Nice review, I enjoyed reading it!
Best regards,
Best regards,
Review: Purist Audio Design Dominous Interconnect
Category: Cables
My musical tastes are wide and varied.My background has a long exposure to live music.I have played music for the past 30 years.The musical instrument I play is bass trombone.I have played in semi pro jazz bands,and in our local symphony for the past 15 years called The Skagit Symphony.I also have had the unique opportunity in recording the symphony live for the past 15 years as well.
I've recorded them in DAT with SBM Mapping 24 bit Rez. and also have done recent Analog recordings on my modified Teac 4010 SL Reel to Reel Recorder.So I may have a unique persepective to review contributions.
I have used some of my master recordings of Scheherazade
we performed on March 14th 2004 as a point of reference for noticing how close to the live mike feed the Dominous Cable
was to the actual live event recorded.
I also dubbed some of my best LP's onto tape using the Dominous as a dubbing cable between my preamp
and my input of my reel to reel recorder.
The Lp's I used were Muddy Waters Folk Singer Classic Records
Willie Nelson Stardust 45 RPM Classic Records
The Reiner Sound 45 RPM Classic Records
The most important aspect to the sound reproduction is does the cable reveal the true tonal reproduction of the musical instrument being played? Can you follow the bass line in its speed and articulation as well.When a string bass player is playing a fast 16th note run can you hear every note played? ,feel the note? ,hear the wood cavity of the body of the instrument? .Is the mid band full and revealing all the overtone structure of the musical instrument? Can you hear all the high frequency detail in top end of the cable?I.E. Do you hear when the drummer changes his sticks in a different direction which changes the tonal color of the cymbal. Can you hear the acoustic space where the recording took place?How large is the space?
Can you hear all reflections of the sound from the space?
Can you identify audience coughing in their seats?.Yes this is part of the live performance as well unfortunately.
Does the cable compress the sound when an orchestra is playing at full tilt FFF?
My biggest complaint of a cable would be the reproduction of little or no bass.Many cables today claim to be fast and revealing but have no deep bass response in the 20 to 40HZ region and I susspect as high as 100 HZ.with the foundation of the orchestra fleshed out the sound loss is huge.
I had the unique opportunity to audition this cable for 2 weeks out on loan from this wonderful Texas man Albert Porter.Many thanks go out to him for me to be indulged on the State Of The Art in Interconnect Cable Design.
This Dominous Cable was installed between my amp and preamp.I did not have provisions for hooking the cable up to my turntable directly since my table required a Din to RCA termination.The cable replaced my DIY cryo treated solid core cooper IC.
The changes to my stereo system were staggering and a quantum leap forward in sound reproduction I never thought was possible with an interconnct cable.It was jaw dropping and caught me off guard.All I could do as a musician and a recording engineer for our symphony was simply shake my head in dibelief to what I was experiencing for the first time.AND YES YOU CAN HEAR A DIFFERENCE IN INTERCONNECT CABLES!
The very first thing I noticed was I thought someone just put a big high powered 18 inch subwoofer between my Martin Logan Quest Z's.and No I Don't have a subwoofer and I don't need one with these cables in my system.
The deep bass took on power,depth,and deep fast articulation.This helped with the sound staging and image of the acostic recording enviroment as well.
My living room was shaking when the Chicago Symphony went FFF on the Reiner Sound.The reverberation was heard on bass drum as well even to the back of the hall ,a first for me.
I could easily track all bass lines ,string bass ,bass trombone,tuba articulation.I was toe tapping like mad.
I just wish I had a RIVER DANCE LP to try out then I know I
would be standing up trying out that Irish Dance.
I was able for the first time too clearly hear the string basses pluck each individual note on my master tape.Previously this was hidden from my tape But not now.I noticed all bass instruments sounded fuller and true to their pitch,not tonally thined out anymore.
The mid band reproduction was first rate on the Dominous Cable.The overtone reproduction was simply amazing.The violin soloist on Scheherazade sounded like a real violin suspended in space.My wife commented how wonderful and real it sounded even when I was listening to the tape master in my computer room thru the Altec Computer Speakers.TO hear that kind of resolution on even the cheapest computer speaker you can find is also saying how well this cable can sound.
But hooked up to the Martin Logan Quest Z's was a real treat indeed.I really had the illusion of hearing my concert again as if I were really attending that event on that day and that is what its all about anyway.
