Add another audiogoner to the "lunatic fringe" or set of "disciples" or "purgatory" (all phrases from this forum) of people that has the OTA hooked up and breaking in. Sead (European distributor of 47 Labs, who has countless connections using the OTA already under his belt) made up a pair of OTA ICs for me, and they are breaking-in right now off the main system, between a CD integratred and a STAX headphone tube driver unit, so that I can monitor the OTA electrostatically every so often (no comments about soundstage until later, when I have them on the main system with the speakers). I started the break-in on 29.09.01, so the IC has about 25 hours on it, and what I have heard during this first stage is not too much different from what Redkiwi and Dekay have aleady said with admirable precision about this first OTA plateau: there is an alluring transient quickness to these cables that goes along with a startling immediacy and detail. Harmonically, there is already some exquisite if a little dry bass (open, deep, powerful), but certain mid frequencies are still thin, congested, closed-off (not all mid range frequencies, since guitars are absolutely perfect for some reason), and the highs are a bit vague. I am coming from wide-diameter stranded cables that I have been heavily addicted to for a long time ("garden hose") and the change is rather drastic (Sead said it would be) as well as highly exciting, since I am hearing things in a totally different way now, a way that is hard to put in "audiophile language." Last night I kept on mumbling to myself: it was as if the OTA cable is no longer "listening to the music for me" before I am, but letting it pass through the air to my ears "without the cable listening in." Later, I thought: maybe this cable will turn out to be far less of a "transducer" than other cables, at least that was the hope that took shape. What was instructive was the extraordinary level of pace, rhythm and timing (PRAT) that these single solid cores achieve and that Redkiwi has already glossed so well: all parts of a groove are now happening at the correct time, I can even hear if digital delay settings are slightly incorrect and clash with the main groove. Also surprising to me is the absolutely silent background, allowing me to hear ambient details outside the recording venue (birds chirping outside the window, cars passing outside, etc.)--a "blackground" I thought was only achievable through extremely heavy shielding, not this thin covering. I now think with hindsight that the OTA cable was an integral part of the emotive, vibrant, resolving, natural, direct and forward sound that I heard from the 47 Labs system at High End 2001 (Frankfurt), and that the comments of fellow audiogoners on this forum about OTA break-in will be absolutely prophetic of what I am going to experience through these cables for the next few weeks. Two final comments: 1. Sead related a beautiful anecdote about the OTA cable from the mouth of Junji Kumura (Sead, correct me if I am wrong with the name, since I know you are reading this): standing atop one of the tallest buildings on the "Zeil" in Frankfurt, he said: "You can toss one of our OTA cables off of this look-out point, and it would land on the concrete ground unharmed" ready to be put back into an audio system, but if you tossed one of those big cables off, it would be totally destroyed. Sead summarized the point of Kumura's parable: big cables create their own problems and obstacles. On another theme: 2.) I was crazy enough to flat-out buy a 47 Labs MC PhonoCube and Power Humpty without hearing it with my own ears first, and now have the power transformer warming up.
Sakura Systems OTA Cable Kit
Has anyone tried this "minimalist" cable kit? After receiving a recommendation from someone with similar musical values to myself, and whose ears I trust, I could not resist ordering one. I will report on how they sound in a few weeks, but am interested in others' opinions too.
For those that have not heard about them look at www.sakurasystems.com for an interesting read. The cable sounds as if it is very close to the specification of the conductors in Belden Cat5. So I may have spent around 100 times what the kit is worth. We shall see.
If you have not heard this cable, please don't bother posting your opinions of how it MUST sound here. Nor am I that interested in hearing how stupid I must be to order this kit - it's my money and you are free to make different decisions with yours. Sorry for this condition, but I am bored with those that have nothing positive to offer on this site, and post their opinions based on deductive logic rather than actual experience.
For those that have not heard about them look at www.sakurasystems.com for an interesting read. The cable sounds as if it is very close to the specification of the conductors in Belden Cat5. So I may have spent around 100 times what the kit is worth. We shall see.
If you have not heard this cable, please don't bother posting your opinions of how it MUST sound here. Nor am I that interested in hearing how stupid I must be to order this kit - it's my money and you are free to make different decisions with yours. Sorry for this condition, but I am bored with those that have nothing positive to offer on this site, and post their opinions based on deductive logic rather than actual experience.
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- 384 posts total
- 384 posts total