Cable Comparison-Stage 1

Prelude to a review…

It was a super relaxing Sunday afternoon when Gunbei should knock on my door in person. He is an imposing figure--wouldn’t surprise me if he came from a lineage of samurais or sumo wrestlers.

Two weeks prior to this meeting, I had emailed him asking for his impression on Cardas cables, and he offered to mail me send some cables to try them out. To make the story short, it turns out he lives about 30 minutes BMW M3 driving distance away (I swear it would probably take me about an hour to drive to his house, so go figure).

Box of goodies…..

He took out a medium sized Amazon.com cardboard box, and inside were about a thousand dollars worth of high end cables:

(1) Harmonic Technology Silways Mk2 1 meter RCA
(1) Cardas Golden Cross .5 meter RCA
(1) Virtual Dynamics Audition 1 meter RCA
(1) Cardas Silver Lightning 1 meter digital RCA
(1) Illuminations (Kimber) D-60 1 meter digital RCA
(1) Virtual Dynamics Audition 1 meter digital RCA

And in this corner…

However, unlike Gunbei who is has secular as well as worldly wealth, Viggen only has financial aid wealth. Thus, Viggen’s collection of interconnects is a pittance in comparison:

(1) Audioquest Emerald .5 meter RCA
(1) Bear Labs Silver Lightning 1 meter RCA
(1) Mapleshade Ultrathin 1 meter RCA
(1) Illuminations D-60 .5 meter RCA

Well, the whole point of Gunbei’s trek, a kin to his samurai lineage (play along), is to seek enlightenment, and what better place to seek knowledge then at Viggen’s casa with this modest system installed:

California Audio Labs Delta Transport
California Audio Labs Alpha DAC
Meridian 518 Digital Processor
Audio Research CA50
KEF 103/4
Audioquest Argent 6 Feet Pair with Spades Single Wire
Stock Gold Plated Jumpers used on Black Speaker Binding Post
Alpha Core Silver Jumpers used on Red Speaker Binding Post
Living/Listening Room 14Wx20Dx10H (estimation)
Virtual Dynamics Power 2 from wall to PS Audio Juicebar
Virtual Dynamics Power 2 from Juicebar to DAC and 518
Virtual Dynamics Audition Power from Juicebar to transport
Amp is plugged into the Juicebar via non-removable stock cords

During our listening session that day, we auditioned just about every cable listed above in every possible application. For an example, I used the HT Silways for analog AND as digital applications. I did this with all the other cables as well. Furthermore, I also took the Meridian 518 in and out of the system just to see how the cables sounded with and without the 518’s dejittering effects on the front end.

The Review Procedure

It has been 6 days since Gunbei was over at my apartment where we had a 6 hour listening session and making tons of comments and observations in the process. Listening with a fellow audiophile is extremely more fun and enlightening; however, for the sake of accuracy, I will try to keep this review as accurate as possible and leaving out the comments and observations we concluded with because I didn’t write them down during the time the comments were made. Just for the record, we agreed on every observation we made that day, and we made like about 50 of them. Also, Gunbei took the Audition cables back home, so they will not be included in the review portion, but I might add in some commentaries in the end if I can faithfully remember how they compared to the other cables.

The testing procedure is this—I will start the test with a base configuration. The base configuration will be using the CAL Delta and Alpha fronts with a single 1 meter D-60 cable in between. Whatever interconnects being used will connect the DAC to the CA50 integrated amp, 45 wpc using 2 months old factory tubes and recalibrated/biased by Gary Garfield of Musical Fidelity in Santa Monica. Audioquest Argents will connect the amp to the speakers, KEF 103/4, a 3-way speaker with coaxial/concentric 1-inch tweeter and 6 inch mids with dual coupled 6-inch drivers within a ported enclosure.

I will put different interconnects into the system in place of the Emerald and comment on the difference in sound quality between the Emerald and the other cables. In the second stage, I will do the same as in the first testing stage, but I will add the Meridian 518 into the loop, thus the transport will send signal to 518 then the signal goes from 518 to DAC all via a pair of D-60 cables.

In the third stage of testing, and I will admit I already have a favorable bias towards this stage of testing, I will use the pair of D-60 as analog cables between the DAC and amp, and use all the other analog interconnects between the trans, DAC and the 518 in and out of the loop intermittently.

During each stage of testing, I will use 3 test tracks:
1) Ivy-Long Distance, I Think of You, track 10 for techno-synth/pop and drums.
2) Ryuichi Sakamoto-1996, Wurthering Heights, track 12 for piano and strings.
3) Everything But the Girl-I Don’t Want to Talk About It, track 8 for acoustic and vocals.

