Audio envy - dang!

I need to check these AE IC out. 

Captain makes good stuff on my way to order balance ic to him, nice guy too with full of knowledge.

@jayctoy Yes, it is a new offering from AE. I'm not sure why the Mega 3 is not listed on their webpage. Maybe it's not cost effective or takes up too much manufacturing time. But I can tell you it's really amazing!

New power cord?

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 :)

Just tried the coax cable along with the prestige interconnects. Both are solid offerings and still breaking in, but running the coax cable reverse made everything straight up holographic. 

Lalitk agree +1

@seanchau 

Glad to hear you’re enjoying AE cables. Gorgeous sound and great value for the money. I have yet to find another brand of cables that can rival the performance especially at their asking price. 

@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.

@lalitk 
After hearing your comments on the mega 3 I feel like I should upgrade all my mega 2.  Recently purchased them from some guy on us audio mart.  Should have seen this thread earlier. Sigh.  Lol

@lalitk 

I see. I shall email Captain for more details.

@kimurastanley,

RE: QKORE - Ditto! I can’t imagine my audio system without it :-)

The Mega 3 uses twice the conductors in ocean-elite 3p. It’s a relatively newer cable, don’t think it’s updated on their website yet.

@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 

@kimurastanley,

Very nice system! I believe changing out Odin 1 to Odin 2 or Valhalla 2 should provide the missing bass in your system. I’ve heard both Odin / Valhalla Series 2 are vastly superior to Series 1. 
Are you using QKORE in your system? 

@lalitk 

I haven't tried audio envy power cable.

I am using full nordost in my power part (odin 1 from wall to qbase 8, rest are valhalla 2 to my lumin x1, vac pre and accuphase A75). I am not sure if using audio envy power cable will improve the low end.

@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.

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 :)

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 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. 

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!

Interesting, I don't recall sending out a set of cables to a customer with Quad speakers.  I am speaking with a phillyb through email right now and he wants to buy our XLR cables. Is this you? 

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! 

well all I can say is the interconnect I received is really musical in my system.  call it system synergy or whatever it is just very, very good, I'm satisfied.

@pokey77 

I ended swapping back to another TWL cord I was using with it originally, called The Digital. 

Yes they do.

excuse my ignorance but for those of you that have the IC's does the arrow/signal on them mean to have the arrow pointed in the direction to the amp/integrated amp?

@docroasty

Thanks for the explanation. I'm curious since the Obsession did not work on your DAC, on what component do you like it?

@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.

@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 

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). 

@pokey77,

That’s great to hear, happy for you man! 

@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.

+1 rlb61

+1 twoleftears. 

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.

It's certainly true that on this forum from time to time a certain make or model rather rapidly develops a full head of steam and "takes off" in a more or less spectacular way.  I won't mention the most obvious example, as that name doesn't need repeating, but the Kinki integrated also comes to mind.  To what degree the love-fest is justified varies considerably, from not at all (most obvious), to perhaps (Kinki), to definitely (Audio Envy).

David commenting that you know the intentions behind everybody's actions displays delusions of grandeur.

We are not novices. We love the sound of music better with these cables!  If you can’t tell the difference between an Anti-Cable a Mogami or these. Then auditioning cables is not your forte…. Because all of those cables respond differently!  

It seems you came here to take a dump, we are tired of smelling it, so please finish up and move along!

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I don’t think anyone has a problem with dissenting views here. @madavid0 has every right to test AE cables in his own system and share his views whether favorable or not. We’ve all been around the block a few times, and it should not come as a surprise that for some AE cables will simply be a bad match. It’s not going to change my adoration for the cables for my taste and in my system. There's a reason 'YMMV' is probably the most often used term here.

The problem is when people start engaging in conspiracy theories, or disparaging someone’s enthusiasm for a given product because they don’t have "discerning ears" or "revealing" systems. At this point, we are not simply discussing likes or dislikes but making some serious accusations and attacking the integrity of not only AE fans but the company itself. And if you are making such claims, it’s reasonable to ask for some basis.

@lalitk I don't see any indication of the high-end cables you claim to have owned in there.

“people who try a product and post an opinion that differs from audio forum users who report positive opinions are often criticized and/or accused of having inferior systems or listening skills. It creates an environment where dissenting opinion is discouraged, and it happens with more than a few products across categories.”

@tvad,

I completely agree and for the reason stated above I don’t post here anymore as much I used to.
I have owned cable looms well into $40K range and much to my surprise, AE cables have bettered those supposedly high on performance top dollars cables in my system.
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8046

@arafiq Yes, I am implying that. Of course I could easily be wrong and it’s simply that it’s unrelated people participating in a feel-good groupthink exercise. No cables will have the amazing revelatory effects being described here, and also the almost unadulterated positivity, no one at all except for one person seems to be able to be mildly critical. Don’t worry I haven’t officially labeled the AE cables as "nothing special" yet, more testing is required.

Anyway, AE has nothing to worry about. People, especially in the lower budget spectrum, will already make up their minds about the cables being excellent because they prefer to believe they’ve found the "smart" buy, and all they need to see is most people on here praising it. The one or two mediocre reviews will just get dismissed.

