[Todd R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller Yo have my mailing address, and you still owe me that Prehead for evaluation (with no hum).... .....I never get it to a full listening test, and I'm interested, I use the Cross-1 myself regularly, and I would like to see how it sounds integrated in the amp...

You've got me confused with someone else

Maybe the other Todd from TTVJ? I know nothing about a Pre-head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller If you want to send them to me, I really appreciated you gesture, and it is OK, but for sure I will not buy them, I will not spend $600.00 in cables, while my source is still under that price..... That makes no sense at all to me, OK? But at least I could have an referecne point to talk about with you later on, right?.....

Well sure, using the Golden Reference with your source might be overkill.
Maybe a loaner of something like a Quadlink or Microtwin would be more appropriate?
TR

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd R You've got me confused with someone else Maybe the other Todd from TTVJ? I know nothing about a Pre-head. Well sure, using the Golden Reference with your source might be overkill. Maybe a loaner of something like a Quadlink or Microtwin would be more appropriate? TR

And it is not you, OMG, Todd from TTVJ of course? Well if not I screwed it pretty big...LOL...

Nope, don't play little chicken now, if you are going to loan me something, loan me the big guys....

Nah, that was a joke, but you can trust me here, regarding my honestly, at least, is not very good that I blew my own horn, but if after having the RP1000 here home for more than two weeks, and sending it back to Italy (and yes I did, I cried for another two weeks after, but I'm a man and I have to grow up and face that loss....

......) if you need more evidence of my honesty...I do not know what to tell you man...

 

[Snake]

I, also, would like to thank Welly for the writeup of his (honest) opinions. What it also shows is that reading reviews from the professional reviewers is still an art - that is, you must "learn" your favorite reviewer's bias and learn what shade of cyan will offset the Rose-colored glasses many of them wear.

Cables might make a difference...but a small one compared to the majors of your systems: source, amplification, transducer. It's gilding the lily, and sometimes that lily can be mighty small, at that.

Although I am all for a company making a product that they can sell and make a profit on, $1200+ for a power cable is, well...rather obscene, especially considering the inequities of life on other parts of planet Earth.

 

[philodox]

I was talking to a tube amp designer earlier today and he let me in on a couple tidbits of knowledge that I personally would trust as he really impressed me...

1. If cable swaps make a huge difference it is due to poor design of either the source or destination component. [something to do with output and input impedance]

2. If tube rolling makes a huge difference on your amp it is due to poor design. [plate resistance not high enough]

So there is another wrinkle in the whole cable debate. If you don't hear a difference it might just mean you have really good gear.

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox If cable swaps make a huge difference it is due to poor design of either the source or destination component. So there is another wrinkle in the whole cable debate. If you don't hear a difference it might just mean you have really good gear.

Things with big rugged power supplies don't get affected much from power cords, from what I've been told. Massive choke regulated things are supposed to be immune to cords and conditioners.

As for the "huge difference" to be heard, that's the goofy part. One guy's huge difference is another's slight difference. I think it's gender as most girlfriends and wives aren't nearly as impressed.

Some writers get carried away. All our written descriptions are an extention of ourselves and become an ego thing maybe. Or is it that they have to describe something and how do you describe a sound? Welly likes "sound akin to a mug of Starbucks Italian Roast coffee: warm, full-bodied, dark, and boldly rich with hints of sweetness." That could be good or it could be terrible, it depends on if you like coffee. Welly is only following in the example of other audio writers and I don't blame him.

The problem is language and filling a void. The differences between two cables are usually very subtle but can be significant to the listener be he grounded or imaginitive. How to describe something that is minor but important without it reading like something major that anyone could hear?

I don't think I'm that good at describing cables, something I do once in a while and am doing now with the Nordost's Norse line. In the past I've tried to keep it simple (stupid

), confining the description to imaging, transparency, etc. I think cables can be pretty simple and there's basically just a sliding scale of transparency. Is one cable more transparent than another being mostly what it's about. I could be oversimplifying it and wrong. I try not to 'fill the void'. I know I've run into quarrels in the past over what I read as 'magic cables', ones which make your bad CDs sound good but are completely hands off of your good sounding CDs. I don't understand how the cable knows the difference between one CD and another. Or how a cable puts voices forward but not other instruments. How does a cable know which instrument is playing?

Yup, you can't believe everything you read.

 

[JaGWiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox I was talking to a tube amp designer earlier today and he let me in on a couple tidbits of knowledge that I personally would trust as he really impressed me... 1. If cable swaps make a huge difference it is due to poor design of either the source or destination component. [something to do with output and input impedance] 2. If tube rolling makes a huge difference on your amp it is due to poor design. [plate resistance not high enough] So there is another wrinkle in the whole cable debate. If you don't hear a difference it might just mean you have really good gear.

