2. analog
  3. 1153774480

Transparent Phono Cable

I have upgraded my analog system to an SME 20/2 with Graham Phantom. Cartridge short list is down to Dynavector XV1S or Zyx Universe.

The rest of the chain in the system is Ayre K-1xe preamp with phono stage, Levinson 20.5 mono blocks, Wilson Sophia 1s. The existing cables are current Transparent Reference from preamp to amps & current Transparent Ultra speaker cable.

Music runs the gamut from classical to jazz, rock, pop & folk.

Should I be consistent and go for Transparent phono cable or consider a different brand?
cipherjuris
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
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.
cello
645 posts
 
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Ed,
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Tonearm cables do take an extraordinarily long time to fully break in (buying a used cable is not a bad idea from that perspective). The low microvolt current running through the cable makes for some long break-in hours and as you pointed out, who wants to use up valuable cartridge hours on break-in.
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I have had dramatic success/results with my Audiodharma Cable Cooker that I bought from Allan Kafton at Audioexcellence.
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It works on power cords, IC's, speaker cables as well as Tonearm cables. Allan makes a Tonearm cable adapterthat you can buy that allows one to hook up from the cartridge clips and cook the cable from the clips all the way through din and or RCA's through to the termination that goes into the Phono stage.
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I had over 100 hours on my Graham IC-70 tonearm cable and was floored in the sound after I cooked the tonearm cable for about 30 hours. The Cable Cooker is not cheap, but one of the best investments I have made in audio.
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Alan claims that his Cable Cooker will break in a tonearm cable better than any amount of hours of regular use due. It also works on arms like Tri-Planar and Schroder that provide a continuous wire from tonearm clips to Phono Stage.
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Rgds,
Larry
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cipherjuris OP
145 posts
 
Many thanks, Larry, for cluing me in to the Cable Cooker. It sounds like an indispensable piece of gear.

Tim, the SRA Craz racks are definitely the real deal. Instantly transformed my system into a world class sounding system. I think there may be more going on than just the lowering of the noise floor. It certainly did that and my wife and I hear much more low level detail than ever before. For example, on most CDs (still don't have my tonearm yet, but Bob Graham emailed me yesterday that he shipped it yesterday) we can hear the singer take a breath. Also, music is more satisfying and relaxing than ever. Imaging improved noticeably. But most amazing is that musical notes are extended and seem to have their full natural decay.

My Lamm M1.2 mono blocks arrived Thursday and I love them, but the Craz made a bigger difference in the system than the difference between my 16-year old Levinson 20.5s and the Lamm M1.2s.

I am having some difficulty with SRA over the dimensions of the Craz and I'll have more about that later.
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