I can tell you that I'm no shill for AE or anyone else. In fact, I think I may have been one of the first folks here on AG who reviewed an AE product at all. Bottom line is that after having listened to a bunch of very high end cables over the years, including Cardas GR (with which I lived for about 15 years), AE is simply the best I've tried, regardless of cost. I call 'em as I see 'em, and AE is an excellent product.
Audio envy - dang!
I usually post on AG when I have an issue or concern, so I’m happy for once it’s to praise a new product, in this case Audio Envy’s IC.
I use an ARC Classic 60 amp with a Herron 1A preamp. The AE cable went between these two.
I run an ARC Phono pre PH3se from my VPI prime as source.
My speakers are Thiel CS2.4’s
Out of the box a bit bright, But after a few hours that just went to strait up transparent - I mean freaking crystal clear. No tonal aberrations. Smooth, with no etched highs. Voices sound right, Natural. Soundstage opened up, as you might expect when things get clearer.
The best part was how inexpensive they were. They made my Cardas Clear Light interconnects I was using sound clouded by contrast. The Cardas was about x3 the cost of the AE’s.
BTW, this wasn’t “I think I hear differences”, this was “I’ll never use those Cardas in this system again, and where is my IPad, I need to order my next set!”
And that’s just what I did.
I use an ARC Classic 60 amp with a Herron 1A preamp. The AE cable went between these two.
I run an ARC Phono pre PH3se from my VPI prime as source.
My speakers are Thiel CS2.4’s
Out of the box a bit bright, But after a few hours that just went to strait up transparent - I mean freaking crystal clear. No tonal aberrations. Smooth, with no etched highs. Voices sound right, Natural. Soundstage opened up, as you might expect when things get clearer.
The best part was how inexpensive they were. They made my Cardas Clear Light interconnects I was using sound clouded by contrast. The Cardas was about x3 the cost of the AE’s.
BTW, this wasn’t “I think I hear differences”, this was “I’ll never use those Cardas in this system again, and where is my IPad, I need to order my next set!”
And that’s just what I did.
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@lalitk I’ve had my two Audio Envy power cords since 12/11/20. I have one M3 and one P2. I put the M3 on my power amp and after burn in it was a very amazing bump in sound quality. Put the "other" cord back in for a week and only just missed the M3. So the M3 is back in and not going anywhere. After allowing some days for the M3 to settle back into the system, I put the P2 in 12/26/20 and long story short, after a week of burn in, it was also better than the PC it replaced. Both of the replaced cords are many times more expensive, yet, as has been stated in this thread, the AE power cables are really a bargain, batting way above their pricing. In the end, I like them so much I will be calling next week to purchase more power cords. After that I’ll work on interconnects and speaker cable. @docroasty Just wondering if you’ve received your TWL Obsession PC and how it compares to AE power cords and also if you received the Audiosensibilities power leads? Eager to hear your impressions. Happy New Year all. |
@pokey77 The AE pc was good. I have no complaints given the price, but I ended up preferring the TWL Obsession power cord which I felt sounded really clean and transparent, with really nice low end. I did try the AE coaxial cable too, from my singxer su-6 ddc to rockna wavelight dac. However, the coaxial connection didn't sound as good as my i2s connection; sounded muddy and veiled in comparison. It was easy to hear the difference as all I had to do was have both cables connected, and just select the appropriate connection on the dac. Hence, the coaxial cable went back into the packaging soon after.. Probably not an issue with the coaxial cable itself, but just differences in the connection modality. I didn't try the xlr interconnects or speaker cables. I wasn't sure if they would perform similarly to the other cables which I did try.. Anyways Im actually trying to sell the whole bunch of AE cables (coaxial, xlr, pc, speaker cables). |
@docroasty I appreciate the update. I've been waiting to hear more about the TWL Obsession power cords. Seems I've never read a bad thing about them. May still try one someday. FYI, the Audio Envy power cords needed around 4-5 days to burn in and open up in my system. They were OK just after insertion, but really needed time to show their best, especially the P2 power cord. BTW, didn't you say you bought some Audiosensibilities power leads for your linear power supply? What did you think of those? |
