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Stunned by a cable upgrade

Yesterday I received a 12ft. pair of Analysis Plus Oval Nine speaker cable and I am absolutely stunned by the positive difference they have made in my setup. They replaced a 14 ft. biwired pair of DH Labs Silversonic T-14s. I ordered these on the advice and glowing reviews of fellow members of this forum in an attempt to tame my bright system. I am currently using a Sim Audio Moon I-5 integrated, Sonus Faber Concertinos, Musical Fidelity E60 CD player and NHT SW3P subwoofer.

I must say I've never had the experience of one component making such an audible difference. The DH Labs have a very in-your-face presentation, and the soundstage is flat by comparison. Changing to the Oval Nines I was shocked how much width and especially depth were added to the soundstage. It had the effect of opening backwards like an accordian. Amazing! All the glare was gone and the music became bigger, fuller and just seemed to roll out effortlessly. So full in fact, I had to adjust my subwoofer to compensate for the increased bass and corresponding mudiness.

I spent the entire evening marveling at how the music of Robby Longley, Sunny Sumter, Diana Krall, Jesse Cook, Inscendio, Yo Yo Ma, and Oscar Lopez came to life. My gold Dave Brubeck Time Out CD had always sounded so thin, but now flowed with an ease and roundness I had never enjoyed before. Paul Desmond's sax was so real. The instruments and voices on every CD I tried seemed more lifelike and natural.

Previously, I had tried various affordable interconnects from Cardas, Kimber, Tara, Monster and DH Labs thinking this might help. While the different interconnects did change the character of the sound, the shifts were pretty subtle. A pair of Cardas Golden Cross proved to be the most effective and expensive, but the problem still persisted. It's almost as if everything was bottlenecked at the speaker cables, and now the music seems to flow unrestrained.

The DH Labs are in biwire configuration. The Oval Nines are a single run. I would have thought the biwired cables would have an edge in spaciousness, but this is not the case in my system. I had considered changing out the Moon I-5 for a tube preamp/SS amp combo hoping to cure the leaness. With the Analysis Plus now in my system, I no longer have the urge to change my amp. I'm starting to see how good the Sim Audio really is. I also have on order a Bel Canto DAC 1.1 and I hope this will reap even greater rewards.

I know this must sound like a cheap plug for a product by a manufacturer, but it's not. I'm still amazed by the transformation my system made last night, especially since both cables have been so well reviewed and are fairly close in price. Has anyone else experienced such an improvement in their setup by changing cables? And if so, what were the components involved?
gunbei
mwalsdor
94 posts
 
I also tried the AP Oval 9/Oval silver bi-wire with my Silverline Sonatinas. I also had some Harmonic Tech Pro-9's.
Both of these cables were up against my Silverline Audio Conductor bi-wire. Frankly, after reading all the glowing reviews on both cables I was unimpressed, well unimpressed vs my much cheaper SAC cables. Of course these replaced the much more expensive Tara Labs Master Gen II cables I as very fond of also. I listened for about two weeks, expecting the other cables to settle in but they never did, and I happily returned them and have had no urge to replace my current set the last two years. FWIW, my system is about 22k. What gives did I not give them enough time? Just curious, just slightly. MikE
chstob
140 posts
 
Gunbui! thanks for that last post. While I had a similar experience with the AP 9's (bi-version), I also noticed a fairly substantial rounding of the bottom end. Do not misunderstand, I literally couldn't believe the sound at first, tons better. But on the bass I thought it was the interconnects I was using, here's why.

I changed a bunch of stuff all at once, the Ap's were last (can't recommend this procedure to others). When I first put the AP's in, lots more info was making it to the speakers, more than ever before (the speakers were the only thing not changed). So I just thought somewhere in the IC's I had one, or a pair, delivering the flabby bottom end, but didn't notice it until the new speaker cables.

I was waiting until summer to fiddle with the IC's to try and mitigate against this feature. Now you confirm the other possibilty-the AP's are maybe doing it.

Anyone else have this experience with the AP's? I know of at least one member who has hinted toward this in another thread of his own making, but didn't jump in there. Though that member may not know who he is to me, his system is very similar to mine. Further confirmation possibly. I thought about going to the AP silvers to see if the bass doesn't tighten up some, but as a last resort. The I/C's first.

My I/c's are XLR Syn. res. alpha sterlings pre to amp & Trans. premium digital link CD to pre.

One last thing. I also know Scott, good guy.
Thanks,
Chris
gunbei OP
2,327 posts
 
Very interesting Chstob. You noticed the same thing too? My interconnects are Cardas Golden Cross from CD to amp, and DH Labs Silver Pulse from amp to sub. I've been considering an interconnect change of Golden Cross to Golden Reference.

Did you see the posts on here about biwiring or a double-run with a combo of Silver Oval and Oval 9? Interesting idea, I think.
chstob
140 posts
 
Yup. Saw that. Interesting, but I don't know what to do. I was planning on taking advantage of fatwyre's lender library this summer to try and figure it out. All it's gonna take is more money and more time.
Chris
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
It's an awesome experience when something like thiat happens. Great post Gunbei. I don't play a lot with cables, and I haven't heard of the AP Oval 9. What is the list price for a 10 foot pair? I've been a loyal fan of Magnan Vi's since a similar experience many years ago. That's what makes this hobby fun, when you stumble over something that just locks in, on your system.
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