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Cables Galore Speaker cables, Interconnects & Power cords

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  #381  
Old 07-14-2017, 09:09 PM
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j3brow j3brow is offline
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Default Transparent Audio Cable

Well said Marc, and congratulations. You have certainly stepped into big boy cable territory.

I am using a mixture of Transparent and Wireworld in my system. I would love to try Gen5 cabling someday .... I'm lucky, in a way, to NOT have a local dealer any longer to loan me transparent cable crack .... as you know, it's darn hard to listen to the improvement and not sign the check.

Congrats again. Transparent is killer stuff.
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Preamp: McIntosh C1100T/C1100C, McIntosh MX180
Amp: McIntosh MC611 (2), MC601 (3), MI254
Digital: McIntosh D1100, McIntosh MCT450, Meridian 808v6, Aurender N20, Aurender ACS10, Oppo 203
Analog: McIntosh MT10, Hana Umami Red
Phono preamp: Simaudio Moon 610LP, 820S
Signal cables: WW Gold Eclipse 7 speaker cables; Shunyata Sigma v2 XLR (2); Sigma v1 XLR (2), Transparent Ref XL (MM2) XLR; WW Silver Eclipse 7 (4)
Digital cables: Shunyata Omega USB, Omega Ethernet, Sigma Ethernet; WW Platinum 7 Coax, AES/EBU
Switch: Innuos PhoenixNet
Power: Audioquest Niagara 7000, Audioquest 5000, Audioquest Dragon, Hurricane PC, Shunyata Alpha HC, AQ NRG Edison outlets, (8) 20 amp dedicated lines, 125 amp subpanel
Speakers: Wilson Sasha DAW, Dynaudio Contour 30, Dynaudio Contour 25C
Subs: REL s/812 (6), REL s/510 (3)
Accessories: HRS M3X2 shelf (MT10), Stillpoints Ultra II v2 w/ bases (21), Ultra SS (12), Mini (12), LPi v1
Sound treaments: Artnovion
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  #382  
Old 07-15-2017, 06:46 AM
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vintage_tube vintage_tube is offline
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There is no other way to look at it Marc -- considering your fabulous rig which you have assembled over the years, the Gen5 IC/SC order was absolutely unavoidable. Period. Don't look back, but forward, which is to say, enjoy the magnificent music from your system during the many years ahead.

Best to ya,

Bob
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Amps:VAC 450iQ Monos in Silver Flake on HRS M3X2-1921's, HRS G7 Footers/G-Links & Sound Anchor Conecoasters.
Preamp:VAC Master Preamplifier (Silver Flake)
Digital Source: dCS Rossini CD/SACD Transport, Vivaldi APEX DAC, Upsampler Plus & matching Clock (Silver)
Analogue Preamp:VAC Renaissance SE Phono stage in Silver Flake with XLR Output Option & with Nordost Valhalla XLR's.
Analogue Sources:SME 20/2 w/SME V arm & Nordost Valhalla TA cable, Palo Santos Presentation Cartridge & Akai GX-400D Reel-to-Reel w/relapped heads by JRF Magnetic Sciences. Akai RC-17 cabled remote (original owner since 1974).
Vibration Control:TT on HRS M3X2-1921 shelf.
Speakers:Wilson Audio Alexia in Argento Silver/Black grills sitting on Acoustic Diode Kit.
Power Cables:4 Nordost Odin Supreme Reference on amps, preamp & DAC. Ansuz Acoustics C2 on Transport & Clock.
Power Distribution Bar:Shunyata Everest 8000 w/Omega XC Power Cable.
Power Outlets:Furutech GTX-D NCF (R) duplex outlet, GTX Wall Plate & Duplex Cover (x2) on dedicated, same panel phase, 20A breakers.
Speaker Cables:3M Nordost Odin Supreme Reference on Nordost Sort Lifts.
Signal Cables:Nordost Odin XLR's on dCS DAC & Amps.
Digital Cables: Nordost Odin 2's, 110 ohm AES/EBU on dCS Transport to DAC.
Clock Cables:5 each 75 ohm 1.25M Nordost Valhalla BNC/BNC Digital
Ethernet Cable: WireWorld Platinum 1M Starlight® 8 Twinax
Headphones:Vintage Koss Pro IV AA.
RCM: Audio Desk PRO
Tube Test Gear:Mint late '60's/calibrated Heathkit TT-1A, MaxiMatcher Preamp & Space Tech Labs ATT-3.02 tube test sets.
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  #383  
Old 07-15-2017, 12:20 PM
2fastdriving 2fastdriving is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vintage_tube View Post
There is no other way to look at it Marc -- considering your fabulous rig which you have assembled over the years, the Gen5 IC/SC order was absolutely unavoidable. Period. Don't look back, but forward, which is to say, enjoy the magnificent music from your system during the many years ahead.

Best to ya,

Bob
Yeah... Unavoidable. At a certain level, you can easily hear differences between cables, and once you hear what is possible, it's hard to go back to cheap ones. Transparent makes extremely good cables with clear differences as you go up the line. I do agree with many who think transparent is over priced, however. It's kinda crazy.
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  #384  
Old 07-15-2017, 01:22 PM
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Originally Posted by 2fastdriving View Post
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.


