Holy crapski - $30K speaker cables, $19k ICs and $15k PCs! Are you guys out of your freaking minds? I'll stick with my Cardas Golden Cross. Oh wait a minute, I sold those in 1998. |
Ddrault - As a software engineer in the cardio medical devices world, I am fully aware of the importance of technological changes and the never-ending quest for "perfection" and success. However, as you point out, being dissatisfied brings change. But I will point out that being satisfied brings stability.
As for you being a member of the "small group of dedicated audio addicts", 100s and 100s of Audiogon members would consider themselves members of such a "club", myself included. One does not need to be obsessed with the cable-of-the-week club to be addicted to achieving a music playback system of high performance. |
Thank you too John. It's a time to rediscover the music library ….. AGAIN, and get educated on the DSD format.
Oh I am sure that when JD comes over and hears the system that has now been moved upstairs, he will want to move the speakers, re-arrange furniture, re-route cables, make a note that the image is off center by 2 1/2 inches (easily tweaked by the SoundLab sensitivity adjustment on the back), suggest better isolation of components, etc., etc.
The unobtainable is indeed obtainable - when we can sit there and feel that we are in front of a singer, piano, saxophone, percussionist, etc., rather than in front of an imperfect system of hardware ……. we have arrived. The key is that this experience is consistent across a large part of our music library and not just a dozen or so audiophile recordings that we listen to again and again to validate the system's expenditure.
Perhaps you need that one magical system update for you to "arrive". May I suggest that you audition a Lampizator DAC. 8-) |
Oh no, not another new model. I just spent $175k cabling my system with the CT-1 UR and now I need to start all over again? |
Jafox, so why do you read this thread and post on it? Because if the only people who post here drink the HF Cables Kool Aid, this would be a mighty boring thread. |
Hey John, you ready to try the Jade Ref? |
Come on John, you only need one Kidney. And I can through in the Silent Source Ref too. |
TBG, sorry to hear your cold response. What's the point of praising a product again and again and again without putting it in its context? And I will let him respond, thank you. If it is as cold as your response, then so be it! |
John, since you own some HF cables, that promotes the HF team to the 4 Musketeers! Doesn't that make you feel special? |
They will be gone soon. as suggested in an earlier post, don't bother reading anything from Mapman, Jafox or Jmcgrogan2 as they don't have or don't care about audio systems and are just trolling for attention. Well Ddraudt - I have been on these forums for over a decade and have contributed much here….and received many thanks by many members again and again for sharing my experiences and results with numerous cable trials, tube rolling experiments, system optimizations, etc. Can you say the same? Such members here as Albertporter, Jadem, bposner, and numerous others have much to with the incredible performance I now have. Please take a look at my system here and re-evaluate your immature statement that I don't care about audio systems. Your only contribution here is how good each new High Fidelity cable is again and again. If anything, you're the one here who is providing zero value to this thread. My question, Are the cables actually "changing" or are your perceptions changing as you become more and more used to the new sound of your system? was clearly beyond your comprehension and yet Albertporter and Almarg added commentary that many things are going on that we can not clearly identify as a root cause of perceived differences. Now that these two members have made comments that go against the grain that changes could be due to something other than the cables, will you soon label them as shills? I hope not because based on their significant contributions and knowledge here, it is clear that you could learn much from them. Rather than dismiss contributions from members who do not own or are not praising your your holy grail cables, perhaps you can take a few steps back and appreciate that we are all in this together - to achieve incredible musical performance in our homes. |
Thank you TBG, but the musical enjoyment of my digital system now has me wanting no more. I just need to get the Decca cartridge mounted and I will be one happy man.
All the effort of tube-rolling trials and cable comparisons at every link over the years has truly paid off. It feels great to reach this point in time to get off the merry-go-round obsession to find cables that brings it all together.
To read threads here with long-time members who are still going through this process again and again makes me realize that some people here will never be satisfied. Give it a try guys: no cable comparisons or purchases for a year…..just enjoy the musicality of your system as it is right now. Can you? |
I been trying cables almost non stop for the last 4 or 5 years and this stuff is on another level. And how many times have we all heard this before? And how many months will it be before the next coming of the cable almighty will appear from the clouds only to put to shame these miracle cables that suddenly make the system sound "broken"? I suspect that such a system has probably gone through an equal amount of changes elsewhere over the 4-5 years time period. Perhaps if some of the previous cables were still lying around to be tried in the existing setup, these "new" cables might not be so miraculous after all. |
Calvinj, my concern is that this thread gives me a hint that we could be heading into the $100k power cord very soon if this "newest High Fidelity cable of the month club" does not calm down. Then I will need to sell my 3 Lamborghinis to achieve the utmost in performance in audio cables. I put a power cord on an integrated amplifier yesterday and it improved the sound so much that it transformed the whole component. I can say the same exact thing about the Dream State Dream Catcher power cord. Even the CAT JL-3 amps finally responded to a PC and these amps pretty much have unmatched power supply design in the first place. I snatched up a bunch of these in the $1k or so used market and never looked back. This is crazy cost alone. But when we let the industry take us to $15k power cords, something is clearly wrong here. Hell I can get a mighty nice 5 or so years old Mercedes S-Class for two such power cords. |
Rick is one of those audio guys, like me, who gets excited about the best audio possible and works continually toward that goal. Come on, I think this applies to nearly everyone here, designers and consumers. Rick is only one of 100's of engineering minds out there making new discoveries in state of the art audio systems. For one man to be labeled the Cable God, as this thread very much implies, is rather silly. As rare as some components of a design might be, and thus expensive, I guarantee you, there will be a new discovery of some new element that results in a design outperforming the current reference. The magical magnets will be a thing of the past and magic black pearls attached to the ground lead with duct tape will be the new discovery. And the cost of that new design's materials would be a fraction of the old reference's cost. But sadly this $300 cable to produce will be $30k as it is deemed twice as resolving as the previous $15k reference. And the lunacy continues onto the next chapter. |
Ddraudt - How can you call me a friend if I am so negative and boring? But thanks, for the title.
