In December 2011,I wrote that High Fidelity cables led by cable designer Rick Schultz was putting together a new cable.The cable came to market as CT-1.The CT-1 has FINALLY made it into my system!I had obtained a version of the prototype that Rick had been working on.It blew my previous reference Genesis by Virtual Dynamics.I thought I had finally found my end with this cable.This prototype delivered to my ears "Nirvana".Could I be at the end of my quest for the ultimate sound? No. I received two pairs of CT-1 to replace my prototypes.They went into the system this past Friday.Unable to dedicate time until Sunday listening,I stole a few moments,ducking away from company with anticipation.My guest could tell even with the music set for"ambiance"something was intriguing and I was in for a treat! The experience: First off,CT-1 was very user friendly.Installation was simple;the cable is very nice and light.The female RCA fit beautifully unlike any I had found in other cable.It was secure and reliable.It seemed much thought was dedicated to developing a designer fit to an aesthetically stunning RCA connector.Install entailed a few wiggles to ensure what seemed like a compression fit on my RCA. It was 2-3 hrs. for the 1st step of break in to be complete.At that point I had something different!Today,although they only have 10-12 hrs. on them,I can`t put into words how much my system has transformed.Believe me,I loved my prototypes.However....there is simply no comparision. The clarity and sound is so natural. The soundstage is like nothing I ever heard.Resoulution is breathtaking and inner detail is simply hard to believe possible. The sound has transended and now it simply does not seem as thought I have speakers. My system is musicians playing music. I am told with time they will improve and I trust that as it was revealed with the prototypes.I wanted to share my thoughts with you that now. Unequivocally,a testament to High Fidelity,as the name declares. High Fidelity Cables for me,the last word on it,after 12 hours! Truly Amazing
@lak. There is a Scandinavian band call Phronesis album "Life to Everything". Kendrick Scott Oracle album "Conviction". David Kikoski "Standards". Miguel Zenon "Alma Aldentro. The Puerto Rican SongBook". The best jazz vocalist in the last 8 years is Cecile Mclorin Salvant album "Womanchild".
@lak@tbg@agisthos@jazzonthehudson@fplanner2000@siddh@calloway@acman3@ddraudt and about 50 others I can't list I guess we are all plants. We are a marketing team.lol. We bought a product actually listened to it in our systems and liked it. Then we blogged about it on audiogon. We are because a guy who has never heard the product, won't listen to the product and will never listen to or buy the product told us that we are gushing too much about a product that we actually like that much. Are you frickin kidding me? Then he tells us he demands answers from the company to him even though he has never heard and will not even listen to the product. Lol. He is the audiogon FBI. Lol. We are audiophiles we like it because of the sound. We are not the forensic files. It's price per performance he says. Well to decide performance you actually have to listen to it!!! lol. Look grandma didn't raise a fool. The only reason a guy would post 12 times in 3 days about a product that he hasn't heard and will not ever listen to is because he is either jealous or the product is causing him to lose sells or those he is connected to to lose sales. If you are owner the product and you kept it then you know why we are all happy because you know how it performs or you would get rid of it. I've been a music lover since I was 4. I ran the candy stand inside the record shop at 9 years old. I played a glut in middle school. I used to have 500 cassette tapes. I managed the music department at Hastings music store in college. I have 1,400 CDs. I eat sleep study read and workout to music. I run my own law office for a living. I don't sell audio products for a living. I post here because I am blown away by the performance and for no other reason. I spent the last 6 years on a mission to hear as much audio as possible and put my system together. Gush alert!!! The high fidelity has transformed my system and has taken me to the elusive audio matrix. In all my years around music it's the best I have ever heard. When you spend the time and money I have you are happy as hell when you have a product perform this well. Look listen to them or quit the yapping about people who have listened to them. You want to question if someone is being genuine then either listen to them or keep making your own and don't. Why in the world would anyone answer your question when clearly you have no standing to even comment on something you never heard and will never listen to. I personally could care less about the other stuff you bring up. If the product performs and brings me the realism that I have never heard in my life then that's what I care about. Like I said stop by have a listen. You won't though because your job is to disparage what you haven't heard by those you probably work for. #hearing is believing. Open your ears or close your mouth pick one. @lak thanks for listening to my suggestions for the cds I got more suggestions coming. Follow,up,when you get them. @ everyone else For those who doubt the sound Couples Retreat. Lol. Boom!!! Boom!!! I do this because I bought a CD player once that was hyped up and I couldn't listen to it before I bought it and when I got it the performance was just not there. That's why I want people to come listen and decide for themselves. Audiophiles need to help each other not drag each other down.