The left speaker is 4 feet from the left wall and the right speaker is 4.5 feet from the right wall. Both speakers are 4 feet from the rear wall, about 15 feet from the front wall and about 6 feet apart (measured visually). Each speaker is elevated by about 8 inches. I am using very sturdy apple crates that I got from a local grocery store, and a one-inch thick high school yearbook is placed beneath the base of the speakers, which are using spikes, to give the foundation more solidity. Also, the tweeters are about 4 inches below my ear level.

Finally, the frig’in Review

Track-1 (Volume at 12 o’clock)

Base system

Audioquest Emeralds

The Emeralds do a great job in “layering” the different elements such as the guitar, vocals, and drums when the pace/rhythm of the track is slow to moderate. These elements are distinct from another with “air” in between, yet they are musically blended together. However, there are certain things that irritate me. The bass slam creates a slight ringing effect in my ears: it is too sharp. The Emeralds show their age as the track gets more complex. The highs on the female vocals sound great when she’s doing a solo, but they get kind of scratchy when the rest of the instruments are blended in. The guitar displays a great stereo imaging effect before the complexity hits in (complex portion is when all the instruments and vocals are going on at the same time with fast pace and rhythm.)

Comment: The Emerald doesn’t seem to handle complex material well.

Harmonic Technology Silway Mk2
Blacker, the Silways have blacker background. These cables are slightly less euphoric than the Emeralds—there is slightly less rounding off on the highs, and there is slightly more realistic details. The highs are a bit more irritating at first because they are sharper than the Emerald. However, after about a minute, I prefer the more detailed and sharper highs of the Silways. The bass is much more managed with the Silways—I do not experience the ear ringing bass slam as I did with the Emerald. When the complex portion of this CD comes in, there is lesser black in the background, and the highs become a little shrilled.

Comment: The Silway’s improvements over the Emerald by offering blacker background, more controlled bass and more realistic details in the highs. Also, the Silways offer slightly more “image” in the 8 and 5 O’clock portion of the soundstage. The highs can be a bit “graspy” with the complex portion. I surmise this cable would definitely be better than the Emerald with acoustic material and only slightly better with synth/bass and drums.

Cardas Golden Cross
Less black, less sharpness, less glare compared to the Silways, but it has more black and details than the Emerald. But what stands this cable apart is its ability to render more detail without being sharp or edgy. But, it also has its own pitfalls. The lower midbass is a bit bloated, which the bloating weren’t present with the other two cables tested thus far. After the material starts to get more complex, I am experiencing slight loss in detail and increase in echo particularly in the highs of synthesizer and the female vocal. Also, the soundstage shrinks a little particularly in the 10 and 3 o’clock portions when the material gets complex.

Comment: This cable does great things to the small details of this track—the small details are not so small, not in the way that it is amplified but it has its own distinct personality. The highs are more rolled off than the Emerald and Silways. The Emeralds are still a bit brighter in comparison yet with less detail in the highs. I think this cable is the most “liquid” of the 3 cables tested so far.

Bear Labs Silver Lightning

True to Bear Labs’ website, this cable does seem to have “natural timbre and tonal balance.” The instant I plugged in the SL and turned on the CD player, I felt a sense of “purity” that wasn’t their with the previous cables. Here is a list of attributes that were present in the other cables that the SLs do not have:
1) Emerald’s rolled highs and layering effect
2) HT’s black background, managed bass and more detailed highs
3) Cardas’ peculiar micro-detail rendering
Even though the SL cables don’t have these attributes, it does sound better for exactly the same reason.

Comment: the greatest strength this cable has over others is its ability to make the female vocal sound/feel more palatable, and it remained so even during the complex portion of the track. There is still some glare on the highs, but less irritatingly so compared to the Emerald and HT. Also, there is a better sense of prat with this cable than with the other 3 cables.

Verdict
The Bear Labs won the first round by having less of everything except musicality (by the way, I hate using words like natural and musicality because of its inherent lack of meaning, but since I am living with it, so should you.)

Track-2 (for the sake of fairness, I will test each of the same cords in reverse order)

Bear Labs
As I am trying to find things to say about this cable, I am also trying to find faults. I am questioning myself whether the pianos and strings sound lifelike, whether the spatial-ness of the soundstage is realistic, whether the bass and highs are managed correctly, whether the details are rendered accurately, but I fail to find anything to comment. Maybe I will find more faults with this cable after I listen to the other cables. I can only say, this cable is not spectacular if you are trying to hear the “cable;” in fact, it almost has a sense of “average-ness” to it if you try to listen to the “cable.” One thing I do notice is some instruments are farther away from me, and some are closer to me; whereas, I previously thought all the instruments were equidistant from me when using other cables.

