Originally Posted by 2fastdriving
Well I just "went for it" and ordered 2 pair of Ref Gen5 balanced interconnect and Ref Gen5 speaker cables.
I honestly did NOT want to do this, I went into it kicking and screaming. Why? I had Reference (MM2) speaker cables already, but I had TA "Super" interconnects for the last several years. Over the years I have tried a few different interconnects, but did not hear much of a difference. I began to consider them "snake oil" and wanted to just stay away. I figured there can't be much difference between what I have and anything else out there. Maybe a tiny difference, but who cares.
But then a few things happened. One, I bought a K-01x. It represents a new level of refinement for my rig. Honestly when I got it, I wasn't too thrilled with it because it didn't blow away my K-03 non X. A lot of people told me my bottleneck was the IC's but I figured whatever, I am not changing, it's probably snake oil. Then, I bought Alexia's and when the dealer set them up, they brought their own cables along. They brought Ref Gen5 IC's, SC's, and a few power cords. They also brought a Linn DAC. What I heard during their setup blew me away. My system was not improved by a notch...it was almost "twice as good". I know it's hard to quantify such a thing. But WOW.
When they left, my trusty supers were hooked back up and everything went a bit flat. Yes, with my gear plus the new Alexia's everything still sounded "very good" but it sure didn't sound like WOW.
So I borrowed the Ref gen5 to keep for a week.
All I can say is, I have been leaving a LOT of musical bliss on the table. These cables unlocked the magic of the K-01x and the Alexia's. They have really kicked it up a nice notch. I'd say it's a good 7-10% better than with the other cables. This was evident in a few key areas: The cheaper IC's and SC's "smeared" many of the transients. They "rounded" some of the treble and detail. They made the bass sound a bit tubby. With the Ref gen5 cables, this was all cleared up. Bass gained texture and depth. Transients became crystal clear, and very, very fast. Dynamics snapped.
I'll have them in a few weeks. Very excited. But...put a fork in me, I am "done". I have done WAY more upgrading this year than I anticipated. In fact, I didn't anticipate anything. So I'm making a deal with myself to stop here for quite a while.
Here's my advice to anyone who, like me, didn't believe in cables making a difference: You are leaving a lot on the table. In fact, the better your gear, the more you are leaving on the table. In effect, if you have entry level cabling, you are paying $XXX for your gear, but you are only getting $XX in performance from the system as a whole. It's expensive, but you really do owe it to yourself to listen to some high end wires. I haven't ever heard anything better than Transparent, personally. But I admit I haven't heard some major brands in my setup, either.
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