Thanks for the music suggestions:"Two Shade" by Gerald Clayton, "Alive" by Hiromi and "Saturday Morning" by Ahmad Jamal. I listened to a sample of them on the internet and then ordered them. I'm sure I will enjoy all three! The source I'm using is a Music Culture MC 501A CDP or my TT; Teres 340 with Verus Rim Drive, Tri-Planar Arm and ZYX UNIverse Cartridge.
Rlawry,
I've heard others say that the CT-1 did not work well between their turntable and phono stage.
With all due respect, I believe I have as much right to determine what matters to me as you have to determine what matters to you. If you read my posts closely you will see that my concerns are about price/performance and using this thread without full disclosure to promote personal agendas.
I am not disputing the quality of HF cables, although there are some who say the effusiveness and cheer-leading on the thread exaggerate the actual results with HF cables -- and that excessive gushing may belie other things happening beneath the surface. IMO, if read between the lines, this thread may be about more than just the quality of HF cables.
I would like to see Rick Schultz declare categorically on this thread that he has not given any financial or product incentive to anyone posting here -- the same as my request to DD to make a full disclosure. That should be easy enough to do.
@calloway. I will be out next year late in the year to visit one of my god sons. We have a friend out there who works for the government. I will definitely take you up on it when I get out that way. Thanks for the offer. I like to hear as many systems as possible. @rlawry I appreciate your comments on your system as well as free choice to buy what you want. Also I'm not a cable builder I just don't have the time or patience. Plus the level of performance of the high fidelity I have is a realistic sound that I have never had as long as I been in this hobby. If you are in texas ever. Let me know.
@calloway. I will be out next year late in the year to visit one of my god sons. We have a friend out there who works for the government. I will definitely take you up on it when I get out that way. Thanks for the offer. I like to hear as many systems as possible. @rlawry I appreciate your comments on your system as well as free choice to buy what you want. Also I'm not a cable builder I just don't have the time or patience. Plus the level of performance of the high fidelity I have is a realistic sound that I have never had as long as I been in this hobby. If you are in texas ever. Let me know.
John and Steve, I know you history and why you are here. petty petty petty. Shameful! But Hey! you help keep the thread on High Fidelity's Magnificent Cables going so thanks for the help boys!! ;-) ;-) D
Hi Rlawry, Thank you for posting you experiences with HF Cables. Thank you for sharing what did and did not work, I learned something. Congrats on moving up the line and I liked the joke about gold fillings! ;-) I had two completely different friends come by to listen to my system this week. One said,"this is a transcendent experience!!" the other said, "This is F----ing ridiculous!" both said the same thing... I'm so happy for all of you who can enjoy music!! Merry Christmas!!! D
I apologize for not making my phono system more clear. The cartridge terminations end in a DIN plug, which in tern connects to a block with RCA connectors. I used a pair of regular CT-1 interconnects between this termination block on my turntable and my Manley Steelhead phono stage. I could get no signal whatsoever from one channel and only a weak signal from the other. Swapping cables around had no effect. Rick told me that all of his cables used the same technology and that the only difference between the regular RCA interconnects and the phono cables with DIN connections were the connectors themselves. So apparently these cables cannot work in this application. It is a different matter completely with line level and speaker level signals.
You say you have an entry-level CT-1 phono cable, but I think the Enhanced version grew out of the development of the phono cable, so you may have the Enhanced version there. I think you can tell by whether there is a waveguide in the middle of the cables. If there is it is at least Enhanced.
Hi, Folks: I finally reached the end of this interminably long thread and wanted to throw in my own experiences with the HF Cables. For full disclosure: I have been on the Gon for about 13 years, contributed to and started many threads, bought and sold a lot of equipment and music (I have 10,000 LP's). I am a self-employed independent sales engineer selling components and assemblies to the medical device industry and have no affiliation whatsoever to HFC or any other audio manufacturer. You can go on Audioasylum under the name rlawry to see my system. Glad to get that out of the way.
