Are the locking WBT barrels tightened snugly? I've found hum problems can develop if locking RCA barrels are loose. |
I also have found hum to be a problem with the RCA barrels when loose. |
It must be the connection, nothing else makes sense. |
Frey's come with WBT Nex Gen RCAs .. the Nex Gen has a fragile ground lug that can easily be bent back and broken off if care isn't taken when installing the cables
Once the lug bends back or breaks off the connection is lost and you get the humming
Check the ground lugs on the RCAs to be sure none are damaged
. |
Have you tried both orientations of the Freys, i.e., with the arrow pointing toward the preamp as well as toward the power amp? The shield is presumably grounded at only one end, so hum pickup could very conceivably be sensitive to the direction in which the cable is connected.
Unless you have specific information defining the meaning of the arrow that is marked on that particular cable, I would not make any assumptions as to what it signifies.
Regards,
-- Al |
I noticed a hum when I didn't have them properly set. Just jiggle and tighten or remove and put them on again. Great cables. |
Thank You very much for all the replies. I really appreciate it. I checked the ground tabs during a visual inspection right after i received the cables and they look fine. The solder joints looked ok as did resistance checks on the cables. I also tried installing them in a reverse direction and i am sure they were very tight. I use Deoxit on all the connections. The jacks on my amp are only a few months old. Like i mentioned, there is no hum with any other cable i use. What makes matters weirder is that both cables have the problem. I'm going to call Nordost tomorrow. The two that might be able to figure out if there is a problem were at the CES last week. I'm hoping the seller will take care of the problem if there is something wrong with the cables but he has been unresponsive recently. |
Pongagt, unless the cables prove to be defective, the seller has fulfilled his obligation.
Nordost is an excellent company and has excellent customer service. Good luck. |
sounds like a ground loop - I had that on a particular cable and was not able to solve it. It was a preamp to amp connection. |
The cables are defective and Nordost is going to rma them in this case. The shields probably got disconnected some how and that problem will not be evident by a resistance check since the shield is only connected on one end and there is a negative wire that connects the ground tabs on the WBT connectors. I don't know what happened to them or what the seller knew but Brf is right about Nordost. Thanks again for all the help.
I did not get the hum with any other cables so there is no problem with my equipment. |
Nordost "gets" customer service. A simple fix, no extra charge, no hassle, and they gain a customer for life. |
It's always good to read about great customer service, but really, at the prices they are charging, you should expect service like that. |
Well they did fix my cables and i am very happy for that. I was not happy with the seller's terrible communications and lack of response to my concerns. I therefore left him negative feedback considering all my concerns and the rma were documented. It seems Audiogon has different interests considering they have not posted my feedback.
I don't expect this post will last long but it will last longer then my Audiogon account since i am closing it as soon as i finish this post. I just don't feel safe buying off a website that puts the interests of sellers over the documented facts of buyers. I'll stick with protection from Ebay.
Thanks to all those that took the time to try and help me by replying. |
Wenn this cable came out I was asked to test it. Overall balance was not good. Compared to the Valhalla, low freq were quite poor. Mid's lacked focus and very clinical sound. The low freq. were even to thin in sound. I did test the interconnect and speakercable togheter. |
Bo1972, I would sure hope that the Valhalla beat the Frey at over 4 times the cost i.e. $1000 vs. $4500 |
The balance is not good of the Frey. The Red Dawn rev2 and also the Baldur are better balanced cables. Balance between low, mid and high freq. |
Bo1972, you think the Red Dawn rev2 and Baldur are better than the Frey cables?? I have Red Dawn rev2 and Frey and Tyr in my system and I can tell you the Red Dawn's are at the bottom of the heap. Red Dawn rev2 is a good cable, particularly for the money, but IMHO the Frey is superior across the board; as it should be for considerably more money. Frey is much closer to Tyr than Red Dawn rev 2 is to Frey. I guess YMMV. |
I prefer the balance of the cble. I always give a cable a value for what it costs. For the money the Rev2 is better cable. Baldur Loudsprekercable has a more pleasent mid compared to the Frey. I like the loudspeakercable of Nordost the most. Nordost give a lot of resolution and speed. But the resolution has to come in the right place. This I call Individual focus. Instruments and voices are there, but in real instruments and voices are a lot sharper focussed. This is not the onlu problem using Nordost interconnects. Wenn you have a system which can play very deep, you loose depth. The other problem what in all my tests occur is always loosing invlovement in the mid freq. For example the new Audioquest cabels are superior in individual focus compared to Nordost. Now I borrow the Redwood loudspeakercable of Audioquest. Wenn I campare this with Valhalla youb hear how much better the focus od all parts is. Sound is a lot more pleasent. The authority in the whole image is awesome. Stage has a lot more depth compared to Valhalla. I still advice Nordost loudspeakecable with another brand of interconnects. In all the tests I did with Nordost complete I had the same missing parts I want in a system. Period! |
Bo1972, I used to own Highwire cables which replaced Audioquest cables. The Nordost are FAR more resolving than either cable. Not sure what your your system consists of, BUT in my system, the differences are easy to hear. The Nordost cables are far superior.
