Curiosity is Dangerous

[prepress]

It's posted elsewhere, but regarding post #49 (above), I indulged my curiosity and the Transparent cable outdid the Kimber, which outdid the AQ King Cobra. But to make it more even I should have a second Transparent MLP, with the first returning to duty connecting the preamp and power amp. Oh boy . . .

I also tried the Kimber and MusicLink Plus on my CD player, with the AQ King Cobra on the pre/power connection. The low frequencies are very close, actually, but the MLP seemed smoother; the Hero sounded harder in upper frequencies. I'm thinking I should play aroud a bit more. I was going to change tubes, either the JJs I used initially or try the Gold Lions to see what that does. Cheaper than buying all new ICs.

[prepress]

Installed the JJs. The Moody Blues DVD I've been using as my test material sounded better; it didn't give me a headache due to the upper frequencies. Maybe I can stave off the "Transparent express" a while longer. I don't know if this is my one unused JJ pair or not (I have three pair), so I'll hold the celebration a few weeks.

[prepress]

Uh-oh. Stereo Exchange has a sale on. . .

[prepress]

Saturday I thought I might pass up the sale. Sunday I felt more like going. I came home with a 1m pair of Transparent Plus interconnect, and a pair of 1.5m on order; it should be in Wednesday, and I'll plan to go get it over the weekend.

I connected the 1m Plus to my blu-ray player, displacing the Kimber Hero. And I again used two of my test DVDs. But this time I have the pair of MusicLink Plus already in the system in its usual pre/power connection, so it's a better test. The Plus had a bit more low end than the Hero (which is pretty good itself); I even thought briefly of adjusting the C2300's bass trim but decided not to. That was also using at least one DVD with strong bottom (Yes Live at Montreaux). The real test is when I get the 1.5m pair connected to the SACD player. That's where differences were more apparent in my previous comparison; with AQ King Cobra serving as pre/power connection the MLP was noticeably smoother on top; the low frequencies seemed pretty close.

I'm not sure if I'll go to all Plus; the Kimber's pretty good, and my less critical sources may be just fine with it (LD, tuner, phono).

Curiosity isn't just dangerous; it can cost money, too.

[prepress]

Okay, having lived with the Transparent Plus on both SACD/CD and BD sources, I'm sold on them. As for the Hero still on my other sources, I haven't played an LP or LD; the tuner was used only briefly, and on NPR, but I didn't hear anything to make me run out and spend money on more Plus. I need to scour music stations and get a sense of things. I'm inclined to leave the Hero in place for now.

Of greater curiosity and interest is the recently returned idea of a power cord change, due to the weak IEC grip with my Wireworld cords. There's maybe only one I haven't had to tweak or reposition at some point to re-establish the connection. It doesn't happen regularly, but it happens often enough to where it is a concern. I even started a thread on it. I'm also considering changing the Pangea adapter/WW Stratus/Shunyata Venom extension connection for my Furman SPR-20i to a 20A IEC cord and a regular 12AWG extension. The Venom HC comes to mind. I have a 25-foot 12AWG extension already, but that's way too long; 12 feet would be ideal with the current setup.

[prepress]

Why does this happen?

I scrambled to clean up because I had company yesterday. With that, a wave of curiosity has come up, and I look at my system and think perhaps I have a change in me, one big one left. If I were going to do that, it would be speakers or a turntable, though I'm happy with what I have. I'm thinking of putting the long-suffering Gold Lion tubes into the C2300 in hope that will make a big enough change to put off something more drastic. OR I could tweak a power cord or two. Meantime, my curiosity around Pioneer's Elite BDP-88FD is still with me, though I do not need a new player. My BDP-09FD is still chugging along just fine.

It's hard to justify any purchases, yet the thought popped in last night, unbidden. Maybe I should have left the place sloppy.

[prepress]

The above scenario just got more complicated, as the C52 preamp looks to be really good. I am thinking (only casually right now) about moving to that from the 2300, which I would sell or trade in; trading it in is probably faster. Sometimes these things die down or go away if you give them long enough. Still, I subscribed to the C52 thread to follow along and see if the highly positive comments continue.

All the more reason to make my final move and install the Gold Lion tubes everyone raves about into the 2300 and see what that does; I've become very curious about that recently. I have a three-day weekend (I took Monday off to help the transition to Daylight Savings Time) and am really hoping I can put those GLs in, finally.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by prepress

All the more reason to make my final move and install the Gold Lion tubes everyone raves about into the 2300 and see what that does; I've become very curious about that recently. I have a three-day weekend (I took Monday off to help the transition to Daylight Savings Time) and am really hoping I can put those GLs in, finally.

Charles.......You have procrastinated long enough about the Gold Lion 12AX7 tubes. Put them in the C2300 and get some hours on them. I am confident you will be pleased with the way they perform. Make it happen over your long weekend.

[bart]

Good advice from the wise man!

[scirica]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Charles.......You have procrastinated long enough about the Gold Lion 12AX7 tubes. Put them in the C2300 and get some hours on them. I am confident you will be pleased with the way they perform. Make it happen over your long weekend.

Dan: I've had my Gold Lions for a couple weeks now and they are still sitting on the counter. Should be going in next week when I re-arrange the gear in the Synergy rack for the LAST time. (wink)