Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval 8...OMG!!

Fun some days,maddening other days:-)

BURN-IN HYPE or REAL with AP cables ???

Not sure if I’m having one good or bad day with my ears either, but I could swear maybe these AP cables do tend to burn-in with more time. Is the recommended 300hrs of burn-in time the manufacturer for real, I don’t know, maybe so. They are finally starting to sound a little warmer with another 100hrs on them.

[Disregard] my former post about intermixing my Cardas and AP interconnects to achieve improved softer sound. It changed again... As things settled more past few weeks, I actually had to put the 2nd pair of AP Crystal Solo OCC interconnects back in the system. Its not nearly as lean now. No, its not just a matter of getting use to them. A quick swap back to other cables helps prove the differences and improvements over time.

Its changed enough that I’m going back and retrying different preamp tubes again, and the cables help to further show differences in tubes too.

As long as all gear is fully warmed up 1.5hrs+, the APs sound smoother than first 100hrs.

So decooney and I have been comparing notes and when I seemed to be stuck obsessing over wire he suggested trying different tubes again to banish the last traces of annoying glare.He was right.I needed to add some richnessBefore the AP scs Sofia 6SN7s worked great in my pre but adding them to the amp was way too lush.But as soon as I swapped in one Sofia in the middle with the two remaining Sylvainas flanking it - Damn! Just the slightest hint of glare(because I'm listening for it).Big sigh of relief.I really cannot stand glare or excessive sibilance.Both Ian Anderson and Joan Baez are sounding excellent as opposed to a referee whistle or a shrieking woman.Ok I'm exaggerating but those little things tend to make us audio fools crazy.Changing out wires and tubes for several months to feed the APs the best signal so they will feed the Tektons what they need to produce beautiful music.OCD:-)

Transport to Tubadour- Furutech digital cable
 CableDyne PC, Audio Envy PC,tubes various
LTAMicroZ2- Audio Envy Prestige ic,Audio Envy PC,
Sofia Blue,Sylvania
Aric Audio Transcend amp -AP Crystal Solo ic
CableDyne PC,Sylvania,Sofia Blue,TS KT 150
AP Solo Crystal Oval 8 spc - Tekton Impact Monitors

Thank you b_limo for letting us hijack your thread for our journal.These speaker cables are so good and so revealing,well worth doing a little tweaking upstream.

[Keeping it an all AP cable thread]

Goal and Score >> AP crystal solo Digital Coax in the house! <<

Next / AP Digi Crystal Solo Coax?
After replacing the input tubes on my preamp with smoother ones, further realizing what the AP Crystal Solo interconnect cables can do - i thought to myself [and reading for two more weeks about cables, jitter, and how it’s not just zeroes and ones] "I wondered what more the crystal solo DIGITAL COAX could offer - if anything"? Skeptical but willing.

Results:
Tone and added "texture" is coming through now, like never before. Now detail comes through yet digital glare and top-end harshness is pretty much eliminated. Music kinda just flows now, effortlessly at lower volumes.

How?
Not sure how but it’s as if the weak link (closer to the source, early in the chain) was eliminated and now both pairs of AP Crystal Solo interconnects and now the AP Crystal Solo Coax are all working together as a complete chain end-to-end, source to DAC to preamp to amps. While I cannot explain how or why, it works, well - for whatever reason.

YRMV your results may vary.

I am using a pair of Solo Crystal Oval 8 speaker cables and I have to agree that these cables are just incredible. I’ve been in this crazy audio hobby for at least 40 - years and used many different cable brands, some expensive and some very affordable... This pair makes me very happy and I can only describe the sound as "real". Nothing stands out. The sound is just real and rich with a feeling of reality. BTW, I use them between the Pass 250.8 and Tekton Encore speakers. This might not be the "newest trend" in speaker cables out there but it is a proven design that works.