Acoustic Zen Absolute Copper without question... |
where are you at waxwaves?,I pm you a few days ago and have no response yet,and you have not got to my post for you here and the other thread,the one,0.8 thread,waxwaves? |
@ waxwaves, pops took the plunge!,He bought a 5-meter taralabs 0.8EX for the pre to amp,go to our other thread and post your thoughts ole chap!,and while you at it pass me a beer!,cheers! |
@ grey9hound,sounds like a very good plan!,you are working on with your set-up,still in all you can talk to us,we wont bite,LOL!,hell,we can even talk about systems we wish for and the differences between what we all come up with here,that alone grey9hound will be an extensive topic to talk about here!,I liked your passion when we first talked and so I enjoy talking with you,waxwaves likes talking to you,everybody does!I enjoy your input!,post something.cheers! |
Well Audiolabyrinth , I just haven't had much to say lately.
I have put the Q10 speaker Cables back in my sytem and have the Cardas Golden Cross Speaker Cables on ebay right now. I am kind of keeping my eye on trying some tara labs air 1 interconnects.I just don't like the prices i am seeing . So , it may be a bit before i try them.
I am still waiting fo Waxwaves final thoughts on the air one compared to the Analysis Plus solo crystal oval . I am also hoping he will try them from source to Pre in place of the discovery essence , just to see how they are. I personally think the most diffence in a cable can be heard from the source to the pre , rather than pre to amp. I have always heard the most discernable differences when the cable was in that spot.
I am also considerring building or buying a PC to use as a music server , and running optical out to a DAC. The Dac i am considering the most is the Wyred4sound DAC2.
I will admit , it will probably be this fall before i venture into this . I will, however, be doing a lot of research in the meantime regarding this venture .
Take Care |
@ grey9hound,I enjoy talking to you,you have not said much!,this is your thread,I hope you keep it going,what are you doing?,are you still wanting to change the sound of your system?,I love the idea that you have a complete entertainment system,Awsome!,cheers! |
Wow . Thanks Waxwaves for the initiall impressions of the Air 1. they sound like they are very good. I will consider the McCormack amps. |
@ waxwaves,I am very happy for you waxwaves!,you got an awsome deal on top of that!,as time gos on we can elaborate more on the sound of your cable,you need to be specific on your model name,theres a difference,you have the air 1 series 2,not the air1,this is to keep the readers out there to not get confused,Happy listening! |
@ waxwaves,you get I/C yet? |
Ok fellows the Tara Labs Air 1 ics are here and playing in my system now! The first thing I recognized was a couple of small tears running out of the corner of my eye and down my cheek when I heard them....
LOL...Just kidding, there is no crying in audio!
Ok seriously, the Air 1 do sound very very nice in this system! The first thing that I recognized as being different was a nice ripe, round quality to some seriously solid & deep bottom end. Then I realized that I was experiencing better clarity and definition of middle bass frequency stuff that was simply not heard before. The Air 1 is not forward sounding at all, in fact it imparts a much more recessed soundstage when compared to SoloCrystalOval. With the Air 1 in the system, midrange and top end information does sound accurate, tonally correct, and without loss of detailz! The background is also extremely quiet and this is usually a sign of a better cable. The speakers are doing an even more convincing "disappearing act" and the soundstage has stretched out wider! At this point, I already feel pretty confident I will enjoy this cable more than the Solo Crystal Oval.
I got some "juicy" sounds oozing out of the Hales Rev 3s and I like it! Thank you Keith! I'll give more impressions after these babies run in for a few hundred hours. So far, the Tara Air 1 gets a BIG thumbs up from me!
Grey9hound, these are my first impressions of the Air 1 ics. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this cable to you based on what I have heard thus far!!! But... I must also recommend for you a McCormack amplifier. Probably a DNA-1 so you could keep your biamp thing going(using both sets of binding posts).
I used Emotiva amps for 6 or 7 months and the McCormack sound just beat up on the Emo in every way! Definately another level of refinement with DNA- 0.5 Deluxe or the DNA- 1 Deluxe in my system. I have also had a Rev. B+ DNA-1 Deluxe in this system and am still kicking myself for letting it go!!! If you can find one jump on it. Have fun and best of luck to you! |
@ grey9hound,wow,you have been busy,the answer to your question is no,I would like to do some things like that with second system,the main system is 2 channel high-end only,the second system will be a different kind of entertainment system than the main,the second system when I get done will be alot like yours,t.v.flat screen,computer,media server etc...,good to here from you!,I would ask one of the other guys for an answer with your question,cheers! |
@ grey9hound,wow!you are busy!you can ask the others,I really have a simple two channel system for the main,the second system will be doing what you have said when I am done building it,the two will be for different type of enertainment,the main,pure real sound,cost no object,the other one for movies,good sound,turn table,radio,computer,etc.. you get the picture.,thanks for getting back to me,cheers! |
Audiolabyrinth
I am here . I have been trying to fix a problem with one of my Sony CDP-M555ES cd players . it has started not being able to find the disc location and spins around back and forth searching for the right disc # . It plays fine until after about 30 minutes or so when it starts actind up.
