Review: Grover/Wolff Empress Interconnects
Nov 8, 2004 at 2:19 PM Post #31 of 65
DA,

I did try one of the Kubala/Sosna PCs on my Panasonic digital amp. Yes. It did improve things slightly. I could not justify the cost though(I think it was around 500 bucks).

I may try one of the Wolff cables on the amp. They're a little pricey too though.

I've used many other PCs with my video equipment. Such as BMI, VD, Custom Audio LLC.

The BMI Shark was really great with my DVD player. I wish I didn't sell it. The image on my HDTV was soo smooth.


Rob
 
Nov 9, 2004 at 2:22 PM Post #33 of 65
As I was curious about carbon fibers use in audio cables and discovered that the Grover & Wolff web site is totally bare of any description. And thinking that to be unhelpful and unusual I search and discovered that the Van de Hul audio company along with a multitude of products also make carbon fiber interconnects at a comparable price for a long time.
And they have wealth of information!

Van den Hul Articles and Papers:
http://www.vandenhul.com/artpap/artpap.htm

Cable FAQ
http://www.vandenhul.com/artpap/cable_faq.htm

Carbon & Hybrid Technology
http://www.vandenhul.com/artpap/hybrid.htm

We are about seeking information if I am not mistaken? We are here to assist eachother.
In the interests of honesty I was amused to see that Grover & Wolff web site link to this review/thread does not include my posts. I don't think I was unfair because I was not tripping over myself with cash in hand.

Now I'll head over and see if I can see my post.
tongue.gif
 
Nov 9, 2004 at 3:09 PM Post #35 of 65
The Van den Hul The First ic's arn't in the same league as the empress cables. Perhaps I will compare the two in depth one of these days as the guys that modded my amp/cd player/oneac exclusively use the first.

Biggie.
 
Nov 9, 2004 at 3:39 PM Post #36 of 65
Quote:

"And I will add a lost post by Wolff that was removed from this thread."


Actually posted by Grover at the request for information from DA.
I am curious as to why it disappeared.
There is another post that disappeared about the Empress Phono Cable.

Eyetheeth, I am not sure what you are looking for?
"Now I'll head over and see if I can see my post."

Am I missing something here?
 
Nov 9, 2004 at 5:47 PM Post #37 of 65
Eyeteeth,

I think I finally figured out what you were wanting to happen. Please check and see if this thread now is on the Empress Cables site.
The problem is that there have been multiple threads which have been started up not just here on Head but also on Steve Hoffman's site. I can only reference one thread at a time and it's really hard for me to keep up with which thread to link to.

Hope this scratches your itch.

Best Regards,
Michael
 
Nov 9, 2004 at 6:07 PM Post #38 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolffy
Hope this scratches your itch.

Best Regards,
Michael


Heh...not really an itch. Just pure curiosity mixed with a little amusment.

And FWIW I do believe your cables should offer great performance at a very reasonable price.
icon10.gif
 
Nov 9, 2004 at 7:01 PM Post #39 of 65
I recieved a pair of phono edition Empress' yesterday. My gf is at home burning them in for me now on the good ole scout. My first listening impressions are very favorable.

Will do a review on the effect empresses have had in my system after these ICs get some hours too.
 
Nov 9, 2004 at 7:41 PM Post #40 of 65
Thanks Gopher (what a nice gf
smily_headphones1.gif
), look forward to it. DA, can't wait for your thoughts as well. Thanks guys, and to you Wolffy, for keeping us posted.
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 12:37 AM Post #41 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel
I have a few days break-in on my IC pair and this is not just a small "tweak" over already excellent Grover SR II, it is a real noticeable change which I didn't think was possible without spending small fortune. I want to have several more listening sessions to fully guage what I am hearing, but it's pretty amazing what's going on. I have never experienced this velvet smoothness in my system before, treble grain/glare reduction is the best I have heard in any cable......something very good is going on here.


OK I have had two pairs of Empress ICs for a few days now and ther are similarities and differences between Grover SR II and Empress. You can hear a family resemblence between the two, but the obvious improvement for me is that Empress is the smoothest cleanest most grain free sounding IC ever heard by me, this accomplished without smoothing over of fine detail or rolling off of treble. I wouldn't say Empress is "more" detailed vs Grover SR II but it sounds more cohesive and naturally seamless, music effortlessly flows through these cables like no other I have heard. The sound stage is massive and wonderfully coherent, beautiful natural transparancy.

