Come on guys, you are arguably among the most knowledgable in audio. Nothing?
Suggestions for Cables between Playback Designs MPS-5 and Allnic L-3000 Mk 2 Preamp
There's no telling what kind of bee's nest this is going to stir up, but I'm looking for serious opinions so I'll ask anyway. But please, let's dispense with all of the "cables don't matter" posts because obviously I think they do. I understand that some people feel differently and that's ok. I won't do or say one thing to try and make them think otherwise, and I'd appreciate the same.
So.....I will have a balanced connection between an Allnic L-3000 Mk 2 preamp and Plinius SA-Reference. I will be connecting a Playback Designs MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD player to the Allnic and that's the cabling I would like your opinions on? Balanced or Single Ended? Brand of model of your recommendation? Some information why?
To help frame this a little better I would need the cable about 1 meter in length, less is not enough and more than 1.5m is overkill. I will definitely consider used and budget is $1k-$2k in the used market. Some of the cables I've been considering are:
XLR - Acoustic Zen Absolute Silver
XLR - Shunyata Aurora
XLR - Tara Labs The One
XLR - Tara Labs The 2
Single Ended - High Fidelity Cables CT-1E Enhanced Series
Single Ended - High Fidelity Cables CT-1U Ultimate Series
I'm running SE High Fidelity Cables in my analog rig and are extremely impressed by them.
Thoughts anyone?
So.....I will have a balanced connection between an Allnic L-3000 Mk 2 preamp and Plinius SA-Reference. I will be connecting a Playback Designs MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD player to the Allnic and that's the cabling I would like your opinions on? Balanced or Single Ended? Brand of model of your recommendation? Some information why?
To help frame this a little better I would need the cable about 1 meter in length, less is not enough and more than 1.5m is overkill. I will definitely consider used and budget is $1k-$2k in the used market. Some of the cables I've been considering are:
XLR - Acoustic Zen Absolute Silver
XLR - Shunyata Aurora
XLR - Tara Labs The One
XLR - Tara Labs The 2
Single Ended - High Fidelity Cables CT-1E Enhanced Series
Single Ended - High Fidelity Cables CT-1U Ultimate Series
I'm running SE High Fidelity Cables in my analog rig and are extremely impressed by them.
Thoughts anyone?
10 responses Add your response
Hi Tim, there really is no good recommendation unless someone answers who has your same setup. Even then it is all relative to too many other factors. There are literally hundreds of choices and good ones too. Trial and error and most of all experience with several wires is the only sure way to know what you like best. Also, there is endless research on the net to drill down to some possibilities. No lecture just some info from someone experienced with years of hands on cable experience. I have an Allnic H3000 phono stage btw and it is very responsive to cable changes. Guessing your line stage might be as well. |
Let me know what you think Tim. I have owned the Tara Labs The One, and currently running High Fidelity CT-1E cables throughout (except for CT-1U power cords). I prefer the HF cables. I have also owned many Acoustic Zen cables, but not the Absolutes. I like much about the AZ cables, except they tended to be too warm in my system. Perhaps the silver in the Absolute could help alleviate that issue. They are all good cables, which you will prefer will depend on your individual tastes and system synergy. Are you still running the Soliloquy 6.5 speakers? I was running a pair of 6.3i's until about a year ago, when I upgraded to Reference 3A Grand Veenas. Big improvement there. |
@tran_quoc_tuan and @jmcgrogan2 - Thanks for your interest and comments. To make matters even more complicated I got an incredible deal on a pair of Tara Labs OnBoard 0.3 XLR's (http://www.taralabs.com/products/item/10-controlled-bandwidth-interconnects/79-pr-ism-onboard-0-3) to add to the comparisons. So depending on how things go I might have a pair of the AZ's to part with. I'm really anxious for the shootout between the Tara and HF CT-1U. The only problem is the HF is already broken in but the Tara is new and I'm being told to expect 500 hours break in time. Does that seem right? Yes, still running the 6.5's. From what I've heard I'm going to have to go into the $30k (new) range before bettering them. But I would buy used and that will likely be the next move in my journey. Later though. |
A couple of things Tim. First, yes new cables will take a while to burn in, but 500 hours is ridiculous. Sounds like something that Audiolabyrinth might say. Second, the 6.5's may just suit your taste perfectly, and may not be beaten. Soliloquy speakers are quite warm though, not very revealing. I was amazed at how much music I was missing when I switched to the Grand Veena's. They only list for $9K, but have been said to be able to compete with anything under $25K. Third, from my experience with High Fidelity cables, they do NOT like to be moved. When I got my first pair of CT-1's, I swapped them back and forth a few times in a shoot out with a pair of Tara Labs The One interconnects. The One won every time. It wasn't until I left the CT-1's in place for 6 weeks that I realized what they were capable of. Next time I switched The Ones in, the CT-1 won easily. I cannot explain why the HFC stuff needs to settle in, but it does. Some have said that the High Fidelity cables blew them away as soon as they heard them. This was not the case with me, though I do run all HFC now. Even though I bought used, I would say that the HFC cables and cords I bought took at least two weeks to sound their best. Swapping cables around in shootout fashion does not bode well for HFC. This is the first time I have run a full loom of cables from the same manufacturer with success since the mid 90's, when I had Tara Labs Decade throughout. I'll be interested in reading your thoughts. |