Hidiamond vs Hifidelity interconnects

Siddh, I have had the CT-1E speaker cables in my system for about six months now. I must have about six hundred hours on them. I also have a set of CT-1 Jumpers so I can Bi-Wire. They have about three hundred hours.

I used the HiDiamond D7 Speaker Cables. However I used two sets so I could run from the two pairs of outputs on Veritas Mono blocks to the two pairs of inputs on my B&W 802D speakers. In the past on I ran two pairs of speakers instead of one pair and a Jumper it always sounded better with two.

The two pairs of D7 did a wonderful job and was one of the best I have had in my system. But the HFC are better in most ways and no less then equal in others.

I also have had the HD D2 XLR Interconnect and P3 Power cords. At one time I had a full HD loom.

I was not impressed by the D2 or the P3. They are competent, they just do not excel like the D7 did. And I had them in my system for over five hundred hours.

As to your concerns about the base. Wait for it, wait, wait, wait, there it is. It will come but the sound will also evolve over time so be patient.

You will get plenty of real, tight, lifelike sounding base vs an over abundance base, with bloat or loose base.

On some songs when it is in the recording and it calls for that deep moving base it is there in spades, as I feel the floor rumble and my pants legs wiggle.

Paz307, your statement about "emotionally connected" with the HD cables is one that you and others have used many times on the HD thread. Also the "lifelike" aspect. Those statements and others like them on the HD thread led me to order a fukk loom of HD cables. I had them first burned in on a Cable Cooker and then played several hundred hours of music through them before any evaluation. At one point I had a HFC CT-1 interconnect with two pairs of HD D7 Speaker cables.

Well, I must say I never once experienced what you and others have described with a full loom of HD. Again even after over five hundred hours plus the cable cooker. However I have experienced that with the HFC with a full loom.

Now, I am not saying you have not experienced that in your system. But I have also loaned my HD cables to a few of my fellow Club Members and not one of them were impressed with the HD Cables.

Please keep in mind I have a very resolving and transparent system so I do hear subtle changes.

I am glad you are happy with the HD cables as we each must find what works in our own systems.

Siddh, I never meant that the HD cables are poor when it comes to base, just that many others are and used that as a comparison.

As far as "gain" I am perplexed. I never had a problem with gain at all. You should contact Rick and HFC and talk to him about it. He is very willing to help in anyway he can.

The one thing I have noticed about the HFC Cables is that they lower the noise floor by a huge amount and allows me to turn the volume up to levels I could never do before. Before at those levels there was too much noise along with the music.

Mind you this is with Amps and a DAC that are some of the most noise free around.

Give Rick a call.

To all; Most of us know that when you disconnect and reconnect a cable that it needs sometime to "settle" and come back into its own before sounding its best again.
Some need very little time and others much more.

Well the HFC needs way more time then most might realize. The HFC, once disturbed, needs additional time for the Magnetic Conduction to reach the same level as it had before, once it has been disconnected.

Siddh. You do your self a disservice by changing your cables back and forth. You only have about 60 hours on the HFC so after 4 days of removal you have not lost all but I would say a good amount because it was only 60 hours. If it had a couple of hundred then no, it would only need several hours to a day or so for the Magnetic Conduction to be back. Place the HFC in and leave it untouched for over a hundred hours, double if you can. At least then you start to get a feel for that sound of the HFC. Also after the HFC has been connected and then you replace it with the HD, the HD will benefit from the Magnetic Conduction of the HFC for a while. More right away and then it will diminish over a short period of time (hours not minutes).

This just my understanding and experience.

Bigkidz, where in the NYC area are you from? I live not to far from Giants Stadium.

Let me give you some background of my system;

Speakers: B&W 802D

Amps: Veritas Mono Blocks by Merrill Audio

Source: exaSound e20 MK III .082 Clock with a Paul Hynes Power Supply and a dedicated Mac Mini Quad Core-16GB RAM-128GB SSD just for OS-Boot Camped ML and W8/Pure Music, A+ and J River-USB only to DAC-Thunderbolt to external HD for music files

Interconnect and Speaker Cables: High Fidelity Cables CT-1E and a CT-1 Jumper for Bi-Wire

Power Cables: Triode Wire Labs Ten Plus

Vibration Control: Stillpoints Ultra SS under the B&W 802D and Veritas amps, plus a Synergistic Research Tranquility Base with Stillpoints Ultra Mini under everything else resting on the Tranquility Base.

I DO NOT use equipment as tone controls. I strive to find what I call Extended PRAT (PRRAATTTED). Pace, Rhythm, Resolution, Attack, Air, Timing, Tone, Transparency, Extension, and Dynamics.

As I said in a post above, I do not find the HD Cables to be "emotionally involving". Nor did anyone who tried them in any of the Audio Clubs I belong to.

As to your above "What I called "wood" sound others call flesh, emotion, etc."
I have just upgraded my CT-1 to the CT-1E ( it has less then 24 hours of play) and I can already say it is worth the extra money. Right now I am "bopping" to the "Gene Harris Quartet" in DSD and I feel like they are live in my room. That is emotionally connected. And the CT-E is giving it to me in spades right out of the box. I can not wait to hear how much better it will sound as the burn-in proceeds.
Keep in mind I am benefiting from having the CT-1 in my system for so long before the CT-1E.

Hi Paz307. Could you tell me which HFC you had tried in you system and did you try them all at the same time? Also for how long were they in your system without being moved and about how many hours of play time were on them in your system? Your answers would help in answering you.

"I totally agree that disconnecting any cable can really hurt the sound of that cable for many hours after reconnection and perhaps even more so on the HFC because of their design but I do not understand how any cables hooked up after you take the HF cables off would benefit; could you please explain?"

Let me have some time to put my thoughts to words on this. But Rick can do a much better job then I will be able to.

On the HD cables. My disappointment and gripe is that so many on the HD thread here on Audiogon praised the D3 Power Cord using the virtues that you and Bigkidz express for the D4 PC and HD8 SC.
I am glad to hear that the higher end HD cables live up to the praise. But from my experience the mid point to three quarters point in a line should give one most of the bang (85-95%) for the $$$. When I bought the P3 it was at the top to just one below just after that. The D7 is one from the top (though I do like the D7 out of all the other HD I had in my system). The HD interconnect I had D2 XLR was one from the top. So seeing how for the most part all my HD were one from the top in the line I should have had 90%-95% of the top in the line.
By the way the price of $1,800 for a D4 is for a 1 Meter. I think most people would use a 1.5 to 2 MT at $2000-$2200. Not a huge amount but when most of us need several PC it adds up.