[normie610]

The new silver cable is here (I think one of the first ones). Has definitely more air/shine as the standard copper. More testing at the weekend but seems to be a real improvement upon then standard.

Ooh la la….that DAC

I’ve ordered Star-8 cable myself, but it’ll probably take a while to get here. I’ll mostly use it with the CA1a though.

 

[carboncopy]

Do you have the previous series silver 728 or premium star 6 to compare or only stock ?

Sorry, I have only the stock copper cable....

 

[carboncopy]

Never mind the cable, tell us about the Helene Dac!

Endgame. It's an R2R but it is no R2R sound. It is just music pure. I had an Aqua LaScala Optologic Mk2 before. It was "sleepy" in comparison. The Heléne has a much more energetic, open sound with a bass I never heard from any digital source before.

It is big, heavy (40kg!) and not cheap. These are the cons, nothing more.

 

[LucyWu]

Endgame. It's an R2R but it is no R2R sound. It is just music pure. I had an Aqua LaScala Optologic Mk2 before. It was "sleepy" in comparison. The Heléne has a much more energetic, open sound with a bass I never heard from any digital source before.

It is big, heavy (40kg!) and not cheap. These are the cons, nothing more.

Fantastic.

Aries Cerat are certainly making lovely gear, would love to hear one of the dacs. Maybe need to get off the sofa and head over to the only UK dealer I know of.

 

[normie610]

Today is SR1a day after so many days listening to CA1a. Hearing this album below is just spectacular on SR1a. The mastering is top notch with a wide dynamic range. For those who loves jazz improvisation, do try to listen to this album with SR1a.

 

[anvamv]

Endgame. It's an R2R but it is no R2R sound. It is just music pure. I had an Aqua LaScala Optologic Mk2 before. It was "sleepy" in comparison. The Heléne has a much more energetic, open sound with a bass I never heard from any digital source before.

It is big, heavy (40kg!) and not cheap. These are the cons, nothing more.

Wait until you hear the Kassandra Ref...You will be floored. .What bias do you use for your E280F on your Helene? I like mine around 268-269.

 

[carboncopy]

After one night of listening various music I can say that the star8 cable is really something special. Like all really good silver cable (Kondo for example), that has this inner light.

No, there will be no more bass (although no less and resolution is also maybe higher down there) and it really has more information in the treble region compared to the stock copper cable.

But it is actually just superficial and doesn't really matter. The point is for me this "inner light". Everything is butter smooth, still not boring, just natural and on top of that, there is some plus "this sound is a real sound" feeling. The human voice, the instruments, everything becomes an other inner layer of illumination. One could maybe say resultion is higher, but to my ears is somehow not just that simple. It is what good silver cable makes. An addictive quality of thruth and artistic, creative meaning within the sound.

Simply said, if you already bought a VM1a and an SR1b...I think it is almost a must have to complete the system.

For other combination of gears, the CA...I don't know, somebody has to try it out.

Catch 1: silver cable is really transparent (as the whole Raal System). Crap in, crap out. Your system hast to up for it I think.

Catch 2: there are big-big differences in silver cables. I had a few, and 8 times of 10 they amp up the resolution in the high, add some shimmer (which at first seems nice), but thus screw up the tonal balance. This "inner light" thing is also missing. I was relieved that the Star8 is not this.

 

[gghirardi]

Apologies but I do not understand one point: is the new Star 8 cable identical to the one that is sold with the TI interface or are they different? Thanks

 

[Aleksandar R.]

Apologies but I do not understand one point: is the new Star 8 cable identical to the one that is sold with the TI interface or are they different? Thanks

They are much different.

What comes in the package with the TI is the SC2 headphone cable. That's the standard cable, Copper coaxial with low inductance, very low crosstalk, made only in 5ft9" for 0.23 Ohms resistance.
Matches to everything we make, Solid-State HSA amp, old RI interface and transformer based outputs (TI and VM-1a amp). Doesn't work well on JotunheimR.
If bought separately, from October the 1st, the price for it will be $195.00

STAR-8 is a Pure Silver cable, Star-octo topology, ultra-low inductance, ultra-low crosstalk.
Available in two lengths, 6ft (0.23 Ohms) and 10ft (0.41 Ohms).
6ft length matches superbly to everything. The price for it will be $1100.00.
10ft. is more suited to VM and HSA, as the 0.41 Ohms, eats up more power with the TI and makes 50/25 Ohms at it's input instead of 32/16. The price for it will be $1500.00.

 

[SageM]

What do you guys think of this tube to replace the 6sn7 on the VM-1A?
6SN7GT VT-231 JAN Sylvania, blackplate clearglass, bottom getter, medium glass.

Before selecting the current-day production Tung-Sol 6SN7GTB for the VM-1a, I auditioned a few 6SN7 variants (NOS and modern). Actually, even before that, I went through a few 6SL7 variants, because that was the originally intended tube for the circuit. Personally, I found the 6SL7 to be sonically inappropriate, in any musical situation, though, in rare occasions of extremely low source output, there might be a case to be made for its use.