I purchased a replacement CDP-M333ES. the only diference from the 555 is it doesn't have video out for the song tilte and artist display , on the TV like the 555.
I really did not use it that(menus to tv ) much anyway.
i have been re- loading in each disc artist and the title of the disc and the categoryinto the 333es. Very labor intensive , although it does accept a keyboard which helps a lot.
It will recognize cd text but id you don't have artist and genre put in you can't play by artist or genre.
I really have been thinking about using a pc as a server and running through a pc with jriver media or windows media out to the tv for display.
Are any of you guys doin' that ? |
@ skoczylas,cool,we look forward to your review.cheers! |
I just ordered wire world equinox 6 to try to improve the low end. It's in a much lower price bracket than the ones mentioned. Ill post the results. |
@ grey9hound,there you are,I was wondering about you,you have not said much the last few days,whats-up? |
Waxwaves
I am waiting for you review. I look forrward to it . Thanks to you and Audiolabyrinth for all of your insight |
@ waxwaves,you are very welcome. |
Thanks Audiolabyrinth! For the informative correspondence and the invite! I really am glad that you are here man, we all can really benefit from your experience! I may love the Tara Labs and it may be my kinda sound too. I just had to find out and read that the Air 1 was a good place to start! I'll make sure to give them 300 hours. This system stays on 24-7 playing music unless I am working or sleeping, so it won't take too long.
Grey9hound, I will give initial impressions for you immediately as promised! |
@ waxwaves,I do not mean to sound like I know everything about Taralabs,I have been buying and useing them most of my life,ever since Taralabs has been in exsistence,I buy new cables direct from the factory is how well they know me,I have tried other cables over the years but always came back to the Tara sound,do not get me wrong here,I like a brand called transparent,a couple of models of nordost,a couple of models of purist audio,there is no best, no such thing as a best cable,I prefer Tara,some may not,to me,Tara works well with most tube and solid state equipment,but not all of them!,waxwaves you are welcome to come to my house and drink a beer anytime!,I do want to make sure you give your Tara cable adequate time to burn in before you make evaluations,300 hrs no matter what!,new are not,this will insure that you do not have bad impressions and get surprised for the better latter,tara cables are a little stuburn when breaking in!,in the end I am confident you will love them,cheers! |
@ Audiolabyrinth. Thanks for clearing that up sir, I was unsure about the grounding and knew you would have the answer! Really appreciate the help and seemingly endless Tara Labs knowledge! BTW, I read about the Zero Gold and now I want to come to your house for a music listening/beer drinking session! LOL! As far as the newer version of the Air 1 goes...I'm gonna take Jmcgrogan2's advice and use babysteps here. Thank you Jmcgrogan2! I'm sure putting the Air 1 in the system will be an awesome experience on it's own.
When I really think about it, I am already enjoying the sound here, especially after implementing the Essence from DAC-1 to TLC-1. So now I'm just having fun. I need to pick the cables I will use in what location, and sell some of the others!
@Grey9hound, I will try the Air 1 from DAC-1 to TLC-1 and see what happens 1st. I will let you know what I think asap. Then I'm gonna have to put the Air 1 between amp and pre and give it a listen. My brain is thinking the sound of the DAC and phono amp may both benefit with the cable in this position... if it is indeed such a badass interconnect, we shall see, I mean hear.
I got sidetracked with the cables, but it's a lot of fun and my gut tells me I'm gonna be glad I did. My main objective with my system was some SMcAudio amp upgrades! And then maybe a really good power cable for the amp. And then after that...and then after that! |
@ grey9hound,I looked for your cables for sale on the gon but have not seen them so far.cheers! |
Audiolabyrinth
I am here . i was just busy this past weekend.
Waxwaves
Did you get the cable yet ?
When you do , would you try it between the cd player and pre-amp . I think most systems would allow you to hear more differences in that position.
I know whenever i have tested ics , i was always able to tell a bigger difference between the Source and the Pre.
Differences were not as noticable from pre to amp ,, for me anyway .