I have a good, long-time friend who uses the name Powder 1 that has had many of the same equipment pieces as myself, including Essence and Intuitive Design gear. When he contacted me a year or so ago and recommended I try the HF Cables I looked at the prices and decided to hold off. I have had some very expensive and well-regarded cables in the past and always found them to make a difference but not on the same level as that from changing components, i.e. it required paying a lot of money for what I felt were relatively small sonic changes. My most recent cables used carbon bybee filters and I had them for some time.
So a month or so ago I finally I took the plunge and bought a used pair of entry-level CT-1 cables between my turntable and phono stage. I have a Lyra Titan I cartridge that outputs 0.5 mV and the DIN connector terminates in a pair of RCA outputs. Let me say that the cables were a miserable failure and I heard one weak channel of music, thinking that something had gone wrong with my system elsewhere, but it turned out to be the HF cables. Apparently their resistance is too high for these very weak signals.
Using them between my phono stage and preamp was an entirely different matter. I would term it as no exaggeration to say that it was the biggest change I have heard in 40 years in audio. I don't know if I need to reiterate what so many other posters here have described, but that my system had a whole new level of realism, immediacy, and speed. Adding another CT-1 between my preamp and power amp and a pair of CT-1 speaker cables added to this astounding effect, at least in my system. It is amazing to hear my system from a cold start transform from a small, flat, involving sound into one with the type of dimensionality I am hearing. I plan to move up the line and am currently taking bids for my gold fillings.
So you can slam me for paying ridiculous prices for these and I don't really care. I don't have time to research, design, and build my own cables as I finally did with my single-driver speakers, but perhaps one day I will when I pay off my mortgage and my remaining 2 boys (I have 4) complete college. Maybe then I will ask them for a loan.
Hope everyone is enjoying their music. It is going to take me a long time to re-listen to my 10,000 LP's but it will be fun.
I've came to houston for a while and while I'm here I decided to let a fellow audiophile keep my high fidelity ultimates for 2 weeks he uses an integrated and a different set of speakers than I have and he is completely blown way by the performance he is getting. True audiophiles should be helping each other like this. That same person loaned me his integrated a few months ago to let me try it in my system. That's what this is about helping each other hear as such as you can so when you do purchase you are happy. I have been invited by many on this forum to listen to thier systems and in the new year I'm going to take them up on it. I want to see what equipment they use and if they have high fidelity is it working for them. I will also be going back to listen to the raidhos again with the levinson 585 soon. It's a dac plus integrated. The person uses other cables either tara labs or ansuz. It will be an interesting listen. I'm glad that there are some folks who share their systems and let the other audiophiles try it. It allows you to educate yourself in a non-show environment. It allowed me to hear the best of the best and even if I can't afford the super expensive gear I can find a way to get some less expensive things that cost a price I'm willing to pay and get close to reference performance. Happy listening everyone. I will post my impressions after I go back to listen to a couple of those systems.
