Twenty updates to 5 series

[will]

Originally Posted by Manbient

Almost the same system I used to have! (just sub in a V-5xe). Thanks for posting the review!

Welcome. My next (and probably obvious) step is getting a KX-5 Twenty. In the meantime, I also went from (my very old) Nordost Blue Heaven to Cardas Neutral Reference speaker cables and am breaking those in.

[ctsooner]

Will, that KX-5 Twenty is unreal. It's one of the top preamps under 30K that I've heard. Just very special in so many ways. Not QUITE the R series, but not that far off at all IMHO. A sweet spot buy in their line I feel and that's including their amps. I put the QX5 in the same category.

Also like Audioquest and Cardas best with Ayre gear as to me, they are the most neutral cables on the market and you don't want to change the great sound of the Ayre gear as it's voiced properly to begin with and you don't need to tune them with cables or tweeks. JMHO.

[will]

Originally Posted by ctsooner

Will, that KX-5 Twenty is unreal. It's one of the top preamps under 30K that I've heard. Just very special in so many ways. Not QUITE the R series, but not that far off at all IMHO. A sweet spot buy in their line I feel and that's including their amps. I put the QX5 in the same category.

Also like Audioquest and Cardas best with Ayre gear as to me, they are the most neutral cables on the market and you don't want to change the great sound of the Ayre gear as it's voiced properly to begin with and you don't need to tune them with cables or tweeks. JMHO.

Thanks. Honestly, I got the Cardas NF to try them out based on its reputation with Ayre and just tweak the sound a little, as the Nordost BH had been in the system for about a decade and is more of a budget cable.

Just read, yesterday, Hi Fi News and Record Reviews' write up of the KX-5 Twenty and VX-5 Twenty combo in their November issue. High praise again, though overall score was 85 of 100. Must be a weighted score because it was a very positive review. Also had a little sidebar of Charles Hanson's take on audio design. Catch the article if you can, I haven't seen it posted online yet.

[ctsooner]

Do you have a link to the review? I'd love to read it.

As for cable, if your components are properly designed, they shouldn't need any tweeking. That's a band aid IMHO and that of most designers. I can't imagine needing a special cable to boost the highs or tighten the bass or whatever. There are sonic differences, but I want a neutral cable to let me hear my components. That's why I love the Audioquest and CArdas lines best. To my ear (as well as many others in the industry who use both in their own systems) they are the most neutral. I was an MIT guy for 25 years or so and I used their 770 speaker wire and their 350 interconnect wires with their various network boxes. Those are the wire they use in their Spectral cabling and are the top of the line wires. They just aren't as neutral as the AQ and Cardas. Cardas themselves manufacture MUCH of the wire used by others in the industry. They have invest in the equipment to braid as needed for others. It's just implementation etc... The reason I love the AQ cables over the Cardas is the DBS box that keeps the cables broken in at all times. I don't know what it is, but I hear the difference between the similarly priced cables of each company. That's just me, but I will tell you to get both cable lines in the system and go with what sounds best to you. AQ and Ayre demo together all the time also .