Electraglide Epiphany vs Kubala-Ssna vs....

JOHN! I TOLD YOU TO GO AWAY!!!

How embarrassing, I never meant for you to read my comments. Of course the Manely is very manly and a must own DAC. Please forgive me, I of course was just joking around. I love your digital!!!

Arther my friend. I have the Elrod, and I also an Epiphany thank to you, but i also have two Kubala Emotions coming soon along with two pairs of Emotion interconnects. We need to do a shoot out. If the weather does not cool of, it must be here. I will let you know as soon as they arrive (within a week I hope.
JD

Hi Bill,

Speaking for John and Art, yes we would love to try them out. this should be fun! I have sent you an email.

Art, the Kubala are scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so we should talk.

JD

Part one of three in our power shoot-out was completed over this past week-end. Sorry it took us so long. We gathered at Jfox’s house. As many of you know, Jfox has a whole lot-o-tubes! This of course makes for a very full bodied, warm and fuzzy presentation. Jfox has been using NBS Statement cables for ever, I mean since they discovered electricity and wired his cave, so convincing John that power cables matter is a bit like selling trout to a salmon fisherman. (What ever that meant)

Because John has eight power cords in his system, any conclusions drawn here must be considered as characteristics of each cord, as heard through the other cords, in that we could not create a base of all one cord or the other.

The cords we had on hand were three Electaglide Epiphany and one Epiphany X (or Epiphamy as I spoke it until I finally drove the good doctor crazy and he felt the need to show off his mastery of the English language by correcting me) We had three Isoclean cords, one Kubala-Sosna Emotion, One Elrod EPS-2 Signature and of course NBS. I had used NBS Statement for years and never felt I was lacking anything until I found the Epiphany cords. I had lately discovered Kubala-Sosna (K-S) Emotion cables, speaker, interconnects and power cords. So I must say I am biased toward KS cables on the whole in that I am working at getting all KS cables in my system soon to replace the Nordost Valhalla! I now carry a belief that KS Emotion and Electraglide Epiphany are the state of the art in power cords today. (This was my pre-conceived opinion going in, I thought you all should know my bias before you read any more.)

So our process was to eliminate NBS one at a time and replacing them with Epiphany until we ran out. Two cords were needed on the Audio Magic power conditioner (one on the digital side and one on the analog side) NICE CONDITIONER, but that’s another post. We then used Epiphany on the digital side. One on the Manley DAC, and one on the Genesis Digital Lens. Once we had a basis of four Epiphany cords we tried adding either the KS or Isoclean or Elrod cords into either the DAC or the pre-amp. This gave us the opportunity to theoretically hear the influence of each of these cords on two separate components. Again I understand this is an inherently flawed test, but I do believe we could draw some conclusions on these cords in an all tube system. We also experimented with an Epiphany on the Aesthetics Callisto pre-amp while replacing two Epiphany cords with the Isoclean. This allowed us to experiment with the Epiphany on the massive CAT Signature mono blocks.

So my following opinions are basic overall reflections of what we heard. Because Jfox’s system has so many power cords and so many variables it is hard to conclude anything as an absolute, yet I do think I now understood the overall characteristics of these cords, and their abilities to perform with, or without impacting the sonic characteristics of the equipment used. In a nut shell, my initial opinions were upheld. The Epiphany cord is indeed “the state of the art.” I believe the Emotion cord has reached this same level and that these two cords are as good as power cords get today.

Now one quick word about these two cords. The Epiphany is a bit harder to work with, as it is a cord made from two plastic tubes within its sheathing. The emotion is highly flexible and even limp if you will. The Epiphany has a list price of $6000 for six feet where the Emotion lists for $1200. (This brings me to a brief commentary on high end audio pricing) What the hell is going on? No one has ever paid $6000 for an Epiphany power cord or the “list” price of so many con’s going on out there. Why list a price that is never paid? BMI comes to mind as one of the first here at A’gon. List prices were quoted, yet buying them was always direct from the manufacturer and never at list price. So why $6000? If you are expecting to find a KS Emotion new for less than list, goof luck. The entire KS line is priced at a reasonable (if not bargain) price and in my city is not discounted by the dealer.

Ok, enough of that small rant! The point is the two cords I believe to be state of the art are of similar pricing, at least the Epiphany used vs. the KS new. A quick look on the for-sale side of Audiogon shows the Isoclean to be $1800 new and the Elrod $825 used prices.

Ok back to our shoot out. I am sorry to say the Elrod was quickly thrown out. It was not in the least at this level of performance. The Elrod was tight, condensed, closed in, muddy and simply uninteresting to my ear and to my cronies. It lasted less than 60 seconds before we all agreed to pull it out. The NBS also was thrown out, very clouded with out the quite black background or detail of the leaders. The Isoclean however was close and potentially on level with the other two. I will hold my final judgment, because I have reservations on how it will sound with my solid state amp, digital front end and a couple tubes in my pre-amp.