Correction. You haven't heard what you are giving everybody else advice on. For those who hear a cable or brand that you like comment as much as you want. Some people will say way that person really likes that piece of equipment and others might question why you like it so much but remember most of those commenting will never hear your system ever at all so if it makes you happy keep doing it. It's your system. It's your money. Its your happiness. I wish people would stop trying to tell others how much or how many times they can say they like something. However, I don't expect that to happen because I can't tell another man what to do or say about what he paid for or how much he should or should not pay. I can't tell he or she what he should or shouldn't like. I've said way too much already. I should no better than to even go there. I'm far away from the music talking to people I will never meet trying to tell everybody what they should or shouldn't say. I should know better
@sabai what does it matter to you. 1) I blog because I'm blown away by the product. 2) The sound quality is better than I have ever heard and I've heard about 25 other brands and I've heard some of the ultra expensive brands that cost way more than the high fidelity stuff 3) price the really good equipment in this hobby will 90% of the time cost more. 4) The others on this blog could have legitimate concerns or as I suspect sometimes could be working for other companies themselves or have affiliations with those companies. One more thing that I put in my previous post. I have open the doors to where I live to hear them. I'm not doing it for anybody's sake but for those who want to hear them and decide if they like them. You're not going to listen cause your decision has already been made. But to anyone else contact me come listen decide for yourself. I don't sell them. If I moved a pair I've done so to move up to the next level I the chain. Look you can continue to be analytical but my analytics tell me to actually listen before I can analyze. I've watched folks come along in this hobby or other industries and do things to stop things for various reasons. I don't care who is doing what for what reason. If you want to hear the high fidelity stuff it's in my system I welcome you to come listen. I bought a CD player that I couldn't hear about 3 years ago and it was an expensive lesson on why I should try to talk to people who have listened to a product before they buy it. That's exactly why I'm letting people who want to have a session can come listen to my arc3, my revels, my cables and my dac so they can decide if the gear is something they would like. Easy way to settle your dilemma or anyone else reading the thread.1) If you are anywhere near dallas message me come hear for yourself 2) the cable company does demos of this product and hundreds of others call them try whatever you want. 3) Be careful with those who say they are concerned about marketing because the could be actually doing anti-marketing themselves. I don't know if that's what's happening but my eyes are open to all possibilities I'm just saying. Signing off on this issue. Must really be important for those to stay on the same tired argument. Ask yourself why they thinks it's important enough. Audiophiles trust nothing but YOUR OWN ears. Hearing is believing. Notice how a person comments and still haven't said they heard them or planning to try to hear them. There is no way that I let anyone tell me anything that they haven't actually experienced whether it's audio or life. I can't hear you cause you haven't heard what you are have giving everybody else advice on.
1. Sound quality. This is not a competition between my cables and HF cables. Magnetic cables perform very well when the configuration is right. You can make your own magnetic cables that may surprise you.
2. Price. The price of some cables is in the stratosphere. If you can afford the price then go for them. But there may be attractive alternatives -- for a small fraction of the cost of high-priced cables.
3. Marketing. IMO, there are suspect things going on in this thread that I and others have observed. I believe I have made my point very clearly.
Anyway everyone enjoy the journey when you find something you like tell us as much as you want. Share your enthusiasm about your equipment, cables and music. This hobby usually pulls you way to deep in one direction or the other. When you finally reach the place you are seeking be happy and share you mountain climbing experience. Experiences on equipment or product I enjoy. Opinions on who should say what and how many times they say it doesn't help the people who are interested in improving the systems they have. But speak your mind anyone. If I want a steak from a resteraunt I want the opinions of the people who actually ate there. If you have ate there tell me how much you liked it I won't stop you. Your system is like a potion you can always change it to see what you can get. Enjoy your music. Trust your own ears.
@ddraudt I'm going to try a few tweaks in a couple of weeks to see if I can get a little bit more out of my system. My revel studio 2 have started to open up. The bass drivers are starting to move a little better the high fidelity have settled in nicely as well. They mate pretty good with my resonessence dac. @lak what source do you use. @jazzonthehudson what source are you using.
After several attempts to allow HFC cables a proper break-in...mostly due to HFC model upgrades, I am pleased to proclaim my system is sounding more musical than ever. I have a combination of HFC UR interconnects, Hidiamond speaker cable and power cords, plus an HFC URR power cord feeding the conditioner. Lower noise floor, better extension, excellent and non-exaggerated imaging/staging...and plainly, less colored throughout.
That being said, I share the sentiment of some, who feel the unrelenting barrage of superlatives by the daily crowd is not merely tawdry, but suspicious. These cables, in my opinion do not require iterated and re-iterated laudations from the same 5 or 6 members. I mean we get it. You love em...can't and will never wire with anything else. I get it. I can see comments when upgrading, but reports of another night of bliss? Does begin to smell.
The discussion on price is another story. All the wires I have bought have been on the used market for substantially less than retail. Sabai, I do not know if your home-constructed cables perform as well as, or better than HFC...you'll never know until you try a set...so what's up with the attempt to disparage a product you are inexperienced with? I personally am blown away at how well my system sounds with these cables, but I do not feel compelled to convert anyone, nor do I know how well they might perform in other systems.
I do wish the gushing would end. It detracts from the substance and leads me, and apparently others to believe an on-going loop of marketing has intruded upon this thread.
