Himiguel, yes on both counts. Also my lowly LSA Statement amp was rocking with its $14,000 power cord and driven by the lowly BMC PureDac ($1790). I know I have a weird distribution of my money in audio. |
Himiguel, don't forget that you also drew my attention to the BMC PureDac. After spending 50 years getting half way to the top of the mountain, it is shocking to get the rest of the way in about three years. |
Himiguel, I don't understand what you are saying. |
Ddraudt, I have heard the Kraken compared with the Minatour in a system with my equipment. It literally made the Minatour sound like nothing but a cheap pc. I have often heard the Krakens with equipment at shows, which sounds great, especially at the last CES with the little BMC speakers and the PureDac.
I expect the Kraken is very good, but that it lacks the technology of the HFC pcs. Were I to have one, I really don't know where I would compare the two. There now is a cheaper version of the Kraken ($8400), the Triton at $6000, which I haven't heard. So both are cheaper than the best HFC pcs. |
Calloway, how many of these pcs do you have? They are a very slippery slope, I have not heard a Ultimate Reference, but have both Ultimates and Ultimate Reference Rhodiums, which is what I started with. It is ill advised to start at the top and work down! All I can say is "get more." But mainly "welcome aboard and enjoy!" |
Ddraudt, had I had the rate of improvement in my sound I've had the last four years throughout the entire time I've been an audiophile, I would be playing with the group I'm listening to.
All of this is fragile and certainly takes time to recover when you move anything. It also invalidates tweaks that you once thought were essential, but it is fun and I love hearing jazz greats in their prime in good theaters in my listening room. This is not just good music, it is real music. |
4orreal, I received a call from Miguel right after I posted this who clarified what he was saying. Initially, I thought he was talking about the Thor grounding wire from the Signature to the house ground. I did not know his power cords had a grounding wire pittail. |
Ddraudt, if you have the HFC Magnetic Waveguide power filter and I think you do, put it there. After that I am at a loss to make a recommendation. You really should come over to hear this Avari preamp. |
Calvinj, I can sense your enthusiasm which I think is the best measure of a review. You, like me, are in the strange place of loving a power cord that costs exceeds the component on which it is used and further remarking that we don't want to do without it.
Mine is a little more warped, as I have a BMC PureDac ($1780) plus a pair of HFC UR ics ($8900) and a HFC UR RHODIUM 1.5 m pc ($13,575). |
Audiolabyrinth, maybe you are right, saying "crazy like a fox." But it is going to be very few that will take our advice. I'm in wonder that I ever got to this point. In part, I think it is good fortune and in part, I think it is just getting old and wanting the best before I leave. But whatever, I'm really enjoying my music. |
Audiolabyrinth, yes but so often I've heard major improvement in just the playback equipment of the same recording.
I now have original double DSD recordings played that way as well as 44.1/16 played double DSD. The former is much better but the latter is much improved with just the filter move way up. |
I saw and heard Ahmad Jamal at his club in Chicago in the late 1950s-great show. |
Guys, my first experience with the HFC pcs was having put one of the URR pcs on the HFC WGPC. Rick and I listened briefly and went out for lunch. On returning and hearing the first several notes, I looked at him and said wow. I think the pc actually made more impact than the WGPC. But I have heard no ac filter that is as good as the WGPC. I will say that the URR pc on the WGPC did make quite an improvement on devices servered by the power center more with the URR pc on it.
There just is no way around the reality here. I wish there was. |
Calvinj, If Rick is coming over, try to get him to bring several of the Ultimate Reference Rhodium power cords also. It will be expensive for you, but your estimation about what is possible in terms of musical reproduction will forever change. |
Jafox, I grant that verbal accounts of what people hear are totally inadequate and subject to hyperbole. High Fidelity's technology is clearly new. I do have many of my old cables and have had reason to try them. They are still quite good but don't have the realism of the HFCs. |
Audiolabyrinth, so what does someone who has never bothered to hear the HFCables contribute to a thread obviously focused on these cables. I must admit that I largely ignore your posts as not relevant or of interest. At this time only the Crystal Absolute Dream cables hold any interest for me despite not only being expensive but outrageously so. Would I bother to listen to them? You bet, as I once listed to a $350,000 amp and similarly I also spent a good deal of time in the Perfect 8 suite listening to $350,000 speakers. |
Calvinj, I have no tube amps. I would expect, however, that they too would be improved. I do have an Exemplar XP-2 tube preamp as well as one of their tube output Oppo 105s and both were greatly improved with every step from the original CT-1s to the Enhanced to the Ultimates to the Ultimate Reference. My experience is more limited with the HFC pcs. |
Ddraudt, where are you going to first put it? In my first experience I put it on the HFC WGPC. It was shocking after an hour and a half. You will hear less noise and more detail, like the decay of notes. On individual components it will make them louder as the crap on your ac line is removed. |
Chris_launder, while I agree with Ddraudt that every step in the HFC cabling has been a big improvement, I still vividly remember putting the first 1.5m CT-1 original and being in utter amazement at the top end and speed. Nothing had ever rivaled this.
