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  3. 990492297

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
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,653 posts
 
Abex:

A small area of contact has always sounded better to me (other OTA users have had the same results).

Wrapping the wire around the post may make a stronger connection, but it does not sound as good (especially in the LF's).

I place the bare wire through the binding post hole and then tighten down within reason. The cats do clip a cable off of the speakers now and then (they can't get to the amps) and because of this I have to check the speaker cables before powering up (my tube amps should always have a speaker connected to them during power up).

It's a slight hassle to go through (really more of a habit after all this time) for better sound. Try it both ways and see if it makes a difference in your setup.
abex
322 posts
 
I did and thoguht I was getting more sound back by wrapping.If I have to clip the wires again I will go back to the one strand.I did take notice that Yoshi was using a spade for the new speaker's so I was wondering about that.

BTW,I checked the site of the speaker's from NC and a great price.I have NEAR's and know the designer who developed the first commercial Metal drivers to be mass produced.He is a genius if you asked me.What I find appealing is that Yoshi is using Metal driver's also with OTA.That tell me that the synergy between the wire and speakers are a good match.

I am waiting patiently for my new speakers.Biting fingernails you might say.They shall be wired with cryo treated OTA probably and be the most advanced set on the planet,with an outboard active crossover.Some manufactures I have spoken to still use them as references and that also says alot.To say I'm jazzed is an understatement.

Happy Camper!
abex
322 posts
 
This might be a stupid question,but here ya go!

I have Eichmann connectors on 2 runs of OTA and is there any heatshrink that you have used that works effectively with OTA over Eichmanns.Would like to safeguard against accidently pulling the wire and losing the weld.Is that possible?

Have not heatshrunk anything in 20 years.

Thx,ABEX
abex
322 posts
 
Just an update:
*Cryo'd OTA to use in my NEAR M50's Tweeters\Midrange
*Bass Drivers Un-Cryo'd
*Tested IC's using the cryo treatment

Seems there is more presence using the Cryo treatment with Copper WIre.I would not venture to use it with any Plated or Silver Cables.

Speakers sound great with the OTA.They are not fully broken in ,but I know it was well worth using it to do the internal wiring.

The comment of Presence!
I noticed it most using Classical Guitar Recordings.Tried to find the best word to describe the essect and Presence is it.

Also Used A run of Belden Digital.Cryo'd and Uncryo'd to do the test.

Have fun!
slawney
242 posts
 
Abex, how did you arrange cryogenic treatment for your OTA cables? Where did you send them? What exactly did the treatment consists of (in exact times and temperatures)? How much did it cost?
Rewiring speaker cabinet interiors with OTA is well worth it. Also worthwhile is rewiring umbilicals between the RCA female plug and the circuit board (since sometimes these can be a substantial length, and use inappropriate wire).
Your comment on the sound of cryogenically treated OTA indicates enhanced conductivity around 5 kHz.
But isn't OTA already cryogenically frozen during the manufacturing process in the first place? I think that this was implied in an earlier post. In any case, that would explain the strange sticky feeling of the polyethylene covering everyone reports, since viscous particles travel to the surface during cryogenic freezing.
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