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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
decooney
1,988 posts
 
Analysis Plus"Crystal OCC":

16 months later, the AP Crystal Solo RCA interconnects definitely smoothed out and filled out. A very long settling in period. Patience is absolutely required for these.

Former founder/owner Mark Markel of Analysis Plus (now passed on) was spot on. He told me it would take 200-300hrs to finally settle. Recently compared to other very well known IC cables at 3x the price since too, keeping the AP Crystals!

Can hear things waaaay out there, at LOW volume too. Top end is there, smooth, no loss of detail, and bottom end really starts coming in after long burn in time. Thanks to Mark up there, wherever you are. :)
b4icu's avatar
b4icu
558 posts
 
The sweet secret is in the cross section: 4 times #11 AWG = 1 times #5 AWG.
But it is just part of the story. the other part is:
1. Your Amp's DF figure
2. The length.
I made a pair of 3m long, #0 AWG cable set for $1,000 US.
Their price is a bit sharp (for new).
However, pass me the missing data and I'll tell you what AWG is required.
Yes, speaker cables do make a difference. The big once, are mostly due to very poor choices of picking the previous one.

decooney
1,988 posts
 
FYI, we are referring more so to the Crystal copper "OCC" version of the Analysis Plus speaker cables and interconnect cables and digital coax cables in OCC. OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) in the AP patented "Oval" design. In comparison to prior OFC cables. 

https://satinaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/satin-occ-ofc.jpg
b_limo's avatar
b_limo OP
2,274 posts
 
@decooney , good to hear that you still have them and still like them! I almost sold mine just to get an 8 foot pair instead of 6 feet. I’ve also considered trying the big silver ovals but haven’t done so yet.

I did get some solo crystal xlr cables but my current amp doesn’t have xlr input. The nice thing about Analysis Plus is you can send any of your cables in and get them reterminated. I’m going to get my 2.0m pair of xlr’s converted to a 1.0m xlr and a 1.0m rca.
Anyhow, yeah, these cables are awesome. My system has gotten leaps and bounds better since I posted this and the AP solo crystals aren’t going anywhere.
decooney
1,988 posts
 
@b_limo
The big silver ovals result in more upper end detail. I had silvers in another brand before going back to AP OCC copper "Crystal RCA interconnects fwiw.

For grins, every once in a while I’ll swap back to other various OFC copper ICs in higher grades of other brands (on demo-loan) and OFC have grain, not as smooth, not as expansive in the sound stage as the OCC copper crystals. Also, noticed once they sat in place for a while the OCC Crystals seem to have an element of lower micro dynamics in the bass region. It’s very noticeable when using the tube mono block amplifiers too. If I swap back to OFC, that ultra low bass register tends to disappear. An added benefit I was not expecting with AP oval design OCC Crystal copper interconnects  

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