Did the OP get kicked off the forum, or was he just performing for us?
+1 Thyname & Soix
Cable curmudgeon
I'm not an 'audiophile" but I like to think I have a good ear having been a professional musician (principal wind player in major symphony orchestras) for 50 years. A number of years ago going into an excellent audio equipment store I talked with, what seemed, a knowledgeable salesman. Being a musician experienced in audio systems but not expert on all the equipment out there I had some questions concerning high (over-priced?) end cables. The salesman assured there was an audible differencet in a demo room switching back and forth etc. After a few minutes I noticed the sound coming out of only one channel. He complemented me on my "good ear." Hmmm? A few years later when setting up my home system I investigated speaker cables. Two sets of Monster, stranded standard cable, solid core copper (used for alarm system) attached with like connecters. There was a difference. However, not in terms of better or worse: bass and treble were acceptable as was clarity loud and soft. Differences were esthetic- like asking "whose the best tenor" (I like Plácido). Now I know as a musician used to live (i.e. un-amplified) music that all I hear coming out of a loud speaker is perforce ersatz. But most everything today comes out of a loud speaker whether a rock concert or a hi-fi system so perhaps my opinion is curmudgeonly. But, for me, spending oodles of money on hyped cables, well... I liked the solid core for my alarm system- still do.
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Actually, the relationship between the 'bass' and the ear's 2-5kHz most sensitive region. Cables have almost zero effect below 100Hz. And probably just for your LS [type]. Nordost's can be a nasty load for some power amplifiers which can have any number of audible consequences. |
Thank you for your very thoughtful response to my comments regarding cables. I have not tried Nordost yet-- but I will go over to their site and start doing some reading. I don’t trust my first reactions to an equipment change unless the change is huge and obvious (something say, my wife would also notice), but I do believe that subtler differences will reveal themselves over time once I’ve had a chance to listen to a lot of different music. For me this is usually weeks or months. I do believe that analog chains are sensitive to more variables than I am probably even aware of, and that the mix of gear and the quality of the power driving it make a huge difference in sound quality. My main point is always the same. If you are not happy with the sound, first try improving the room acoustics as much as you can. Then, for vinyl in my case, look to the phono cartridge as that’s at the beginning of the chain, and there are real and obvious differences between cartridges. Then the phono preamp. Assuming you have good amps and preamps, look to the speakers and their positioning. Ultimately, once you hit a certain level of quality, have enough power to drive your speakers, etc., after getting all of that out of the way, then sure, play with some cables. My only point about cables is that price does not equal quality beyond a certain point-- what I have noticed are differences, like you might notice between some quality wines of the same varietal. They don’t just keep getting better and better as you spend more and more per bottle. You clearly know your system, and you hear what you hear-- and in your case you like what you’re hearing from the Nordost cables. Many people have told me the same thing, so I might give them a try-- from turntable to phono preamp, from there to preamp, and from there to the amp. That’s a complete circuit and over time the changes will reveal themselves to me usually. I’m overall pretty happy with my system. The next major change I want to try is to buy a Primaluna tube amp and see how I like that sound. I’ve been on solid state for a very long time now, and I’m curious about how tube output will sound on my Genesis III’s. Thanks again for taking the time to write what I consider to be a kind and useful reply, absent the usual insults, quips, and cultish dismissals.
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