Taralabs cables

Dlcockrum,  what have you been considering for vibration control ?

THE PROCESS OF HANDMAKING TARA LABS CABLEShandmade 1TARA Labs embodies what can be described as true hand-crafted methods of high-end products. Designed and created by TARA Labs Design Team (TLDT) led by Matthew Bond & Merrill Bergs, all TARA Labs audio cables are manufactured in our factory in Southern Oregon, USA, and lifetime guaranteed.Every TARA Labs high-end audio cable is meticulously hand-crafted by our factory lab technicians. A good example on exactly what goes into this process is offered by the below construction techniques in building just one pair of our Omega Evolution speaker cables.The process for manufacturing these cables begins by the cutting, forming, measuring, and then the hand polishing of each one of the 576 – TARA Labs copper conductors.All the dielectrics are prepared including customizing the multiple size air tubes, outer & inner sleeve layers, as well as other proprietary cable components. This includes our custom hardware, all of which have to be machined, polished and laser etched before final assembly of the product. This would also include all cable terminations. As far as the actual labor to make these cables, it takes two senior technicians working an 8 hour day, for 10 days just for that one pair. That’s a combined 160 hours to make just one pair of our reference grade speaker cables.Throughout the process, each cable goes through multiple testing stations to ensure every aspect of the product meets our rigid standards. TARA Labs uses a variety of specialized testing procedures and equipment to ensure that every cable meets our rigid standards. Each cable must pass through a variety of stringent testing stations. Point to Point Signal Continuity using Hewlett Packard and Tektronix spectrum analyzers to ensure that every cable has the correct specifications.The final stage is when each cable is listened to, and evaluated in our sound room using a wide variety of audio components. Product is then packaged and shipped all over the world.

"Dlcockrum,  what have you been considering for vibration control ?"

Hi audiolabyrinth,

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-of-solid-tech-discs-of-silence

Also purchased eden Sound TerraStone footers for the "new to me" MW Sony 5400ES and TerraStone roller bearings to go under the MW power supply and under my preamp.  All should be here Friday.

http://edensoundaudio.com/shop/category/terrastone-footers/

Best to you audiolabyrinth,
Dave

The Zero Evolution Phono



The Zero Evolution Phono-Cable is the epitome of high-end reference quality phono cables. The design and technology used in creating this exceptional cable, is a far cry above any other phono cables that are currently available in today’s marketplace. Extremely low Capacitance as well as exceptional high-frequency extension The Zero Evolution Phono-Cable works very well with all cartridges regardless of voltage. The Zero Evolution also incorporates a “star-ground” system (SGS) with a variety of optional male/female mini-banana connections. This system is unrivalled in that it provides the option of floating or connecting different sections of The Zero GX Phono-Cable shielding system. There are subtle differences to be heard, some of which are caused by slight variations in the shield and grounding arrangements of the cartridge and the tonearm, and the turntable and the phono-preamp. As we all know, the shield/ground formats in the Phono interface are sometimes different enough to create a hum or buzz problem. Using The Zero Evolution Phono Cables’ superb proprietary shielding system, we are able to provide a method of optimizing the shield and ground system for the lowest possible noise floor in this critical component interface. As we all know, the shield/ground formats in the Phono interface are sometimes different enough to create a “hum or buzz” problem. With The Zero Evolution Phono Cables’ proprietary shielding system (SGS), we are able to provide a method of optimizing the shield and ground system for the lowest possible noise floor in this critical component interface.“Master” Gen3 Conductor is: 99.999999% Oxygen-free, mono-crystal, rectangular solid core, hand-polished, frequency-tuned copper conductor.Available termination: RCA, XLR, 5 pin DINHandcrafted in USA and lifetime guaranteedExcellent high-frequency extension & exceptional detailTight bass & full midrangeExtremely revealingImpressive holographic soundstageNeutral & naturalUnparalleled musicality

Why high-frequency extension, capacitance and picofarads go hand in hand regarding:"How much of the music do you really hear?"More Capacitance = More DistortionHF extension or “high-frequency extension” can be described as the frequencies and harmonic structure heard at the sonically extreme levels in music. Part of the frequency/harmonic structure is not even heard but felt in music, through the inner ear bones, the face, the skull and so on. The sonic benefits are not only for cymbals, triangles, brass instruments but for violins which produce frequencies as high as 40 kHz. The high-frequency extension is needed in order to have a more authentic harmonic structure, which enables us to hear leading edge transients and the decay of musical notes. Otherwise the leading edge details of mid-range and bass notes sound dulled. This is also measurable with square waves, where high-frequency attenuation of ultrasonic and audio band frequencies causes distortion known as overshoot and ringing of the square wave.
Part of the reason that TARA Labs interconnects offer the listener more high-frequency extension than any other cables in the world, has to do with our extremely low capacitance (measured in pico-Farads or pF). This remarkable level of achievement has been accomplished through our thirty years of experience in technology & design. Even though this technology exists in all our interconnects, our flagship cables; The Grand Master Evolution interconnects offers a clear example of just how far we have taken this technology. While virtually all of the cable manufacturers in the world claim pF in the double digits, TARA Labs Grand Master Evolution interconnects has a remarkable pF of 2.0. This translates to, as Stereophile’s top reviewer Michael Fremer wrote regarding his review of the Evolution cables, “Limitless high-frequency extension.”
For a more detailed description of the importance of this technology, this can be explained as; For every doubling of the capacitance, the high-frequency bandwidth is reduced by a full octave, thereby high-end audio interconnects in the marketplace manufactured by the most well-known and respected audio cable manufacturers, such as Nordost, Cardas, Stealth, Crystal, Transparent, MIT, Kimber, etc, have capacitance numbers that are typically in the low double digits or slightly lower than 10 pF in their extreme top of the line audio cables. Which again in layman’s terms means; more capacitance equals more high-frequency roll-off and distortion. So for example, if you take 4 pF, double it to 8, double it again to 16 and then double this again to 32, this translates to doubling the capacitance 3 times, which means that each doubling is an octave lost of high frequency. In this example, 3 full octaves of music have been lost or filtered away.
In this particular case, three full octaves of high-frequency extension are lost due to the increased capacitance. More distortion, higher noise floor, loss of high-frequency extension, as well as the nuances that are lost when listening to music at this extreme level of audio technology. Please note the audible frequency spectrum ranges from 20Hz to 20 kHz then the ultrasonic spectrum from 20kHz – 100kHz and then the RF or radio frequency spectrum 100kHz - 300 GHz.
Due to the ultra-low capacitance of the Grand Master Evolution at 2pF, the listener is able to hear more of the music faithfully reproduced, more so than any other high-end reference audio cables in the world.
Below is a comparative list of how TARA labs interconnect audio cables compare in regards to capacitance levels measured in picofarads (pF) to some of the leading and most well-respected audio cable manufacturers in the world. Remember, more capacitance means more distortion.