I still think that if your going to spend $500 on an cable, why not spend that on a power conditioner / better amp / better headphones? LOL, if everything is top of the line then maybe it makes some sense, but otherwise going too far overboard seems inlogical.

 

[hembergler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaGWiRE I still think that if your going to spend $500 on an cable, why not spend that on a power conditioner / better amp / better headphones? LOL, if everything is top of the line then maybe it makes some sense, but otherwise going too far overboard seems inlogical.

Because some people have the money

 

[markl]

Quote:

Things with big rugged power supplies don't get affected much from power cords, from what I've been told. Massive choke regulated things are supposed to be immune to cords and conditioners.

Quote:

1. If cable swaps make a huge difference it is due to poor design of either the source or destination component. [something to do with output and input impedance]

Well, FWIW, I disagree somewhat with this assessment, FWIW. IMO (as a layman who's done nothing but listen to numerous cords on numerous pieces of gear

), of what value is an expensive aftermarket cord on any component with a cheap, crummy power supply? No matter how clean the power you feed that cheap component, it all still runs smack into the crappy, noisy, and feeble power supply of that low-budget piece of kit. It generates its own noise without regard to how clean the power is that you feed it.

As I've posted before, I feel that these fancy power cords and power conditioning units are only of any use if the power supplies in your components are already of above-average or better quality and can operate at a level that is able to take advantage of a cleaner supply of juice. They operate cleany and clearly, and if you feed them clean power, then you get to hear them at their full potential. I look at adding aftermarket power cords (which I believe "condition" the electrical supply before its reaches your component) as merely reducing the *harm* caused by inferior stock cords.

YMMV.

 

[philodox]

Why did you quote me markl? I was talking interconnects, not power cords. Sorry if that was not clear.

 

[Alwayswantmore]

Welly, thanks for the review. I see a number of familiar members here, so I hope you don't mind me asking a *somewhat* related question...

I'm in the market for a cable for my subwoofer. My budget is limited to about $100 - $150. What speaker cables should I consider for good low end?

My specs:
- 8 foot cable (wired like a set of stereo speakers)
- bare wire to 2ch amp (binding posts) connectors
- Very low current draw (sub is powered and only samples signal)
- Main speakers: K1000s
- Fully balanced system, including speaker outs

Lacking further reseach, I assume that I want something fast, dynamic and neutral. Again only an assumption: My guess is that silver coated copper with a litz brade may be a favorable alternative. In fact I'm leaning toward a custom built Enigma cable that incorporates this construction. I was also interested in Blue Jeans, but have not done the research yet???

Any input is greatly appreciated!

BTW: Even though this cable runs off a 2ch amp, the current draw is very low, so I assume that a comparison to ICs or headphone cables is appropriate.

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Why did you quote me markl? I was talking interconnects, not power cords. Sorry if that was not clear.

And why did you quote me mark? I was talking about massively high quality PS like in a 500watt Musical Fidelity amp. Or reading (rather than experiencing) someone like John Curl of Parasound making smilar comment.

I know I really was not clear enough.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox I was talking to a tube amp designer earlier today and he let me in on a couple tidbits of knowledge that I personally would trust as he really impressed me... 1. If cable swaps make a huge difference it is due to poor design of either the source or destination component. [something to do with output and input impedance] 2. If tube rolling makes a huge difference on your amp it is due to poor design. [plate resistance not high enough] So there is another wrinkle in the whole cable debate. If you don't hear a difference it might just mean you have really good gear.

My experience on these 2 issues has been the exact opposite. My last source was a musichall cd25 and it sucked, and it cable swaps didn't make much of a difference. Also I could detect no difference between cables when using a pcdp. As for #2, its the amount of feedback in the amp thats going to determine how much sound the tubes impart on the amp. My amp orginally had feedback, then later no feedback and the difference was significant to my ears.

Biggie.

 

[philodox]

I think you misunderstand. I am not saying that if cable swaps make a large impact the component will sound bad. Just that it indicates poor choices with the input or output impedance of the component.

And as for tubes... I think part of what he was getting at is that feedback is a bad thing. But it also had something to do with the plate restistance... or voltage... or something.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox I think you misunderstand. I am not saying that if cable swaps make a large impact the component will sound bad. Just that it indicates poor choices with the input or output impedance of the component. And as for tubes... I think part of what he was getting at is that feedback is a bad thing. But it also had something to do with the plate restistance... or voltage... or something.

I didn't even read what was in the square brackets.

Biggie.

 

[device manager]

Welly Wu, thank you for an honest review. I have never been one that buys into the hype that goes along with expensive boutique cables. I'm not saying that they don't make a difference, but the price to performance ratio is almost non-existant. I prefer to spend my money on a well constructed cable, and it looks like the Volex 17604 is one of the best, if not the best, bang for the buck power cables currently on the market.