A21+ is in da house...
I have never owned a Parasound before so I can't compare... I can't wait for her to settle in. I am playing as much music as I can thru her... looping a cd while I'm not upstairs. Today we have my wife's brother coming in so I will have a hand in pinpointing some reflection points and since I have a low ceiling I need help with the mirror to find the spots on the ceiling. It's been a year and a half since I had a complete system here so getting the music room back into fighting weight is paramount. I can't say enough about this amp. It's so well built and everything is laid out simply and with the customer in mind. The binding post's are some of the best I have used. Much better than my old Macintosh of sho! The 10'ts love the current and really sing. You want to hear what a snare drum sounds like in person... come on over!!! Just bring Boddington. I would like to make some better XLR cables but gonna treat the room first... it's a very odd room. Any suggestions on a inexpensive treatment company? I can get the foam type here at Guitar center but don't know if that is the route to travel. Now it's time to hit Tower Of Power... Oakland Zone....TOP |
I use pure silver IC's' I make myself. They're a little brittle since they are solid core, but never felt I lacked a thing since using them. https://www.partsconnexion.com/DHLABS-57225.html |
As opposed to Erik, I prefer copper only cables and use the best solid-core copper I know of. There are going to be 5-10 different opinions on what makes the best interconnect cable anyways, lol. Choose what you will. Erik's silver cable might be okay if you use some really warm gold-plated XLR connectors (like the Furutech gold-plated). For my chosen design of cables, the cost of materials could be anywhere from about $150 to $730 for a 1 Meter pair, depending on what wire and XLR plugs you choose. For purposes of this discussion, I’ll show the lowest cost for a great cable: To make a 1 meter pair, I usually cut 48” of wire. Because of braiding, you’ll lose about 12-15% of length, so it will drop down to about 40-41” after braiding. 24 feet of Neotech 20awg Teflon coated solid-core hookup wire ($41 from Sonic Craft) http://www.soniccraft.com/product_info.php/neotech-solid-upocc-copper-in-teflon-20-awg-red-p-1588 couple different colors of 3/32” heatshrink: http://www.soniccraft.com/index.php/polyolefin-21-c-157_159_431_435 2 Furutech FP-701M XLR Male plugs ($44 from Parts Connexion) https://www.partsconnexion.com/FTECH-71065.html 2 Furutech FP-702F XLR Female plugs ($60 from parts Connexion). https://www.partsconnexion.com/FTECH-71066.html 1. Cut the Neotech wire into lengths of 48” each (or whatever length you want) 2. Put a short length of heatshrink on the wire ends (both ends) to mark the wires since the Neotech only comes in red. I usually do a black heatshrink for negative XLR pin and a green heatshrink for ground pin. 3. Solder three wires to one XLR plug (i.e. Male) 4. Braid the 3 wires all the way down. 5. Slide on the outer casing for that first XLR plug and screw together. 6. Slide on the outer casing for the second XLR plug down the wire somewhat. 7. Cut/strip the second end and solder onto second XLR plug (i.e. female) 8. Screw the outer casing parts together for second plug. This $150 option uses the lower end Furutech XLR plugs, which are still very excellent and use gold-plated copper alloy pins. The Furutech gold-plated will give a very smooth and refined warm sound. If you want a higher resolution, you could always choose the Cardas XLR plugs or even the upper end Furutech rhodium plated XLR plugs. You can also do things like doubling up on the wire (two braids for 2x20awg for each XLR pin). Or use multiple gauges like 18awg + 21awg wire from VH Audio. |
If you want the warmest cable, then use the Furutech gold-plated XLR plugs with some low grade solid-core copper wire like below: https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-AWG-Gauge-Solid-Hook-Up-Wire-Kit-25-ft-Each-0-0320-Dia-UL1007-300-Volts/371367212983?epid=2074478056&hash=item567735f7b7:g:238AAOSwd0BVuPFz:sc:USPSPriority!95377!US!-1 Keep it all gold-plated / copper. This would be a very warm sounding cable I can imagine. The gold-plated is already warm sounding and the low grade tinned copper wire will really roll off the high frequencies. This would not normally be a cable I build, but it would still sound good because of the solid-core wiring. It would just lack higher frequency resolution. If you want even warmer with less highs, use a larger low grade 18awg solid core hookup wire. The larger awg solid-core wire just cannot reproduce the higher frequencies. From there, it goes up in resolution. That Neotech OCC solid-core copper wire is hugely better than the cheap stuff and carries much more resolution, but it will still not be bright/harsh like silver. 20awg is the sweet spot for best bass and best high frequency resolution. VH Audio has their "UniCrystal Cu AirLock" hookup wire that is better than the Neotech, but it's only available in 18awg and 21awg. Silver wire/components will be faster with more attack and perceived resolution, but it's very easy to go over the line and the sound becomes artificial and non-engaging. Silver can have a tendency to push the upper mids and can sound thin in the bass. Some systems that are really warm / laid back can benefit with a little bit of silver. In my mind, rhodium plated is the end game. It gives much better high frequency extension than silver and it doesn't push the upper mids. It's also very natural sounding (not like silver) and has incredible bass. The downside is that Furutech rhodium can be really expensive and it takes a long time to burn in (300-400 hours). The burn in process can be very painful and hard to listen to (many people have given up because they just can't listen to the hard edge of the burn in). |
Hi Erik. I have had the Eclipe 7 XLR in my system. It's a very nice cable and just very slightly laid back in sound (all the detail is there), but it is definitely not as warm sounding as the DIY cables I listed above. The thick gold-plating on the Furutech XLR just give a warmer smoother sound than the silver-clad XLR of the Wire World. Also, the Wire World uses very small 30awg strands aligned in a side-by-side array which gives better high frequency extension than the big 20awg solid-core above. That being said, the Wire World is just a tiny bit soft and laid back in comparison to high resolution cables, but I would not call it really warm. When compared to your silver cables, I can see where one could say the Eclipse is warm. |
jrunr, I've heard other amps with the 7Ts that were in a different price category than the A21. I can't say if the A21 is right at the "law of diminishing returns" or not, only you can make that determination. I submit that incremental improvements can cost a lot of money, but once you hear them it's very hard not to want the next level. To my ears it's easy to discern the differences between the A21 and Jeff Rowland 625 S2; however it isn't a night and day difference. To my ears, in my system, the A21 was relatively flat sounding and didn't provide the depth and height of soundstage that the 625 S2 does. I'm a firm believer that you must listen with your own ears and that's the only way to decide what works best for you. |
Fair assessment. Thank you for your honest answer and not trying to steer me in one direction or the other. There are so many amp choices out there, as we have seen with WCSS incredible journey... i have wanted the 7T for quite some time and have recently found the opportunity to pick them up. But, like so many, I have been pondering the idea of so manu amps to include the 532H, ATI Class D, A21/A51, Theta Dread 1/2, etc... I only know what I have read about these performing with the previous Aerial 7B speakers and not the newer 7T models but all are viable options and that is why I am asking before I purchase. |
WC is currently comparing $58K and $80 K mono-amps. Both are way out of my price range and unrealistic for most. The question is what do you prefer in your price range? The only way to find out is through listening. I've listened to components from $2K to Absolare mono-amps at $70K. Again, there are easily discernible differences, but at a certain level I just haven't heard night and day differences. |
