[FangJoker]

I plan on getting an A12t on black Friday and also thinking of cable options. It's good to see a lot of cable feedback here. I like wagnus cables, but I need to do research on what each model does so that I can pair it correctly and not get a negative result. I usually email wagnus and say what my IEM sounds like and what I would like corrected and give a price range and I get back 1 or 2 recommendations. Like most other good cable makers, it isn't cheap so I hope to get it right or maybe just stick to the original.

 

[twister6]

A little "woe be me!" type post coming in, sorry.

I've been thinking of getting Leo II for the u18 lately -- but I'm also really-really wary of buying a new cable for these guys, because every cable I've bought ends up being worse than the original 64 audio SPC. Mind you, my "original" is a pentaconn 4.4 terminated "deluxe" version but still, compared to it:

Eros II+ -- soundstage is 40% smaller than the stock cable. Absolute no go. Damn, this is not a good cable at all.
Janus Dynamic -- nice, but way more fatiguing than original because of the heavy dramatic low end, and just all around thicker and slower than these monitors are intended to sound like. Thought it was a super combo at first, not any more.
ALO audio reference 8 -- the only cable thus far that sincerely improves on detail and soundstage, so very nice! but sadly also makes them sound much thinner than they should be, sometimes brutally and unmusically so.

Whenever I switch back to my standard cable I immediately feel the custom was unbalancing the sound in some crucial way, distorting it. I so-so clearly understand these guys do something to the sound signature that is not a good tradeoff. Then again, I do feel the original cable is a bottleneck for detail resolution and soundstage on the u18. (It's also hella ugly.) I have a dx200 Titanium amp4 and this source is soooo detailed and serious. So is the u18. I know the cable is a bottleneck there -- just can't seem to find the right one...

Any ideas on this?

Also, some serious questions about the celebrated Leo II

does it lessen soundstage compared to original, like Leonidas I? (which to my ears really did)
does it take bite away (smoothen) the sound -- a la Astell & Kern house sound and Effect Audio cables in general?
does it make them sound thin, like the horus or reference 8?
does it add extra weight to lows that make their bass fatiguing, like any copper cable basically? (really wary about coppers like 1960 2-wire after two copper cables have failed so hard for my ears (janus and eros)

Based on everything you described above, I think Horus will fit your sound preference better than Leo II. I switched to Leo II to get more body and more low end impact, while in your case you want to go the other way. Also, keep in mind, if you feel the cable gives you more low end than you desire and you feel the effect of soundstage being narrower, you should switch between M15 and M20 apex modules. M20 with more isolation will give you more low end impact, while M15 with less isolation will give you better soundstage expansion. With 1960 cable, you will get the best soundstage expansion, and it's not like any other copper wires. Btw, 1960 2wire has 4 conductors and it pairs up great with U18t.

 

[Progisus]

Excited... Fourte arriving Monday. Hoping SP1000 or Hugo2 to them should be nirvana. Unable to audition anything here in the “Great White North” so went by all the positive reviews.

 

[icebeam030]

The new cable upgrade offerings from 64 are silver plated copper but only for full tia shells like forte . They are supposed to work better with the tia tec. Maybe that’s the way to go .
What makes you think the 12 t will get you that the 18 won’t? I’m thinking the wire world Nano silver eclipse might be the ticket . I’m not spending $1500 on a cable ....

I guess there's not much difference between SPC and silver-copper hybrid? I might go for a DHC Clone Fusion then, although I don't that believe EROS II+ has really small sound stage...
If you look at previous discussions, some said 12t being more musical and emotional than 18t which is definitely extreme reference sound.

 

[Marat Sar]

I don't that believe EROS II+ has really small sound stage...

It's not really small like pw audio no 5 (this cable just full on goes and makes monitors un-holographic) but it's still small to medium. I was sort of dumbfounded when I heard it. The 140 dollar 64 audio SPC cable has great out of head extension -- rivalling, actually, the Janus D even, only slightly beat by it -- switch to 450 dollar (wit +50 usd pentaconn) cable and... gone is the out of head sound. Soundstage width is reduced by a good third. Now, I'm not a cable reviewer so I don't have enough sources and IEM's to test it with -- I'm sure there are good combos -- but the soundstage on the eros is mediocre. I would probably get it for an IEM where soundstage is not that important. Maybe it has synergy with un-analytic stuff. And it looks gorgeous.

 

[WCDchee]

I’ve been listening to the fourte off the Hugo TT recently.

I must say the fourte takes a strange place among IEMs. It’s not easy to drive well, and an unsatisfactory source makes it sound less than ideal.

