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TransParent Cables vs. Others

I am using TransParent Music Link+ ICs and will be looking to try a few new ones after I purchase a cd player this Christmas. I am using tube gear and think my system is warm, with excellent mids and highs. The bass is pretty solid but at times can be a little boomy in the upper bass/lower mid region. I would be looking to smooth out the bass (not take away) and add to detail. What IC under $500 used is the way to go?

What is your opinion on TransParent wire? Is the high priced stuff really worth all that $$$. I am interested in Cardas, Nordost (Red Dawn??), AP, and Acoustic Zen but am open to anything worth the $$. Or is staying with the ML+ the best option for the money?

Thanks.
mdomnick
audioman4
174 posts
 
Definately love the Transparent Ultra xl Phono grade cables.. I use them for my solid state system.. very big improvement over the Mit cvt 330s I had...
For a tube system, I love the Alpha core interconnects..
They are inexpensive and sound wonderfully open and warm but not too boomy in the bass. Worth a shot for a 100 bucks...
Transparent and Mit are the main interconnects in all of my systems....
Good luck,
Joe
Custom Audio LLC
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
I use and love transparent refernce. I think they are they best you can get for the $$'s. With that said, cable are one of the most subjective things you have to wonder about. What sounds great to me and my set up may sound bad in yours. You have to try be you buy here....
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Transparent makes great cable, but so do several other companies. I have used Cardas and liked it a lot. Most recently though I have been using Purist cables. I have done reviews of several of their best cables if you are interested. The bottom line for me is: they sound better than anything I have ever heard in my system.

If you have the oppurtunity to audition them, I do not think you would be disappointed. Every time I moved up in the line I thought it was the best cable ever. Unfortunately I have not always been able to afford them. Good luck!
9rw's avatar
9rw
318 posts
 
When I had my Audio Research LS25, ARC VT100MKII, Levinson front end and Merlin VSM-SE speakers, I tried some Transparent cables. They made my system sound lifeless -- uninvolving. To my ears, the stuff is a blatant -- and very expensive -- tone control.

I don't think you can go wrong with Cardas Golden Cross (very smooth but perhaps lacking in absolute resolution) or Acoustic Zen Satori (very quick and revealing.) At least that's been my experience.
jafox
1,456 posts
 
I agree with 9rw except I would not say the Transparent Ultras are lifeless....only that in my ARC based system, they clearly showed a rolled-off top end compared to every other cable I tried. I did not consider these a good value in cables at all. The Audioquest Diamond cables win the award for lifeless!

The Cardas Golden Cross is indeed an excellent cable which is very hard to beat for value. But I have found that too much of this in a system, expecially a tube based system, can make the mids too warm and over emphasized.
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