My decision on which HFCs to bring here was bad as I only brought one pc, assuming that I would use it from the wall to the ac filter, but my ac filter uses a 20 amp pc! I am using the HFC on the amp.
On the matter of views, at 8750 feet, I am still below the tree line, but I have already seen three elk and a few deer. But my room is quite small. Were it not for the Zilplexes, I would really have a problem with being here, which would upset my wife. |
Chris_launder, apocryphal or not, this is much like my experiences with the HFC gear. It is really something when one has a $1790 dac with $6900 ics and a $13,575 pc and loving it.
I am at my small home in the mountains of New Mexico with $2200 speakers, $1000 speaker stands, basically worthless H-Cat amp and preamp, two discontinued Stillpoints component stands with pipes to make a rack, 5 Exemplar Audio Portal pcs, and a 10 x 13 x 10 listening room along with 1 HFC URR pc, a pair of HFC UR speaker wires, and 2 pairs of HFC UR ics. My source is a new Empirical Audio Legacy music servers with about a T bite of cds, and DSD files from sacds all playing in double DSD. I would say this is a very mixed bag. |
Judyazblues, I was already getting industry accommodation pricing before I agreed to reviewing. Is that the dirty side of audio and everything else? You are wrong, however, about accommodation pricing. Generally, it is 50% off but sometimes it is as low as 70% off or as high as 20% off.
I know of reviewers who get permanent "reference" pieces forever. I have no such pieces and would never have any. I should say, however, that sometimes it would be nice to have more than one pair of speakers, etc.
Mind you, that this thread is for enthusiasts of the HFCs, no one else need be following it if you lack interest. How about going a flying a kite? |
Calvinj, thanks. I really pay little attention to these people. I used to be a college professor and we had student evaluations. I had mainly favorable but once in a while I would get, "I would have learned more if the professor had been more entertaining."
I would suggest that you try Essence of Music cd treatment. This is not just a polish; it fixes cracks in the surface of the cd. I am in the process now of redoing all cds that I ripped to my hard drive with those that I've treated. |
Going back to the main purpose of this thread, I have set up a small system in New Mexico and could bring only part of my Texas system. I brought my new music server, four pieces of HFC gear, including 2 pair of 1 m. Ultimate Reference ics, one set of Ultimate Reference speaker wires, and one Ultimate Reference Rhodium pc. A Stillpoints rack using two of their component stands with four of their Ultra SSs mounted on them. I should also note that this is a very small room, namely 13 x 10 x 8, which I long ago treated with Zilplexes.
I have endeavored this last week to optimize this system and have greatly satisfied myself. I am still missing much of the involvement that I have in Texas. I believe that it is the HFC pcs that are missing with their low noise level and resulting revelation of great details, such as the decay of notes. I am also missing the Tripoints Troy Signature that contributes much of this also.
I can only await returning to the heat of Texas and the rest of my system including a 24 x 18 x 11.5 listening room, but I am contented with what I have versus last year in NM, no HFC and a more basic music server. |
Chris_launder, I have always used Rightway Audio Isolators, which are no longer available. They are ceramic with a brown glaze and look much like what you used to see on low voltage power lines. One can rest cables in the groove. I have tried cardboard, wood of different types, and the special and anti-static foam in which chips are shipped, and other ceramics, but none have been the equal of the Rightways.
You can see the contraption I use under the HFC UR speaker cables in my review of these cables on StereoTimes. |
Calvinj, as I am now in my NM small room, I am hesitant to say too much about this dac although I am already greatly impressed. Also it is just a prototype, and I'm to get the production version which would include the computers within it in about 60 days.
Also, it has been so revealing in this system that I am quite aware of daily improvements as well as tweaking the system, such as going from the Stillpoints OEM isolators to their Ultra SSs. When this settled down, I will make comparisons between what I hear in double DSD versus what I hear in 44.1/16, etc. I have already done some of this while still in Texas and been greatly impressed. The sense of being present at the recording was greatly improved by the greater detail in particular the decay of notes.
This unit will not be cheap but nowhere near as expensive as the dCS four piece gear. |
Yping, I really don't know what you mean. Are you wondering whether there are cables beyond the Ultimate References, or pcs beyond the Ultimate Reference Rhodium, or an ac filter beyond the Waveguide ac filter? |
Calvinj, I had kept my LSA Statement around after it had been updated to the new "plus" version even though I was using the BMC M2 monoblocks on my BMC Arcadia speakers as a backup for either an amp or integrated amp to replace my preamp. It turned out to be very fortunate as one night in late Jan., one M2 failed. I put the Statement in and was amazed at how good it was. From Feb. thru mid June it was my only amp.
I used it while evaluating most of the HFC gear from the CT-! Ultimates through the Ultimate Reference, the Ultimate Reference Rhodium pcs, and the Waveguide power center. Even my experiences with the Star Sound Tech Apprentices largely rested on the LSA Statement for amplification.