All the overtone structure of the violin was so in tack.The sound of the string moving across the bow,the upper harmonic structure of the violin was a sure joy to hear,and the proper body and weight of the instrument was revealed as well.The tonal qualities of the soloist and the concertmaster at first chair violin were easily identifiable from each other.Thus you could hear individual violinist in the orchestra radiate the unique character of the instrument they were playing.
The high freq. response on this cable was unique in that I could identify hall reverb very easily or lack of it as well on some of my recordings.Thus imaging was first class.You could hear the spaces around the instruments as they were playing.I could clearly hear where each person in the orchestra was.
On the Wiilie Nelson Stardust Recording 45 RPM Classic Records I was able for the first time actually hear when the drummer changed the timbre of the cymbal while striking the cymbal.I have never heard this off an LP ever. Live Yes,but not off an LP.This was a first too me.Kudos Jim!
Also all surface noise from LP playback was greatly reduced,even tape hiss from my master recordings were reduced as well.So you have this very ,very quiet background
against this huge tapestry of wall to wall 3D Sound Staging imaging.
As far as any weakness with this cable I could find.I was very hard pressed to find any at all.The Dominous did so much for sound quality improvement in my system that at times its to hard to articulate in this review.It is just simply staggering.I am told that other revisions A,B,or C may have different high frequency responses,but I don't know of that first hand since I haven't heard all revisions of this cable made.
If this cable is within your budget I would give it a listen.Even if not in your budget I would still give it a listen.Every Audiogoner should be exposed to this cable if it were possible.YES YOU CAN HEAR A DIFFERENCE IN CABLES.
As a footnote: I also had Albert Porter send me a Porter Port and it made a huge difference in my turntable playback as well.A great reduction in noise which allowed for an expansion of the sound stage as well.
Again many thanks too Albert Porter in letting me try out his Dominous Cable,Reluctantly I sent them back to him via FEDEX after 2 weeks of audition.And Yes I will be expecting a big return from IRS next year and guess what I'll be buying. A Dominous Cable and maybe someday the whole system will be wired up with PAD including my speaker cables as well.
Happy Listening
Don
Associated gear
VPI MK3 Table W/ Morch UP-4 Arm internal silver wired,Grado Ref.The Reference Phono Cartridge,Kimber TAK Ag Silver Tonearm Kable.
Preamp: CJ PV-5
Power Amp : ARC VT-60
Speakers: Martin Logan Quest Z's
Speaker Cable Kimber 4PR
My musical tastes are wide and varied.My background has a long exposure to live music.I have played music for the past 30 years.The musical instrument I play is bass trombone.I have played in semi pro jazz bands,and in our local symphony for the past 15 years called The Skagit Symphony.I also have had the unique opportunity in recording the symphony live for the past 15 years as well.
I've recorded them in DAT with SBM Mapping 24 bit Rez. and also have done recent Analog recordings on my modified Teac 4010 SL Reel to Reel Recorder.So I may have a unique persepective to review contributions.
I have used some of my master recordings of Scheherazade
we performed on March 14th 2004 as a point of reference for noticing how close to the live mike feed the Dominous Cable
was to the actual live event recorded.
I also dubbed some of my best LP's onto tape using the Dominous as a dubbing cable between my preamp
and my input of my reel to reel recorder.
The Lp's I used were Muddy Waters Folk Singer Classic Records
Willie Nelson Stardust 45 RPM Classic Records
The Reiner Sound 45 RPM Classic Records
The most important aspect to the sound reproduction is does the cable reveal the true tonal reproduction of the musical instrument being played? Can you follow the bass line in its speed and articulation as well.When a string bass player is playing a fast 16th note run can you hear every note played? ,feel the note? ,hear the wood cavity of the body of the instrument? .Is the mid band full and revealing all the overtone structure of the musical instrument? Can you hear all the high frequency detail in top end of the cable?I.E. Do you hear when the drummer changes his sticks in a different direction which changes the tonal color of the cymbal. Can you hear the acoustic space where the recording took place?How large is the space?
Can you hear all reflections of the sound from the space?
Can you identify audience coughing in their seats?.Yes this is part of the live performance as well unfortunately.
Does the cable compress the sound when an orchestra is playing at full tilt FFF?
My biggest complaint of a cable would be the reproduction of little or no bass.Many cables today claim to be fast and revealing but have no deep bass response in the 20 to 40HZ region and I susspect as high as 100 HZ.with the foundation of the orchestra fleshed out the sound loss is huge.
I had the unique opportunity to audition this cable for 2 weeks out on loan from this wonderful Texas man Albert Porter.Many thanks go out to him for me to be indulged on the State Of The Art in Interconnect Cable Design.
