Once you have it broken in, if you are still looking for interconnects, then yes Cardas has been known to be warm. Another great option is to look for a lower cost Audioquest cable, but make sure it uses gold-plated RCA connectors (avoid the silver plated!). Evergreen interconnects can be had for less for $50 on ebay. I think these would be better than Blue Jeans cable because Audioquest uses larger 21awg solid-core conductors. The gold-plated RCA will help in reducing the highs. Or you can move up to Audioquest Golden Gate or Big Sur cables (still under $100).
Need cable to soften brightness just a little?
Would appreciate some hand holding on solving a small problem. I think a different cable interconnect might be what I need. Right now I am using Blue Jeans interconnects.
Have three new variables in our TV Stereo system.
New Oppo UDP-205
Musical Fidelity A3cr Preamp
Pioneer SX-1050 Stereo Receiver (bypassing it’s preamp)
Still in use is the Arcam SR250 AV Receiver.
Speakers are floor standing Spendor FL-6.
I am an opera lover and classical music devotee and like really good audio. The Arcam SR250 is just perfect for ordinary tv watching, but I soon found out it can’t equal the musicality of a good stereo receiver, so I rigged up a way of using my Audiomat Arpege tube amp for musical program listening. But I just found a better use for the Arpege and decided to replace it with the Musical Fidelity Preamp and the Pioneer Receiver. The Oppo is just a few days old as well, replacing an Oppo BDP-83SE.
There is a big improvement in clarity of spoken dialogue.
Everything sounds brighter and clearer and there is an unmistakable sense of power from the much more powerful Pioneer.
Musically it is harder to evaluate. At first there was a feeling of “wow, major improvement”, but on further listening it feels a little bright. Might be the sort of brightness that causes music fatigue.
How do I take just a little of the edge off the brightness without losing the wonderful clarity I’m getting?
And how to go about figuring out which of the three is causing that little bit of edginess.
Have three new variables in our TV Stereo system.
New Oppo UDP-205
Musical Fidelity A3cr Preamp
Pioneer SX-1050 Stereo Receiver (bypassing it’s preamp)
Still in use is the Arcam SR250 AV Receiver.
Speakers are floor standing Spendor FL-6.
I am an opera lover and classical music devotee and like really good audio. The Arcam SR250 is just perfect for ordinary tv watching, but I soon found out it can’t equal the musicality of a good stereo receiver, so I rigged up a way of using my Audiomat Arpege tube amp for musical program listening. But I just found a better use for the Arpege and decided to replace it with the Musical Fidelity Preamp and the Pioneer Receiver. The Oppo is just a few days old as well, replacing an Oppo BDP-83SE.
There is a big improvement in clarity of spoken dialogue.
Everything sounds brighter and clearer and there is an unmistakable sense of power from the much more powerful Pioneer.
Musically it is harder to evaluate. At first there was a feeling of “wow, major improvement”, but on further listening it feels a little bright. Might be the sort of brightness that causes music fatigue.
How do I take just a little of the edge off the brightness without losing the wonderful clarity I’m getting?
And how to go about figuring out which of the three is causing that little bit of edginess.
Showing 6 responses by auxinput
The Oppo has been known to take a very long time to break in. Some people say 200 hours, but many others have indicated as much as 300-400 hours of continuous play. Just put a CD in and set it on repeat. Then turn your preamp down and you can turn off your amps. 10 days straight is what I generally recommend for 200-240 hours. |
In my opinion, you have two things against you with using the Arcam. The first thing is that any digital audio transferred over HDMI will sound worse than digital audio sent over digital COAX or even analog audio cables. The data bandwidth and clock timing required by HDMI interface plays havoc with the sound quality when the receiver attempts to re-assemble the digital data (which could have bits missing due to data bandwidth sharing with video) and the digital clock timing, which is already compromised. It is always better to use digital COAX to transfer audio. The only exception is the high res bluray audio formats (DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD). 2-channel PCM and old school dolby digital /DTS will always sound better over COAX. The second thing is that ARCAM has its own unique sound. While it is very well regarded, in my opinion, it has a very weird sound. It is very clean and high definition, but to me it just doesn't sound realistic. ARCAM likes to use what they call Class G amplifier. It is a weird combination of a Class A amp/power supply circuit with what looks like a Class D type secondary power supply that is switched in/out as needed. I think the result is that it gives more of a Class D type signature, which lacks air and just doesn't "sing" in my opinion. I think these two items are why you feel that the Pioneer receiver sounds so much better (Pioneer is standard Class AB architecture). |
@echolane - I have been out of town all week on business and haven't caught up. For digital COAX cable, the Blue Jean Beldon 1694A is actually a very excellent cable for the money: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/digital-audio/index.htm 6 foot cable (minimum I recommend) is $20.75 plus shipping, so you can afford to experiment if you want. I use a slightly modified Krell S1200U 3D for my HT Processor (which can double as a COAX DAC). I use a highly modified/rebuilt Emotiva DAC with discrete Class A op amp stages for computer (no comparison - probably similar to a $1500-2000 DAC). |
A digital cable that is too short is actually bad. What happens is that the digital pulses received by the target will be reflected back to the source. These reflections can cancel out additional pulses from the source and you have errors. The minimum recommended is generally 1.5 meters / 4.5 feet, but I always go 6 feet just to be sure. This problem really doesn't occur with analog cables, so they can be very short. |