Cables:Harmonic/Nordost/Cardas

I have had a similar experience to LOST . When I first got my Harmonic Tech. cables there was an upsetting period of about 85 hrs break in with poor results, BUT... after another 5-8 hrs. passed, things really did change significantly. They offered the most focused imaging I have heard to date, The least distortion in the high end and a clear bass. I did not simply "get used to them". I have far too much experience for that. As it happened I was almost never home during the break in period and listened critically for short amounts of time during the first 80 or so hours. I do agree with JRT that in many cases people ears do adjust to the sounds they are hearing. Sometimes this leads to an exaggerations of the qualities of the product being reviewed, but sometimes it leads to something great, as occasionally, aquired tastes are the best. I think Redkiwi knows a lot about these subjects and only hope that his problems were on his own system and not that as I gain more experience I will notice te same things he did with H.T. cables. I have the Pro-9 bi-wire spkr. cables, The Pro-9 AC power cord and the Cyberlink Platinum interconnect. So far, I am delighted with the improvements over my previous cables(Monster 2.4s', XLO and Tributaries interconnects and spkr. wire). A good friend of mine has a dream, top of the line system, DCS Delios & Purcell, Avalon Opus, Conrad Johnson Premier 16 LS, VAC Rennaisance 70, Theta transport w/Synegistic Designer reference cables through a Bybee power conditiner, etc. and although his speakers are superor to mine, the Harmonic Technology cables and their pinpoint imagiing, clarity of the high end and enormous midrange are not outdone by his system. I therefore recommend that you try the H.T. cables as they can be returned have a 30 day trial period. Just make sure you really break them in for over 90 hours with both pink noise and music with a lot of dynamic range. Good lick. Great to hear such imformed and open minded opinions.

Sorry, meant to say good LUCK. Taking foot out of mouth.

Hi Redkiwi, How do you detect phase problems. I have my suspicions about the bass frequencies in my system, and I thought you might offer some advice.

Hi Bmpnyc. You flatter me. I really don't think I know a lot about these things at all. I just have this dreadful habit of stating my opinions in a very forthright manner. My, perhaps overly negative, reaction to the HT cables is borne of repeatedly falling for the hype around so-called giant-killer cables (previous examples include DH Labs and JPS Superconductor) only to find that they are somewhat wanting compared to the giants after all.... and after being disappointed, feeling the need to provide some negative comments to balance the hype. With respect to the HT cables - I really think they are reasonable value for the money. But they are not outstanding, and if you go up a price point, there are better cables to be had. I do not know how to explain to you what I mean by phase problems. For a start, phase problems are something you tend to feel. For example, in the extreme case of sound that is 180 degrees out of phase, people often refer to flatter images, weak bass and brightness - but these descriptions fail to convey the feeling I get when the sound is out in reverse phase. It is a kind of unnaturalness that I cannot describe, even if it is usually accompanied by a perceived tonal imbalance, but which I recognise when I hear it. The point is that I heard some of this unnaturalness in a certain narrow band, with most of the HT cables, the band affected differing from cable to cable. Experience tells me that this is usually a function of cable geometry. I could try and prattle on further but I doubt I can add much to this explanation. You mention bass frequencies Bmpnyc. My recollection of the characteristics of the individual cables is vague now, but I do remember that the single-wired speaker cable tended to emphasise bass purr over bass slam. Is this what you are experiencing? Finally, I don't think you should care much if someone else does not like your cables. All cables are system dependent to some extent. My experiences with cables could be entirely driven by my components presenting certain complex drive/load combinations that only certain cables work well with.

I have virgos w/audio research vt100m2. I read lots of reviews and the top reviewer choices were consistently Yamamura, and Nordost (Red or SPM). I went with Nordost red and have had excellent results. I went from cheap heavy guage copper to these, and the results were remarkable. I haven't heard anything else in my system.