+1
I have a Hidiamond loom and just ordered CT1-E digital cable and a set of ICs. Based on the repeated claims on this thread as CT-1 being 10x times better than other cables and CT-1E being 10x times better than CT-1, I fully expect my system will sound 100x times better when my CT1-E's arrive (over my current HD XLR3 and digital reference cable).
Thanks Calvinj, Lak for you posts. Enjoy the Music! I agree and might have mentioned that 100 times in the last 20 pages. ;-) Glad to hear music suggestions. Choosing music has always been a chore for me. a million choices. It has gotten easier these day as my system has improved to the point where all music sounds incredibly involving, emotional, moving. I am having friends who love music in town over the holidays and am glad my system is back up and sounding beautiful again. I find that the pure, natural, so real sound with HF cables has made my listening experience additively joyful. I may get a little surly when my system is down. Thanks for the invite Calvin, I'd love to hear your system! Your invite to my place is always open! Cheers! D
@lak I have 2 suggestions for you. One is called "Two Shade" by Gerald Clayton. The other is called "Alive" by Hiromi. These are two really good albums. The other piano album I suggest is called "saturday morning" by ahmad Jamal. He is 85 years old and has been recording for 60 plus years. This last cd is smoking. Lol. Give it a try. This material with the high fidelity ultimates you have will be complete ear candy.
@lak that's what I'm talking about. The music on that cd is intoxicating. It is a ealy great recording. My revel studio2 and my high fidelity ultimates plugged in to the arc ref3 give this recording snap, drive and musicality that is off the charts. I like to hear about audiophiles enjoying the music and turning off the background noise. That is a great trio and recording. Very high quality. I'm out in Houston but I can't wait to get back home to fire my system up. I will post another suggestion soon.
Happy Holidays to all regardless of what equipment you use. BTW; I just received "Midnight Sugar" by Yamamoto, Tsuyoshi Trio and three of their other CD's. I'm listening to Midnight Sugar right now and all I can say is Wow! A very good trio and well recorded, dynamic CD. Best regards,
@ddraudt. Thanks for your response. I'm having some more people come and listen in a couple of weeks. Of course I'm in dallas so if you are up this way you are welcome. @ other folks If some are up this way if I'm available on the weekends. I will let people come take a listen. I don't mind for the most part. I want people to experience what the cables and equipment do together. I started on this journey 6 years ago and I've been blessed to hear some great gear. People come to this thread and others to find out what is good and what is not. We want the best sound possible. I've heard stuff I can't afford raidho d5 and stuff I can afford revel studio 2. I like to hear the best stuff and figure out ways to get there. I remember my first nice speaker the martin logan vantage. It went up from there.lol. I remember a guy trying to sell me expensive hdmi cables. Lol and how I ripped him a new one for trying. Then I started trying audio cables and they typically got a little better as I paid a little more. I tried cables for about 4 years then I tried high fidelity then I tried the better ones up the high fidelity chain. They got better and better. I have changed equipment and I might even decide to downsize my equipment now. However, my cables will stay. Everyone do what suits you. It might not make sense to anyone else but do what makes you happy. If you can afford it. Do it. If you can't do cheaper. Just enjoy your system. You will spend more time with it than anyone else. I post on this thread because the music makes me happy. I remember earlier this year when I acted like a 5 year old on this thread. There are times when it got nasty and there are times when I laughed my butt off. I call it how I see it. I haven't changed my cable brand choice for 2 years which is amazing for me. Lol. Others brands are good but this one does it for me. Find a way to listen to whatever you can. If you got cables you like stay with them. I'm looking at the trend here the last 5 or 6 days here and all I hear is blah blah blah. The thread is now all about saying that this person is a secret agent and I'm going to ride a white horse and expose them. It all makes me realize why I started this journey in the first place. I did it for hearing the music in the realist sounding form possible. I get clarity, soundstage, natural timbre, speed, excellent highs,Mids and tight bass. I get great sounding voices. I feel like I'm there. One thing about this hobby is no two people have the same system in the same room. Get there for yourself. Don't let other people tell you what you like and don't like. Don't let others distract from the music. I listen to music. If I want an expose I watch 20/20 or dateline nbc. I like jazz, blues, country, rock and great voices. I'm going to get back to the music. Everyone please remember why you started in this hobby in the first place. Enjoy whatever you have and can afford. All I know is I recommend high fidelity to anyone looking for great sound. I'm turning the channel off and the music on right now. Come listen with me I invite you just don't talk about the show you just watched while the music is on. Enjoy.
