of numerous tail ends that were at the Int'l Meet. I listed them earlier but each of the Moon Audio cables were in use at this meet in numerous setups. After comparing them with the straight stock plugged into the Woo's K1000 jack, I have to say that they are all a big step up from stock -- duh! -- but the Black Dragon really had me. I think it was with the Aleph 30, which sounded better than I have ever heard it in this setup, but there was one time listening with the Black Dragon tail that made me really want a BD hardwire. Icarium had the same thought, and I will bet he will have one before the end of summer! Oops, impressions sneaking in again.
More thanks to another vendor who sent gear on his own initiative for the meet. My man Ping Gong of AAA Audio sent two very nice Dussun integrateds for the meet. They did not get the same level of attention as the other more popular K1000 options, but the DS99 is a very nice little amp and sounded very good with the K1000 and it is only $600. In K1000 terms that is a pretty budget solution, plus it will easily power speakers. The bigger V6i is a very nice and very clean amp, and its Hyper Class A power is substantial. See my comments on both amps later in the thread. Thanks Ping, and I will be sending back your amps as soon as I give them both some more listening time!
Another quick thanks to Rob Fritz of Audio Art Cables. Rob sent me three pairs of his fine IC-3 interconnects for a trial use and for use at this meet. I really like these cables a lot and their budget pricing is amazing. $99 cables have no business sounding this good. I cannot wait to hear the IC-3 Special Edition that Rob is working on -- the pictures had me drooling so I hope the sound rivals the looks! Thanks Rob.
Ori of Oritek went out of his way to help out with this meet too. He provided four single-ended pairs of his great X-2 cables, and neilvg also brought the balanced X-2 that Ori recently spent 12 hours making. These cables were used much of the time, but the Audio Art cables also were used and compared to the X-2s. I have managed to hold onto one of Ori's X-2s for a little more comparing, but the impressions will be forthcoming from many in the thread. Ori also built the great little switchbox that even has a volume control limited to one of the three outputs for the Aleph 30. It seemed transparent and really allowed us to minimize outside influences. The ability to play the line-out from the EMM Labs gear simultaneously to all amps at once was great stuff. Ori even picked up utep10's K1000s and brought along a couple of power conditioners to maximize the clean setup.
Obviously, all of the members who broke up their precious setups and brought along their gear deserve some thanks as well. This would have been much less useful without the range of gear we had.
If I have forgotten anybody, I am sure I will remember while posting more and then I will just edit a bit here.
It was a great community event and I hope the bigger community gets something out of it. So, have I mentioned that people need to post detailed impressions enough yet?! Get to posting and the rest of you K1000 devotees should ask questions to spur the discussion too!
Cheers.
