I highly recommend one of the new interconnects from a new company in New Zealand called Antipodes. Their entry-level Katipo, because of its unique construction is far less system-dependent than most cables. This is why some cables lose that PRAT because of either a poorly designed cable or a cable which has impedance/capacitance mis-matches with certain components. If your components are designed well to portray the PRAT of the recording, these Antipodes cables will let that PRAT come through. The Katipo is being auctioned now on Audiogon at "dirt-cheap" prices and the company offers a 30-day return policy, so it is a "no-brainer", in my humble opinion.
Can you recommend cables with good PRAT?
I recently spent a few days comparing cables in a fairly resolving system. The CD player has two identical RCA outputs which allowed me to quickly A/B through the different inputs on my integrated amplifier.
I compared Transparent Cables's MusicLink, Monster Cable's Interlink 401xln 2c, PNF Audio's Icon, Paul Speltz's Anti-Cable IC, Wireworld's Oasis and a number of others. (I have a upper end monster with no identification on it. Any idea how to get it identified?)
Different cables had their strengths, weeknesses and anomalies but I have questions about PRAT (pace,rhythm and timing) in particular. Two cables were of particular interest in this regard.
The Wireworld Oasis (original) made all the musicians sound like they were having an "on" night and playing with one another unlike any of the other cables, but lacked in other areas and in partiuclar had a "hardness" in what I think was the upper midrange. It wasn't that it was too bright... it sounded like something else to my ear.
The Monster Cable Interlink 401XLN 2c also made an impression. There was a certain excitement to the music in regard to PRAT with this cable compared to all the others, but it sounded a little bit "off" compared to timing rightness of the Oasis. Again, more exciting than the others but not in a way that seemed coherent. It was as if the bass lines in particular would arrive just slightly ahead of time compared to the mids and treble. It worked but the push and pull of jazz and blues but seemed kind of strange with other music. The 401 is said to be "Bandwidth Balanced Time Correct" so it seems obvious they were trying to play with the arrival time of different frequencies. I'm mostly asking about this cable out of curiosity of the nature of PRAT in systems. It seems like this cable could compensate for particular timing variations that existed elsewhere in the system.
Did the Wireworld Oasis just sound right on my system because of the system's particular timing variations?
Anyone have any experience with these cables in particular?
Any recommendations for cables that excel in PRAT that are somewhere in the $150 and under price(used) for a .5 or 1 meter RCA pair?
Any help would be appreciated.
I compared Transparent Cables's MusicLink, Monster Cable's Interlink 401xln 2c, PNF Audio's Icon, Paul Speltz's Anti-Cable IC, Wireworld's Oasis and a number of others. (I have a upper end monster with no identification on it. Any idea how to get it identified?)
Different cables had their strengths, weeknesses and anomalies but I have questions about PRAT (pace,rhythm and timing) in particular. Two cables were of particular interest in this regard.
The Wireworld Oasis (original) made all the musicians sound like they were having an "on" night and playing with one another unlike any of the other cables, but lacked in other areas and in partiuclar had a "hardness" in what I think was the upper midrange. It wasn't that it was too bright... it sounded like something else to my ear.
The Monster Cable Interlink 401XLN 2c also made an impression. There was a certain excitement to the music in regard to PRAT with this cable compared to all the others, but it sounded a little bit "off" compared to timing rightness of the Oasis. Again, more exciting than the others but not in a way that seemed coherent. It was as if the bass lines in particular would arrive just slightly ahead of time compared to the mids and treble. It worked but the push and pull of jazz and blues but seemed kind of strange with other music. The 401 is said to be "Bandwidth Balanced Time Correct" so it seems obvious they were trying to play with the arrival time of different frequencies. I'm mostly asking about this cable out of curiosity of the nature of PRAT in systems. It seems like this cable could compensate for particular timing variations that existed elsewhere in the system.
Did the Wireworld Oasis just sound right on my system because of the system's particular timing variations?
Anyone have any experience with these cables in particular?
Any recommendations for cables that excel in PRAT that are somewhere in the $150 and under price(used) for a .5 or 1 meter RCA pair?
Any help would be appreciated.
11 responses Add your response