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High Fidelity Cables CT-1designed by Rick Schultz

In December 2011,I wrote that High Fidelity cables led by cable designer Rick Schultz was putting together a new cable.The cable came to market as CT-1.The CT-1 has FINALLY made it into my system!I had obtained a version of the prototype that Rick had been working on.It blew my previous reference Genesis by Virtual Dynamics.I thought I had finally found my end with this cable.This prototype delivered to my ears "Nirvana".Could I be at the end of my quest for the ultimate sound?
No. I received two pairs of CT-1 to replace my prototypes.They went into the system this past Friday.Unable to dedicate time until Sunday listening,I stole a few moments,ducking away from company with anticipation.My guest could tell even with the music set for"ambiance"something was intriguing and I was in for a treat!
The experience:
First off,CT-1 was very user friendly.Installation was simple;the cable is very nice and light.The female RCA fit beautifully unlike any I had found in other cable.It was secure and reliable.It seemed much thought was dedicated to developing a designer fit to an aesthetically stunning RCA connector.Install entailed a few wiggles to ensure what seemed like a compression fit on my RCA.
It was 2-3 hrs. for the 1st step of break in to be complete.At that point I had something different!Today,although they only have 10-12 hrs. on them,I can`t put into words how much my system has transformed.Believe me,I loved my prototypes.However....there is simply no comparision.
The clarity and sound is so natural.
The soundstage is like nothing I ever heard.Resoulution is breathtaking and inner detail is simply hard to believe possible.
The sound has transended and now it simply does not seem as thought I have speakers.
My system is musicians playing music.
I am told with time they will improve and I trust that as it was revealed with the prototypes.I wanted to share my thoughts with you that now.
Unequivocally,a testament to High Fidelity,as the name declares.
High Fidelity Cables for me,the last word on it,after 12 hours!
Truly Amazing

Al
alpass
siddh
345 posts
 
Hi Tsushima1,
I have only had the opportunity to try the CT-1E in both regular and low resistance. The low resistance offered a slight improvement in output, but negligible at best. Rick was very helpful in assisting; explaining additional time and break-in may be necessary, but the trial period of 3 weeks ran it's course...I returned the cables.
rlawry
484 posts
 
My experience with CT-1 and CT-1U cables are similar to the others' here. I found the CT-1s to have a slightly lower output than the cables I replaced but it then seemed the gain increased somewhat over time. Same issue with the CT-1Us I now have after replacing the CT-1s. I went from about a volume control position of about 9:00 to 9:30 but it now seems after a few weeks that I am back down to the original position, although my preamp has a lot of gain, something like 38V maximum. It is possible that if your phono stage or preamp has minimal gain that you could indeed be required to increase gain from 9 to 2, but I suspect a problem with the cables instead. The U is a big improvement over the regular CT-1 in the usual parameters, speed, detail, bass, dynamics, dimensionality, but still great liquidity and musicality.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,342 posts
 
Trav it is a different design using an alloy designed to support the magnetic conduction principle of these wires. It might lower signal levels in some cases as related as part of that. But I don't think it would be fair to label them defective by design. All designs have advantages and disadvantages.
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almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Wow, John!! No wonder these things sound different, and no wonder they lower the gain of the system.

I would suggest asking HFC if those numbers seem right, or if they are indicative of a defect. If they are correct, and if the 5 ohm impedance spec of your speakers is in the right ballpark for most frequencies and is mostly resistive in terms of its phase angles, it would mean that roughly 2/3 [actually (5.6 + 5.8)/(5.6 + 5.8 + 5)] of the voltage the amp is putting out at any given instant would be dropped across the cables rather than appearing across the speaker terminals. That's a loss of more than 10 db! Although given that you are using a tube amp having a significant output impedance, that would be partially/slightly compensated for by an increase in the amp's output voltage that would occur (everything else being equal) as a result of it seeing a less demanding load of 16.4 ohms rather than 5 ohms.

BTW, how long are your particular cables? As I'm certain you realize, cable resistance is proportional to length, everything else being equal.

And yes, I think it would be well worth trying the 8 ohm tap and seeing how it sounds.

Best regards,
-- Al
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