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  #11  
Old 04-14-2018, 11:50 AM
Charles Charles is online now
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Joey, thank you. I am very happy with the sound of these cables. There is no harshness or grain. It is clear that the copper was adding a layer of grain that is no longer there. My imaging is better. The cymbals hang in space and decay beautifully and the dynamics have improved noticeably. For years I told myself cable materials don't matter as long as they are well made. Not true. I have a wish list: I need one more Wel IC (to replace a Wind) and I definitely want to upgrade from 1.2KW's to Mac 1.25KW's for my Alexx. Currently my sole 1.25KW is on my Thor. Not withstanding some negative comments by folks that don't own them or are heavily invested in 1.2KW's, I have heard some great things about the sound of the 1.25's. The "new" Mac sound as manifested by the 611 and 1.25 is more transparent and brighter than the old Mac sound. Also, tighter bass with more impact. Power supply increased by 50%. I understand from Mac that the 1.25 is sonically superior to the dated 2KW. The 1.25's are selling like hotcakes. Mac can't make enough of them to keep up with the demand. I plan these upgrades in the not too distant future. I don't know how long I can resist a triplet of 1.25's in front of me.

Last edited by Charles; 04-14-2018 at 01:49 PM.
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  #12  
Old 04-14-2018, 02:58 PM
mulveling mulveling is offline
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Look at all of you ballers upgrading directly from Wind to WEL, lol. I had to put in all the work and steps of going Sky/Wind > Fire > WBY > WEL, haha. Also, I bought back my Wild LP from the guy I sold it to not 2 months ago -- it's going on my SOTA Star (for the headphone system) that's being rebuilt as a Nova V.

NICE system, Charles. I agree with what you guys are saying about the sound. I do feel at this time though, that the WBY cables are also excellent, and come quite close to WEL.

Last edited by mulveling; 04-14-2018 at 03:00 PM.
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  #13  
Old 04-14-2018, 03:38 PM
joey_v joey_v is offline
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Ballers?

I’m lagging behind with my Wind.... ugh
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  #14  
Old 04-16-2018, 12:45 PM
Charles Charles is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mulveling View Post
Look at all of you ballers upgrading directly from Wind to WEL, lol. I had to put in all the work and steps of going Sky/Wind > Fire > WBY > WEL, haha. Also, I bought back my Wild LP from the guy I sold it to not 2 months ago -- it's going on my SOTA Star (for the headphone system) that's being rebuilt as a Nova V.

NICE system, Charles. I agree with what you guys are saying about the sound. I do feel at this time though, that the WBY cables are also excellent, and come quite close to WEL.
Mulveiling, thank you for the compliment. I have really put a lot of thinking and effort into my system. These cables are breaking in nicely. Absolutely smooth is how I would describe their sound. Extreme transparency, detail, without any hint of harshness or grain. Sound stage much larger, deeper, imaging greatly improved. Had no idea cables and IC's could make this kind of difference. When I go to the internet I see Wel cables with a metal collar. Mine are clearly black plastic. Interesting.

Add thoughts: pace also seems to have increased; violins so smooth its incredible; brass sharp as can be. All this very noticeable on classical orchestral music. Zero grain.

Last edited by Charles; 04-16-2018 at 12:59 PM.
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  #15  
Old 04-16-2018, 05:02 PM
mulveling mulveling is offline
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The earliest WEL versions probably had metal collars, because they were switching from metal to plastic around that time. So those photos are out of date. The black braid has changed slightly, too. Current WEL cables (all models except WEL LP) use two different kinds of black textile for a more aesthetic visual contrast. AQ claims the metal collars can cause undesired electro-magnetic interactions when used on speaker and power cables, hence the move was done for sound quality. My Kilimanjaros (each is basically half of a WEL signature, but from the older lineup) have the silver metal collars -- very pretty, though.

AQ also changed connectors over the years; WEL Signature now uses the 1000-series spades or bananas, when previously they has some very funky blocky-looking custom spades (bananas not available). I've been upgrading my AQ cables over several years now, and believe me it's been a challenge keeping up with all of this minutia lol.

Last edited by mulveling; 04-16-2018 at 05:07 PM.
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  #16  
Old 04-16-2018, 09:35 PM
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Ricjor1 Ricjor1 is offline
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Charles,
People think I'm crazy when I talk about cables, including power cords having such an impact on the overall sound. Again, congratulations and I hope to have the Wels one day!
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  #17  
Old 04-17-2018, 12:33 AM
joey_v joey_v is offline
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Yeah the wels I have have a plastic collar

But it seems like you have slightly newer dbs packs than I do, Charles
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  #18  
Old 04-17-2018, 09:57 PM
Charles Charles is online now
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I appreciate the information regarding the collar. I did not understand the plastic collar to be better/newer. Runs counter intuitive. Also I have some older copper AQ IC's that have soft plastic dbs. Also my Coffee UBS has soft plastic dbs. My Wel's and my lone Wind have hard plastic dbs that I like better. In regards to highend systems I think it comes down to the facts that I personally don't like: You absolutely can hear cables, IC's, and power cords. Silver is much superior to copper (very sad). You know you can hear the difference when you are upstairs in the rec room (my room) working on the computer with the system on just breaking the cables and IC's in. And the increased clarity/transparency/smoothness interrupts your train of thought.
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  #19  
Old 04-18-2018, 08:07 AM
joey_v joey_v is offline
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For sure, silver sounds different and to my ears, if well implemented, is better.

I had one speaker wired with the AQ Oak and the other with AQ Wel, going back and forth between either, ear close to the drive units, they sound different enough to be able to tell easily.

I was sad when I found out because I wanted to just keep the Oak and call it a day and did not want to spend extra on the WEL speaker wire.
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  #20  
Old 04-18-2018, 12:28 PM
mulveling mulveling is offline
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I did a very similar comparison to Joey's, when I had an AQ Kilimanjaro on tweeters and a Mont Blanc on woofers -- and then got a 2nd Kili to replace the M.B. These two cables from the old line share the exact same cable design (half a WEL and half an Oak, respectively), except the Kili is PSS silver and the M.B. is PSC+ copper.

With 2 Kilis, the difference in detail, speed, attack, and authority was quite significant -- all in favor of the silver.

AQ claims that the new battery packs are improved over the older versions. They started shipping around spring/summer of last year. There are "Black" and "Carbon" versions of the new packs, with Carbon being better. I don't know which cable models get one vs. the other. The prior version packs had a soft rubberized finish, but I've seen these get gummy and gross. The version before that was the same shape as the rubberized packs but plain black plastic, and were pretty damn ugly. I think the new ones look great (they're painted plastic) and they won't get gummy.
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