Ragnar-BY
1000+ Head-Fier
I finally tried the thing I wanted to try since I‘ve got a Riviera.
I never heard any difference between speaker taps adapters, but I always was curious if additional solder joints in these adapters are degrading sound quality. Now I know for sure. Thanks to Lavricables, I had the opportunity to compare A/B a regular headphone cable connected to AIC10 through an adapter (professionally made, good cable, Furutech bananas and Neutrik XLR) with similar cable, but terminated with spades.
I was expecting some improvement, but the magnitude of change really surprised me. It improved everything: more 3d-like soundstage, smoother highs and more impressing lows. And all that without any changes in tonal balance or tube character. A rare thing in high-end audio - pure improvement without any drawbacks. After trying new cable, I can’t imagine going back to adapter. And I can’t say that I didn’t like anything in sound of adapter. Before this experiment I was 100% happy with its sound and it was better than direct connection to front panel output.
P.S. Very high-quality WBT spades (WBT-0681 Ag) were used in my cable. WBT claims that this connection is two times better than their own bananas. I think that the main reason is not the spades quality, but the absence of an adapter and unnecessary solder joints. However, since I have not heard other spades, I can’t be sure.
I never heard any difference between speaker taps adapters, but I always was curious if additional solder joints in these adapters are degrading sound quality. Now I know for sure. Thanks to Lavricables, I had the opportunity to compare A/B a regular headphone cable connected to AIC10 through an adapter (professionally made, good cable, Furutech bananas and Neutrik XLR) with similar cable, but terminated with spades.
I was expecting some improvement, but the magnitude of change really surprised me. It improved everything: more 3d-like soundstage, smoother highs and more impressing lows. And all that without any changes in tonal balance or tube character. A rare thing in high-end audio - pure improvement without any drawbacks. After trying new cable, I can’t imagine going back to adapter. And I can’t say that I didn’t like anything in sound of adapter. Before this experiment I was 100% happy with its sound and it was better than direct connection to front panel output.
P.S. Very high-quality WBT spades (WBT-0681 Ag) were used in my cable. WBT claims that this connection is two times better than their own bananas. I think that the main reason is not the spades quality, but the absence of an adapter and unnecessary solder joints. However, since I have not heard other spades, I can’t be sure.
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