emailists, it is Ralph Karsten of Atma-Sphere who feels a true balanced connection between two truly balanced circuits (most commonly the pre-amp output and power amp input, of course) mitigates or even completely removes the sound of the inter-connect from the system. At one Ask The Designers forums at a Stereophile Show, I asked the cable designers assembled to respond to Ralph's comment. Only Ray Kimber did, saying that a balanced line removes the noise present in both channels, but that was all.
A Different Solution for Cables
In the past, I have contributed to topics on the forum about building your own cables and tweaking cables. I would like to revisit another cable theme that I have talked about in the past, one that has not received much interest since it is on the fringe. The subject is series cabling. By this I mean piggy-backing cables -- 2 cables only -- to improve SQ.
I started experimenting with series cabling by chance, frustrated after successive purchases from well-known companies fell short of anticipated results. The most common shortcoming was thin sound with deficient harmonics.
I ended up experimenting over a period of years, mainly with PCs and interconnects in series. I have come up with improved SQ -- not subtle --- by trial and error. My most recent success came as a total surprise -- using interconnects in series from BSG QOL to Lyngdorf RP-1 before the pre-amp. I know that some audiophiles insist that making the signal path unnecessarily longer has to degrade SQ. The truth is that the contrary has often been the case with my system. The latest results are quite stunning. There must be a scientific explanation for this but I am not the kind who worries much about theories. I am more interested in the music. As long as the sound improves I am happy.
You might want to try experimenting with this if you have some spare PCs or interconnects in the audio closet. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results. Have any others out there done something similar that they would like to share while risking a few slings and arrows on the forum?
I ended up experimenting over a period of years, mainly with PCs and interconnects in series. I have come up with improved SQ -- not subtle --- by trial and error. My most recent success came as a total surprise -- using interconnects in series from BSG QOL to Lyngdorf RP-1 before the pre-amp. I know that some audiophiles insist that making the signal path unnecessarily longer has to degrade SQ. The truth is that the contrary has often been the case with my system. The latest results are quite stunning. There must be a scientific explanation for this but I am not the kind who worries much about theories. I am more interested in the music. As long as the sound improves I am happy.
You might want to try experimenting with this if you have some spare PCs or interconnects in the audio closet. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results. Have any others out there done something similar that they would like to share while risking a few slings and arrows on the forum?