My bundled ICs sound better!

[Bizzel]

Believe me, my wallet hates that!

I can't deny though that the free, 15 year old ICs that I have lying around sound better than my Cambridge Audios. With the Cambridge ICs there's more bass but it's bloated and uncontrolled, the stock ICs sound much sharper and cleaner. Neither is bad but if I want to upgrade to something better than both, where should I be heading?

 

[Patrick82]

Stock cables are great. Aftermarket cables just add fake body and warmth to make it more musical. It's because stock cables have a thinner conductor and aftermarket cables are too fat. My Nordost Valhalla interconnect was bloated and uncontrolled, so I modified it thinner and it fixed the problem. It made the biggest improvement I have ever heard, everything was crazy sharp and fast and there was a new world of low-level detail. It sounded so unreal that I thought something was broken in my system.

 

[dura]

It can happen, if the tonal balance of the bundled IC's suit your system/taste better then aftermarketcables.

 

[Gopher]

Jesus! You had the balls to butcher Valhallas?!?! More power to you... I'm glad it worked out.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Stock cables are great. Aftermarket cables just add fake body and warmth to make it more musical. It's because stock cables have a thinner conductor and aftermarket cables are too fat.

I've had just the opposite experience. My stock cables rolled-off the highs and lows and muffled the midrange.

There's no question that some people will prefer lousy interconnects in their systems, since they can be used to correct for the imbalances of other equipment. However, if a cable is doing its job, it will transmit the signal without additional coloration or loss of detail (this includes letting through the negative aspects of your gear).

If you like the way your rig sounds with cheap interconnects, more power to you. If it were my system, I'd consider replacing the other components.

 

[LostOne.TR]

wow... I don't suppose anyone else would be willing to experiment and cut up their valhallas too.

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LostOne.TR /img/forum/go_quote.gif wow... I don't suppose anyone else would be willing to experiment and cut up their valhallas too.

I would say that's a really safe assumption to make.