Comments: There is nothing irritating that I notice with this cable, but part of this can be relevant to the CD. So, I shall further comment on this cable. But, one thing people might not like about this cable is, the reproduction of music is flat compared to the other cables, not in a clinical way but just lack energy or “hyperness.” But, I think this is because this cable got the prat and timbre down pat better than the other cables so far.

Cardas
This cable sounds more luxurious than the Bear. Ok, get this, I think the most of this cable’s presence are in the mid-highs, yet the highs are rolled off a bit. This seems to be a very hard to achieve feat to me. Also, cable doesn’t have the “average-ness” that is inherent in the Bear Labs, and I can sense this right away when I hit the play, and this is a good thing. The highs are a bit rolled off compared to the Bear, thus giving me the impression that the headroom is smaller, but the stings, particularly when the violins hits their high notes, are more extended yet silkier sounding than the Bear.

Comments: Both cables have distinct attributes, even though the Bear’s attribute is its lack of attribute. I can’t make up my mind which cable I like better between these two with Ryuichi’s material.

HT
The HT seems to have attributes found in the Cardas along some attributes of its own. The violins are 90% as silky as the Cardas; however, there is more presence in the mids rather than in the high-mids as with the Cardas. This is peculiar since with the Ivy CD, the Cardas seemed to be more rolled in the highs, yet with Ryuichi, the HT seems more rolled. Also, the lower mids with the HT is more vibrant. I feel more air rushing out of the ported mids enclosure of the speakers with HT than the Cardas and Bear. This cable also has the blackest background of the three. But, and here is the deal breaker, the HT has a better decaying effect than the other 2 cables with the Ryuichi track. This gives the piano and, particularly, the strings, more life.

Comments: I think I like the HT the most so far. But, it can be a bit dark.

AQ

The Emeralds sound like an antique compared to the other cables with the Ryuichi track. I mean, just by hitting play, you can tell it is “yesterday’s” technology right away. But, this is not necessarily a bad thing all the time. First of all, the presentation with this cable is a bit pushed back compared to the other 3 cables. There is also less detail in the lower mids and more irritating sharpness in the upper mids. However, the music is very enjoyable until certain complexities in the music hits in, then the highs starts to shrill.

Comments: I believe this cable is not suited for this CD. I neglected to use any CDs with brass instruments, which is where I think this cable is very good at. Not that I advocate using certain cables for certain instruments.

Verdict: Ryuichi sounds the best with Harmonic Tech.

Track-3 (I will further jumble the order of cables)

HT
This cable seems to match this CD very well in terms of mood and background, but it doesn’t match the vocal range very well. Both the cable and this CD’s track has a bit of a dark sound to it, and they compliment each other by giving the background a smoother, dark and “sad emotion” texture instead of adding to each other and making the background too cold. The vocals doesn’t seem to like this cable as much especially when the material gets to be a bit complex. Her sound is smooth and deep, but it gets thin and sharp when the material is complex and when she hits the higher notes.

Comment: As usual, the HT is vibrant in the lows, and it doesn’t scare away this track’s melancholy. Good sound, but I think there is room for improvement.

Cardas
More air, but the strings are slightly mushier than the HT. But, not so much so that the guitars loses its “snap.” The guitars have a bit better texture with the Cardas--you can feel the individual fingers strumming the strings. Maybe this is because the Cardas has more emphasis in the mid-highs with this EBTG as well as with the Ryuichi track. Also, the Cardas has a slight “swaying melody” presentation of this track compared to the more straightforward presentation of the HT.

Comment: The Cardas extracts more detail and emotion from this track than the HT.

Bear
Realism and sense of timing is instantly improved with the Bear after replacing the Cardas. The Bear seems to be better than the Cardas and HT in combining the vocal with the instruments. They seem more seamless in its presentation with the Bear; whereas, they are more distinct with the Cardas and, particularly, the HT. With this CD, being seamless is better than being distinct. However, something is missing in terms of musicality and emotion. Also, the strumming of the guitar is not as detailed as with the Bear. The Bear also has less texture in the background.

Comment: The Bear seems to do all the technical things right with the EBTG track, but it lacks a bit compared to the Cardas.

AQ
There is more hiss in the background, that is the first thing I noticed. OK, the Emeralds do one thing that is better than the other megabuck cables. The guitars are liquidly smooth yet full bodied and detailed. However, the vocals can be just a tinge sluggish compared to the other cables.

Comment: It does one thing great, and average with all the other things. It comes in last technically, but, to me intrinsically, it is on pace with the HT and Bear with the EBTG track.

Verdict: EBTG sounds the best with Cardas.

Conlusion: TO BE CONTINUED. It is too soon to have a conclusion, for there are two more stages left in this cable comparison test.