Thanks |
@ waxwaves,The newest version of the air one is the air oneEX,that surpasses the model you have in sound by alot,way more transparent,if you like the cable you bought,I would not get the air 2!,I would go out of my way,to get the air1EX!It is a new designed cable,a different animal of a cable you just got!bar-none,it sets the bench mark at the pricepoint it sells at for all cables!,I would dare say its 2 times better than the cable you have now!,on the other hand for what you paid for the cable you have,you will not find a better cable for the used money you paid,in other words,$500.00 to $500.00 would be the fair comparison!cheers! |
@ waxwaves,connecting the two small lead jumpers together turns on the rf/emi shielding,makes the cable alot more transparent!, cheers! |
@waxwaves,The Air 1 and Air 2 does not use a grounding station!,the ends of the little jumpers plug into each other,go to the net and read on how to use the cable,the current offerings from tara only has what they call the extreme series cables that use an outboard grounding station,the extreme series cables are,the zero edge,the zero onyx,the zero gold.the model called the one and two and 0.8ex has ism on board,other words,a smaller grounding station made onto the cables them selfs and the jumper cables plug into them selfs on them cables too,only one side of the extreme series cables plug into each other and thats the receiving end of the signal.believe me when I say this!,It matters that you plug the jumper lead wires together on the air 1 cable that you bought!,Its the same on all their cables that have the jumpers!,please feel free to ask questions about these cables,I will help!cheers! |
The Discovery Essence is a very good cable. I haven't heard it in many years, but I still recall being amazed at how much better it sounded than an expensive Transparent interconnect that it replaced. Probably about 8-10 years ago. If memory serves me right, I kept it for a year or so, which is a long time in my system. :)
I wouldn't buy another Tara Labs cable until you see what you think of the first one Waxwaves. Don't get caught up in the hype. I've made that mistake myself far too often. If you like the Tara Labs, THEN consider buying another one. |
grey9hound and waxwaves,where are you guys at?waxwaves,have you got your cable yet? |
Still here Audiolabyrinth! I will definitely post my impressions of the Tara Air 1 ic for you and Grey9hound, don't worry. I still think the Solo Crystal Oval is a great cable, but I am expecting the Tara to better it. Gonna try it in place of the AP that is now between amp and preamp. I don't know if anybody noticed but, I am using Discovery Essence with Cardas Silver RCAs from sources to pre now. The Essence helped with some of the forward presentation I was getting while using all Solo Crystal Oval ics. I think the Essence is a really good cable too. Perfect ic from source components imo. Sound is just more laid back than the AP. I am really itching to hook up the Taras tho and now I'm wondering about the need for a grounding station? Is this gonna be necessary? Also thought about buying the Air 2 ic to go between DAC-1 and TLC-1... |
where are you at grey9hound?,I do like talking on these threads you know,the wife does not like talking high-end audio!,she thinks I'm a broken record player of some sorts!LOL!cheers! |
@ Blueranger,I wouldnt worry about it,The kgac is a nice cable!,Tara's technology just like everybody elses in 18 years is better,really,back then there was a couple of model taras that I did not like the sound of,one such cable that I owned came out before Decade did,the rsc master gen 2,very stiff cable,sounded like crap to me!,the Decade come out and I was In love with Taralabs all over again,LOL!cheers! |
I could not see any writing. They are about 18 years old and I remember I got them at a discount house something like used cables or 2nds. Maybe I have a fake pair of Taras! They are ivory color with black rubber rca's. They have 1 and 2 to tell which direction but if there was writing it has since rubbed off. |
@ waxwaves,good to see you are still around,after your cable does 300 hrs of burn-in,I want to know your thoughts on the sound here on this thread,I believe grey9hound does too,cheers! |
Thanks grey9hound for posting the last,I was very currious to know the outcome!cheers! |
@ blueranger,Hi,what model of tara did you compair to the kimber kgac?,is this i/cs we are talking about,speaker cables,a/c cords,what?interesting!,I do know kimber does not have in exsistance a top tier cable that can remotely compair to taras upper end cables,and a compairison to the zero gold i/c and omega gold speaker cables,cabolt a/c power cord is essentially a JOKE!,do not take my word on this,go and hear for your self!,some of the bottom of the line Taras may not better some cables,but Taras best,thats another ball game in its own!cheers,and happy listening to you! |
Well, I put the Q10 Speaker cables back in on the top . I ran Audyssey again , even though i play music in direct mode,without sub. The Audyssey corrections are not supposed to be applied in this situation, but i believe it actually does. I always tended to have some upper mids to lower highs that were sometimes sharp sounding , especially noticable on certain recordings.
I have a feeling that Audysesey contributed to this. When i re-ran it again after putting in the Q10s, I made sure that the mic was slightly tilted toward the front. This time most of the sharpness is GONE. yippee.
I will be putting the Golden Cross Speaker cables up for sale as well as the Analysis plus Solo crystal Oval interconnects.