If you think that Valhalla has less stage depth than the Redwood Audioquests, well like I said before, YMMV. |
Valhalla gives a lot of resolution ( details) but Audioquest sets everything better in place. I call this individual focus. During listening it is a lot more easy to focus on only one part of the recording. Wenn you go back to Valhalla it is less focussed. Like a photo what is less sharp. That is why you need interconnects to give it a more sharp focus. It is the same wenn I listen to Avalon. I see a big and wide stage but the individual focus is less sharp. I know that in real instruments and voices are very small in dimension and often very sharp focussed. The Audioquest make the stage wider and deeper.
2nd and 3th voices on recordings are so much more easy to pint out were they are standing during listening. They are louder and a lot more easy to follow. Wenn I had full Valhalla at home I missed emotion in the whole sound. My smile on my face was gone. Wenn the focus is very sharp you turn a lot with year head during listening. That is how sharp it is. Going back to Valhalla I didn't do this anymore. There is a lot of details, more difficult werer it is comming from. The Audioquest gives more realism is sound of instruments and the overwhole sound has more authority. Liken you use a more powerful amplifier. I want to play very deep, very wide and like now many recordings some instruments play in front of you. I am a perfectionist, I want everything what is possible in sound. Deep and wide is even not enough. Within this big square stage the focus of instruments and voices need to be point out exactly were they are standing. I do not do it for less. |
I see you use Arel sub. Those sub's I sold a lot in gthe past. Now I would give a negative advice. The reason is very simple. Tooooooo slow and downfiring has nothing to do with highend audio and becomming one with the rest. I have done a lot of tests with many subwoofers. Now it is for me very easy what is good and not. I always had expensive highend systems with big speakers without sub's.
Because subwoofer were to slow I always was listening to flaws, this I really hate. But the Monitor Audio PLW-15 made me think differently about sub's. I also did some teste witht the most expensive Velodyne sub's. Still too slow like the Rel sub's. Wenn you use a subwoofer which is closed and has a big unit (15 inch) in front you can get stealth quality. The respons of the Monitor Audio is superior to Velodyne and Rel cause of the respons. The material they are using is lighter and that is why the speed is higher. They use a very big magnet and it is extreemly tight. The control is awesome so i can easily use it to 120 hz. Rel using above 60 hz and you get shit. Not enough speed and not enough control. For the first time in life I heard a sub can become one with speakers. Because of the use of 120hz the focus of voices and instruments increase dramaticly. Buy Jacintha is her name. Track 6, the contrabass is on the left side of the recording. With the PLW-15 the focus and dimension stays the same without the sub. The instrument is even sharper focussed. Withe Rel and Velodyne we did the same test. All the test the contrabass became too big in dimension. And the speed was not accurate. We did not get the feeling of stealth quallity we are ys aiming for. My clients call my sub voodoo. They all say: This is the first time in life a subwoofer is becomming one with the speakers. Many of them play with expensive highend systems. |
When I was looking at cables I had the demo case that consisted of bh through freys. In my system the bh and rd were too bright for me. The baldur was dull sounding and not as bright. The heimall and frey were extremely close but with those cables I could really hear the 'air' between the instruments and vocals. To me and my system the latter had the most balanced sound. I bought the frey ic and sc. Still have the sc but have since upgraded the ic to the tyr2. The series2 have a more liquid sound and more low end yet still sound very balanced. The new series2 are very different and in my opinion much better. |
The low freq. was the part I did not like of the Frey. Wenn you go one level higher, you will much better low end. |
Xti16, I too have the Frey sc's and am also using Tyr ic's. I think this is a great combo. |
Daveyf - Have you had a chance to demo the new series2? I was quite happy with all original Frey's. Then I heard the series2. All I can say is Wow. |
Xti16, I have heard the Frey 2 ic's but not the speaker cables. I think the Tyr ic's are still superior to the Frey 2 ic's. Happy with my Frey sc's...for now:0) |
Daveyf - I never had the chance to listen to the original Tyr's. The only 2 Nordost cables I never heard were original Tyr's and Odin. Also I never heard the Leif series either. So you could be right. My reference at the time were my original Frey's. The series2 are very different. I will admit the Tyr2 ic kicked the Frey2's butt!! That being said the Frey2 is much better than the original. Speaker cables included. My favorite combo was the Frey2 ic and Tyr2 sc. My sc's are 4 meter and Tyr2's were way to far out of my budget. |
Bo 1972, Wenn you use a REL sub, you have to make sure that it is dialed in
correctly; that way when you listen to it, it will blend into the mix...;0) |
Bo1972 - Funny my first real ic purchase were the AQ vipers. I liked them a lot but there was no emotion (blurry - flat sounding and no 'air' between the instruments and vocals) to the music. Good low to high frequency response. Later I got the Cardas Neutral reference. More emotion in the mids but rolled off highs and lows. Next were the AQ King Cobra's. Another good one for frequency response but only a hair more emotion than the Vipers but not as good as the Cardas. Then the Fusion Audio Interlockers. Great frequency response and more emotion and focus than the Cardas but had a narrower sound stage. Then the original Frey ic. Great emotion - best 'air' between the instruments and vocals and a wider sound stage. These also had the best focus. I will agree the Frey's didn't have the best low end frequency response. But it didn't matter because I have a Rel B3 sub. So the low frequency was a moot point. If you have the opportunity listen the the Norse series demo case. The lows are there with these cables. Speaking of the sub the Rel B series is a great line up. But when I tossed the original Rel cable and had a Nordost Bassline made to Rel spec holy cow what a difference. Attack and decay like I never knew existed in my system.
