Transparent Phono Cable

Ed, please come back with your impressions of the XV-1s in regards to all of the music genres that you listen to. I've heard this cartridge with some classic rock and jazz, which is not supposed to be it's best application if you listen to some. I'm curious to hear from you if your impressions come close to my own in this regard.

I'm guessing that the IC-70 does not come with the Phantom since that has not been the packaging model used by Graham in the past. It's a very good cable, but I agree with the suggestion of getting as many cables as you can to listen for yourself. It would be even better if all of the samples have enough hours on them so that you're hearing what they sound like after breaking in. For example, I know that Venustas (and the Ic-70 for that matter) don't sound all that great until they get several hundred hours on them and I'm betting that is true for all cables.

Have fun!

Dan

Dan,

Please say it ain't so! Several hundred hours? That's like 500 to 700 hours. By the time I break in and listen to half a dozen cables it will be time to retip the cartridge!!!

BTW, my two SRA Craz Reference isoRACKS arrived today. I ordered them 31/2 months ago. I was very excited until I discovered that we cannot get them out of the crates. In the heat and humidity, the crates apparently swelled and the Craz will not budge no matter how we tug on it. We even turned the crate upside down with the top lid off and shook and shook it (it weighs 200 lbs so this is not child's play) The Craz did not budge a millimeter!!

So I moved one of them into the house and I'll have to let it sit in the A/C long enough for the swelling to do down.

Ed

"Don't sound great until they get several hundred hours on them"........

This is my rational,as to why I simply cannot believe the average(even fairly obsessed)hobbyist is simply NOT going to bother checking out more than one or two cables.Yes,we can try to do some homework,like getting as much design info as possible(I do this,alot).Maybe post a thread,questioning a cable's performance,in another hobbyist's set-up.Better yet,try to get feedback from friends.Plenty of us finally succumb to the "GREAT DEAL SYNDROME"(especially if said cable/component is expensively priced).There's always the "review",but alot of reviews are "make nice,I may want a permanent loaner some day"!
So,this leaves little,by way of options,other than use a little common sense,and make a few "choice" phone calls.
This hobby can be tough,when it comes to pushing the envelope.NO??
Best!

Yikes! Not to redirect your thread too far - I'm eager to hear your impressions of the SRA racks once they are dehumidified, deboxed and settled-in. My 'next stuff' wishlist includes a pair of Ohio-class bases for my amps. Impressions from ears I trust say Kevin's isolators are the real deal. Good luck unpacking.

Tim

Well, I was thinking more like 200 to 300 hours but agree that this is still a long time. At least that has been my experience with speaker and IC Venustas cables. Given the low level signal passing through a phono cable I would expect this cable to take a long time as well. But I don't have direct experience with the Purist phono cables. It is possible to get an idea of what a cable may sound like when it is broken in, but some change dramatically for the better after 100 hours or so. If you were to hear such a cable right out of the box it may sound like nothing you would ever want to invest in. Ain't it fun! On the bright side, it seems that most all of these high end, well regarded cables sound great. Different, but great. So one is bound to get something they can live with. Of course the trick is to find the one that sounds best to you in your system. That is like searching for the Holy Grail.

Ed, if you have the room, and patience, try to save the crates. You just never know when you might want to transport or ship them.