Thanks again to everyone for your help. |
@ waxwaves,where are you?you have comments on whats been said about your cable or eany thing here?cheers! |
@ grey9hound,wow!,I am lost for words!This is a odd situation!,please let me know so I can learn from you when you figure out the problem!I do not believe I can from here!Jmcgrogan2,can you give some advice here?cheers! |
Just compared Tara labs to Kimber KGAC and the Kimber has more dynamics and slam. The start of "Hey You" by BTO was much better than Tara |
Grey9hound, the Emotiva sounds kinda hot on top in my experience, and not so resolute in the mids. The Emotiva did exibit a nice wide soundstage. Tried several, x-pa2, upa5... but my fav was the UPA-2. I will definately give my opinion of the Tara cable and am extremely pumped to hear it!
Audiolabyrinth, thanks again for the great input. What do you think of the Air 2 ics? Have you listened to those too? LOL! Honestly I am Looking forward to trying out the less forward sound of the Taras! Yeah,Good deals are nice!!! Would really like to hear the Quads 63 mentioned previously and learn more about those classics, maybe one day..
I usually use my best ic between amp and preamp for best results, but you never know what you're gonna get til you try... Always interested to hear others theories on this audio question. Maybe a new thread..."favorite interconnect from pre to amp or from source to pre?"
Thanks fellows!
... |
@Audiolabyrinth
My amp is 125 into 8 ohms and 225 into 4 ohms. THD is .04%
29db Gain |
@grey9hound,My source is my pre-amp!a cd combo,I can agree with what you are saying,everybodys systems are different,so it depends to what the owner hears where they may place the i/c,I would experiment to hear were the i/c needs to be placed that waxwaves bought and see what yields the best results on his system,compliments on your speakers that you have,they are very attractive!cheers! |
ICs are MOST noticable between source and pre-amp.
Any one agree? |
gentlemen,did eany of you see the legendary quad ESL63 electrostatic speakers on sale on the gon?these are some great speakers from the good ole golden age of audio that would compete very well against alot of the over priced,over hyped speakers they sell nowdays!cheers! |
@ waxwaves,I had the cables I believe you bought on watch,so I could keep up with them,If grey9hound wanted to buy them,waxwaves,you got a awsome,hell of a deal!,way to go!very much cheers! |
@grey9hound,I am sorry,I was only tring to help,I believe you may be correct,the amp may be the problem,I will tell you it is not the power per channel you have!your speakers are 6oms and most likely dip to 5 or 4and a half oms while playing,my speakers that are 6 oms will dip to 4 oms at times!check and see if the amp is designed for impedences such as the specs I am talking about,there is alot of high priced amps out there that will not drive speakers with low impedences,one way to check is to see if your amp doubles in power from 8oms load to 4 oms load,give me the answer if you do not mind,thanyou grey9hound,cheers! |
@ waxwaves,In my experience,putting a good i/c between the pre-amp and amp yields the best sound,I would experiment between the both if I were you,you may like the i/c between the source and pre-amp better?congradulations waxwaves on buying your cable,you already have the patience to know 300 hrs of break-in on eany cable used or new before evaluating them!,the answer to your question,will this tara model blow the doors off that particular analysis plus,well based on the feedback on this thread,yes,why?,you will not have a forward sound!caution!you need to know that this particular model tara will not have the resolution as the model called the 2 and models on up from there of the tara familly,I will tell you it is a fine cable at its full retail price compaired to alot of other brands and models at the same price point!,the good thing here is that the cable you bought like all taras will not be analitical sounding at all!,your particular model will be warm sounding with a round defined bass sound with exceptional body to boot!,and forgiving to brightness in a system.welcome to tara waxwaves,for the money of the model you bought I believe you will have no regrets for its pricepoint!cheers! |
@Waxwaves . You should put them between the Souce and the pre-amp first . That should be where you would hear thee differemnces the most |
Thanks again to all for the recommendations and the help.
@Audiolabyrinth. -- I am not going to use jumpers on my speakers. I am going to continue t bi-amp them, unless i get a more powerful amp, which i have not planned on yet . I have considered the Nad M25 in the Future. There is no way i can afford the Tara labs speaker cables, and i really do not want to go the adapter route from XLR to RCA for the ICs either.
I want to hear Waxwaves thoughts on the Air1 ICs.
please Please waxwaves , post your opinion of them here.
|
@ jmcgrgan2,I agee!,great that you are helping to look out for grey9hound,thankyou,hope he does one of these cables!it would give him what he is looking for with sound!,taralabs the 2 is better than the taralabs air 1 series 2.,jmcgrogan2 has some great advice here,grey9hound.cheers! |