For what ever it is worth I started with a Rel B3 and Bryston B100sst integrated and upgraded to an Octave V70SE tube integrated. Dynaudio C1's and upgraded to the C1 Signature. Started with and still have a Meridian G08 for a source. Added a Purepower 1050 regenerator to my dedicated lines.
That being said I always recommend AQ cables for beginners as a good entry level bang for the buck cable. System synergy will determine whether or not AQ - Nordost etc are right for your system. For me as I upgraded my system cables made more of a profound difference. Prior to that they made a difference but not as profound. Last when I audition cables I disconnect the sub.
That's my experience |
I sold Audioquest in the past a lot, but I didn't see them for some years on my radar. I sold the vipers as well. They were alright, but not that special. 2 years ago I needed 5 new interlinks for my 5 channel poweramp. I had orderd 5 Kimber select interlinks. I had two wait 2 weeks before they came. So I borrowed 5 AQ Diamonback. I was surprised by the sharp focus and the deep stage. Then the Kimber Select came. After 1 week everything came in to place. AQ has done some great development in the last years. Mannnnnn...I missed something. People call me the cable expert overhere. Wenn I went back to the Kimber my stage became less deep and the focus was a little less sharp. So I bought the Colorado. The difference compared
to Kimber select was stunning. Now Audioquest was on my radar again I want to test more of there new cabels I did not know. I bought the AQ coffee hdmi. All cabels came direct from AQ Netherlands. If I would not like them I could send them back. The coffee was stunning as well. I did some testing also in HDMI cabels. But the AQ with silver sets new settings. My stage became deeper again, much sharper focus and my overwhole sound became much more real and musical. Now I play with the AQ Diamaond hdmi. Words are difficult to find how god it is. My Samsung PS64D8000 gave so much sharper image and black became more black. I always do many tests to compare them with the ones I used before. The AQ sub-1 was the next cable I wanted to test. Same results. Low freq. became more powerfull and better defined. But the silver in these cabels do a lot for the higher freq as well. I use my sub
to 120hz, and you could easily hear more resolution and space in the higher freq. of the sub. There is one thing AQ is not that good at. Powercabels. I test them as well, but competitors like Purist Audio and powercabels like Valhalla are still superior. Now I have the AQ Redwood to test. I have to do some changements before I can use it at home. So I connect them at a friend. I heard new things I never heard. The overwhole sound becomes a lot more authority. All parts of the recording are separated more than what I had witht the Valhalla. It is as if many light spots from above are foccused on every part. I never heard all parts that easy from recordings. During listening I can walk around and focus just on one part that easy. The cable can lock every part of the recording. Wenn you go back to Valhalla the parts are there but they never are locked. Like they are moving. I can see them but they are not in focus. I have to think many times of my New Sony A99, what locks fast and is sharp as a knife. All the tests I did for clients with only Nordost. I could convince them of getting a better focus with other brands. I never had a client who said I just want Nordost. I learned all these people what individual focus is. Wenn you know it you understand easily the flaws of Nordost. Soon I will give a lot of demo's and shows overhere. We will record it with professional cameras. When it works out later we will do it in english as well. I want peolple to get a higher level of sound. I am only interested in the best, for my clients I have the same goal. |
Overwhole the AQ sub-1 is better than the bassline of Nordost. Which I sold a lot. It go's deeper and is better in the higher freq. as well cause of the silver it usses in the cable. |
I have to admit that only with Audessey pro I get a full stealth sound. But you still need a closed subwoofer with only one unit on the front. Sub's with 2 units are not that great for stereo. Use the Jacintha is her name cd and use track 6. Most sub's after this test you can throw them directly by the garbage. In audio there is so much more shit than good stuff. Question; you use the C1, how big is the stage. And do you play even with most recordings beside the speakers? I ask this because only wenn the filter of the speaker is excellent this can happen. The frey first edtion misses some important low freq. And a sub will not solve this problem. Your speakers will always become better wenn these low freq. are there. That is why I didn't like the Frey. For the price it costs there are cabels who can do this. |
