Sakura Systems OTA Cable Kit

Just like to add my experience with Sakura cable. I've obtained the best sound by running the .4 cable on the positive/hot and .6 on the negative/return, both single stranded. Some of you are aware that there are two 47 Labs cables, one that is slightly thicker than the other.

A friend of mine, while in Japan went over to Junji Kimura's (designer/builder of all the 47 Labs gear) house and listened to his setup. While there Mr. Kimura told him that he prefers not to use multiple strands of cable. (Even on his power cords!) Mr. Kimura said that multiple strands break the signal up which affects the "timing relationships" in the music. I'm not sure if this is exactly what he meant because, even though my friend speaks fluent Japanese, true meanings get lost in translations.

Palmnell, I would have fully broken-in the OTA cable before installing it in the turntable pick-up arm. There is an inverse relation between signal voltage and break-in time. With your turntable cartridge outputting signals in the millivolt region (as opposed to the 2 Volt signal from a CD player), you can expect a far longer break-in period for the turntable pick-up cable than 150 - 180 hours.
I still have not taken my first OTA off of the CD player/STAX unit, although it has more than 300 hours on it. First, because I still hear changes in it. Second, because it is the most enjoyable cable I have used with the STAX earspeaker unit. The quick speed of the OTA cable combined with that of the electrostatic driver makes transients flash at a dizzying rate.
I am starting to think that the inspiration behind this cable proceeds from a certain exaggeration (I mean this benignly, and explain myself in what follows): in general, music--and the whole world of high end audio--would be a pitiable excitation without that rapture that dilates sounds until they burst. With OTA I now hear the attacks of instruments clearly and the timing relations perfectly organized. With most other cables, the sounds encroach upon one another, as though none could attain the equivalent of an inner dilation: there is a kind of hernia of sounds in most other cables by comparison to the transcendent rupture in OTA, which miraculously raises recordings to the heart's altitudes as well. At this point, here is the question OTA has raised for me: are not the truths of musical beauty fed on exaggerations, demiurgical divagations of sound? Has electronic minimalism ever been more effectively combined with ecstasy? A tiny cable, the wellspring of tears! such is the enigma of 47 Labs and the secret of musical art. Sonic trifles swollen to the heavens, the improbable, generator of a universe! 47 Labs/Sakura Systems/Konus Audio are geniuses.

Slawney, that's beautiful writing, if I may say so. BTW, another one (me) ready to take the 47 trip -- although I have "officially" put cables behind me... (with a set of modestly priced Bearlabs).

"demiurgical divagations"?? Where the hell is that OED...and the magnifying glass?!

Slawney,

Would that I could have contained my unbridled passion for this cable and waited for the full blooming of its beauty.
Alas, impatience and a licentious desire for detail overcame me and in a moment (actually about 20 minutes) of vinyl weakness I made and installed the arm cables.

I knew that break in would take a lot longer than the IC's and the speaker cables. As you say we are dealing with .28mV
instead of 2 volts. But from the moment I fired up the turntable I knew I had made the right decision.

Compared to the standard Linn Ittok cable the OTA is an aural laxative. Detail floods down those tiny hoses. Sometimes it's too much detail at once, producing an overwhelming and slightly confused picture. I have faith that things will sort themselves out eventually. Although a friend who doesn't fully believe in cable break-in thinks I'm suffering from recto-cranial inversion.

This unchecked "wall of sound" is confirmed on my Stax SR5 phones. It occurs mainly when the source material either contains numerous instruments or doesn't have a well-defined mix. Small jazz ensembles, acoustic music and spaciously mixed records now have almost a holographic presentation and exquisite detail partcularly in distant cymbals. Bass has gained in extension and solidity. There's even more space between instruments. The drum kit on a lot of LP's is now on the patio, six feet behind the speakers.

The ride may be bumpy for the next 200 hours. 1600 hours if your inverse law happens to be correct. I really can't believe it will take that long though. But from the first 15 seconds I was sold again. This cable has what it takes to make me abandon any further search. How do you follow the sound of nothing ?