[stevenator]

People who complain the amp is bright are definitely pairing it with a bright dac (and possibly the wrong cables). My setup is butter smooth with a beautifully refined detailed sound.

What cables would you suggest? I typically make my own, so any details about composition, treatments, etc. may be helpful.

 

[Whitigir]

What cables would you suggest? I typically make my own, so any details about composition, treatments, etc. may be helpful.

Cables ? As in XLR interconnect ? If you want some warmth, use UPOCC copper. If you want both warmer and smoother use silver-gold alloy

 

[Whazzzup]

Can o worms but I’m into type six pure silver occ litz. I focus on what is the best transmission conduit period. With complex core dampening. Course difficult to make so I out source. Course there are guys that use copper solid 12 awg, so....

 

[Justin_Time]

Congrats, that's one heck of a setup. You wont be disappointed. Suggest you get a good USB cable (i have the Oyaide d+ class S and it is VERY good and not ridiculously priced). For the I2S cable, I purchased a blue jeans belden cable from amazon and its better than the kitsune one.

Good info. THANKS!!!

Kudos to those folks at Blue Jeans Cables: good, solid cable with no hype and affordable prices. I usually buy direct from them.

 

[Justin_Time]

Each time I listen to the GS-X mkII and my Holo L3 Spring DAC, it puts a big smile on my face. People who complain the amp is bright are definitely pairing it with a bright dac (and possibly the wrong cables). My setup is butter smooth with a beautifully refined detailed sound. Listening to a Laura Polence 256 DSD and its jaw droppingly transparent. Definitely end game stuff for me.

I did a comparison with a Violectric V281 which is also a fantastic amp. But the GS-X has this amazingly transparent sound that I have not heard in any other amp. To me, the GS-X mkII is the winner. I'm also loving the champagne color and it was the best decision

To my ears, the GS-X Mk2 has a fast attack (with minimal overshoots) and a relatively (stress on relatively) slow decay. This translates into a smooth, almost mellow midrange and a delicate, slightly sweet top end. It is somewhat similar tube sound but without the bloom in the mid bass and the roll-off at the top end. It pairs very well with the Utopia and is quite good as well with the HD800S and Grado PS2000. It does run out of juice with the impossibly inefficient HE-6...

I have noticed after more than 30: years dabbling with audio that the sounds of great tube- and SS amps tend to come together towathe middle with tube amp sounding tighter and deeper in the bass and the SS amp sounding sweeter on top.

 

[elan120]

Congrats, that's one heck of a setup. You wont be disappointed. Suggest you get a good USB cable (i have the Oyaide d+ class S and it is VERY good and not ridiculously priced). For the I2S cable, I purchased a blue jeans belden cable from amazon and its better than the kitsune one.

Thank you for the cable suggestions. I am currently using both iFI Mercury and Lush USB cables, for I2S cable, I am using Supra, and I will give Blue Jeans a try once I have my system configuration settled down a bit.

 

[Justin_Time]

What cables would you suggest? I typically make my own, so any details about composition, treatments, etc. may be helpful.

As Whazzzup stated, that is can or worms,.

Most cable vendors keep the composition of their exotic wires (e.g. the amount of gold incorporated into the skin of their copper or silver wires) and how they were treated (e.g. burnishing of the wire surface) quite close to their chest because it is their trade secret or IP or pure hype.

So the wires I am able to get are typically pure OCC copper or pure OCC silver as strand or Litz. The choice depends mostly on your DAC, amp and HP..I do not think there is a single Best wire for everything.

 

[musicmaker]

What cables would you suggest? I typically make my own, so any details about composition, treatments, etc. may be helpful.

As Whazzzup stated, that is can or worms,.

Most cable vendors keep the composition of their exotic wires (e.g. the amount of gold incorporated into the skin of their copper or silver wires) and how they were treated (e.g. burnishing of the wire surface) quite close to their chest because it is their trade secret or IP or pure hype.

So the wires I am able to get are typically pure OCC copper or pure OCC silver as strand or Litz. The choice depends mostly on your DAC, amp and HP..I do not think there is a single Best wire for everything.

its a can of worms indeed. However, when you have optimized the source, amp, headphones etc it does make sense to revisit it. With the level of components in the chain we're talking about here (GS-X mk2, Kitsune Holo L3 etc), it makes it easier to hear the differences in cables as well.

I made my own XLR pair with 22AWG occ litz with a carbon infused core wire that I was able to source in the past (unfortunately, not anymore). It sounds excellent and the one I currently use. I also have the 24awg neotech Silver/Gold wire (not litz) on the way along with Abbatron xlr plugs. Have heard great things about this wire, so going to try it out as well.