But this guy scales more than any IEM I’ve heard, and for those of you with really TOP end sources (the Hugo TT in my case), you’ll start to realise that the fourte sounds like no other in its presentation. The staging, transparency, layering, imaging, the visceral impact, it’s unmatched, by a mile. It’s in the league of the best headphones to my ears (got a HE1000 V2 that I use regularly).

 

[Progisus]

I’ve been listening to the fourte off the Hugo TT recently.

I must say the fourte takes a strange place among IEMs. It’s not easy to drive well, and an unsatisfactory source makes it sound less than ideal.

But this guy scales more than any IEM I’ve heard, and for those of you with really TOP end sources (the Hugo TT in my case), you’ll start to realise that the fourte sounds like no other in its presentation. The staging, transparency, layering, imaging, the visceral impact, it’s unmatched, by a mile. It’s in the league of the best headphones to my ears (got a HE1000 V2 that I use regularly).

I’ll be trying the Fourte with the Hugo TT , Hugo 2, Mojo and SP1000. Will be interesting. Right now it seems the Hugo TT is my goto source for critical listening. It may have “less taps” but it can drive anything I have tried.

 

[FangJoker]

I’ll be trying the Fourte with the Hugo TT , Hugo 2, Mojo and SP1000. Will be interesting. Right now it seems the Hugo TT is my goto source for critical listening. It may have “less taps” but it can drive anything I have tried.

You should try to listen to the Trio if you haven't. I prefer it over the Fourte. Both has it's strengths, but to my ears I liked the Trio more.

 

[WCDchee]

You should try to listen to the Trio if you haven't. I prefer it over the Fourte. Both has it's strengths, but to my ears I liked the Trio more.

The trio somehow takes a lot less to sound good. As a result I see many people preferring it when trying it off more normal sources. But drive it well and the fourte pulls ahead.

 

[FangJoker]

The trio somehow takes a lot less to sound good. As a result I see many people preferring it when trying it off more normal sources. But drive it well and the fourte pulls ahead.

I auditioned it with a hugo 2 connected to a pc and also attached a headamp gilmore lite mk 2 amp to the hugo 2 to see how they would do with additional amping. I felt that the Trio could keep up with music that had fast bass hits in them better than the Fourte which had slight bloom. Which source does the Fourte sound better with and without bass bloom?

 

[WCDchee]

I auditioned it with a hugo 2 connected to a pc and also attached a headamp gilmore lite mk 2 amp to the hugo 2 to see how they would do with additional amping. I felt that the Trio could keep up with music that had fast bass hits in them better than the Fourte which had slight bloom. Which source does the Fourte sound better with and without bass bloom?

I’ve tried with the Hugo TT, the AURALiC Vega/Taurus stack, the gsx MKII for example.

The Hugo 2, the issue I find with it is while it is more detailed than the TT, lacks the authority and control and physicality that the TT has to my ears.

The thing I find with the fourte is that in terms of sheer resolution, and the sense of space and staging, I feel that it still surpases the trio.

 

[fiascogarcia]

I’ve tried with the Hugo TT, the AURALiC Vega/Taurus stack, the gsx MKII for example.

The Hugo 2, the issue I find with it is while it is more detailed than the TT, lacks the authority and control and physicality that the TT has to my ears.

The thing I find with the fourte is that in terms of sheer resolution, and the sense of space and staging, I feel that it still surpases the trio.

Don't use desktops anymore, but Fourte still, to my ears, has those qualities and synergy with my 1Z. I've rotated through iems over the years, but Fourtes are so unique I will probably hang onto them for a very long time regardless of what other iems I may purchase in the future.

 

[WCDchee]

Don't use desktops anymore, but Fourte still, to my ears, has those qualities and synergy with my 1Z. I've rotated through iems over the years, but Fourtes are so unique I will probably hang onto them for a very long time regardless of what other iems I may purchase in the future.

All this news of the Solaris and the new Sony makes me wonder has any fourte fan heard them before?

 

[bogdan belonozhko]

Hi A18t owners anyone has found any cable to bring out the vocal warmth of it? I've tried DHC SPV3 and PW 1950s and both failed to achieve that.
As I see some people talking, I might need an A12t instead...

Have you looked at my Scorpion FiR Audio cable? I’ve always wanted a little more meat on the A18’s, the scorpion does just that. @twister6 has one, maybe he can give you some impressions on it with the 18’s. You also get a free Vac Jr. If you order in November

 

[seedubchris]

My A18 t is almost finished . Getting very excited . I’ll probably just get a silver cable from Ted Allen . I bet it’s a great sound with the silver and the tia highs . Feeling a little apprehensive about taking them out of the house but that’s what they are there for . The new Hugo 2 TT arrives a week later . It’s gonna be glorious. Rmaf cleaned me out this year ....