so i had just under 3 hours of listening time last night after getting the kids to zzz. i have to give these cables back by Friday, but looking at my schedule, i probably dont have much more listening time with these. so do allow me to pen my thoughts despite a relatively short time of comparing cables.
I compared the stock cable, moon audio silver dragon, JPS superconductor. as i didnt have a dual XLR to single XLR adaptor cable, i had to do listening tests with my woo audio 22 amp rather than the benchmark hpa4. I only listened to a handful of songs, songs which i am familiar with. did quick cable swaps and a/b testings.
the JPS cable is a detail monster.
i thought the abyss 1266 was detailed enough; the JPS improves on it further. and it does so effortlessly. tiny details in the background, which although audible with the stock and dragon, are brought out even more, without sounding obtrusive or disruptive.
eg
Evergreen by Yebba - there is this very faint hi-hat in the background from the R channel which goes "ts ts tsst, ts ts tsst ... ", it is definitely more apparent with the JPS.
Memories by Maroon 5 - when the music starts, you can hear the audience cheering, and there is this one guy who whistles out. the whistling sounds crisp and you can hear the variation in whistling volume so well with the JPS, and then it becomes a recognizable portion/detail of the song which seems almost included for a reason. Whereas with the stock and dragon, the whistling sounds slightly dull, and feels almost like something just heard in passing.
Gone by Charlie XCX - around the 40 second mark, there is a soft voice mirroring the main singer from the L channel. With the JPS, it sounds like there is a distinctly separate voice standing just next to the main singer, and you can hear her words clearly. with the stock and dragon, it seems like that background voice is just a closely knit shadow, with her words occasionally becoming obscured by the main singer.
the JPS cable has a more even presentation and sweet sounding highs
highs on the JPS seem to have a slightly reduced volume with regards to the rest of the music. i think this also in effect makes the bass and mids sound fuller; to achieve similar volumes of bass and mids with the stock and dragon, i had to turn up the volume knob just slightly, but this made the highs on those cables even louder giving it a more forward sounding presentation. the JPS cable sounds more even and balanced.
JPS the highs are not sibilant/harsh. good extension up top, without becoming bright. female vocals are a delight with these cables. they sound full and sweet.
dragon cable slightly edgy highs and not as smooth; i quite like this effect with rock music. female vocals in comparison sound slightly less meaty and almost a bit metallic.
i cant tell much difference between stock and dragon cable for highs.
with JPS, as mentioned earlier, the highs sound like they have 0.5-1 dB less than the dragon and i think this makes for a more even presentation and the bass and mids stand out a bit more. if you like a more fuller sound, the JPS cable will deliver. overall, mids sound pretty decent on all three cables though, so not much more to say here.
?slightly better separation and soundstage with JPS
there is just a tad bit more space between elements of music with the JPS. ever so slightly larger soundstage too. if i did not know i had swapped cables, i probably wouldnt have noticed. really struggling to make out any differences. in actual fact, could even be even stevens..
bass
amount JPS > dragon > stock
bass notes are just slightly more detailed and textured with the JPS.
bass notes hit as hard with JPS and dragon. stock hits less hard and less focused - eg when the "air hits your ears", with the stock, it seems like the bass note impacts on your whole outside ear but doesnt really travel through the ear canal, but with the JPS and dragon, you can feel the bass notes hitting directly onto your ear drum.
ergonomics
i think Abyss should put a nice sleeve on their cables to join up the two separate cables. it's probably not too expensive to do, but will really improve the ergonomics and end user experience. Otherwise, just resort to velcro or zipties..
stock cable is shiny and sticky.. stiff too.
silver dragon wins ergonomics for me; lightest of the three, single cable single XLR, does not tangle easily, easy to store.
JPS is like having two Danacables side by side.. massive and a little bit too heavy, and keeping in mind i tested the 1.2m version... nice XLR plugs and furutech connectors though.
in summary:
the stock cable is already very good. actually, sometimes ignorance is bliss, and i would likely be perfectly happy with the stock cable.
if you want a better cable in terms of ergonomics, without sacrificing anything on sound quality, and at the same time getting a bit more up top prat and down low bass impact, the silver dragon will do the job well. if you want a good cable for the abyss, without spending a large amount of money, the silver dragon will do the job well. i chose the silver dragon over the more expensive danacable lazuli reference because i preferred the sound it delivered.
if you want the best cable of the 3 mentioned above, and money is no object, JPS superconductor without question. it brings everything to the table, and then some.
again, these are my own thoughts on the cables i tested. disclaimer is everyone hears things differently. so, YMMV.
for myself, i will most likely just keep on with the Silver Dragon. If i had to put these down in percentages relative to the JPS.. then:
JPS cable 100% this cable extracts every single bit of information from the music and delivers it to you effortlessly, in a very pleasant and enjoyable way without sounding laid back
Silver Dragon 95%
Stock 90-92%
Having said that, for the configuration that i would have ordered it in, the JPS would have cost me USD 2990. that alone costs more than many of the individual components i own, and is for eg 500 bucks more than my WA22, and is just 5 bucks cheaper than my benchmark HPA4 amp. In contrast, the silver dragon set me back just over USD500. of course, if i end up winning the lottery, or if you just have the extra cash to spare, then JPS please!!
*I apologise for my lack of descriptors. I'm not very good with flowery language. I do hope I managed to get my thoughts through to you guys.
Just for S&G’s I decided to try running my highly modified Bottlehead Crack as a preamp to my Emotiva A-100. Well, if this isn’t just the most wonderful thing I’ve heard out of my 1266 since I’ve owned them. What an absolute treat.
