My no name in wall speaker cable that i bought in a 500ft roll sounds insane so i can only imagine what something with a name that long is trying to claim.
Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval 8...OMG!!
I seriously can’t believe what these cables are doing to the sound in my rig. I had them awhile ago and couldn’t justify the price (used) so I pulled back and returned them. I grabbed them again yesterday since my local stereo shop still had them hanging there.
Well let me say that I’ve always been a believer in cables making changes to the sound because I can hear it but I’ve never had speaker cables that changed the sound as dramatically as this. The way it’s untangling the music, the way its making everything sound real, the way it’s full top to bottom without any harshness is pretty crazy.
This is on a system that isn’t highly resolving yet all of these differences are completely noticeable. I’m not talking about a little more resolution here, a little more top end sparkle there, fuller bass here... I’m talking about did I just get a different amp, this can’t be the same dac, these can’t be the same speakers, kind of changes.
I’ve had this sound in my systems before but that was with higher end gear for sure... it makes me wonder how much I was leaving on the table without these cables in my rig at that time.
Have any of you had similar experiences with the Solo Crystal 8’s as well? I’m thinking that these are end game cables for me.
Well let me say that I’ve always been a believer in cables making changes to the sound because I can hear it but I’ve never had speaker cables that changed the sound as dramatically as this. The way it’s untangling the music, the way its making everything sound real, the way it’s full top to bottom without any harshness is pretty crazy.
This is on a system that isn’t highly resolving yet all of these differences are completely noticeable. I’m not talking about a little more resolution here, a little more top end sparkle there, fuller bass here... I’m talking about did I just get a different amp, this can’t be the same dac, these can’t be the same speakers, kind of changes.
I’ve had this sound in my systems before but that was with higher end gear for sure... it makes me wonder how much I was leaving on the table without these cables in my rig at that time.
Have any of you had similar experiences with the Solo Crystal 8’s as well? I’m thinking that these are end game cables for me.
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- 107 posts total
Yes. SAME HERE, exactly. Funny. I came full circle too, long reply if interested. Took a while to find an approach. :) All system dependent of course but there is a DIFFERENT SOUND to the AP cables too up and down the lower line too. I tried the AP Crystal Solos a while back, thought "too much $" for Solos, and returned them - just like you. Four months later sold some unused gear, tried various combos of my Cardas Parsec (nice, copper), in combination with my Apature JJ (silver-over-copper) interconnects. Had many pairs of Cardas too over the years (MicroTwin, Hexlink, Golden Cross, Belden 8402, AQ), now own Parsec, tried Clear Cygnus recently), li synergy with current system when streaming with ladder DAC in lossless. Just could not get it right when doubling up on the two pairs of Parsec (DAC-to-Pre) and (Pre-to-Mono-Amps) was too much of a good thing, too rolled off, loss of sound stage and depth. I kept going back and pulling one pair of Parsec (nice for $) and re-inserting my Apature JJ with silver-over-copper between pre-to-amp (tad too much detail or glare, more forward) and loss of sound stage I suspected. I run tube amps and so with lots of NOS front-end tubes could not regain the depth of stage I was use to over decade. "Had to be my cables", and sure enough. Spoke to Tech Rob at AP. He explained more about he Crystal Solo, yes they are copper "different extrusion process". GO BACK and TRY IT AGAIN!, dealer demo: 1) AP Copper Oval-In MiCRO interconnects (1M) inserted (test #1)
2) AP Solo Crystal Oval interconnects (1M) inserted (test #2)
Decision: Returned AP Copper Ovals (nice, musical, smooth, more veiled over), and bought the Crystal Solos (more open, bigger sound stage, more resolving) and giving them more time to settle in. Other Info: These AP cables provide a different tone and approach than any of my former Cardas. And, mixing is an option, so i am. Works well. Some say stay with like cables, I don't believe that any more. Each component has it's own internal wiring, and so I've learned to just try different ICs to figure out does/not work well. Final Solution: Hybrid, mixed my Cardas on the front-end with AP on back-end between amp to preamp and now I’m getting a unique sound, Nice, not too detailed and not too milky smooth. Just about right for my system, amps, speakers, fine tune achieved. No more tube rolling! Done :) |
stringreen5,363 posts For sure, and all Cardas sound different too. I've actually demo'd and owned a lot more Cardas than listed. Older series, Golden and Clear are very different lines. Some amazing cables with the right system (solid state or tube). Like you said, all "system dependent". What electronics are you running and what Cardas did you own/try? |
- 107 posts total