Because of the lack of any grain glare or other distortions you can play CDs that before sounded badly recorded will sound better than you have ever heard them, with the grain and hash removed more smooth music is allowed to surface. In large orchestral groups individual instruments are now heard and the entire group sounds more natural even at high volumes, brass has bite but no steely edge, just natrual decay.....everything sounds glorious. I have CDs I have played 100+ times and I know where there are passages with glare/grain and the Empress ICs removed these distortions better than any cable I have ever heard without negatively effecting fine detail retrieval.

This reminds me of the first time I used a high end power conditioner and stripped away layers of grain and hash that made music less enjoyable, everything just flows and sounds more natural. Somehow these ICs are removing distortions that other ICs are not capable of. Anyway I don't like to keep testing/buying gear and the Empress are the most musically natural and involving cables I have heard so they stay.
k1000smile.gif


Empress are not the amazing bargain price like Grover SR II, but they are a notch better in that they add a velvet smoothness and spatial coherence the SR II falls just a little short of. If your system is on the warm lush side now Empress will not "brighten up" your sound like many silver cables by tonal shifting, but for neutral systems this will work audio magic for you as it does for me. This is music lover's cable

All listening done with 2 channel stereo, no headphones.......I will add more comments as I more fully acclimate to Empress experience.

BTW for reference I have owned/or own these ICs:
Acoustic Zen Silver Reference, AZ Matrix
Analysis Plus Solo Crystal, AP Silver Oval
HomeGrown Silver Lace
Bogdan Silver Spirit
Cardas Golden Cross
Harmonic Tech ProSilway, HT Truthlink
Virtual Dynamics Signature
Silver Audio Hyacinth
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 12:58 AM Post #42 of 65
yeah, i am an Empress groupie and watch this thread like a hawk.

Great writeup, DA. I am truly tempted by the Empress's apparent strenghts in detail, soundstage, and "transparency." Again, like Biggies, your review was clear and concise, yet in depth enough to make me yearn for the Empress.

Sadly a paycheck or two will be needed before any of these ICs are headed my way.

(i have no idea if my system veers towards lush/warm or neutral...any thoughts?
ONEAC 1107 power conditioner
Cary 306/200
Marantz PM-17 int. amp / Singlepower Supra / Melos Maestro (currently not in use)
Dynaudio Audience 70 / Senn HD650 & Equinox / Grado HP-1
ICs: Nitrogens

->My Melos/HP-1 combo was very neutral, but I am still getting used to the new rig, so can't quite tell since I have been switching many things around)
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 12:47 PM Post #43 of 65
nanahachi
I can't be the judge for you of what each person feels is
bright <- neutral -> warm

Two people could hear same system and have different opinions about where it falls in that spectrum. I think many audiophiles tend to have systems that are on the bright side of neutral, constantly trying to uncover every micro detail of sound while killing the overall natural music flow.

You see this syndrome all the time at Audiogon where they talk about how great something sounds.....but then they qualify the statement by saying all defects of recording will be clearly shown
Translation - system is now so bright sounding only a handful of booring bland audiophile discs can be played without feeling aural pain
icon10.gif
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 2:47 PM Post #44 of 65
Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkAngel
they talk about how great something sounds.....but then they qualify the statement by saying all defects of recording will be clearly shown
Translation - system is now so bright sounding only a handful of booring bland audiophile discs can be played without feeling aural pain
icon10.gif



But recordings do often stink and they stink on warm equipment too, that's why we're playing with cables. equipment need not be bright to hear lousiness. My solid state stuff is laid back and my CDP is warm/polite. My speakers, although they transmit an abundance of information, do so in a warm relaxed manner. And they're a little rolled off at the top as well.

Someone should send a pair of these cables over to (DBT) Tomek and his happy listeners. Now that's a tough crowd!
tongue.gif
 
Nov 12, 2004 at 7:38 PM Post #45 of 65
If poorer recordings sound bad on your setup, your setup isn't good period. Just my thoughts on that matter. Detail should never be a tradeoff with sibilance, thats whats so great about the empress cable.

Biggie.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)
Back
Top