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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.
b_limo
decooney
2,358 posts
 
Found the midrange "spike and glare" culprit with my new AP Crystal ICs.

Swapped my new 1.0M (200hrs) pair to my amps, and moved the longer 1.5M pair (400hrs) to my DAC. Fixed. Also the sound stage and voices stepped back a little too, not so forward now, picked up some upper detail (not harsh), with added lower bass weight too. Makes absolutely no sense, but it worked.

Difference?
The only difference between the two pairs is (.5M) length, 200hrs more use on the longer pair and they are one year older.

I did read once on another forum where folks were complaining they were hearing digital glare running too short of RCA ICs with DACs.

Not sure why, but the results were instantaneous for whatever reason... I plan to call Rob at AP to see if they made any changes to types of purity of OCC copper or soldering used as a guess.... both of the same pairs of cables are still in the same signal path, just arranged in a different order now. Strange.





jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,620 posts
 
That is really interesting.I know that a too short digital cable is troublesome,but ics too?Every little thing really does matter even if it shouldn't.I'll be interested to hear what Rob says.I'm still waiting impatiently to demo other cables.The last piece of the puzzle I think.
decooney
2,358 posts
 
@jtcf 761 posts
11-09-2019 10:09pm
That is really interesting.I know that a too short digital cable is troublesome,but ics too?Every little thing really does matter even if it shouldn't.I'll be interested to hear what Rob says.I'm still waiting impatiently to demo other cables.The last piece of the puzzle I think.

It might be more believable if there was a difference in version or connector types or different type internal wire used, but these are the same version cables and visually in every way, just 1.0M vs. 1.5M and slight age/use difference - that's it.  My buddy ended up with a 2.0M pair of AP Crystal IC in a used system he purchased at an audio show.  I remember the MFG factory guy just saying the liked the longer ICs better in that particular all tube system.  While I've read it written many times over the years,  many note "use longer ICs" and "shorter speaker cables", perhaps some truth to this with digital source components. It's extra noticeable on more inferior recordings played via high resolution streaming services through my tube DAC. Yes, tried many different tubes in my DAC, different preamp tubes, and nothing rid that upper midrange glare.  Then swapping the 1.0M and 1.5M IC placement did at the DAC.  Kinda having a hard time wrapping my mind around this one. 
jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,620 posts
 
Well here's my latest adventure.I've been trying this and that attempting to "feed" this system exactly the right combo of signals that will help it perform at it's best:-).Today it all fell together and I feel I'm 98%of the way there.It's leaning just a bit to the lean side,but is so transparent,detailed,and layered.Right now dac and pre are fed by Audio Envy Ocean Elite pcs.Transport and amp have CableDyne pcs.Ics are Audio Envy Prestige.The AE cables work much better together and compliment each other's strengths,and I know this after trying many configurations.The ics are all about the midrange and the pcs bring the high frequencies,bass,and dynamics.The Gabriel Gold Revelation digital cable.
The last piece of the puzzle was moving the High Fidelity MC-O.5 from the power conditioner to the duplex plug.Bam!The Analysis Plus scs in turn are sending beautiful music to the Tektons.Now to add just a drop of warmth by adding or subtracting just one thing.....
A tube,more HF power conditioning,one of the ZenWaves(still waiting).
decooney
2,358 posts
 
re: DIGITAL COAX RCA cable: ???
Some people praise this change while other's may not.  

REQUEST: 
Has anyone here tried or using the Analysis Plus Crystal Solo [DIGITAL COAX] cable in 1.0M or 1.5M in your rig?  Any notable difference? 
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