Put Morrow Audio's Ma-1 through Ma-6 on your short list and I'll leave it at that! |
there are some Transparent REFERENCE-MM CABLES (RCA) for sale.
these are one step below OPUS but you get IMHO 95% of the performance
of carbon fiber. PLUS you can get them calibrated for your system
as well- not a bad idea if you don't anticipate making any further changes for awhile. these particular cables make alot of BASS. also they expand the soundstage and improve separation of instruments. if you don't like them they
shouldn't be difficult to resell. |
I guess you could add Nordost Odin to that list. |
You are running balanced, aren't you? The 781i is truly balanced and your preamp has balanced inputs. Wadia told me that I should run balanced if at all possible.
What did you find with the preamp that you didn't have running straight into your amp? People say that it's because you can run the wadia at 100 (full open), but the dip switches inside the unit can be set to run the Wadia at an optimal 75-100. I haven't tried a preamp, so I'm curious.
Chuck
|
Hi Chuck,
I know Wadia recommends running straight into your power amp and I can appreciate the logic behind this ie most people aren't going to be too happy to spend as much again on their preamp as they spent on their Wadia and it does soften the upgrade path. However despite shortest signal path philosophy a top tier preamp will get a lot more out of your Wadia, at a price of course. After a long affair with tubes I finally went solid state, pre & power for accuracy. I chose the SMC VRE-1 over Spectral by a whisker but both are great preamps. A great improvement you can make to your Wadia is to buy a really good power cord difference is night and day. |
Anti-cables,if you buy balanced 1 meter and dont like them I will pay 70% for them.Good luck,Bob |
I also will send you a one month old pair Of Art Audio,1 meter balanced to try while your experimenting.I dont do expensive cables anymore.I was one who couldnt tell a big difference.I do like expensive stuff however,Ayre,Mac CJ,Counterpoint.Go figure,I cannot,cheers,Bob |
having used several of the cables you mentioned my choice was KS Elation....But then you knew that huh?! |
One of my customers has replaced KS Emotion and Elation ICs with Teo Audio Standard series and ordered a pair of the new Reference series speaker cables to replace Elation SCs... The Standard ICs and SCs have beat pretty much everything mentioned in this thread, while the Reference is just freaky insane; it's over in five seconds. |
Essentialaudio,
Thanks for your input, I had never heard of these cables but they definitely sound interesting. I read on their website that they wanted to create a cable that would outperform Tara Labs Zero, and they did. That's a fine recommendation at a good price too. |
It's impossible to make an answer, too much cable manufacturers on the Earth...
About all suggestion you received my preference goes to Kubala-Sosna Elation that I recently tried (balanced termination) in my system between cd-preamp and preamp-poweramp.
It was better than all others I had tried previously (Kubala S- Emotion, MIT Magnum old version, TRansparent Reference, Fabercables x-solution, Fadelart 1.0, Stealth Indra).
Sometimes there were very slight difference, but Elation seems exceptionally balanced in spectrum frequency (as K-S Emotion, but this latter is less open in highs) also effortlessly dynamic and with a superb focus on voices and instruments. Too much expensive for my budget, but in any case a great choice.
I'm sorry to have no chance to test Nordost Odin or Jena top of the line or Silent Source reference.
cheers
Marco |
I've been beta testing for a new cable company called "Wywire" and they are absolutely rocking my world. Far, far better than anything I've experienced. They are making a big splash over at audio circle and have a 60 day guarantee. I'd suggest looking into their products.
Their commercial launch is today and I suspect they will be a big deal. |
Hi,
I agree with Jdub39 regarding the Morrow ICs. But be prepared for a long settling in/breakin period even with his breakin service. The wait is well-worth it. My experience is with the MA 3s and 4s. I have the single-ended Silver bullet 4s and like them very much. Mike Morrow is also an excellent guy to work with. Patient and knowledgeable. Give all of us some feedback when you make your decision!
Ed |
I recently put a preamp into my system instead of feeding my Wadia 781i directly into my power amps. Which by the way was a significant improvement. I am now looking for the best interconnect between my Wadia and my SMC-VRE 1 preamp. I am considering Stealth Sakra, Cardas Clear, Kubala Sosna Elation, Tara Labs Zero Gold. Preamp to power amp is Tara Labs Zero Onyx. It is very difficult to evaluate all these cables especially over extended break in periods. Does anyone have experience with several of these cables or similar. Your advice and input would be highly appreciated. Hello David, I just to own a Wadia 860x few years ago, really good CDP. it was on my set up for long time. I highly recommend you to try first the Stealth Indra before anything else. You can find a used pretty much fully broke in Indra for a good price these day. When I just to have the Wadia direct to my Kronzilla DM via the Indra (1.5M RCA beta testing ) all I can tell you is Wow! very impresses. The indra in my opinion is one of the best IC for your source. Now I'm thinking the new Stealth Sakra is better? How that is possible!!!! I guess hearing is believing... I need to call Ted for a pair for audition. Good Luck! Regards. Bernie |
Marco,
Yes I agree this is the dilemma, too much choice! And very good choices at that. Thank you for sharing your experience with the KS Elation balanced interconnect everyone confirms it is one of the very best cables, but can you remember any significant differences it had with the Stealth Indra? Was the Indra and Elation comparison pretty close or was the Indra completely outclassed or just different. I mostly listen to rock and acoustic music was there a major difference between rock and classical?
Best Regards,
David |
Bernie,
Have you had a chance audition the KS Elation yet? However your recomendation to try a used Indra first is a good one especially considering the price. My setup is all solid state pre & power amps. Do you know if these cables have a bias or preference towards tubes or transistors? A lot of people have told me that the Sakra is the very best but with a long burn-in it's very difficult to compare. The compatability you mentioned with Wadia and Stealth is interesting.
Best Regards,
David |
Have you had a chance audition the KS Elation yet? However your recomendation to try a used Indra first is a good one especially considering the price. My setup is all solid state pre & power amps. Do you know if these cables have a bias or preference towards tubes or transistors? A lot of people have told me that the Sakra is the very best but with a long burn-in it's very difficult to compare. The compatability you mentioned with Wadia and Stealth is interesting.
Hello David, No, I never had a chance to audition the KS Elation IC. Just to remind you the Kronzilla are Hybrid amps so Wadia- Indra- Kronzilla and Bella Luna with wonderful results. My point is the Indra work very well with solid state. Regards. Bernie |
Hello David
the comparison was made in different times and not close-to-close between KS Elation and Stealth Indra, but to my ears they were very similar, exceptionally open, maybe Stealth a little bit faster.
I found the KS line (Emotion and Elation) more organic and natural with more coherence in all spectrum, but as you know situation may change in each system. My actual interconnect used as reference is top-of-the line "X-solution" from italian manufacturer Fabercables, not cheap but cheaper than all the other competitors and only a little bit inferior.
I listened both classical, acoustic intruments, and pop-jazz, rarely rock. My system is preamp tubed (Aria) and hybrid poweramp (tube input stage, solidstate power section; an upgraded fully modded unit from Altavista audio); speakers are three ways from Kharma.
cheers
Marco |
