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
Pretender? Based upon what exactly? I call BS on a BS claim.

You can't reduce 14% of a loaf of bread by removing the diamonds from it- there weren't any there in the first place.

There's certainly a relationship between magnetism and electrical fields, this is obvious and has been applied to cables for a very long time, generally as low-pass filters, that's what the ferrite add-ons do, reducing RFI through added inductance. Most PC monitor cables have them, as do many power cords and other things.

However, unless these are serious low-pass filters on the cables and are creating severe high frequency rolloff, they wouldn't reduce THD, and even if they DID reduce THD at some frequency due to the rolloff, a proper test would account for the rolloff and adjust the generated harmonics accordingly- IOW, a proper methodology wouldn't show an advantage from high inductance due to magnetism.

IMD could potentially be reduced by the same mechanism, but that's only if these are REALLY insanely nonlinear cables, acting as exceedingly high-value inductors, we're talking fractions of a henry, not millihenries, if line level. At speaker level millihenries would be sufficient to cause that level of rolloff, but it would be exceedingly extreme to believe that he's introduced that much inductance, and the extreme rolloff at the high end would be noticed as a severe negative by the vast majority of listeners (and 100% of educated listeners). We're talking several dB at a minimum, a severe and highly noticeable change over a broad frequency range.

Even IF this were the case and they were so dramatically nonlinear (a problem vastly larger than THD and IMD whose audibility is variable and frequently a non-issue), a proper test methodology would have indicated this severe problem. The lack of any language about the testing other than the absurd claims should be a red flag.

Using magnets around audio is not a new idea, it's been tried every which way. The primary way it would apply to cables, is to make them worse, not better, if having an influence in the audio band. One exception is the utilization of a transformer- many reputable transformer manufacturers publish measurements too. Transformers can reduce system noise and achieve some other benefits but do introduce their own distortion and other issues.

So, take your pick- either his cables are badly broken and nonlinear, and the "testing" misleadingly ignores this to give him his claims, or the numbers are made up. There is simply no way for the claims to be true under legitimate testing.
Badman, why don't you just give it up? You are not having the impact that you sought. For one thing there is no reason to believe you know what you are talking about, and for another most of us believe what we hear when using these cables.
The war goes on!, white flag anybody?, you have some very valid points that I do not disagree with, however, at this point, what is your motive for doing all this?, you may very well be correct?, If you cannot tell these people your motive, then, take a step back, and leave these tormented people alone.
The solution to anyone who challenges ones beliefs is not for them to just go away, but rather defend one's position.

No matter how strongly one believes anything, that alone does not make it so.
Mapman, There is a frequent argument here and on other forums that consists of some claiming that the "laws of physics" prove that something is impossible versus those that argue man's "laws of physic" are useful for engineers to make use of in designing things, such as bridges and electrical circuits, but certainly do not totally determine what happens. We don't know everything about how things behave. Robert Maicks above takes the middle route namely, validly run tests by competent people. I support that, if and only if, the measures validly assess the quality you seek, in this case sounding good. So in reality what we hear is the only real measure.

Badman is always lecturing about THD as though that were a valid measure. I think most of us put that measure to rest as invalid long ago. He thinks he is challenging those who tout the HFC cables, but many of us dismiss his challenge as invalid on its base. Badman has no basis as a critic and many reject his "laws of physics" basis.

I'm not going away, I'm just going to ignore him and wish that he were not disrupting what had been a constructive thread.