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  3. 149209-371

Careful if buying Purist Audio Neptune fluid cables.

About two and half years ago I bought the 3 meter pair RCAs Neptune new from an authorized dealer. 
Recently the cables develop the following. First, they are both now 2/3 empty, though they appear to still sound the same. Except, second, they now give me quite a pronounced background noise heard thru both speakers and independent of the volume. I compared them regarding the noise with Tchernov Reference MKII and WyWires Platinum RCAs, the former are 1 meter pair and the latter are 4 feet pair. They both also give me some noise but it is five-ten times lower in intensity and below the level of either vinyl playback or tape. Tchernov and Wywires gave exactly the same noise level.
I even ran deck directly to power amp to eliminate the preamp and additional cable, the results were exactly the same.
Though the Neptune is 3 meters long, I don't think it should do this, and I don't think that it should lose so much fluid so quickly. When the fluid is gone, and I suspect it will happen soon enough, things will become worse. I talked to the dealer I bought it from, he said that the Neptune was designed to work normally even if there was almost no fluid left. Maybe. But what happens when there is no fluid at all ? I don't want to wait and find out. And this strong background noise should not be there.
I sent a message to Jim Aud, designer and owner of Purist Audio Design, and asked him to take care of it. I will post his reply if and when I get one.
The dealer was of no real help, he did offer me upgrade to Purist Corvus 1 meter pair for $1075 plus my Neptune as a trade-in. I paid enough for the Neptune and not going to pay a cent more, except shipping to Purist if I have a chance.
inna

Showing 10 responses by inna

inna OP
7,141 posts
 
Jim just replied to my message and will test the cables when he gets them from me. He didn't say if he would replace the fluid in any case. Clearly the cables had not been sealed well in the first place. My Colossus speaker cables are full after eight years. It appears to be a bloody lottery with fluid cables. But they sound so good when in order.
inna OP
7,141 posts
 
Well, so far manufacturer positive 1 and the dealer negative 1, that's less than zero. He did nothing to assist me and suggested I spend over $1k more on a very questionable upgrade. He offered Corvus, which is the same conductor with Ferox instead of fluid. It would give a slightly higher resolution and frequencies extension but highly unlikely the same incredible soundstage and midrange sophistication. I did try Purist Ferox before but not Corvus. Purist also has Contego cables, a kind of mixture of fluid and Ferox, I didn't try that.
inna OP
7,141 posts
 
I talked to Jim a few times in the past. The last two times he actually steered me away from buying two of his cables. First time I was thinking about replacing my Dominus RevB Ferox power cord with used Canorus Contego. He said it wouldn't be worth it because it would sound virtually the same. And the second time I was thinking of replacing my over 20 years old Colossus fluid speaker cables with the newest Aqueous Contego Luminist. I asked him if the Aqueous would be better in every respect. He said : " I wouldn't say in every respect, depends on taste, but Aqueous is a great cable ". So I decided not to make this move, at least not yet. 
Anyone compared Neptune with older Dominus fluid ? That's something that I would like to do. I would also compare Dominus fluid with WyWires Platinum that I currently have on the source. In my system Neptune works great everywhere but best between preamp and amp. But I have Purist fluid speaker cables ans Dominus cord on the amp so there is a Purist continuity down the chain from the middle.

inna OP
7,141 posts
 
This is one of those times when I completely agree with ebm.
But maybe the "dude" can't and needs our help.
inna OP
7,141 posts
 
It would not be a problem for me to have the cables refilled every five-seven years for a moderate charge, but not new cables after less than three years.
No, I will not communicate with that dealer again let alone buy from him. I decided not to reveal his name but I think this is a debatable issue. People buying high end, whatever it is, expect much better performance and attitude, and they are right, we don't want money takers and box movers.
The Neptune has been packed for a trip and I already miss it. WyWires Platinum on preamp and Tchernov on the source sound nice but not like when the Neptune is on preamp and WyWires and Tchernov on two sources. I usually have WyWires on the tape deck and Tchernov on the phono but it can be reversed, no big difference, still I slightly prefer WyWires Platinum, though Tchernov has just a little more poweful delivery. I simply listen to deck more often, and I record everything with Neptune cables, of course.

inna OP
7,141 posts
 
If that's what one likes there might be no substitute for Neptune or there is but extremely expensive. Echole top models come to mind, as an example.
inna OP
7,141 posts
 
Well, I won't deny that the current $1900 retail 1 M pair RCA is a lot for cables and I can't afford that. I was lucky to get mine for $992, it was a special order by someone who then backed out of the deal and the dealer couldn't sell them for what he intended to. Still, it was very expensive for me..and worth every cent of it.
inna OP
7,141 posts
 
If you don't touch guano it won't stink, at least not that much.
inna OP
7,141 posts
 
I am almost certain that Jim will not let the defective cables leave his place now that he knows of the problem.
inna OP
7,141 posts
 
So I recently got the cables back. Fixed. Noise is gone and they are seemingly full with fluid. Purist changed the fluid color from blue to transparent, you can't see the fluid level now. Quite convenient, not to the owner, though. It took them almost two months and a few reminders to do the job, and I asked for quicker turnaround. Overall, average service, I'd say.
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