Sakura Systems OTA Cable Kit

Dave,

Thanks for the info. After running the Purist Audio Design system break-in CD to one of my speakers for 40 hours or so with the entire 50 meters of Ota wire as the positive leg of the speaker cable, I went ahead and created speaker cables and interconnects. By the way, a 50-meter long speaker cable sounds awful, as you might expect! But cut into more reasonable lengths (about 10 feet long going from my EDGE solid-state amp to the woofers and 2 feet long from my Kora tube monoblocks to the mid and tweeter) the sound is already wonderful. The presentation is far more open, detailed and relaxing than the Tice cables I was using before. I changed the preamp to amp interconnects over to the Ota wire at the same time, so I'm sure that some of the improvement is due to the interconnects as well. I'm running out of the RCA plugs so I'll need to purchase more to complete the change-over.

Who would think that such a wimpy-looking wire (it hardly seems right to call it a cable) could produce such delight relative to the more impressive-looking stuff that is out there! What a find!

Hi OTA owners. I bought the OTA kit about six weeks ago and have been enjoying the cables since. I have three questions though.

I've found initial impressions good, certainly for the price. However, I still find that my old set up of Nordost SPM interconnects (RCA) and FIM Gold speaker cables were far better. I found the soundsage fuller, greater seperation of instruments and more transparency with my old cable set-up. This is not to say OTA has not been a great purchase - it's at least excellent value for the price compared to my old cable set-up. What I'm wondering is whether the cables will get that much better as they burn-in, compared to what I'm hearing now. I guess my OTA set curretnly has about 70 hours or so on them so far. I know for some people the cable search has ended with OTA - I can't say I feel that way just yet.

Also, I find that recently I'm hearing some noise from my system that wasn't there before. I turned my preamp and source off and the noise is still there - so I guess it's isolated to amps and possibly from the OTA speaker cables. I also find that the noise is only there in the evening. So, my second question is whether other OTA users have experienced anything similar. It could be because I recently sold my PS Audio 300 Powerplant and maybe the noise appeared after it's absense, so OTA's not to fault, or something else happened with the power in my house.

Finally, does it matter if the positive and negative sections of one channel of an OTA interconnect are an inch or so longer/shorter than their respective positive or negative counterpart? I've had to recut a couple of interconnects a couple of times, so part of the interconnect is a little longer than the other, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I'd welcome any insights on OTA related noise issues, whether the cables really do shine given more burn-in and any potential issues with slight length differences for a given interconnect. I can be patient on the burn-in - I am just curious about other folks' experience. Thanks folks. By the way my system is as follows:
YBA CD1a Blue Laser CD Player (with 2 YBA diamond PCs)
Sonic Frontiers Line 3 Preamp (Shunyata Sidewinder PC)
Blue Circle BC2 Hybrid mono amps (Shunyata Sidewinder PCs)
Audio Physic Virgo II Speakers.
All cables are OTA.

Thanks!

...does it matter if the positive and negative sections of one channel of an OTA interconnect are an inch or so longer/shorter than their respective positive or negative counterpart?

*I* don't think it matters and I don't think it's possible to get them the exact same length. As long as you keep it close, everything should be okay.

I have found OTA cables to be as quiet or more quiet than shielded cables. I also found them merely promising early on, but am surprised you are not noticing the superior pacing of the OTA as this is present throughout burn in. I certainly found them superior to SPM, but have not tried FIM Gold. If you remain unimpressed, I suggest you put your old interconnects back in first. The OTA as a speaker cable is much more difficult to beat.

The significant noise/buzz I was hearing with the OTA has dissipated as I've located the issue - the TV cable connection to my system via VCR to Preamp - a typical problem I guess. Anyway, now things are sounding far quieter. What got me confused was that when I swapped in Nordost SPM from pre to power in place of the OTA there was no noise/buzz. With the OTA back in place, the sound reappeared. I guess some cables like OTA may be more sensitive to such noise. Anyway, problem essentially solved now. Also, the cables are showing additional promise - fingers crossed they'll continue to improve. I wish I still had my FIM speaker cable so I could compare. The FIM really was so good.