Meier RCA Interconnects: A brief first impression

[plainsong]

I really need to do this in a hurry because it's time to take the dog outside, but I had to come here quickly and say what I think of these Meier RCA interconnects.

I started out with some Tara Labs 1100i IC's from the place where I got my Nad. He gave me a huge discount on them because I was paying cash and because I think they just do that for people that are buying a source + IC's. I tested them against the stock IC's and yeah it was better. What I mean by better is that basically you could hear your equipment better. I thought nothing more of it and went on with my life.

Then the quality of the Fiddler mini-mini made me curious about the quality of the Cantus IC's. I tried out a pair, and it tried to add more bass, but it felt artificial, a bit congested. Then I started listening to music with each set of IC's, and I was noticing it was just a bit congested. Was this because it's never going to sound like live, or would a little extra money put to cables help?

So I got in touch with Jan Meier about something totally unrelated, and the thought came to me that Meier Audio has never let me down before, so maybe these IC's would be worth a shot. They're not cheap, but not bank breakingly expensive either.

And were they ever! To sum it up in one quick phrase, it's like my source and amp have just introduced themselves to me. Anyone who thinks the Perreaux is bass-light should try hear it in my setup. It's like the plumbing got a dose of Draino. The sound is more open, there's more of it. It's just nicer on the ears.

So my brief conclusion about cables is that I don't know if they add anything to the sound, or indeed, if they should add anything. But they can be a limiting factor if your system sounds like it has a cold.

I dunno if I'm a total cable believer, but I'm a believer in these cables, that's for sure! Meier Audio saves the day again!

There is one idiot question that I have, and that's about the shielding. It's sheilded on one end, and I know the rule-of-thumb is to connect that to the source. However, Jan said that you should plug that end into whichever is grounded. Well, neither has a three-prong plug, that goes into the power outlet, but the Perreaux does have the three-prong connector where the cord plugs into the amp. I've taken that to mean that it's grounded and have the shielded end plugged into it instead of the source. Now this might be wrong, but it still sounds damn good. Anyone have an opinion on this?

Keep in mind we're using 240V here with the default Euro plugs, and I have yet to see a three-prong connector that plugs into the wall outlet.

 

[tlib]

Yes, Meier IC's are of high quality and I like them a lot. But when I tested all my IC's to find the best match for MF X-Ray v2 > Stax SRM-313/SR-404 the winner was to my surprise... Supra. I had Audioquest Viper, Meier Audio, Musical Fidelity Nu Vista, Homegrown Audio Silver Lace and Supra EFF-I IC's and this swedish, not so well-known (and cheapest of the bunch, 100 euros) cable was the best: the sound was pure and detailed and still not cold. Homegrown sounded as detailed but too bright and all the other cables hided something.

If interested, you can find more info about Supras here

 

[saint.panda]

I was only able to briefly compare this cable with my cheap Oehlbach NF2 and the difference was obvious (well, unfair comparison anyway). However, fact is that the build quality of this cable is top notch.

 

[plainsong]

Hey I think you can get Supra power cables locally. I think. The name with power cable next to it sounds familiar. But I'm happy with this IC and am not feeling the sound of my system is wrong. It wasn't until some heavy-duty listening that I realised that my system wasn't supposed to sound so congested.

I just wish I had put my faith in Jan Meier earlier. He made the first amp I ever got, and I knew the Prehead was awesome. I just should have taken at face value that I should have gotten the IC's from him in the first place.

But then again, now I've heard for myself the differences cables can make, so no one can accuse me of drinking the snake oil blindly.

 

[taoster]

they have supra cable here at one of the major electronic chains in australia, jaycar.

from what i heard from other people is that supra is mass market and mediocre at best. don't know but that's a big feat against those other top sounding cables!

 

[tlib]

I have also considered Supra as a mass market cable. I once had Supra Ply speaker cables and they were awful. But in this comparision with a quite revealing Stax/Mf-system Supra EFF-I sounded really good. Well, maybe this EFF-I deserves some kind of absolution compared to other Supra cables.