I did the same thing with Anticables some years ago. I trialed a set of their top of the line 6.2 interconnects. Far more expensive than these AEs. I compared them against a set of old no-name cables using pro stock (I forget which) with big heavy connectors lying around the basement. At first the 6.2 was much worse, but after a good amount of burn-in they improved to...no difference at all. No matter how hard I listened I couldn’t tell any difference that wasn’t so minor that it couldn’t be chalked up to memory effects. So, I returned them. No harm no foul. Of course nobody wanted to hear my findings for the reasons stated above and I’m sure that thread hasn’t impacted the purchasing decision of a single person.

And I guess I’ll say that the versions of the cables I have are labeled "patent pending" and look different compared to what’s on the site. The interconnects look more like the phono cables without the grounding wires. I also note that prices have been greatly increased. Has the owner increased price to match the better performance? Or is it just bringing things more into line with expected audiophile margins?

@madavid0 -- I'm trying to understand the motivation behind your original post with respect to the 'red flag' comment. Are you implying that those who are smitten by AE cables are in fact shrills working on behalf of the captain who is orchestrating some sort of a clandestine operation? Or is it because you think that AE fans are novices who are particularly prone to irrational exuberance due to lack of experience?

It's always a good idea to backup your claims with some evidence before making these kinds of baseless accusations.

Cap here with Audio Envy, 

We are blessed to have many outspoken clients and now friends. I extend my gratitude to be a part of their audio system and life. 

Addressing directly to madavid0. Most thread comments are relevant to our current cable offerings. Which have evolved from your/madavid0 claims of past purchased some years ago.   I have read through your/madavid0 other posts  and can appreciate your straight forward, no nonsense demeanor. However, I appreciate the truth too. Perhaps take some time and reflect on what your intentions are.  Would your single experience be more important than hundreds of satisfied listeners?

 This is not a marketing ploy. I would not spend the time, nor the deep CIA level planning to implement such. I believe you’ll find these audiophiles have a solid history here and love talking about cool gear.  

Perhaps our latest cable offerings can bring you up to par with customers excitement. If not, perhaps what your ears sense or like, is not in accordance with AE fans or myself, and that’s ok, because somebody out there makes a cable for you to get excited about…. even if you have to go to japan...little joke;) 

 EVERYBODY THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE SUPPORT😊. It truly is a blessing these days for a smaller company to get any traction at all.  Let’s move forward that it’s not David’s wishes to disparage such for entertainment.

Well there's always someone who feels like investigating my posting history. Because of that I feel like I can't break the trend so it's basically become my brand.

Anyway to try and expose the apparent sound staging I listened to Factory Girl from Beggars Banquet by Rolling Stones. I picked this track because it has a strong spatial effect due to manipulating stereo. Listening to this I realized that the "shift" in soundstage I experienced is due to one of the cable sets being cross-wired. Honestly it doesn't look there's much a difference between the AE and Mogami cables in place. I'll need to test further, perhaps not with rapid A/B testing which might be messing up my audio perception.

I also have a set of Audio Sensibility cables connecting pre to amp. I'll figure out how to test those as well.

Source: custom audio server, linear power supply, Paul Pang v3 USB card + external battery supply. SSD power isolated with splitter cable to another battery. Windows 10, Fidelizer Pro, Roon. All fanless. CD player when the batteries are charging.

DAC: Schiit Yggdrasil Analog 2 + Unison USB (Supra USB cable and optical for CD player).

Pre: Yaqin B-2T + Herbie tube dampeners, all NOS. Both DAC and pre plugged into a Chinese balanced isolation transformer. Audio Sensibility power cables to devices, transformer is plugged into a Furutech outlet with a AE power cable.

Amp: VTV Purifi, currently burning in but I think it's about done. Old Odyssey Stratos standing by, Odyssey Kismet coming in. LessLoss level 1 power-filtering cable (not the C-Marc) with a LessLoss Firewall x64, plugged directly into a Furutech outlet.

Speakers: ProAc D30R + Audio Sensibility cables + matching jumpers. 

Negative topic headers is my brand, don’t worry about it.

My Yggdrasil has two sets of SE outputs which makes testing interconnects easy. In one group are "World’s Best Cables" interconnects. These are simply Mogami pro cables with nothing-special connectors. Running a quick test, switching back and forth between the two cables using a remote for my preamp, showed there WAS apparently a difference. The AE cables seemed to shift the soundstage making it a little wider. Sometimes, but not always, piano seemed more forward / louder.

That was just a quickie I’m doing a more thorough comparison

@madavid0,I do not even own a single Audio Envy product. But when I helped a friend setup a new system, we put these in his system. If any new person starts his "hifi journey", Audio Envy and Clear Days would be my starting point for them. These are really good cables.

The great deal of overwhelmed positivity over these cables is a red flag to me.

Going over this comment and reading about your latest posts makes me think that you are either an introvert or a person who has a lot of negative thoughts. Below are your top threads:

Purifi Class D: Junk?
Honest Amp Reviews: Impossible?
Tonearms: Ripoff?
Job amps: Suck?
High End is Dead?


Whatever disappointments you might have had in the past, I hope life brings joy and positivity to you in the near future.

I've ordered 5 IC, 2 SC and 3PC after auditioning one AE Studio Prestige IC, Just the one IC connected to my 110db compression driver into waveguides elicited an easily heard improvement,  especially transparency initially..