doing a little research and contacting members
I went with Crimson speaker cables made in the UK and distributed by Austin HiFi.
I heard nothing but great things about the Crimson calbles
Creston at Austin HiFi is great to deal with
looking forward to the evaluation
from what I've read these are incredibly resolving, tonally balanced, no grain or cable "signature".
the break in is much faster than some other cables I was looking at in the general price / sonic range
thanks for your insights
will report back in with mine |
Search the archives, I believe there are many there who would disagree with the cable company's claim that the Venustas is as dark as the Aqueous. Venustas is silver-plated copper, Aqueous is gold plated copper, big difference in my opinion.
Have you considered the Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval 8 cables? Another reco would be Tara Labs, Air 1, The One or The Two, whichever falls in your price range. |
the cable company is suggesting Cardas Clear Light
I had Cardas Cross or Golden Cross 10 years ago and I thought it was too warm, over bloomed in the midrange and lacked dynamics
they told me the pad venustas wouldn't be my cup of tea if I found the Aqueous Anniversary dark
5% is a lot to put down especially if you end up being stuck paying close to retail
I know, you must have it in the system to fully evaluate it's synergy
I thought about the 60 day trial cables like Morrow or Clear Day but I hate to sample in not fully good faith and with the very limited time the cable company gives you, that's feels like speed dating
also any Audio Dharma cable cooker converts? I'd be interested in your comments |
AL
sorry I left off a decimal place
390 hz roll off
I wish speaker wire prices would leave off a decimal place
$500 would go a long way |
The woofers are rolled off at 39 hz so hopefully it won't be a big issue. Hi Tom, Not sure, then, that I understand what the configuration is that you will be going to. From the description of the SoundScape 10: We had, for many years, loved the woofer used in our HT3’s. So when it came time to select a woofer for the SoundScape design, we turned to John Janowitz at Acoustic Elegance. John helped us design 10” and 12” woofers that provide the bass extension we desired along with the smooth upper end response, allowing us to cross to the midrange around 300Hz. If I correctly understand what you are intending to do, the concern would be optimization of coherence in the area of that 300 Hz frequency. The 39 Hz rolloff has no relevance to that. Regards, -- Al |
Audiotomb
I In my system I noticed that the Morrow cables were slightly less warm... more neutral, which is what I strive for. I found them to be faster and more transparent offering greater resolution to my system as a whole. Soundstage width and depth were also enhanced. |
Al
Good point on wiring up the amps and seeing the differences
The woofers are rolled off at 39 hz so hopefully it won't be a big issue
Anyone used Clear Day speaker wires? |
Tom, FWIW my perspective on this is that by far the most important criterion in your cable selection process is likely to be the need to mitigate the differences I suspect you will encounter in tonality, coherence, etc., between the QSC amplifier and the Atmasphere amplifiers.
Therefore my suggestion is that before investing in any expensive speaker cables you assess the new configuration using whatever cables you can get your hands on inexpensively. Then determine what you need to accomplish sonically, to optimize coherence between those obviously very different amplifiers. Hopefully you would then be able to get suggestions that focus on your specific needs.
And to RW, I can't stop laughing :-) Thanks!
Regards,
-- Al |
You might look in Neotech's direction. Word has it that Neotech makes AZ. Just what I heard. |
I have used the Matrix Ref II ic's, amp to preamp and cd to preamp for years and wonder about a replacement sometimes. I do also use the JW Audio Cyro Nova speaker cables and a pair of ic's DAC to preamp. They're good and inexpensive. |
Rlwainwright
Music signals also cause electrons to move in both directions in a cable. Music signals are basically many ac signals combined together. Only dc will cause electrons to move in one direction only. Playing music thru the cables will break them in just fine
Alan |
Audiotomb, I replaced neutral sounding Audioquest King Cobra ICs (copper) with AZ Absolute (silver+1%copper). Sound is still very neutral but more refined. There is no brightness but everything sounds cleaner and faster. Instruments have more natural timbre and background seems "darker". I don't know how it would compare with other high end ICs (King Cobra is inexpensive) but perhaps you could give it another try. I use the same Satori Shotgun speaker cables. Not exactly warm but slightly emphasize lower midrange where my class D amp sounds lean. |
I owned several AZ cables over the years and found them to be very good and quite enjoyable, but I've since moved on to Wywires which I prefer significantly.
I'd suggest taking advantage of their risk free trial to see if you enjoy them as much as I do. |
It's reassuring to hear that many others like the AZ sound
Soix - I actually have Matrix 1 and Matrix II and you are right, the 1s are warmer - a great sound.
Tom 6897 - were the Morrows slightly better or a real eye opener? Are they slightly warm and full bodied like the AZ?
Jafant - I won StaightWire Crescendo - a very nice interconnect.
I was considering the Morrow SP5s and MA5s from all the posts I have read here. Is there an ideal tipping point in their line?: They have a trial period so what is there to lose.
THe $1000 was a max, the PAD stuff gets pretty expensive
Reterminating and trying out some other cables seems more reasonable
keep the insights coming |
I've been using Satori shotgun biwires for a while as well, and though I've had several others in here I keep coming back to the AZs for their balance of strengths. They're detailed enough to keep me interested and let me know what's going on in a recording, but they're not overly so and they allow tonal colors to come through and sound organic and natural in the process. Not to say they're near the best in any of these categories, but I think it's their balance and natural presentation that keeps me coming back to them. I mention this because you seem to like them for some of the same reasons, so maybe re-terminating them might be a good option if it's cost-effective. Then again this would seem to be an oportune time to try different cables, but in your price range I can't think of anything off the top of my head to recommend. Morrow might be worth a try since someone above preferred them to the Holograms and there's a nice trial period.
