Sakura Systems OTA Cable Kit

The significant noise/buzz I was hearing with the OTA has dissipated as I've located the issue - the TV cable connection to my system via VCR to Preamp - a typical problem I guess. Anyway, now things are sounding far quieter. What got me confused was that when I swapped in Nordost SPM from pre to power in place of the OTA there was no noise/buzz. With the OTA back in place, the sound reappeared. I guess some cables like OTA may be more sensitive to such noise. Anyway, problem essentially solved now. Also, the cables are showing additional promise - fingers crossed they'll continue to improve. I wish I still had my FIM speaker cable so I could compare. The FIM really was so good.

Dekay: I know - Brulee introduced me to the OTA. Still, I have fond memories of the FIM - just my experience/impression that the FIM had something special I'm not quite getting (yet) with the OTA. It's still getting better though. Also, the recent removal of my PS300 may have had a key role to play in the recent loss of that 'something'. I hope to get a Hydra at some stage soon, so that may put my system back in gear.

Hi OTA owners. I bought the OTA kit about six weeks ago and have been enjoying the cables since. I have three questions though.

I've found initial impressions good, certainly for the price. However, I still find that my old set up of Nordost SPM interconnects (RCA) and FIM Gold speaker cables were far better. I found the soundsage fuller, greater seperation of instruments and more transparency with my old cable set-up. This is not to say OTA has not been a great purchase - it's at least excellent value for the price compared to my old cable set-up. What I'm wondering is whether the cables will get that much better as they burn-in, compared to what I'm hearing now. I guess my OTA set curretnly has about 70 hours or so on them so far. I know for some people the cable search has ended with OTA - I can't say I feel that way just yet.

Also, I find that recently I'm hearing some noise from my system that wasn't there before. I turned my preamp and source off and the noise is still there - so I guess it's isolated to amps and possibly from the OTA speaker cables. I also find that the noise is only there in the evening. So, my second question is whether other OTA users have experienced anything similar. It could be because I recently sold my PS Audio 300 Powerplant and maybe the noise appeared after it's absense, so OTA's not to fault, or something else happened with the power in my house.

Finally, does it matter if the positive and negative sections of one channel of an OTA interconnect are an inch or so longer/shorter than their respective positive or negative counterpart? I've had to recut a couple of interconnects a couple of times, so part of the interconnect is a little longer than the other, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I'd welcome any insights on OTA related noise issues, whether the cables really do shine given more burn-in and any potential issues with slight length differences for a given interconnect. I can be patient on the burn-in - I am just curious about other folks' experience. Thanks folks. By the way my system is as follows:
YBA CD1a Blue Laser CD Player (with 2 YBA diamond PCs)
Sonic Frontiers Line 3 Preamp (Shunyata Sidewinder PC)
Blue Circle BC2 Hybrid mono amps (Shunyata Sidewinder PCs)
Audio Physic Virgo II Speakers.
All cables are OTA.

Thanks!

Hi BWhite, I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one questioning the OTA's preeminence. Still, as you say, the OTA is at the very least an outstanding bargain compared to other offerings anywhere near it's price range. I wonder whether you can share with us what cable set-up you went with. I find myself tempted by the best from Tara Labs and Synergistic, not to mention NBS and Nordost, but I wonder whether there really is some sleeper cables that are expensive but can compete with the very expensive. Anyway, happy listening.

I was wondering whether everyone on this thread still using the OTA cables, or has anyone moved to what they think is a better cable (I imagine that some esoteric cables like Kharma and Siltech G5 are better, but I'm particularly interested in sub-$1,000 cables folks find better). I'm curious to see if the OTA is still king of the hill for folks here. I've been using OTA for about 8 months now, but am feeling the itch to try something else.