Cable vs. Electronics: biggest bang for the buck

I am sending a pair of Marantz Ma-5 Class A Monoblocks (SS) to Stephen Sank for complete overhaul pretty soon.

Right now I'm using my oldie but goodie Proton AA-1150 Dual Mono. I just hooked it up to a ONEAC 1.2 KW isolation transformer--it's sounding really good. I have a Melos SHA-1 hybrid linestage, which is also a goddie goodie. Tice interconnects throughout, with a cooked (by Sean, of course) Phoenix Gold digital cable between Cambridge D300SE and Soundstream/Krell DAC-1. The DAC sits on a non resonant Caribbean Moca wood board supported by Mapleshade Triple Point cones. The CDP on Sound Qwest Isol Pads with a Bob Regal foot on top of the transport mechanism. Three BR feet under the Melos. All this on IKEA RACK tables.

Dan did a *superb* job. I take my hat off...

POP UP THE VOLUME!!!

Asa,
Yeah, the pillow was a cheapy, but how can you then concede that mindstate is also an ersatz "component" to Detlof's inability to get off in his system that night...immediately after hogging the sandbox by cleaving "external" effects on sound propagation? Trying to have it both ways?.................Detlof, yeah I'm still really struggling with the sciatic pain; hoped that the medication wasn't making my wit abrasive, though. Not my intent.
Give me a break, here Asa, I can only take one pain in the ass at a time!
Cheers.

Asa, good stereo = aural sex.
I've always wondered about gumby and gumbydammit. Was there some big interent name blowout?

I realize I checked out of this forum, but then noticed I had left behind an open ended question. As I stated in a recent post, I had an appointment to listen to a fellow audiophile’s system, and I was to return the favor. How was the system with gilded wires all the way to the breaker box, and how it compares with my modestly wired system?

There was no way to judge the wire. That was because of the two system’s disparity between space and speakers. That isn’t quite accurate. My speakers require good space for proper function. The other’s Spendors were better than most box speakers, but they paled on all levels compared to my ribbon speakers. In his own words:

“The mid and high frequencies from your system are fantastic!, that rig
really brings out the expressive qualities of the musician. Hope to hear
more stuff there soon. The superior space you have is obvious after
listening here (his home) this morning.”

My impressions of his Wadia/Coda/Spendor/small room system were that it is noticeably veiled, a bit colored, and had trouble negotiating complex passages. This was probably all speaker related. His Wadia was neutral and very smooth. It controlled bass at high volume better than my tubed player, but the quality of the bass was again compromised by speaker. His Coda, class A, was very smooth, and sweet enough. With a positive change of speaker, he will have a marvelous sound.

I do think, though, the tubes in my system impart a specialness to the music beyond speakers, the Wadia can’t match. Soon, I will find out. Both systems have inaudible noise floors. That is important to me.

My conclusion remains. Active components should be attended to first, before any hard money is spent on wires, because no wire made can make up for a poorly matched amp, speaker, or front end. Nrch’s question is answered.

Asa, oh Asa. You are a talented writer, when you don’t gild the Lily. It is your condescending manner, to the point of bullying, that puts off a number of us.

"Condescending" "bullying"? Muralman, can you ever chime in without taking a gratuitious swipe at me, evidently now on behalf of unidentified others. If you want to mix it up a bit, that's fine, but let's do it without the audience and where we can speed it up a little, or alot, its up to you. As I said - repeated here for the third time - and assuming that you can find the time away from your family, which, er, selectively, you seem to be able to, contact me directly and we will have that "reasoned, mature" dialogue I spoke about. Otherwise, keep the gratuitous personal comments to yourself. Say something constructive beyond absolutist statements, step up or put a lid on it.

Has anyone ever heard a Coda sound "sweet"? My, my...when one conducts an experiment, one must ensure that the components used to test the hypothesis are actually able to translate results either way. Has anyone ever, ever heard of taking a Coda SS amp and matching it with Dominus, or the like? Yea, I can see how an Apogee ribbon with tubes in the line can sound better than a Coda amp...

Sub: you pulled the trigger too fast again; seeing what you think I will say, thinking that's what I said, then reaching a conclusion due to your preconcieved bias. While we could have a discussion on the mind as a "component", I did not say that and think it would be out of context and confusing here; I said the mind was in a continuum (a sequence) that included components "thereafter", meaning components after the mind. That's what "thereafter" usually means...I don't know what you mean by "cleaving" external effects from sound. Maybe I missed something; you said you might have ventured afield with the rug thing - the only external effect I "cleaved" - and then say I "cleaved" inappropriately. I took amp and wire and integrated them on a fundamental level, forcing the accuracy-attached to say that it was "compexity" that mattered. I then integrated complexity on wire v. amp, saying that there were priorities at different levels of system sophistication (a point still unchallenged), at which point "functional" became the measure, which then I said that in the listening context (which, again, is the final arbiter) they were functionally equal in most advanced systems (another point that has gone unchallenged), then said that adding the "rug" was self-serving and cognitively disingenuous. Oh well...

Hey guys, I'm really sorry that you had to concede that wire can be important and not always a scam, that you can't continue to swoop into threads with your science garble seeking to down talk those who hear something beyond the measurements. Sorry, sorry, sorry, but maybe you are going to have to admit that just maybe something out there beyond a "Coda amp", or the measurements that say it must be better, or the misplaced, uninformed bias against a piece of technology vs. another just because its appearance, or because it doesn't fit in with science's bias for more moving parts in their machines (a bias originally swallowed whole).

Exasperating...