No, my writings here have not been negative. If anything, they have been logical with questions of merit. But the only responses back are the same each time: if you don't own or care to audition the HF cables, you should not be in this thread.
As an engineer of 30+ years in both the electronics HW and SW worlds, i know of no engineer who's ideas or products downright put all the "competition" in second or third or whatever place. I do not question Ricks ability. I only point out that the 3 or 4 dominant writers here can't seem to imagine that other products are also candidates for consideration as top performers…..except the next model from Rick.
ARC has been notorious over the years with all the MK2 updates and then the next product that absolutely blows away the previous design. And my own experiences with ARC products over the years showed this to not at all be the case. But this was going on in 2-3 year increments. With the HF cables, this "greatest cable on the planet" is changing every few months. That was my point of the $100k PC is on the horizon if this "evolution" does not stop. This is not negative at all……it is a valid point. And I do not care if you pay $100k for PC's. More power to you, no pun intended. But don't get on my case that I am negative or boring for pointing this out or commenting a new cable design that time and time again results in the greatest audio orgasm of all time.
Rather than the same responses again and agin here, "wow, this latest HF cable is like nothing I have experienced before", take a little time and tell us what are the observations made to come to such a conclusion. Give us specific details such as you hear a third guitarist that before was not "present", or piano delineation is like never before, increased ambiance or harmonic overtones, greater dynamic contrast…..anything, just anything to educate people here what $8900 for an IC or $15k for a PC is bringing to the scene. But I don't see any such comments…just the same ol' things, "wow, wow, wow". Yawn indeed.
When I have written here of cable auditions, tube rolling experiences, preamp shootouts, etc., I go through such detail. And a lot of people reply here or send me many emails for further comments. The bottom line is that this thread totally lacks this kind of detail and sharing. It's just 3 or 4 guys patting each other on the back and sitting at the camp fire singing Kumbaya. |
My CT1 ' moment ' was very akin to when I first fired up an ARC SP8 in my system , that was the moment that I consider that I entered into the realm of high end audio . This is amazing as I can say the exact same thing. My first experience to a good sounding system was the Linn/Naim system in 1979. But it was one night in early 1983 that I heard the SP8 at the ARC dealer in Phoenix at his home. Never never before had I heard a system deliver musicality like that instant. I remember the TT was Oracle, speakers were early Vandersteen, don't remember the amp. This was a forever unforgettable event. I told the dealer I would take the SP8 home right then but he would not sell it as he was enjoying it so much! When was the last time you heard that? A year or so later I got an SP10 and never looked back. These two products set the stage of what my priority would be as I upgraded my system little by little the next 30 years. Jafox..since trying to believe 3 or 4 guys here on the HF forum doesn't mean much to you,try reading the > 20 reviews by many established reviewers instead.it might help. An excellent idea. I quit Stereophile and TAS many years ago, but was a HiFi+ fan until Roy Gregory moved on ….which was a major loss. AudioAsylum is a good place for reviews. But this is also why I come to this site….hoping for comments, with no monetary rewards, by people simply looking to improve their home system. Only that this assumes that they will provide comparative commentary of what they have now, and even had before to the product under evaluation. Just saying "Wow, it's the greatest ever", does nothing for me or anybody else. |
However, the harsh fact is that one URR cost more than the car I have been driving the past 8 years. Oh my, then you might have to scale down to a Vespa when the URRR comes out. And heaven forbid, with the URRRR, you might have to move into a double-wide trailer. Ignoring the static, I must agree that the HF URR power cords are most awesome They have the most magic of any component I've heard in 35 years. Please include a short list of your previously most awesome components to give us some context as to what these cables beat out. Not having your system listed here also gives us no context as to how the cables fit in. |
Thank you Calvin,
It was not that I was looking for a comparison…..but rather just an idea of the overall systems being used here with the HF cables. Having some idea as to each system implementation has a way of putting things into perspective. It gives me an idea as to what works for others. After all, it's the final system result, not each individual component.
As for removing the subwoofer from the room and bringing out the speakers, that's a great idea when we can get away with this. I have no choice but to do the same with the Sound Labs speakers or I have serious bass nodes in the room. But this necessity has a way of eating up precious floor space for other room "fashions". And I too have a spare subwoofer (Velodyne ULD18, light oak) hanging around here that I'm not quite sure what to do with yet. |
An the best of all, this cables have the ability to sound better and better in time. Are the cables actually "changing" or are your perceptions changing as you become more and more used to the new sound of your system? A subjective experiment would be to run with your current set of cables for 3-6 months and then install a new set of cables with an immediate report on the difference. |