@pokey77 i enjoyed my first TWL obsession so much that i ended up ordering a second. however, i found out that it doesnt pair well with my dac; i was using a TWL Digital pc with my dac and i tried the Obsession with it and the sound i got was just a bit too bright and seemed congested up top. i had to swap back to the Digital pc. yep i did get some silver statement audiosensibilities dc leads; these were from my farad super 3 lps to sotm streamer and switch. however, despite running with them for about 3 weeks, i ended up preferring the farad L2 silver dc cables, which sounded richer and fuller to me. so i sent the audiosensibility cables back for a refund. i think the farad L2 silver cables are really good. however, i did have a friend who preferred the copper over the silver in his system. |
Tried AV cables, they are voiced to what Captin feels is correct. I found them thin in the needed bid-bass and lacking deep bottom end and overtones, the cables are an upper midrange up the sound which of course will sound more open, and detailed no different than having a receiver and turning down the bass controls or upping the treble controls. My system gear is nowhere near bright, using Quad speakers to boot. Made my McIntosh tube amp sound thin, that takes some doing. But like all audio, it is what you like, so if you like Captain's idea of what his cables sound like that is fine with me. Enjoy! |
Recent Update! Every year we go through our line of Audio Envy Cables and evaluate the synergy. This is an important task because I am continuously determining ways to bring a more honest signal transfer. To offer a brief understanding: An up shift to the timber happens laterally as the cables window of resolution increases; part of my task is tuning the cables timber back down and relaxing the highs. Last week I made two adjustment to the interconnects and the speaker wire. Many systems and songs will do well with this combination as full bodied, smooth and extended. On the other end, many folks already had a timber anchor in their system (so to speak) So the hundreds of cables that we built and shipped in 2020, made a lot of ears happy😊 If you feel yours could use a drop in timber, send us a message. We can do a trade approach or potentially apply it to the cable you ALREADY HAVE! Thanks again for all the support! |
I own a lot of Audio Envy cable. And my comments were meant as my process of music enjoyment, I still have the cables in my system and letting them further burn-in, I purchased several cables from online sellers, not from AE. The resale prices were good enough to try without hearing them. The only AE cables I don’t own are the speaker cables. The AE has warmed up over the past several days. But if what the designer says that he’s improved upon his designs then they will make many more people happy I am sure. Nice to hear he improving them. My point was all cable manufacturers have their house sound, and in the end, it is that cables work with your other equipment. People don’t like Pangea 9SEMkii power cords but I’ve heard them sound great on Amps in some systems and mean great. |
Since I had been so impressed with my AE power cord and speaker cables, I purchased XLR cables from AE about a month ago. Initially they did sound a bit too detailed, but things got better after about 30 hours or so. Unfortunately, I could hear a very prominent hiss coming from the speakers. I contacted @audioenvycables, and Captain agreed to send me another pair. I think the replacement has the updated tuning that captain mentioned in his post. Anyways, while I was waiting for the replacement, I tried two other XLR cables in the meantime - Audioquest Mackenzie (which I have owned for 5 years) and Shunyata Research Black Mamba (borrowed from a friend). First off, the Mackenzie was simply not even close to the AE cables. The sound was dark, rolled off, and a bit boring. The Shunyata Research were quite good, but definitely not better than AE, at least in my system. Or perhaps my system is not ’high-end’ enough to do them justice. It’s funny how sometimes we only learn to appreciate a component when it’s removed from the chain, not when it’s added, which was definitely the case with AE cables. I have now put about 50 hours on the replacement AE cables, and I can say without reservation that my system has never sounded better. I think their main strength is offering loads of detail and clarity but without the downsides -- i.e. brightness and fatigue, that often come with the territory. |