I think you know Rick Schultz. He heard the Statement when demonstrating his power cords. Yes, I am now back to using the M2s and get more channel separation with them but the LSA Statement is exceptional. |
Audiolabyrinth, nothing is wrong save your having a problem with David's not inviting him. |
David, is there now a CT-1 URR ic cable? |
Jafox, this is the name of the new HFC power cord. Perhaps it is not a new ic or speaker wire. |
Ddraudt, you heard the URR pcs at my house versus the Us. |
I agree. I know both David and Rick and both have been in my home. Neither is a shill for the other but I think Dave like me have just been throughly at first shocked by Rick's products and then amazed that he can improve on them.
Also, I'm neither Rick nor David. |
Jafox, so why do you read this thread and post on it? |
I don't think there are "responsibilities" for posters; I don't really care what many posters have to say; what I am mainly taken by in posting is enthusiasm; I know from my studies in psychology that people's opinions and perceptions are influenced by many different factors, such as what is visually impressive, what they can afford, etc.; and finally I don't think that mankind know more than a small fraction of what it takes to realistically reproduce music in ones home.
Now back to more interesting readings. |
Mapman, as I said I don't care about your opinions.
I cannot imagine that you really think findings come out of laboratories. I've been in three. They are typically a long work bench stuffed with parts and tools.
As to your systems sounding good to you, I used to think mine was 90% of the way to reality. Many new things have convinced me that my present system is at least twice as good as it was. This is all about being complacent and fooled by what you hear by your hope of having a system to brag about. LOL! |
Audiolabyrinth, Dave lives in Austin and I'm in College Station. |
Tboooe, I can only now use USB digital cables, but before that I could use a SPDif digital cable and still own the HFC Ct-1 Enhanced. It was strikingly superior to the other digital cables I had, including a charged Exemplar cable. HFC will probably never make an USB cable, but I wish they would.
I am now using a BMC PureUSB1 cable. |
Calvinj, thanks for your comments. Since the LSA Statement is a highly moded version, I assume your unit has had further moding. Actually mine has also had Urushi caps put in it with a great benefit. It was fortunate for me to have it as my BMC M2 amps were out for repair for six months.
I agree that the HFC Ultimate Reference Rhodium pc greatly improved it, as it has on every component I have tried. |
Calvinj, yes, I suspect that people just thought I was delusional at best or a shill at worst. I still vividly remember my first notes using the HFC CT-1 from the dac to the preamp. I just sat there listening to something I had not heard before. The ease, top end extension, the decay of notes in the studio. I still remember deciding that I wanted to know how this was achieved. I had always known that moving a wire in a magnetic field induces current flow and that is about as far as I've ever really gotten.
I was later to be even more impressed with the HFC pcs, but the entire package along with certain other devices from other manufacturers as moved my music reproduction to a level I never thought was possible. |
Jazzonthehudson, IMHO only, I would buy one HFC Ultimate Reference Rhodium pc, your first choice. If you can use a RCA digital cable that would also fit into your budget. I would also buy at the top level.
In my opinion each of the power cords that you add, makes the biggest improvement. I really don't know about digital cables as I can only use USB cables. |
Mapman, do you really take what Badman says as a challenge? It sounds like a dealer or a manufacture who is unhappy about the challenge of selling against all the acclaim of the HFCs. |
Badman, "Ric Schultz is a fraud," or so say you. You also say the basic dodge of those knowing nothing, namely "basic engineering kids." The only real question is why did you post this diatribe. |
Audiolabyrinth, get some and measure it. |
Audiolabyrinth, I remember when THD was viewed as the standard for judging amps. I also remember going to a seminar at the RMAF where John Atkinson demonstrated a Boulder amp versus another unnamed amp and measured THD in different circumstances on both amps. The Boulder measured well and the other awful.
I asked whether we were going to hear what both sounded like and was told no. I then asked whether the designer of the other amp might not have thought that THD was all that was important. The audience all groaned. I left.
Like THD which is easy to measure, I don't think capacitance is all important. |
Badman, keep babbling on. |
Badman, it would be easy for me to say your claim are a fraud, as it was for you to claim what you did. Is there any reason for us to take your claims seriously? Give us some substantiation of your claims. Please don't tell that "everyone knows this" as that really means you have no substantiation.
I might add that all of this has no meaning for my judgment that these cables, and I mighty add the power cords, are revolutionary, whatever you have to say, whether legitimate or not. |
Calvinj, did you try another pc with it? |
Ddraudt, perhaps I am too outraged when a pretender claims other is pretending. At least I know that the HFCables work quite well. The other guy has no substance at all and the purpose of his posting is all too evident, at least to me. |
Ddraudt, I love your posting which saves me from the bile that my saying more would build. |
Badman, why don't you just give it up? You are not having the impact that you sought. For one thing there is no reason to believe you know what you are talking about, and for another most of us believe what we hear when using these cables. |
