You guys are making me want the ZS5 for my collection now - this hobby is relentless!
For the record (and just in case anyone is interested), the Hunter definitely sounds better to my ears running balanced with the new 8-core Litz cable. Admittedly, it's from the QP2R so that makes pretty much everything sound better, but with a bit more power pushing through, the bass seems to have thickened up a bit on my favourite gold filters and it has taken more of an edge off the treble without losing the detail. Separation/crosstalk is a little improved as well.
I know Bob has an Acoustic Research M2 or M20 as his audiophile DAP (or did when he used to frequent the pages here), so I wonder if he is tuning the higher end models using that as a reference? Both models kick out a LOT of driving power, so would explain why the Hunter definitely lights up with more juice. Just a guess.
@Midgetguy - will be interested to know what you think as and when you get your cabling - one thing you'll be happy to hear is that the little notch in the Hunter 2 pin connectors ISN'T on the Litz cables, so they can be used with other gear. They also fit just fine into the Hunter slots, so it's not such an unusual decision from Bob to put that there in the end.
The cables are thicker then a rapper's bling and not the most flexible, but don't have memory wire and also use a common sense but quite frankly genius chin slider - a piece of thick rubberised elastic you just roll up and down the cable. Combined with the weight of the cable, it's doing a great job keeping it in place over my ears and it feels like a good aftermarket upgrade.
All in all, while I'm still not able to condone or even hazard a guess at the current Trinity delivery behaviour (and have even sent an email to them saying as much), the cables and Kombi tips do bring the Hunter a little closer to the sort of high end performance people were hoping for when we all jumped aboard this crazy train 12-odd months back. Fingers crossed most of you guys get to hear this soon, and don't pass final judgement on the Hunters until you have the full package.
For the record, I'm neither a cable believer or agnostic, and not a devout "balanced if best" evangelist, so take these observations at face value as that is what I am hearing. Also, if Trinity just included one 3.5mm and one 2.5mm Litz cable from the get go then I think the overall wow factor of the Hunter would definitely have been higher, so I'm still confused why they didn't. Hey ho.