My initial impression is the Isoclean is quite aggressive and potentially creating artificial dynamics that could lead to fatigue. The nest step in our shoot-out is my house, so we will be able to have all Isoclean, or all Epiphany or all KS Emotion. I believe this will be very telling, and the only opportunity for us to set up a system with all of each, in that the doc needs four cables, and we only have the epiphany in these numbers. So in the next couple weeks I will have a better feeling about the characteristics of the Isoclean cords.

JD

I would agree to a point that the cord may have needed breaking in. It is also possible that the Epiphany was allowing you to actually hear his pre-amp. I would be interest to know what pre-amp it was. I also tend to believe the Epiphany is ruthlessly revealing and this too may be an issue. The Kubala-Sosna is as open and revealing, yet not as aggressive. I think any time you get into the top level of cables we risk pointing out weaknesses within the system, so using these types of cables is not always the best move.

Hi Tele-tubey, first off where the &%#* have you been on this thread. You do need to pay better attention when Art and I are talking behind your back. Secondly, I would like you to change your moniker to Tele-tubey, It's perfect!

OK John, you can go back into your cave while I talk to the other folks here...

...Is he gone yet?

Good, now what John doesn't know is the next addenda item is his digital front end. I will need the support of others here, but the Manely DAC and Whatever Lens and a Best Buy transport really must go. We tried the DAC at my house and it lost so much of everything, that I know for a fact a new single box digital is in John's future!

Now we need to keep this secret from John for awhile longer, too much advancement into the 21st century is dangerous for some. So for now, not a word...

...poor John, he was far better off when I was not comfortable teasing him. Oh well, it's a two sided relationship. He could boot me any time now, so those of you who believe in John's potential for change may need to take over.

For now,

JD

John, you summed up the experience quite well. I must explain that I am not affiliated with Kubala-Sosna other than the fact that I have been fortunate enough to have met Joe, and use his cables. He has become a friend, and I enjoy him (the man) even more than his cables. My impressions at this point are jaded (excuse the pun) so take my thoughts with this in mind.

Having said that the CAT Signature amps and Aesthetix Callisto are amazing pieces together! This was the first time I full appreciated the CATs for what their potential is.

For John, I believe the entire experience was eye opening and yet too much for one session. I found once I understood what I heard on my own system with these cables, I could not go back. The KS cables do something Joe and I have spent a lot of time discussing on the phone and in person. They are so quite, and so neutral that the initial impression is something is missing when they are installed. I think I'm getting a handle on it, and yes something is missing.

In our Audiophelia world we consider edgy, fatiguing, bright, and aggressive as part of open, extended and airy. We are so conditioned to accept these traits if we want the high frequency extension that we program ourselves to accept them. The KS cables simply do not have these negative characteristics, yet they are more open, more airy and far more extended than my Valhalla's were. Where I was accepting thin and possibly brittle sound with the Valhalla's I now have body and tonality. Joe and I actually discussed this over dinner last night. Even the lowly triangle in real life has body and form. Trying to reproduce this generally means a rolled off high end, or accepting it as a sound hanging in space, and not associated to anything. I hope that I said that clearly, because it is important.

So the first impression, and as Art explained when we tried KS speaker cables and interconnects on his system was as described above. He felt there was a lack of attack and dynamics, again these are words I believe we have programmed ourselves to use to explain the problems with other cables. I may be wrong Art, and I'm sure you would clarify if needed. (Remember the demo speaker cables we used had a loose spade, in my system this was a big issue compared to a proper pair.)

So redefining and reprogramming our vocabulary is an issue when first listening to a full out KS system. As for the bass, it is full and tight, but because of the neutrality, anything else going on with the equipment will become clear to see. I honestly do not mean to pick on the Manley, but please consider the faults we heard in my system, to achieve perfect lush midrange which the Manely does in spades. There has to be a better solution that will take your system one huger step forward. I believe we can find it in one box, and you can reduce the three components into one, less cables, less hassle, less bloated bass. That was my only complaint yesterday; the base was too thick to be pleasing to my ear. The good news is those amps were driving an amazing amount of bass through the electrostatic speakers, so I'm sure theer is nirvana close by.

I must thank Joe for allowing me to drag him over to my friend’s house and spend an afternoon. This is not exactly the most efficient use of his time, and given the unique qualities of these cables, Joe's time is in demand.

Thank you Joe and thank you John for allowing me to push you into places you were not sure you needed to go. I had a lot of fun yesterday, and with every day together I have grown to enjoy your company more.

JD