Anyone else tried the Acoustic Systems Liveline?


A pair of Franck Tschang's tuned interconnects (see Six Moons reviews) are still breaking in, in my system, but they have already "stomped" my Harmonic Technology Magic 2, HT Pro-Silway III+, and Van den Hul Orchid. While I don't have any at present, from memory I'd also say that they handily vanquish the Nordost Valhalla and Kubala-Sosna Emotion interconnects in my system. They are not HiFi spectacular, but are the most musical and least electronic sounding cables I've ever heard. Interestingly, several recording that have always sounded compressed and confused in spots, which I just attributed to the recording, are rendered cleanly for the first time with these cables and no other system changes.
cellcbern
as apparently many other users of this cable feel the same based on the numerous posts on this thread(vast majority). It just did`nt fit for you and pani, nothing pleases everyone.

It is a common observation and also common sense that most people dont write or even visit threads about products that they dont care much about. Hence you normally see most of these "boutique product" threads filled with praises and appreciation of the products concerned...since it is mostly visited by people who found something special about the product and something worth mentioning. People who thought the product is passable mostly do not spend time on such threads, I mean it is understandable right ?

Personally I have bought numerous products based on such appreciation threads and most of them turned out to be dud in my evaluation. So the "vast majority" you are talking about is nothing special to this product or this thread IMO. I dont want to undermine your assessment or anything, just wanted to highlight human behavior.
Pani, It seems you are changing cables every few months, have you consider the problem is not cable but something else?

At one time my system sounded great but just didn't click. I changed amps, cables, tubes, DAC and finally replacing the SF Line3SE+ with a VAC preamp, everything clicked and it was MAGIC!! I kick myself for selling my beloved Krell amp ... boy if only I change preamp 1st would save me lots of $$ and headaches. Now I'm a true believer the preamp is the heart of a system. Good luck!
Pani,
In all honesty Knghifi may be on to something. In numerous threads you`ve expressed a desire for a cable that`s warm,lush toward the romantic. Could it be possible you are seeking some degree of correction/compensation for some aspect in your system? And perhaps the liveline exposed it due to it`s high resolution, just a thought. I do hope you find what you`re after.
Best Regards,
Gotta agree with Pani on this one. Out of all the interconnects I've tried, the Livelines effect on my system was the strongest. It's not subtle at all. Definitely a must audition unless you are buying it used and can afford to resell it.
Knghifi and Charles1dad, If you look at all my cable related threads, I have never asked a question about speaker cables, never ever....do you know why ? Simply because I found a cable which doesnt leave its signature on the overall sound, even if it does it is extremely faint and inaudible. Thats it, I have never touched it since then.

Unfortunately, with interconnects it has not happened that way till recently. Same with power cables. Almost everything that I have tried in IC and PC had its signature loud enough for me to be pissed off within sometime. So, at some point in time I started believing that there is no point trying to find such a "no-nonsense" cable, rather I am better off selecting a cable which has a signature that I can live with and hence I started my quest to get a warm sounding cable. That is how I got to try Fusion Audio, kCi Silkworm, Yamamura etc. Anyway, fortunately someone recommended a Crimson RM Musiclink and the way he described the sound struck a chord with me and I ordered one. You know what, you may not see another interconnect related thread from me for a long time :). It is exactly what I was looking for, no-nonsense clean cable which does everything in an audiophile book well.

BTW, I also realized the importance of having a top quality tube source in the chain after listening to an Einstein Audio CD player, so I sold my Reimyo DAC and now looking out for a high quality tube CDP/DAC, again something that doesnt have a strong signature. So, it is not that I am not looking at my system and just blaming the cables, if I do that I am only foolong myself. Moreover, whenever I get a new cable, I take it around to couple of my audiophile friend's place as well to hear it in different systems and every time (100% i.e) my findings in my own system resembles the findings in their system even though they use totally different equipments.