2. cables
  3. 178441-126

Preferences and system dependent

I want to share my recent experience with different speaker cables in my system. My comments must be taken in the context of my system/room and my preferences. I'm not saying cable X is better than cable Y. I'm simply describing what I heard in my system. In the past two weeks I've been able to compare Nordost Odin 1, Audience Frontrow, and Shunyata Alpha v2 speakers cables to Clarus Crimson in my system.

Nordost Odin 1- My initial thoughts were wow...great detail across the audio spectrum. The next day I listened for a couple of hours and I felt fatigued, what I initially loved ended up being too much of a good thing in my system.

Audience FrontRow - Had the best 3-dimensional soundstage of all of the cables. Lead singers were pushed in front of my speakers, which gave the illusion of a deeper soundstage. Ultimately everything sounded too mellow and bass articulation was soft compared to the other cables. My wife described the FrontRows as mellow/boring.

Shunyata Alpha v2- They are much better than I remember the Alpha and Sigma series 1 being. Comparing them to the Crimsons were more about trade-offs. Soundstage width and detail was equal across the audio spectrum. My wife thought the Alpha's portrayed voices slightly more naturally, but at the same time said, " voices sound more live with the Crimsons". The most significant difference was the Crimsons produced deeper and more articulate bass.

Please note I'm not talking night and day differences. I am talking about differences that are easily heard when changing cables.

ricred1
ghdprentice
7,647 posts
 

OP,

 

Thanks for sharing. Great to hear your feedback in your system.

 

I was privileged to have a pair of Nordost Odin 2 in my system for a couple weeks. They were sublime. Clearly what you hear will be highly dependent on your equipment. In my system they added a layer of detail without a bit of fatigue or noise. They were very complementary… I had to pull them out because I really couldn’t afford to buy them and I was really starting to like them a lot. But they completely amazed me as to what is possible.

Post removed 
ricred1 OP
2,071 posts
 

ghdprentice,

Thanks for your comments. "Clearly what you hear will be highly dependent on your equipment." I agree and that's why I titled the thread preferences and system dependent. When Luis was setting up my speakers, a client of his came to my house to return the Odin 1's he had on loan. He decided to keep his Tara Labs speaker cables and Luis told him he could dropped them off at my house, in lieu of shipping them to Houston. After Luis was done setting up my speakers, he wanted me to hear the Odins in my system. My initial thoughts were wow! After a couple of days I thought they were fatiguing, but the differences inspired me to listen to several other speaker cables. 

My other point is there are no absolutes. Components(including cables) will sound different depending on the the system. There isn't a cable/component that is the best or will work in every system. I could hear the Odin 2 speaker cables and come to the same conclusion as you.

More to discover