NOS 6SN7s were tried as a reference but never intended as standard issue for practical and economic reasons. Even for sonic reasons, as we all have experienced, there is a variety of sonic presentations whether NOS or modern. I've been very happy with the sound, consistency and reliability of the modern Tung-Sol but, encourage experimentation with both NOS and modern production tubes. It's a great day when you find something that synergistically works with your unique system and taste.

 

[SageM]

Apologies but I do not understand one point: is the new Star 8 cable identical to the one that is sold with the TI interface or are they different? Thanks

Great question.

The SC2 (Standard Cable for TI-1b) and new Star-8 Pure Silver each meet the necessary parameters for resistance, inductance and capacitance for correct performance with the TI-1b (Transformer Interface) but, accomplish this in entirely different ways with different performance results.

In general, there are three primary pillars to cable design: conductor, dielectric and geometry. Yes, you could consider other things, such as connectors and solder as meaningful but, for purposes of this reply, they are secondary. The materials, processes and cost involved in making the Star-8 Pure Silver cable cause it to be impractical as a standard cable so it is offered as an upgrade option.

Once we get Star-8 production up to higher efficiency and catch-up with current orders, we plan on reviving our "Cable Tour". This was a highly successful program we once offered but, had to stop when we could no longer get a specific type of silver. Thankfully, after 6 or 7 months, Alex was able to source the proper stuff and developed an even better method of annealing, in house! Everyone seemed to really enjoy "The Tour" taking a couple weeks to live with the cables, in their system before making a choice to upgrade or not.

 

[Failed Engineer]

Thank you for the very meaningful replies! I was initially under the impression that the SC2 cable was specifically for use with the Ti and not suitable for direct drive amps. But now I understand it's a good quality baseline cable for use with everything, but maybe not optimal for the Jot R. Is that correct?

Can you elaborate why the Jot R seems to have different needs? I know that the Deluxe cable has been recommended for pairing with the Jot R.

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

Aleksandar/Danny....

I'm currently using the SR728 to drive a pair of SR1a's via an HSA-1b. Have you found any worthwhile gains with the new Star-8 cable, over the SR728?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[SageM]

Aleksandar/Danny....

I'm currently using the SR728 to drive a pair of SR1a's via an HSA-1b. Have you found any worthwhile gains with the new Star-8 cable, over the SR728?

Thanks,
Bob

This is a good case for "The Cable Tour". A/B would be most helpful in determining that. I designed the SR728 specifically to compliment the HSA-1b so I might tend to be biased towards that combination. However, I must say, Alex really "hit the ball out of the park" with the new Star-8. I've been charmed by the Star-8. Definitely give it try on your system.

After one night of listening various music I can say that the star8 cable is really something special. Like all really good silver cable (Kondo for example), that has this inner light.

No, there will be no more bass (although no less and resolution is also maybe higher down there) and it really has more information in the treble region compared to the stock copper cable.

But it is actually just superficial and doesn't really matter. The point is for me this "inner light". Everything is butter smooth, still not boring, just natural and on top of that, there is some plus "this sound is a real sound" feeling. The human voice, the instruments, everything becomes an other inner layer of illumination. One could maybe say resultion is higher, but to my ears is somehow not just that simple. It is what good silver cable makes. An addictive quality of thruth and artistic, creative meaning within the sound.

Simply said, if you already bought a VM1a and an SR1b...I think it is almost a must have to complete the system.

For other combination of gears, the CA...I don't know, somebody has to try it out.

Catch 1: silver cable is really transparent (as the whole Raal System). Crap in, crap out. Your system hast to up for it I think.

Catch 2: there are big-big differences in silver cables. I had a few, and 8 times of 10 they amp up the resolution in the high, add some shimmer (which at first seems nice), but thus screw up the tonal balance. This "inner light" thing is also missing. I was relieved that the Star8 is not this.

I like that phrase "inner light". Between Alex and I, there has been a LOT of listening time developing this new cable. Alex hit all the key parameters and it sounded "OK-ish" but, nothing special. That is until Alex suggested experimenting with various annealing cycles. Eventually, we hit with something that was ramping up the bell-curve nicely. We chased that right up to the top and right back down to the bottom. Actually, when we hit the top we both knew it and each of us had a list of happy adjectives that was identical in describing this wonderful sound we were hearing. But, we didn't have the phrase "The Inner Light" which, I think, describes it perfectly.

Star-8 has vivid resolution AND a relaxed/warm sound stage. Paradoxical. Usually, you can have one, but not both!

 

[cAsE sEnSiTiVe]

This is a good case for "The Cable Tour". A/B would be most helpful in determining that. I designed the SR728 specifically to compliment the HSA-1b so I might tend to be biased towards that combination. However, I must say, Alex really "hit the ball out of the park" with the new Star-8. I've been charmed by the Star-8. Definitely give it try on your system.

Danny,

Thanks for the reply. The Cable Tour sounds like just the ticket. Count me in on that for sure.

Oh, and thanks to you and David Laubacher for the info on the feet removal for my HSA-1b. Much appreciated.

Bob