A Surprise Result

[prepress]

I've decided to stick with Wireworld PCs for now, and plan to put in an order with Masterlu soon. But it seems that most of the WW love tends to go to Aurora and Silver Electra. Not much love for Stratus or Electra. Just curious, why is that?

Any thoughtful responses to the question may affect my order, so be careful.

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by prepress

I've decided to stick with Wireworld PCs for now, and plan to put in an order with Masterlu soon. But it seems that most of the WW love tends to go to Aurora and Silver Electra. Not much love for Stratus or Electra. Just curious, why is that?

Any thoughtful responses to the question may affect my order, so be careful.

They are all popular as I move quite a bit of each; however the Silver Electra is without a doubt their best cable for the money. No matter how many I order, they sell right out.

[prepress]

Since I was beginning to obsess over something that didn't deserve it, I decided to stop that and go ahead with an order for my immediate interests. I just ordered a 1m Electra and 1m Stratus from Masterlu. These will go on my preamp and phono preamp, respectively. The Electra replaces an Aurora 5.2; the Stratus replaces a stock cord.

I don't expect dramatic sound changes necessarily, but I'm more after setup consistency than anything else. The different colored WW jackets make it easier to pick out what's what behind the equipment racks; it's a mess back there. And I'm thinking very strongly of moving my racks forward a bit; it's much too awkward and difficult to get behind the center rack as is, which in turn makes it too easy to abandon cable management and dusting behind the system.

[Rod#S]

Originally Posted by prepress

And I'm thinking very strongly of moving my racks forward a bit; it's much too awkward and difficult to get behind the center rack as is, which in turn makes it too easy to abandon cable management and dusting behind the system.

I did just that with my equipment and tv stands so I can get at everything. I guess the racks are about 12" or so out from the back wall. It's still a tight fit but enough for me to get access to the back of all equipment. Like you I have an absolute mess of cabling mostly do to the fact my MC-12 doesn't have HDMI so all of my video related gear has to have that extra optical or coax cable for audio plus my Blu-Ray player has 6 analog cables for high res audio.

[Formerly YB-2]

When I ordered my E-Silver PC, Ivan suggested that the 2m length, for whatever reason, provides the best results. Think this is discussed earlier in this thread (or another - sorry, I'm too lazy to research). The result was that there was an immediate improvement in my system with a new cable. Using WW throughout has definitely brought the sound of my system to a new level.

[prepress]

Originally Posted by Rod#S

I did just that with my equipment and tv stands so I can get at everything. I guess the racks are about 12" or so out from the back wall. It's still a tight fit but enough for me to get access to the back of all equipment. Like you I have an absolute mess of cabling mostly do to the fact my MC-12 doesn't have HDMI so all of my video related gear has to have that extra optical or coax cable for audio plus my Blu-Ray player has 6 analog cables for high res audio.

I have about that much distance now, but between the shelf on the fireplace and the cable glut, I think the effective distance is less. And at 6'3" and about 225, I don't fit back there well anyway. I'd need help with moving the Kuro plasma because of its awkward shape, but I could do the rest of the moving myself. I attached a photo. I've discovered the shelf on the fireplace is removable; that may help a bit.

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

When I ordered my E-Silver PC, Ivan suggested that the 2m length, for whatever reason, provides the best results. Think this is discussed earlier in this thread (or another - sorry, I'm too lazy to research). The result was that there was an immediate improvement in my system with a new cable. Using WW throughout has definitely brought the sound of my system to a new level.

I've read that as well, and in more than one place as I recall. Wireworld might have an explanation on their site. This, however, is cold pragmatism over sound. The preamp sits only one 5" shelf above the power conditioner (the cable box is on the shelf in between) and the extra length would be unnecessary clutter. The Aurora on the preamp is 1m and I have no complaints about how things sound, so I'm not concerned although it's possible things might sound a bit better with the 2m length. My amps have 2m cords on them, though.

[prepress]

A PM from Masterlu reveals that the aforementioned WW cables should be shipping tomorrow. I figure I'd get them next week if all goes well. I'll be looking forward to seeing if there's any improvement in the sound. I reconnected my 47k phono preamp, but haven't played any records. That's something else to do, preferably both before and after the new Stratus 7 replaces the 47k's stock cord.

[prepress]

My power cables arrived yesterday. As planned, I put the Electra 7 on the 2300 and the Stratus 7 on the BD player. The Stratus 5.2 on the BD player previously was moved to the phono preamp's power supply.

There was a difference in the sound. The most notable change was heard on Yes Live at Montreaux. Cymbals were more prominent in the mix but not negatively so, and had a bit of crispness and shimmer I don't recall hearing with the Aurora. It gave a touch of "live" to that disc. More natural-sounding, perhaps. I played some of Sade Live, and the same thing happened. But there, I was more aware of dynamics.

So this seems like a good change. The two CDs I played sounded a bit more focused and natural, even the Time-Life AM Gold: 1967 compilation disc I played. I don't have fancy descriptions to give, but let's say that the change was worth it. I'm not surprised at the change, but I'm mildly amazed at how it manifested.

[prepress]

Ok. After a lot of weirdness, I've repositioned the whole setup. I moved the system forward about seven inches. The second photo is dark, but you can see the space behind the system now. Easier to get back there. Still need to connect the antenna to the tuner.

I had trouble with the IEC connectors on the preamp and the SPR. They kept moving. I was able to reposition the cables so there was some stability.

[Rod#S]

Is that the pre-amp I see in the 2nd photo with the blue cord coming out? It certainly looks like it's severely angled downwards at the IEC. Over time I suspect that will be a lot of stress on the connector. Seems odd McIntosh would use a subpar connector.