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  3. 150109-24

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.
128x128b_limo
dustsailor
28 posts
 
b_limo,
How would you describe this cable in comparison with the Audioquest Rocket 44's you previously owned?
decooney
2,116 posts
 

rodman
08-31-2019 3:29pm
Don’t know where the Big Silver Ovals fit, in the current AP food chain, but- mine aren’t going anywhere(unless I win the Lotto). I like them too much.

Rob at AP described the Big Silver as being a unique cable. Also noted it received Absolute Sound's 2018 Editors Choice award, fwiw. Noted as "not having harshness sometimes found in silver cables". The last (other brand) silver-over-copper ICs i tried had a glare, perhaps these don't, never tried them.  Very expensive $. My local dealer sells all versions and he likes the silver ovals quite a bit.    

on AP site:
"Constructed of pure silver over a stabilizing strand of oxygen-free copper, woven into our patented hollow oval geometry in an oval-coaxial configuration."
rodman99999
6,163 posts
 
@decooney - Regarding that purported, ".... harshness sometimes found in silver cables"; I believe silver(especially monocrystalline), being the best conducting metal extant, reveals more of what it’s presented, good or bad. iow: It(the conductor/interconnect/cable) gets blamed for what it’s fed(construction/dielectric are important, of course). The Big Silver Oval is the first conductor I’ve owned, in the past few decades, that isn’t 100% silver. I’ve always enjoyed pristine & extended freq response(because of) and never had any glare/harshness, over those decades(despite) all that silver. If your sources and gain stages are smooth, so will be your presentation. For the price of admission; I don’t believe the performance of the AP BSO can be exceeded. Sounds as though you have ears(and a local dealer), that can be trusted. Happy listening!
decooney
2,116 posts
 
rodman999993,949 posts
09-01-2019 6:04am
..I believe silver(especially monocrystalline), being the best conducting metal extant, reveals more of what it’s presented, good or bad. iow: It(the conductor/interconnect/cable) gets blamed for what it’s fed(construction/dielectric are important, of course)...

Not sure which IC cable AP/Rob was referring to but said they have one with copper mains and a separate 3rd silver lead that gives yet another blend. Agree about source components. And,garbage in, garbage out too. I for one listen to a lot of old imperfect recordings, flaws and all. Playing the same blissful perfectly recorded tracks over too many times drives my wife nuts after testing ends. Back to music. LOL.

For years I ran some of the forgiving Cardas Golden Cross cables to help mask some of these bad recordings (with solid state gear) at a loss of the true sound stage, inner detail, and musicality now heard on some of the higher res remastered recordings. After 40+ years with SS gear (no more), past five years settled on a tube DAC, tube pre, tube mono blocks for part of it, and recently trying the Analysis Plus Crystal Solos between Pre-to-Amp has allowed the truth to come through as-is (good or bad). A nice balance so far. The 16-bit tube "ladder" DAC with the right interconnect cables has been interesting and super helpful too (tunable with tubes too), no longer listening to components and now listening to "music" again. Now the good cables allow one to hear what was always there, just had to let it come through :)



.....
rodman99999
6,163 posts
 
@decooney - "Now the good cables allow one to hear what was always there, just had to let it come through :)" Absolutely! Sounds as though we both value good sound staging. It’s surprising, that even in comparing some of those, "good cables", things can be left behind. ie: After some reading on the Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 7 interconnects, I thought I’d try a pair, to upgrade from Silver Audio Hyacinths(a few years back) . I’d enjoyed those(feeding my main amps), for almost a decade, by then. More defined(I could listen further into the mix), but- my sound stage narrowed, by about 5-6’. Before sending the audition pair back to The Cable Company(to allow further comparison), I ordered Synergistic’s Tesla Apex interconnects(their best, below bank-breaking, then). The same beautiful rendition as the Eclipse pair, BUT- my sound stage was back, in all it’s spaciousness. Ambient information seems some of the easiest, to be misplaced/distorted/destroyed, in any stage of our systems. ps: YEP- gotta love those tubes!
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