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Sakura Systems OTA Cable Kit

Has anyone tried this "minimalist" cable kit? After receiving a recommendation from someone with similar musical values to myself, and whose ears I trust, I could not resist ordering one. I will report on how they sound in a few weeks, but am interested in others' opinions too.

For those that have not heard about them look at www.sakurasystems.com for an interesting read. The cable sounds as if it is very close to the specification of the conductors in Belden Cat5. So I may have spent around 100 times what the kit is worth. We shall see.

If you have not heard this cable, please don't bother posting your opinions of how it MUST sound here. Nor am I that interested in hearing how stupid I must be to order this kit - it's my money and you are free to make different decisions with yours. Sorry for this condition, but I am bored with those that have nothing positive to offer on this site, and post their opinions based on deductive logic rather than actual experience.
redkiwi
redkiwi OP
1,092 posts
 
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.
outlier's avatar
outlier
381 posts
 
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.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,632 posts
 
Outlier: Ask Brulee. LOL. He replaced FIM with the OTA.
outlier's avatar
outlier
381 posts
 
Dekay: I know - Brulee introduced me to the OTA. Still, I have fond memories of the FIM - just my experience/impression that the FIM had something special I'm not quite getting (yet) with the OTA. It's still getting better though. Also, the recent removal of my PS300 may have had a key role to play in the recent loss of that 'something'. I hope to get a Hydra at some stage soon, so that may put my system back in gear.
bwhite
807 posts
 
Hi Outlier - After 500 hours with OTA, I ended up going back to some very high end interconnects. While the OTA is good and even spectacular for its price (based on the cost of $600 to wire an entire system - not the material cost) I ultimately felt that the emotion of the music vanished when the OTA entered my system. I guess that OTA working a miracle for me was wishfull thinking. When I built my system, I purchased and tested countless interconnects - after about 6 months of testing/trial/error, I managed to find the right match and thus obtained a sonic flavor that I really enjoy and suits my system. The resulting sound is simply the best I can do with my existing components - unless of course there is a cable I do not know about.

When I removed the OTA and re-inserted my old interconnects, I felt so much better about my system.
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