Well, seems like my curiosity wasn't quite satisfied after trying the Cardas ic.I ordered an Odin Gold II ic from the Pureffair store on AliExpress. It's been in the system playing all afternoon and I'm very very impressed already. What has changed is there's a pleasant bit of warmth without rolling off the highs or turning the bass to mush.The leading edges are softened just the slightest bit.It's a great match with the other Voodoo (silver) ics which lean towards the cool side and are wonderfully detailed. I'm already getting curious about the speaker cables.How would they fare against Voodoo scs and my current ZenWaves.I don't like that the name Odin is being used.At least they could spell it differently,Oodin or something. Maybe I can engrave made in China on the wood blocks.
Revisiting Chinese Knockoff Cables
Why I don/t know, but the first thread has been removed recently. So, having benefited from it greatly, I felt compelled to recap my journey, so that others of limited budgets might make a huge leap that they otherwise could not afford:
When I first got my EVS 1200 I was using Series 8 WireWorld interconnects, speaker cables and Pangea Premier XL 1.5m coax cable. As you mentioned, I was extremely happy with the amp (compared to PS Audio M700s). Eventually I came across the Chinese Cable knockoff thread and first tried the fau-Nordost Odin 1.5m coax which was/is amazing: as they were so cheap compared to the $169 1.5m Pangea, I also bought a 1.0M Odin, but didn’t try it until after I replaced both the WW cables with Odin 2 XLRs and cables. Then I replaced the 1.5m with the 1.0 and was kinda blown away that 0.5m of the same coax could be THAT much better.
While my all SS system sounded very good, it was a bit too sharp, so I ordered Odin Gold speaker cables (at ~ $170/2.5m). Unfortunately one leg must of had a bad solder joint as it barely sent the music . It took a couple months before they replaced it, which I finally installed 2 days ago: BAM. Even immediately, but of course it needs break in time. The weather here (Ft Lauderdale) has been really bad, I have only left for short quick trips. Today we are under a tornado watch, so won't leave, but as soon as I can get out for a few hours I will put on my XLO burn-in disc, which I use on everything I insert, including the M 700s, EVS, and Voyager which expedites break in, which still takes a good 50-100-200 hours!
Summing this up: cables can/do make or break a system. If I had these cables when I first got the EVS, I probably would never have gotten the Voyager, which of course I am itching to compare again, but could still be awhile
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- 138 posts total
- 138 posts total