After several attempts to allow HFC cables a proper break-in...mostly due to HFC model upgrades, I am pleased to proclaim my system is sounding more musical than ever. I have a combination of HFC UR interconnects, Hidiamond speaker cable and power cords, plus an HFC URR power cord feeding the conditioner. Lower noise floor, better extension, excellent and non-exaggerated imaging/staging...and plainly, less colored throughout.
That being said, I share the sentiment of some, who feel the unrelenting barrage of superlatives by the daily crowd is not merely tawdry, but suspicious. These cables, in my opinion do not require iterated and re-iterated laudations from the same 5 or 6 members. I mean we get it. You love em...can't and will never wire with anything else. I get it. I can see comments when upgrading, but reports of another night of bliss? Does begin to smell.
The discussion on price is another story. All the wires I have bought have been on the used market for substantially less than retail. Sabai, I do not know if your home-constructed cables perform as well as, or better than HFC...you'll never know until you try a set...so what's up with the attempt to disparage a product you are inexperienced with? I personally am blown away at how well my system sounds with these cables, but I do not feel compelled to convert anyone, nor do I know how well they might perform in other systems.
I do wish the gushing would end. It detracts from the substance and leads me, and apparently others to believe an on-going loop of marketing has intruded upon this thread.
Wow, no resistance breakers!!!! I gotta get me some o 'dem to use in my perpetual motion machine ;-) Oh, wait, the cost for the liquid helium to maintain the breakers at the -400 degrees F (yes, -4 hundred F) temps necessary for the phenomenon of superconduction (no resistance) would make that perpetual motion machine not economically viable. Bummer :-( Of course, since DD can afford a full loom of HF cables, the cost of all of that liquid helium would be of no consequence :-) Gotta pay the price to live on the bleeding edge ;-
Calvinj, My magnetic power filter is too amazing to describe and I have a month of playing to go. Over 30 years ago, I realized the immense importance of the power system in my audio so I set out to make as every improvement I could find on every part of the power system. dedicated separate wiring from the electric meter on, special no resistance breakers, A bank of huge isolation transformers, directionalized 10 gage solid wire directly into individual power filters for each of 5 lines connect directly into the 5 separate components. then adding damping, shielding and isolation to the power parts. Testing the sound each step of the way. That system thrilled some audio reviewers back then. I can say that today there is absolutely no comparison to what I hear today. back then it was great music playback. Today it is "un-comprehend- ably" awesome emotional and real performances. life is sweet!!! I have tried a number Of fancy expensive power filters like HB power slave etc. but they can't touch this...;-) D IMHO No comparisons can be reached. Happy Holidays!! D
08-11-14: Badman "System Wide" is unambiguous and includes loudspeakers. They're all just handwaving claims, meaningless and absurd. "3rd party" is a copout, and doesn't stand in any industry. Whose data, whose test did you use? Are they legit or someone you paid to produce false data to substantiate your claims? Laboratories LOVE to have their name referenced when they performed testing, it's free advertising. The only reason it's not mentioned is because it's a sham. Proper test results are a great marketing tool, and if they could do what they claimed, they would be used by military, nasa, everyone and their brother.
It's impossible to reduce "System wide" THD and IMD by 14% in the cables, since the cables are not meaningful contributors of these types of distortion. Cables cannot positively influence the operating behavior of properly working gear in THD and IMD. SNR improvement of 1.5dB is within typical measurement variance- someone's cell phone being in their pocket can make that difference, or broadcast schedules, or freeway traffic, or or or...... but I don't take issue with that 1.5dB claim, which is entirely possible.
Take a look at Stereophile. They measure amplifiers, preamplifiers, speakers, DACs, but not cables- why? Because cables don't show up on measurements in a meaningful way, unless they're broken (and "not nice enough" doesn't qualify as broken). Note that this is within audio cables specifically- when you get into true high power and/or high frequency design, every little thing gets more complex including cables, but we're talking about the audio band here.