I've also made headphone cables with the Jena 22awg cryo wire and found it to be excellent as well.

With USB, the geometry and shielding is a lot more important than the actual conductor itself IMO, so I picked the Oyaide which seems to separate power data lines and similar in geometry to the iFi. It also had the best noise floor characteristics out of the half dozen cables I tried, including much more expensive ones.

With I2S, the blue jeans belden is the best I've been able to find for the money. Great build quality and sounds better than the wireworld hdmi which sells for like 10x more.

 

[Justin_Time]

its a can of worms indeed. However, when you have optimized the source, amp, headphones etc it does make sense to revisit it. With the level of components in the chain we're talking about here (GS-X mk2, Kitsune Holo L3 etc), it makes it easier to hear the differences in cables as well.

I made my own XLR pair with 22AWG occ litz with a carbon infused core wire that I was able to source in the past (unfortunately, not anymore). It sounds excellent and the one I currently use. I also have the 24awg neotech Silver/Gold wire (not litz) on the way along with Abbatron xlr plugs. Have heard great things about this wire, so going to try it out as well.

I've also made headphone cables with the Jena 22awg cryo wire and found it to be excellent as well.

With USB, the geometry and shielding is a lot more important than the actual conductor itself IMO, so I picked the Oyaide which seems to separate power data lines and similar in geometry to the iFi. It also had the best noise floor characteristics out of the half dozen cables I tried, including much more expensive ones.

With I2S, the blue jeans belden is the best I've been able to find for the money. Great build quality and sounds better than the wireworld hdmi which sells for like 10x more.

Wow! You are able to get more variety of wires than I can. I may have to steal your secrets...

You are quite correct. With higher-quality equipment, it is easier to hear the effect of wires. Despite the claim of some folks to the contrary, no piece of equipment is perfect or perfectly transparent It a piece of wire can add or subtract a sound...

I found that for Utopia, silver wires, stranded or Litz work best. It tighten the bass just a little and reveals more details. The opposite is needed for the HD800S. To my ears, OCC copper works well with this can, adding a little oomph to the bass and reducing the edginess from the top end. Now, these effects are audible, but they are small so people should not expect miracles from wires.

Even when you make it yourself, exotic wires are expensive. At least we are not where home Audio is...yet. I got out of there when a pair of speaker cables cost $16,000! Yep, you read it right: three zeros.

 

[stevenator]

Thanks for all the input on cables! I usually work with more basic materials, so the input is helpful.

 

[musicmaker]

To my ears, the GS-X Mk2 has a fast attack (with minimal overshoots) and a relatively (stress on relatively) slow decay. This translates into a smooth, almost mellow midrange and a delicate, slightly sweet top end. It is somewhat similar tube sound but without the bloom in the mid bass and the roll-off at the top end. It pairs very well with the Utopia and is quite good as well with the HD800S and Grado PS2000. It does run out of juice with the impossibly inefficient HE-6...

I have noticed after more than 30: years dabbling with audio that the sounds of great tube- and SS amps tend to come together towathe middle with tube amp sounding tighter and deeper in the bass and the SS amp sounding sweeter on top.

Perhaps its terminology, I find the GS-X to have a quicker decay than a bunch of amps I've owned/heard. This I feel, gives the GS-X its airy presentation with a nice soundstage and perhaps more importantly precise imaging. It also translates to pure mids without any frequency bleed in.

The V281 I compared this to has a relatively slower decay which gives it more bass quantity (not quality mind you). The slightly weightier mid bass was quite enjoyable but glazed the mids a bit. Some may call it euphonic but I prefer the transparency and pristine quality of GS-X's mids.

 

[Whitigir]

Perhaps its terminology, I find the GS-X to have a quicker decay than a bunch of amps I've owned/heard. This I feel, gives the GS-X its airy presentation with a nice soundstage and perhaps more importantly precise imaging. It also translates to pure mids without any frequency bleed in.

The V281 I compared this to has a relatively slower decay which gives it more bass quantity (not quality mind you). The slightly weightier mid bass was quite enjoyable but glazed the mids a bit. Some may call it euphonic but I prefer the transparency and pristine quality of GS-X's mids.

There are differences between GSX and MKii right ?

 

[musicmaker]

I have not heard the mk I GSX.

 

[stevenator]

Out with the old, in with the new...

 

[Whitigir]

Perfect color abstract