Well said indeed. It's exciting when you have that aha moment, when you can't believe the difference it makes! Congrats!

Mitch
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  #385  
Old 09-08-2017, 04:48 PM
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Maybe not an "aha" moment, but more of an "oh" moment.

Sunday I was playing music (relatively rare these days) while I was doing my cooking for the week, so I wasn't in front of the system the whole time; periodically I came into the living room to give a brief listen. I bought a pair of Super ICs recently, which connect my preamp and power amps; my SACD player has Plus IC on it. Both are Gen 5.

In the early stages of playing a CD, the sound was a bit bright/hard sounding, and I figured maybe the equipment isn't warmed up, I wouldn't think it's the Super's fault, though it is relatively new. About 40 minutes or so later (same CD) I made a trip into the living room and WHAAT!? The sound had smoothed out, it was detailed, and eminently listenable. Another CD, a Jobim compilation, was gorgeous, with some details here and there I hadn't either heard or noticed before. It was at a point where I was listening to the CD and not the sound, if that makes sense.

Transparent does make good stuff, and I'm a believer that cables can make a difference. Something similar happened when I first got the Plus ICs, all of a sudden one day things just snapped into place. Maybe it's just the Super's time to settle in?

I'm also, I think, going to try letting the gear warm up a bit before paying serious attention to what I'm hearing. But I was really pleased with what I was hearing Sunday.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks
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  #386  
Old 09-08-2017, 05:06 PM
2fastdriving 2fastdriving is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by prepress View Post
Maybe not an "aha" moment, but more of an "oh" moment.

Sunday I was playing music (relatively rare these days) while I was doing my cooking for the week, so I wasn't in front of the system the whole time; periodically I came into the living room to give a brief listen. I bought a pair of Super ICs recently, which connect my preamp and power amps; my SACD player has Plus IC on it. Both are Gen 5.

In the early stages of playing a CD, the sound was a bit bright/hard sounding, and I figured maybe the equipment isn't warmed up, I wouldn't think it's the Super's fault, though it is relatively new. About 40 minutes or so later (same CD) I made a trip into the living room and WHAAT!? The sound had smoothed out, it was detailed, and eminently listenable. Another CD, a Jobim compilation, was gorgeous, with some details here and there I hadn't either heard or noticed before. It was at a point where I was listening to the CD and not the sound, if that makes sense.

Transparent does make good stuff, and I'm a believer that cables can make a difference. Something similar happened when I first got the Plus ICs, all of a sudden one day things just snapped into place. Maybe it's just the Super's time to settle in?

I'm also, I think, going to try letting the gear warm up a bit before paying serious attention to what I'm hearing. But I was really pleased with what I was hearing Sunday.
I do think that equipment warm up is a factor, too. Especially if you have tubes. I think that some digital clocks take time to stabilize, too. That's why some people leave their CD player/DAC on all the time.
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  #387  
Old 09-09-2017, 06:02 AM
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prepress prepress is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2fastdriving View Post
I do think that equipment warm up is a factor, too. Especially if you have tubes. I think that some digital clocks take time to stabilize, too. That's why some people leave their CD player/DAC on all the time.
I will agree, yet in the Plus IC's case, the system was "cold," having been on for about five minutes only. In that episode I started wth one of my reference tracks, the Atlanta Symphony's version of Fanfare for the Common Man, so the familiarity level is quite high. That's why I'm not completely convinced system warm-up was a major factor on Sunday. Unfortunately, I can't duplicate last Sunday because I forgot which CD I started with, but I do remember it wasn't one I play a lot.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks

Last edited by prepress; 09-09-2017 at 06:04 AM.
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  #388  
Old 10-25-2017, 10:53 AM
TOGA TOGA is offline
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My RBL or Reference MM2 IC had a broken XLR connector.
It was made of plastic and has become brittle may be due to heat from tube preamp.
The repair bill is 60$. Should it be free ?? No matter how cheap, I never had a broken XLR connector before, but from the 6000$ Transparent ?? Come on.

I decided not to repair it at 60$ for that single cheap plastic part, a ripped off. I will cut them all off and replaced them with much higher built quality Furutech FP601/602 gold plated. This cable is for subwoofer so I don’t mind some slight sonic change.

Toga

Photos here

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1...3JvX1ZHODVpQmc

Last edited by TOGA; 10-25-2017 at 10:58 AM.
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  #389  
Old 10-25-2017, 02:33 PM
SuperD SuperD is offline
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For 2 weeks I have been demoing the Transparent Reference Isolator and Transparent Reference XL power cords on my amps, pre, K-01X and G-01. To my ears, power cords make a huge difference and at this point will most likely keep them in the system. Better dynamics, flow, timbre, and effortless sound. Its a component level upgrade IMO.

Dave
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  #390  
Old 10-25-2017, 11:45 PM
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Dave
I concur with your assessment of the Gen 5 TA Reference Power Isolater and XL power cords. I have also been demoing them for several days. They provided significantly greater dynamics, attack, depth and life to the music. I currently have TA XL Gen 5 signal cables so I believe their are synergies with the power cords. I placed an order with my dealer today.

Mark
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