This Dominous Cable was installed between my amp and preamp.I did not have provisions for hooking the cable up to my turntable directly since my table required a Din to RCA termination.The cable replaced my DIY cryo treated solid core cooper IC.
The changes to my stereo system were staggering and a quantum leap forward in sound reproduction I never thought was possible with an interconnct cable.It was jaw dropping and caught me off guard.All I could do as a musician and a recording engineer for our symphony was simply shake my head in dibelief to what I was experiencing for the first time.AND YES YOU CAN HEAR A DIFFERENCE IN INTERCONNECT CABLES!
The very first thing I noticed was I thought someone just put a big high powered 18 inch subwoofer between my Martin Logan Quest Z's.and No I Don't have a subwoofer and I don't need one with these cables in my system.
The deep bass took on power,depth,and deep fast articulation.This helped with the sound staging and image of the acostic recording enviroment as well.
My living room was shaking when the Chicago Symphony went FFF on the Reiner Sound.The reverberation was heard on bass drum as well even to the back of the hall ,a first for me.
I could easily track all bass lines ,string bass ,bass trombone,tuba articulation.I was toe tapping like mad.
I just wish I had a RIVER DANCE LP to try out then I know I
would be standing up trying out that Irish Dance.
I was able for the first time too clearly hear the string basses pluck each individual note on my master tape.Previously this was hidden from my tape But not now.I noticed all bass instruments sounded fuller and true to their pitch,not tonally thined out anymore.
The mid band reproduction was first rate on the Dominous Cable.The overtone reproduction was simply amazing.The violin soloist on Scheherazade sounded like a real violin suspended in space.My wife commented how wonderful and real it sounded even when I was listening to the tape master in my computer room thru the Altec Computer Speakers.TO hear that kind of resolution on even the cheapest computer speaker you can find is also saying how well this cable can sound.
But hooked up to the Martin Logan Quest Z's was a real treat indeed.I really had the illusion of hearing my concert again as if I were really attending that event on that day and that is what its all about anyway.
All the overtone structure of the violin was so in tack.The sound of the string moving across the bow,the upper harmonic structure of the violin was a sure joy to hear,and the proper body and weight of the instrument was revealed as well.The tonal qualities of the soloist and the concertmaster at first chair violin were easily identifiable from each other.Thus you could hear individual violinist in the orchestra radiate the unique character of the instrument they were playing.
The high freq. response on this cable was unique in that I could identify hall reverb very easily or lack of it as well on some of my recordings.Thus imaging was first class.You could hear the spaces around the instruments as they were playing.I could clearly hear where each person in the orchestra was.
On the Wiilie Nelson Stardust Recording 45 RPM Classic Records I was able for the first time actually hear when the drummer changed the timbre of the cymbal while striking the cymbal.I have never heard this off an LP ever. Live Yes,but not off an LP.This was a first too me.Kudos Jim!
Also all surface noise from LP playback was greatly reduced,even tape hiss from my master recordings were reduced as well.So you have this very ,very quiet background
against this huge tapestry of wall to wall 3D Sound Staging imaging.
As far as any weakness with this cable I could find.I was very hard pressed to find any at all.The Dominous did so much for sound quality improvement in my system that at times its to hard to articulate in this review.It is just simply staggering.I am told that other revisions A,B,or C may have different high frequency responses,but I don't know of that first hand since I haven't heard all revisions of this cable made.
If this cable is within your budget I would give it a listen.Even if not in your budget I would still give it a listen.Every Audiogoner should be exposed to this cable if it were possible.YES YOU CAN HEAR A DIFFERENCE IN CABLES.
As a footnote: I also had Albert Porter send me a Porter Port and it made a huge difference in my turntable playback as well.A great reduction in noise which allowed for an expansion of the sound stage as well.
Again many thanks too Albert Porter in letting me try out his Dominous Cable,Reluctantly I sent them back to him via FEDEX after 2 weeks of audition.And Yes I will be expecting a big return from IRS next year and guess what I'll be buying. A Dominous Cable and maybe someday the whole system will be wired up with PAD including my speaker cables as well.
Happy Listening
Don
Associated gear
VPI MK3 Table W/ Morch UP-4 Arm internal silver wired,Grado Ref.The Reference Phono Cartridge,Kimber TAK Ag Silver Tonearm Kable.
Preamp: CJ PV-5
Power Amp : ARC VT-60
Speakers: Martin Logan Quest Z's
Speaker Cable Kimber 4PR
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