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High Fidelity Cables CT-1designed by Rick Schultz

In December 2011,I wrote that High Fidelity cables led by cable designer Rick Schultz was putting together a new cable.The cable came to market as CT-1.The CT-1 has FINALLY made it into my system!I had obtained a version of the prototype that Rick had been working on.It blew my previous reference Genesis by Virtual Dynamics.I thought I had finally found my end with this cable.This prototype delivered to my ears "Nirvana".Could I be at the end of my quest for the ultimate sound?
No. I received two pairs of CT-1 to replace my prototypes.They went into the system this past Friday.Unable to dedicate time until Sunday listening,I stole a few moments,ducking away from company with anticipation.My guest could tell even with the music set for"ambiance"something was intriguing and I was in for a treat!
The experience:
First off,CT-1 was very user friendly.Installation was simple;the cable is very nice and light.The female RCA fit beautifully unlike any I had found in other cable.It was secure and reliable.It seemed much thought was dedicated to developing a designer fit to an aesthetically stunning RCA connector.Install entailed a few wiggles to ensure what seemed like a compression fit on my RCA.
It was 2-3 hrs. for the 1st step of break in to be complete.At that point I had something different!Today,although they only have 10-12 hrs. on them,I can`t put into words how much my system has transformed.Believe me,I loved my prototypes.However....there is simply no comparision.
The clarity and sound is so natural.
The soundstage is like nothing I ever heard.Resoulution is breathtaking and inner detail is simply hard to believe possible.
The sound has transended and now it simply does not seem as thought I have speakers.
My system is musicians playing music.
I am told with time they will improve and I trust that as it was revealed with the prototypes.I wanted to share my thoughts with you that now.
Unequivocally,a testament to High Fidelity,as the name declares.
High Fidelity Cables for me,the last word on it,after 12 hours!
Truly Amazing

Al
alpass
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lak
4,646 posts
 
@misterbritt 
Thanks!

misterbritt
22 posts
 
@knghifi I believe that shorter cable runs are more desirable in RCA signal cable, especially phono and speaker. In balanced signal cable I think it is much less so. For instance, I am having HFC make me some 7 meter long balanced Reveal signal cables and I asked them about bang for the buck by adding an additional wave guide and they talked me out of it but said it could be done. They just thought the investment could be better spent elsewhere.

Which brings us to power cables. Yes, I was informed additional wave guides could also be added to power cables. They did not push back from the idea of making a very long run of power cables with regard to compromising the quality of the signal. Indeed, my impression was that a longer power cable run was no problem, but again, a longer RCA (as opposed to balanced) signal cable, as well as speaker cables, could be problematic.

In conclusion, I believe they will indeed add wave guides to RCA signal cables, speaker cables and power cables. I was quoted a price for the additional wave guides but I think it more appropriate for you to give them a call because I am not comfortable quoting custom pricing here. Also, my discussion of pricing was simply for the Reveal line. Call them, they’ll discuss it.

illuminator
59 posts
 

Pete,

The sad part of all of this, and we all do it, is that at $1,000.00 for four MC-0.5 pieces, and you have 28, that's $7,000.00.  It might have gone towards a power cord, but which investment would be the better one?

knghifi
1,668 posts
 
@misterbritt I asked HFC last week and they decided not to offer additional waveguides to Reveal speaker cables.

Reveal connectors are passive, not magnetic, so only difference between Reveal and competition is the magnetic dead weight on the cables.   Like I post earlier, the number of waveguides should be a function to cable length in ALL Reveal cables.    

In HFC, not Reveal line, from what I can tell the only difference between model is size of the magnet.  
misterbritt
22 posts
 
@knghifi Very good on the update. I spoke to them about a month ago so your response is more recent.

Per your second paragraph, my understanding is that the Reveal line does not have magnetic conduction (connections) at the ends. We're in agreement on that. But also one can see that the wave guides are of a different design from the CT-1s and up. I don’t know about the difference specifically, but they are visually different in their egg shape. In fact, I have a pair of Reveal 1.5M speaker cables but I cannot install them logistically until the long run of balance IC is installed.

Per your third paragraph, I think the materials inside the wave guides are better as you go from CT-1 up the line. I think it is more than just the size of the wave guides. Per a review from 6moons:

"High Fidelity Cables declare that their enhanced version [they were reviewing the CT-1 versus the CT-1 Enhanced] sports a different conductive alloy for higher ferromagnetic permeability and hence increased levels of magnetic conduction and performance."
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