James…if those XLRs are new, my recommendation would be to give them a minimum of 200hrs of signal/play time. If you ran them for a week 24/7, they’re not done cooking yet. Keep them in and give em 40-50hrs more. If they don’t work for you then, move on. I think you may have potentially rushes to judge them.
Cable upgrades
Happy Holidays to all!
I’m reconfiguring my system and am interested in upgrading my interconnects and possibly my speaker cables, and I was wondering if you could make some recommendations.
I was running Audio Sensibility Impact SE XLR between my Benchmark DAC3 HGC (as a DAC/pre) and my Benchmark AHB2 power amp. The amp is running bi-wired Kimber Cable 8TC (I think that’s the model #) to a pair of ATC SCM40 tower speakers. In this setup the bass is tight and the mids are clean - overall I’m quite happy - but sometimes I feel, for my ears, I’d love a bit more openness / brightness in the higher end.
My questions are: would improved XLR interconnects help to open up the top end a bit, without being harsh, and perhaps increase the dimensionality of the soundstage? Or would I be better off starting with upgrading the speaker cables? I’ve been looking at the Cardas Parsec level of cable, and could perhaps stretch to the Clear line, pending your recommendations.
Also, one other question: pending the possible move to 2 AHB2s (in mono-block configuration), do both XLR interconnects have to be the same length? If not, would it cause any timing issues between, say, a 2' XLR and a 6'?
I’d appreciate any guidance. Many thanks in advance.
Best, JAMES
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Hi @audphile1 Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I believe the Golden Reference cables are previous gen Cardas cables, and as such, this pair has had two owners before me. So I didn’t think burn-in would change their signature much. That said, I wondered if they would benefit from a running in period, so that’s why I gave them a week trial. Maybe it wasn’t enough? (I’d say, to my ears, they improved slightly during the week, but the lower bass was still substantially attenuated) When I switched back to the Audio Sensibility cables, they just sounded ‘complete’ to me. It was the opposite of my expectations. And it would have been much easier to return the AS cables, as they come with a 30-day return policy. I learned a few valuable lessons in the process, though. Switching the two sets of cables gave me a fresh perspective, helping me properly judge the effect of the change on my system. And I also learned that I don’t want to pursue gear that I can’t evaluate in some fashion before purchase. Best, JAMES |
OP,
I am familiar with Cardas Golden Reference. The odd thing is, your description of the sonic effect is completely contrary to what they sound like… by design and observation. Is it possible they were counterfeit? They are extremely warm cables that emphasize the bass and midrange, easily attenuating the high frequencies.
While some cables are highly dependent on the components… some cables… like these have a very definite sound… from their materials and construction. I am really puzzled. |
Yes Cardas are warm and bassy. If the cables were not in use for few months, I’d say it’s possible that they need more time. But it’s unlikely that the lower bass will all of a sudden show up. I thought they were new. |
@ghdprentice I wondered the same thing, as this was certainly not the sonic effect I was expecting. The seller was a reputable Canuck Audio Mart member, but he may have not known if they were legit or not. The lettering on the cables has all but disappeared, except for the stencil on the XLR sheaths. I've read on the Cardas site that the only way to know if it's counterfeit is to cut the cable open to check the internals. That's an exercise I'm probably not going to attempt at this point. @audphile1 Thanks for your suggestion, but the DAC jumpers have been properly set for output matching going directly to the AHB2, as per the manual; and have been this way since initial setup. And yes, the lower bass didn't appear over the course of a week of running in, so I doubt that more hours would make a difference. It's definitely a steep part of my learning curve, thus my reticence to purchase without demo, going forward. Best, JAMES.
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