I am currently using Audio Envy Interconnect and Speaker cables. My take is the cable is very good in clarity and resolution. It open up the top end and not being bright and fatiguing. The vocal to me is uncoloured and flat frequency response. What I think can be improved is the mid bass and low end extension. But I can foresee that for big speakers, having AE may be able to reduce bass boom problem in untreated room. However for my YG carmel 2, the need of lower end extension is important. And I just email captain about tuning the timber :) |
@kimurastanley, Have you tried AE’s Power Cords? I am in the process of upgrading to his latest Mega ‘3’ PC’s. After trying one of his ‘3’ in front of power distributor (Nordost QB8), there was a noticeable improvement in mid bass and low end extension. The ‘3’ PC uses twice the conductors (6) vs. last generation Mega 3. The second ‘3’ is being added to my Accuphase Integrated. I am quite ecstatic to hear how ‘3’ strikes a beautiful balance in upper, mid and lower frequencies and complementing rest of AE cables in my system. |
@lalitk Ya, I just added qkore 6 to my system 4 weeks ago. IMHO, the relevation is as significant as adding odin1 power cable to the system. Noise floor drops significantly and it is like removal of layer of glare in my system. ;) regaring the mega 3, is it ocean-elite 3p? I didn’t see mega 3 power cable in audio envy Websites |
@lalitk
I was just kidding. I'm very happy with all the cables I got from you. =) I doubt I can hear any difference. Very satisified with all my cables. Spent another 1500 on new cables with Captain. Hopefully they will arrive soon and I can put it to rest and move on to the next venture. |
I have always been impressed with the AE products (already own speaker cables, XLR cables, and Ocean 2P), but I must say that they’ve outdone themselves with the Mega 3 power cord. I was expecting some improvement but was not prepared for the experience after putting it in my system to drive the Luxman 590AXII amp. It has improved the performance of my system in ways that I didn’t think were possible by merely swapping a power cord. The biggest improvement is in the mid-to-low bass region, the bass is punchier but without the extra bloom. The second improvement is that the music just extends further in the room; you get more of the ’musicians in the room’ effect but without it being too forward. Lastly, and this one is a real head scratcher, previously I always felt that the imaging in my room was slightly dominated by the right speaker, for example the singer was standing just right of center. I don’t know how and why this is happening, but after adding the Mega 3 PC the image is dead center and better locked in. Thanks to @lalitk again for letting me know about the Mega 3. PS -- I always pay full price for AE cables and in no way compensated by the company, ever! So please let’s not go there again :) |
I just ordered the Phono cable....looking forward to using it with between my VPI and Gold Note. I have 2 Audio Envy RCA Studio Prestige 6ft pairs which I needed at the time when I ordered them but my equipment positioning is so much different now. These would actually be much better for me if they were only 2 Footers. If anyone could use the 6 footers or have 2 or 3 footers you would like to trade for 6 footers....hit me up. |
I just received their phono cable , I have to say I was impressed with its top end ,clarity , and definition. to detail , easy to hear., piano had more shading of tones . Bass was more together , It worked well with my system. Voice was very clear , maybe a little lit up I only have a hour or so on them . Hope this helps someone looking for a phono cable . |
so, i bought a new (to me) amp. a PL 250.8 from mark at Reno. only takes spades. my Orion M1 speaker cables are all bananas. no problem. i'll just remove the banana and go bare wire on the amp. Wrong. after removing the banana i found 16 small gauge wires with a clear jacket on each. my attempts to remove the clear stuff failed. i messed it up pretty good. contacted the company owner for a quote on reterminating. the quote i received got me looking for new speaker wire, even though the Orion M1 cost a fortune (to me). found this post re audio envy cables . went over everything on the web site. called Captain and had a very nice conversation. ordered the NEW SP-11 speaker cable and a #3 PC. excited. new stuff on the way. as this is a very positive thread for audio envy, i thought i'ld share the info re the new sp-11 speaker wire. longest post ever. |