I'm a little confused by your interconnects. The Matrix Ref. IIs were not the originals. I find the original version to be quite a bit warmer, fuller, with less detail up top than the Matrix Ref. IIs. I have found using the Silver Ref. IIs from source to pre and original Matrix Refs from pre to amp to be a nice pairing. It preserves most of the warmth and tonal richness of the Matrix Refs while adding a nice bump in transparency, air, bass tightness/speed, transient snap, image focus, and soundstaging without going too far (at least for my tastes). If that sounds like characteristics that might benefit your system/tastes you might consider giving it a try.
Hope this helps, and best of luck. |
Wow, a thousand bux for 10 feet of speaker cable? I find it hard to understand how that last 10 feet will mitigate the thousands of feet of cabling that were used in the original recording, mixing, and mastering phases. However, if that cable has been cooked properly, perhaps you can, indeed, mitigate the sonic holocaust that was introduced during the production stages.
I know that I was greatly releived to read the following:
RAPID, SUPERIOR BREAK-IN AND CONDITIONING ... conditions more thoroughly because the cabling is exposed to extreme signal levels and a special waveform that does not occur in normal system operation.
I am sleeping much better at night knowing that my cables have been greatly enhanced by the use of signals which will never be seen during normal operation. I guess it's kinda like improving the performance of my Mini Cooper's internal combustion engine by burning thru a tank of avgas every once in a while - whew!!
But let's get back on-topic: Personally, at first I was *very* concerned that I might damage my cables' fragile electrons by making them carry a signal for which they were never designed. Not to mention asking them to move both backwards AND forwards during playback.
And, when you really think about it, this is even more deeply troubling if said cables are directional - what would it do to the depth of the soundstage if I forced a forward-moving electron to suddenly come to a screeching halt and then have to move backwards? Wouldn't this leave behind little electronic skid marks inside the cable?
And, again thinking logically, wouldn't this cause a "smearing" of the sound as the remaining perfectly good electrons have to slow down and then go out of their way to avoid these sheared-off bits? Also, is it easier to avoid a 1 or a 0? I'm betting the 1s are easier to avoid, they are a bit narrower.
Nonetheless, *surely* this would cause the signal to slow down much the same as you have to slow down when trying to avoid all those bits of tire thrown off by an 18-wheeler when one of its tires explodes. There is NO way that could be good for the clarity and cleanliness of the original signal, that's for sure!!
I tell ya, this electricity stuff is downright scary to anyone who takes the time to really sit down and analyze it scientifically...
-RW- |
A couple of suggestions, yes, the PAD AA that you tried is a bit dark, the Venustas is much more resolving, as it uses some silver conductors, if you can find some used.
Also on the used market, you could try a pair of Tara Labs Air 1's or Analysis Plus Solo Crystal 8's. |
Jburidan. - good point on having AZ reterminate the speaker wire.
Barry - nice system. Tri amping
I was looking at the Pass crossover but decided to get a volume adjusted solid state power amp for the woofers instead.
Nice to hear someone with an extensive system using AZ. I bet your Maggies purr.
Wow, that Audio Dhrama cable cooker isn't cheap. It's that good? |
I went from AZ Hologram II to Morrow Audio SP4 and MA4 interconnects. Everything got better, deeper, faster, more balanced and no veils. YMMV! |
Jburidan. - good point on having AZ reterminate the speaker wire.
Barry - nice system. Tri amping
I was looking at the Pass crossover but decided to get a volume adjusted solid state power amp for the woofers instead.
Nice to hear someone with an extensive system using AZ. I bet your Maggies purr.
Wow, that Audio Dhrama cable cooker isn't cheap. It's that good? |
Audiotomb-
I had a most unexpected, pleasant listening experience, earlier this year. I spent some time w/ an Audio Research, Magnepan system. Straightwire cabling/cords throughout.
The real kicker here (I am a cable/cord guy) was that the owner used the lowest level/cheapest cost Straightwire.
I must say, the sound was very good. IMO, with a little higher cable cost investment, that system would be excellent to outstanding.
Happy Listening! |
I'll be interested to see the responses. Cables are a "black hole". I really like the AZ Matrix II and Hologram II stuff. The Silver Reference II is ok in small doses with the Matrix IIs. Tried the Absolute ICs and was not fond of them but perhaps they needed more break-in. Also tried cheaper stuff, DH Labs Revelation, and more expensive stuff, Synergistics top of the line active cables, (whatever they were called that week). Like you, I'm not a big fan of silver. One thing that totally made a believer out of me was an Audio Dharma cable cooker. I had hundreds of hours on my cables. I thought they were broken in. Boy did they all open up at no loss of the basic sound characteristics. Following the burn in, you could hear the back of the sound stage and futher - all the way into the parking lot! Big increase in clarity and reduction of noise. You might consider it. |
Recommend you contact Acoustic Zen. The owner will separate and reterminate your shotgun bi-wires -- make them usable for biamping. He reterminated mine for a nominal fee. |
