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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
calvinj
2,574 posts
 
I've came to houston for a while and while I'm here I decided to let a fellow audiophile keep my high fidelity ultimates for 2 weeks he uses an integrated and a different set of speakers than I have and he is completely blown way by the performance he is getting. True audiophiles should be helping each other like this. That same person loaned me his integrated a few months ago to let me try it in my system. That's what this is about helping each other hear as such as you can so when you do purchase you are happy. I have been invited by many on this forum to listen to thier systems and in the new year I'm going to take them up on it. I want to see what equipment they use and if they have high fidelity is it working for them. I will also be going back to listen to the raidhos again with the levinson 585 soon. It's a dac plus integrated. The person uses other cables either tara labs or ansuz. It will be an interesting listen. I'm glad that there are some folks who share their systems and let the other audiophiles try it. It allows you to educate yourself in a non-show environment. It allowed me to hear the best of the best and even if I can't afford the super expensive gear I can find a way to get some less expensive things that cost a price I'm willing to pay and get close to reference performance. Happy listening everyone. I will post my impressions after I go back to listen to a couple of those systems.
calloway
874 posts
 
Calvinj..if you ever get to Virginia you are more than welcome to come visit and listen to my system..Everyone have a great New Year...!!!
rlawry
485 posts
 
Hi, Folks: I finally reached the end of this interminably long thread and wanted to throw in my own experiences with the HF Cables. For full disclosure: I have been on the Gon for about 13 years, contributed to and started many threads, bought and sold a lot of equipment and music (I have 10,000 LP's). I am a self-employed independent sales engineer selling components and assemblies to the medical device industry and have no affiliation whatsoever to HFC or any other audio manufacturer. You can go on Audioasylum under the name rlawry to see my system. Glad to get that out of the way.

I have a good, long-time friend who uses the name Powder 1 that has had many of the same equipment pieces as myself, including Essence and Intuitive Design gear. When he contacted me a year or so ago and recommended I try the HF Cables I looked at the prices and decided to hold off. I have had some very expensive and well-regarded cables in the past and always found them to make a difference but not on the same level as that from changing components, i.e. it required paying a lot of money for what I felt were relatively small sonic changes. My most recent cables used carbon bybee filters and I had them for some time.

So a month or so ago I finally I took the plunge and bought a used pair of entry-level CT-1 cables between my turntable and phono stage. I have a Lyra Titan I cartridge that outputs 0.5 mV and the DIN connector terminates in a pair of RCA outputs. Let me say that the cables were a miserable failure and I heard one weak channel of music, thinking that something had gone wrong with my system elsewhere, but it turned out to be the HF cables. Apparently their resistance is too high for these very weak signals.

Using them between my phono stage and preamp was an entirely different matter. I would term it as no exaggeration to say that it was the biggest change I have heard in 40 years in audio. I don't know if I need to reiterate what so many other posters here have described, but that my system had a whole new level of realism, immediacy, and speed. Adding another CT-1 between my preamp and power amp and a pair of CT-1 speaker cables added to this astounding effect, at least in my system. It is amazing to hear my system from a cold start transform from a small, flat, involving sound into one with the type of dimensionality I am hearing. I plan to move up the line and am currently taking bids for my gold fillings.

So you can slam me for paying ridiculous prices for these and I don't really care. I don't have time to research, design, and build my own cables as I finally did with my single-driver speakers, but perhaps one day I will when I pay off my mortgage and my remaining 2 boys (I have 4) complete college. Maybe then I will ask them for a loan.

Hope everyone is enjoying their music. It is going to take me a long time to re-listen to my 10,000 LP's but it will be fun.
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Rlawry, interesting comments, thanks.

You say you have an entry-level CT-1 phono cable, but I think the Enhanced version grew out of the development of the phono cable, so you may have the Enhanced version there. I think you can tell by whether there is a waveguide in the middle of the cables. If there is it is at least Enhanced.

Anyway enjoy your listening.
rlawry
485 posts
 
I apologize for not making my phono system more clear. The cartridge terminations end in a DIN plug, which in tern connects to a block with RCA connectors. I used a pair of regular CT-1 interconnects between this termination block on my turntable and my Manley Steelhead phono stage. I could get no signal whatsoever from one channel and only a weak signal from the other. Swapping cables around had no effect. Rick told me that all of his cables used the same technology and that the only difference between the regular RCA interconnects and the phono cables with DIN connections were the connectors themselves. So apparently these cables cannot work in this application. It is a different matter completely with line level and speaker level signals.
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