Cable Upgrade: Too much transparency

I agree with Mr. Tennis. The particular cable combination may be revealing a bright system component.

the issue seems to be one of spectral balance. either there is a thinness, or perhaps an emphasis upon the treble frequencies.

it is possible that some other component(s) in the system is causing this.

you should listen to other cables, or try to recall the sound of your stereo system when you were using the cables which were replaced by the audioquest.

if you are confident that it is the cables, you have the answer.

it has been suggested that distortion may be reponsible for what you are hearing. perhaps, wire impurity, and or dielectric problems. could also be the connectors.

It's possible that what you're hearing is distortion caused by stacking of low quality materials in the product, e.g., PSC wire, polyethylene primary dielectric, etc. I wouldn't have these in my system.

If you can't live with the sound, recommend you switch to a cable made of OCC copper wire (not OFC), FEP Teflon dielectric and copper (not brass) plugs. There also is OCC silver wire, but it's brighter, and probably not for you.

Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference II is a good cable, IMHO. Beware of AZ fakes being sold as 'demo' on some audio websites. Also, if located in Europe or Canada, look for Atlas Cables, e.g., Titan which is similar to the Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference II.

It's usually too expensive to start replacing components due to some wire
that appears to cause problems, aside from defining "transparency" in this situation. there's nothing wrong with going back to a good basic pair of interconnects as long as the connectors are well made and the insulation does its job. OTOH better components can reveal distortions/grain that you didn't have to deal with before, so starting with your source component and going
downstream to the amplifier will aide you in discovering what needs improving.
depending on how critical the quality of the recordings you listen to the most are, will determine the lengths you need to go. some people may never find the grainless totally-realistic sound they were originally seeking...

I used to have some diamondbacks and I actually had pretty much the same experience. Now a few cables down the line I have some Auditorium A23 ICs and without changing a single other component all is well.

Not too transparent but maybe too revealing. Good cables can highlight problems else where in your system.

I don`t believe you can have such a thing as'too much transparency'. Forward,edgy or brightness can be mistaken for false transparency . True transparency IMO means the elimination of a 'veil' or blanket effect in your system.
You want as little obstruction between you and your music as possible.
Regards,

Hugo1, I had Diamondbacks (called Viper before) a while ago followed by King Cobra (called Python before) to end-up with Acoustic Zen Absolute. King Cobra has similar to Diamondback neutral sound but is more refined and doesn't cost much more. By refined I mean cleaner, smoother sounding. AZ Absolute is way better but for much more money. Your cables need time to settle but being open sounding might expose brightness of your speakers or amp. I had this problem with Diamondback (Viper) and metal dome tweeters in my previous speakers. New, warm (but very transparent) sounding, Hyperions HPS-938 are much better and don't sound bright or forward even on the worst CDs.

Thanks very much. The cables were burned in before I bought them. Is there a better interconnect for this system? I had Monster Cable that was about 20 years old. The only thing I changed was the cable. I'm sure room treatments and better speaker positioning would improve the system but I'm constrained because it's in my office.

I have never found the Diamondback to be a particularly transparent cable.

I agree some more burn in time maybe needed (assuming they are new cables)...like a few weeks. Also most cable are directional (assume you know this...)

Also, are you sure you have your speakers set up right? What about room treatments?

Just a few thoughts...

Brass instruments do have some metallic bite along with a lush rich sound. Your system should let you hear that bite. Allow your cables to run in before you do anything. It could be the first time you are hearing them this way which may take some getting used to. After burn in, try adjusting the toe in of your speakers as well. If it still sounds fatiguing or too aggressive later, you will need to make changes. (in my opinion, there is no such thing as too much transparency)

While the GFA 545 II has great weight and punch in the lows, its top end can be forward and unrefined. Not sure which cables you had in the system before, but by adding the more transparent cables you may have exposed this weakness that was otherwise being hidden or compensated for.