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

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.

Enjoy!

Formerly messing with silver cables I equated "open" sounding designs with more detailed results too. Its pretty neat how these OCC copper crystal solo cables can be open, larger sound stage, and yet still smooth with detail at the same time. It just works.  

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re: BURN-IN up to ~300HRs
Straight from the horses mouth (the designer with various engineering and physics degrees and patents). He shared this with me today after my inquiry if all AP Crystal IC and Digital and Speaker cables take "300hrs" to burn in. He said this:
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Quote:
"I am sure there must be a difference but just about every reviewer has felt all cables take 300 hours to fully break-in"...

I’m stoked that you all are having similar experiences with these cables!  As funds allow, I’ll be adding more AP solo crystals to my rig!

Thanks for sharing such detailed experiences.  I hope that we are able to sway some others since it seems like we are having similar opinions as to these cables sound signature.  Detailed, natural / real sounding cables.

I recently added a bluesound node 2i and am using Audioquest Diamond Hyperlitz Rca interconnects.  I must admit that it sounds good but is lacking in that natural  tone and timbre.  I’m hoping that the bluesound needs time to burn in and that by changing the powercord and adding some AP Solo Crystal interconnects, I’ll have better tone and texture.  The AQ’s sound open and detailed but also somewhat digital. I’ll report back later when I get the AP’s and upgrade PC!