Got a little "something" coming ...

[kfr01]

Details and pics? ;-)

[chessman]

Originally Posted by kfr01

Details and pics? ;-)

Ok, but this is more embarrassing than I like. Most guys here seem to have gorgeous rooms. My basement doubles as home theater and two channel listening room, is the product of trial and error, and is always cluttered.

That said, the first pic is the loom: 4 power cords (Silver Electra 5^2), 2 sets of interconnects (Silver Eclipse 6), and a pair of speaker cables (Silver Eclipse 6). The second pic is the kiddie desk holding up my CD player and blocking access to the rat's nest of cables behind the HT rack. So much for individual cable swaps. The third pic is the new two channel rack (Salamander archetype 3 to match the HT rack). The fourth pic is the new home for the amp, which is blocking my center channel. I will have to raise the center channel a bit.

[kfr01]

Whoa! Nice loom! The room is coming together and it is the sound that counts.

I love the shield-look front of the BAT amp.

I forget, what cables did you move from? Can you characterize how the sound changed?

[chessman]

Karl, I was using Blue Jeans balanced interconnects, Tributaries speaker wire (11 guage in a four strand configuration) and stock power cords. When the two channel rig was adjacent to the HT rig, the amp was straight to the wall, the CD player was straight to the wall, and the preamp went to an Exact Power balanced transformer/line conditioner pair. Now that the two channel rack is across the room and the amp is centered between the mains (cutting a 50 foot speaker wire run to 8 feet), the Exact Power gear is not in the power path at all. Instead a Shunyata Hydra 6 is plugged into a standard 15 amp wall receptacle via a Black Mamba CX-HC power cord. The BAT CD player and preamp is plugged into that via the WireWorld power cords. The BAT amp (which has two power cords) is straight into the wall via two WireWorld power cords.

So, between going to passive line conditioning, adding power cords, adding interconnects, and adding speaker wire I have introduced a host of variables. Plus the room arrangement changed, which moved a book case that had been strategically placed to serve as a diffusion panel.

I am trying to contain myself on comments until the new stuff has broken in a bit. So far it is only about 10 hours. Had a trial yesterday and had to put in 27 hours in two days.

[kfr01]

Originally Posted by chessman

... I am trying to contain myself on comments until the new stuff has broken in a bit. So far it is only about 10 hours. Had a trial yesterday and had to put in 27 hours in two days.

Quite an upgrade! I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions. I hope the trial went well. Get to relax for the weekend?

[Ritmo]

Randy,

Congrats. Somehow I missed this thread before. I'm sure you'll be very happy (sounds like you already are) with the WW upgrades.

Enjoy!

Mike

[chessman]

I introduced a lot of variables at one time, making it pretty hard to single out a particular item as the cause for a change in sound. That said, I think I can make some guesses, but first a report of the changes.

The Good:

1. Bass has much more weight, more impact, but not one note “thud”
2. Treble range sparkles – high hat, triangle, vibes, flutes – in one case I heard a harpsichord in the background of a Yo-Yo Ma piece that I had never heard before;
3. Detail is sharper – both more of it and more focused, especially the front edge of dynamic attack;
4. The soundstage is even wider;
5. Location and differentiation of instruments is improved;
6. Low level detail is so improved that one can listen into the music at lower volume than before.

The Not So Good (and hopefully temporary)

1. My previously razor sharp imaging is one tick less sharp;
2. The overall tone seems slightly tipped up to me (which may very well be me, since I have been listening to attenuated highs for a long time due to the long speaker wire runs);
3. The greater detail has eroded the “lush” factor by a tick or so (it seems we are doomed to a struggle between precise and musical, but cannot have both, just a compromise);
4. The sound is a bit fatiguing (a bold statement given that I am in my 12th hour of straight listening ). I say fatiguing because I catch myself turning the volume down to deal with a sense that something is harsh. This may well be a room reflection problem. The two channel rack is sitting where a tall bookshelf used to reside. It was full of DVD’s and CD’s and was acting as a diffusion panel. Now that it is gone the bare wall is reflecting at the first and second points with abandon.

I am thinking that additional break in time (I am at the 18 hour point), some acoustic treatment on that bare wall, and some ASC tube rotation (one half absorbs, one half reflects, allowing some fine tuning) may well eliminate the “not so goods.”

My guesses for the changes are:

1. Power cords gave the bass weight by letting the amp draw easier;
2. IC’s and SC’s gave the top end sparkle;
3. I think the speaker cables are the source of the detail improvements, although I do not know if it is extra pure copper with silver clad, better design, shorter run, or all the above as to why.

For the moment, it is a much more precise, but slightly less easy to listen to, change in sound. It has been steadily getting more musical as it is breaking in. For instance, the piano currently playing sounds very real, as does the cello. More to come.

[AudioNut]

Randy,

I don't know about Wireworld and its thoughts regarding cable burn-in but I do know that MIT has very specific instructions about their cables. I own MIT and I have experienced the changes that are described during the break-in, burn-in period.

And, MIT's recommended period for the process is two full weeks of continuous playing. . . and that would be 336 hours for the cables to reach full potential, 48 hours to reach 75%.

To Burn In All MIT Cables

Thank you for your purchase of MIT interface products. In order to achieve their full sonic potential, all MIT interfaces must be properly installed and burned in for the required length of time. Remember this simple 2/2 Rule: 75% of performance in two days — 100% in two weeks!

Install your cables as instructed above.

Put a constant music signal through the system (CD player in Repeat Mode or FM Tuner), at a reasonable volume level. If the system is turned on and off , be sure to log playing time until the 2/2 break-in process is complete.
If burning in interconnects only, your amplifier does not have to be turned on—just source components.
Sonic Points To Listen For During Burn In

After the initial two days of break in, the treble frequencies (above about 1 KHz) will begin to assume a more natural tonal balance and bass frequencies will have more authority.
As more time passes, the soundstage will begin to open. There will be more space between instruments and dynamics will be improved.
After the two-week period is over, the signature MIT image will appear, revealing microdynamics and subtle time-related cues, such as instrument voicing, recording-venue acoustics, and spatial effects. These developments can be dramatic — so please be patient!

[Ritmo]

Randy,

Hang in there. Like you, I introduced a lot of cable changes in my system weeks ago. I decided to go all in vs. trying one cable type at a time.

This weekend, as I replace the cables feeding my DAC8, I'm introducing change in steps. I started with the balanced ICs on Friday. Later today I will be introducing the new PC.

Anyway, it's terrific that you were able to conduct a session of 12+ hrs of listening.

Mike

[Masterlu]

I think you will experience the Wireworld cables to bloom into Audio Nirvana shortly.