Every person disagreeing with me has one simple task to "win". Show meaningful distortion measurements from an audio cable (not claimed nonsense measurements by some unnamed 3rd party, proper measurements with methodology, etc). Any audio cable. If it were a big enough issue to reduce system distortion by 14%, you'd better believe it would have published measurements- just like every other type of gear around. Such testing doesn't exist, because cables don't add meaningful THD, IMD, or most other measureable distortions. Noise is definitely one area where they can contribute but 1.5dB is NOTHING.
While I'm not an audioholics fan, this testing does indicate that there are not significant THD components derived from the cables themselves, which would be a prerequisite for achieving the claimed improvements. These are at levels well below a typical system's noise and distortion floor, even with loudspeakers excluded.
www.audioholics
Use 'em, enjoy 'em, I don't really care- there are legitimate mechanisms by which cables can introduce their own sound into a system. THD and IMD claims of this magnitude are outright lies. Badman (Reviews | Answers | This Thread)
Badman, I think some of your points are valid. Maybe TBG or someone with Rick's ear can garner a better explanation of said results.
A more interesting topic would be magnetism and audio and its effects on RFI, EMI and potential "timing errors" in the music that was highlighted by software co-developed by Vertex and Nordost: http://www.stereophile.com/rmaf2010/nordost_and_vertex_measurements/index.html
Badman, what are cables doing in your opinion if anything?
A unique product here but lots of smoke and mirrors and an price tag to go along with it.
Unique using a mu metal like conductor and magnets to do its thing. Both are commodity materials and can be had for not much if one does the homework.
So the big price tag as these things go would seem to based on perceived end performance more so than materials.
How well do they stack up against the competition? I have no clue. No one product, particularly wires would seem to have cornered the market on good sound to-date. I could use the same adjectives to describe the sound with my modest in comparison wires, so one has to take superlative words with a grain or two of salt always.
I know of one case outside this thread where a highly respected agoner has indicated that they did not care for the HF wires in their quite SOTA system. So there you go. THe verdict is not universal love always for those who have heard.
Then there is Ddraudt who claims to sell used wires in order to fund new ones. It could be that dd gets the wires from the maker for little or no cost and then sells them for a discounted price (from list as per HF website).
Too many shady areas around here still after all this discussion IMHO. These thing may be the best thing since swiss cheese but at this point I have pretty much lost interest for all the reasons above.
If HF keeps churning these things out I suspect they will find their rightful market value over time, maybe even for a price I would consider someday. We'll see.
Sabai, jmcgrogan2, Sorry I have been ignoring you. Sorry you have gotten to insults that could get you band from Audiogon posts altogether. Sorry your lingering upset with Rick from his Virtual Dynamics days has you coming here dissing High Fidelity cables and me for some reason. I believe it would be better for you to let that old stuff go and enjoy the music. Happy Holidays! D
Dear Friends I have had the most wonderful experience last night. I had some friends over and we were listening to the presentation of my system with my upgraded High Fidelity Magnetic power conditioner. WOW! after 3 days it is a transcendent experience. so pure and musical, engaging and emotional. Sound stage beyond my wildest imagining. We could sense the air, shape and texture of the performance way beyond any non magnetic experience in nearly 40 years of testing audio products. WE were astonished by the total emersion into the artists world. Wow!! I wish you could experience this!! (not just hear it but to be engulfed/invited into a new Realm). This HF stuff is easy to get very excited about because it is superior beyond ones imagination. That is why I gush all the time about it. Sorry, you will not hear what I'm talking about unless you hear it yourself. Caution: Do not test audio stuff you cannot afford lest it drive you crazy with unrequited desire. 90% owners will not let this stuff go unless they are moving up the HF line. I sell used HF all the time to buy more for me. As my ads on audiogon and elsewhere testify. I'm happy for you if you system brings you Joy
Ok back to what matters. My system hit it out the park last night. Man there is no way I'm changing my cables. They were really moving my jazz last night. We threw everything at them from vocals to complex instrumental pieces and they performed like a champ.
Hi Friends The smartest person I know said this to me about break in of High Fidelity Products and I thought I would share. statement below. "Break-in allows the signals to become in phase in time and in sync. The synchronization and timing of signals working together is what is at the heart of musicality. " Time is critical to the sound of this unit!!
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