Taralabs cables

@ calvinj, Hi, This is the thread!, make a post my friend, spread the word to Taralabs owners to elaborate on their cables on this thread, Happy listening.

@ pops@waxwaves@gammajo@audiolabryinth @all the others on the old tara labs thread. Let's get it started again.

Thankyou Calvinj, I see you found our new home, I E-mailed you to, to make sure you knew where to find the thread, you know, That Taralabs thread, the one versus the 0.8 thread was our home for a very long time, we had 1,968 post, likly an all time record for one cable thread, thanks {Pops-Jerry} for starting that thread and all the memories!

Here I am! Waiting for my The 2 + HFX IC to arrive next week. I will write a review once I get them.

Thankyou Tabooe, this is our new home!, look forward to what you have to say, please do the review here, Happy listening.

Did some haters who are insecure with their cables have our old TARA Labs thread booted? Haha what a laugh. Well, ours do have a little more girth! Lol!

I love my Air 1 cables and feel lucky to have them. What they bring to my system continues to amazed me. Thanks Keith for keeping the thread going. You & John turned me on to TARA Labs cable on a similar thread a few years back. I haven't had the desire to change cable since!

@waxwaves. There are some haters on the ct1 thread. They are very sensitive over there. Lol.

@waxwaves. There are some haters on the ct1 thread. They are very sensitive over there. Lol. I now own the tara labs 2ex with ism on board interconnect. Lifelike and great with my jazz quartets. Sounds Live.

Hi Everybody, I wanted to say something here, Thankyou so much for coming here, and that this is the peoples thread, you can talk about any cable you desire, you can say it's better than a model of taralabs, you can talk about tubes, tube equipment, solid state,Resonance control devices, power cords for sure, I want to know about what is possible out there, no mattter the brand,, Hey, we can all learn together here!

@Calvinj, congrats on your new cables. Glad you are enjoying them! Yes, the Tara Labs cables allowed me to hear rich harmonic textures, like that of real instruments being played.

I want my system to sound as true to life as possible. My experience with Tara Labs Air 1 is that they are capable of that kind of presentation. Other cables that I tried could not do it. Air 1 got the special info correct IMO. Instruments and voices in the proper places and seem to have space around them. Often, I get a sense of the room in which the music is being played, recording dependant of course. Very emotional stuff. They do this in a laid back manner, never forward sounding, which is a very important quality in a cable IMO.
To sum up, these cables in the right system will exhibit multidimensional lifelike sound that makes the speakers disappear, and they are also capable of the deepest most lifelike bass reproduction I have heard.

@waxwaves. I agree. They are great cables. I would buy again without hesitation. Things are lifelike. They sound real. The cymbals and drums sound great. Just right.

Grey9hound, Hi, where are you at?, I was going to send waxwaves the one with ISm on board to listen to, on sending day, found out he can only use RCA I/Cs, what about you, can you run XLR with-out adapters?

@ pops, Hi my friend, It's been a while, I wanted to ask you, are you still using the Elrod power cables?, you know, some power cables are quriky on power amps, I have went thu that on my amps in the past, tell us what you have done there, likly, you went back to stock power cords?

@pops. I almost bought the 0.8 ex. Tell me the differences you hear when you put them in. I'm thinking about moving the nordost Tyr out from my amp to pre amp and using the tara labs 0.8ex in its place. I currently use the Tyr from amp to pre and the tara labs 2 ex from pre amp to the parasound cd1 CD player. I heard that they were full, open and vivid with good image placement. Would that be what you are hearing with them.

@ calvinj, Hi, Is there any chance ryan will let you borrow the Tara labs 0.8 with HFX ground station system or the ISM on board version to listen to?, if so, make sure, very sure they are broken in, yes, pops can tell you about his cable, pops, are you there?, cheers.

Hi keith and friends,can I change subject,just for a minute.6H30 DR tube for my preamp.What do you think.

Yes, this is the people's thread!, you are welcome to talk about any thing here, LOL!, ok, what is the tubes going in?, how is your tara onyx cable working for you?, what year Dr tube are you considering?, there is huge differences between the years with sound.

I have used Tara Labs cables almost exclusively for many years. I once read that the surest way to "audio hell" was to use different brands of cable, so I have tried to remember that when I'm tempted to experiment with other brands. You may consider this a testimonial. I use Quantum Reference XLR and Pandora S RCA interconnects, Space and Time w/TFA Return and RSC Prime BiWire speaker cables. I can't comment on how they sound relative to other cables because I haven't tried many. I like companies that do what they do well. My system consists of McIntosh, Sony, Sonus Faber, Stax and Nakamichi.

Hey kiddies, got my new The 2 + HFX ground station yesterday. Right now it is burning in. I know the cable is not broken in yet but I will say that the 2EX I demo'd earlier sounds better than the 2 + HFX. The 2EX sounded more organic and liquid to me. But of course this is just an initial observation. I will report back later.

Question for Tara users:
My 2 = HFX comes with some long leads to connect the source end of the interconnect to the ground station. I assume these were included for people who need extra length. Because I am able to put the ground station close to my source I can connect the pig tails that come out from the interconnect directly into the ground station. So my question is do I need to use the longer leads? Is there any performance improvement by doing so? And Keith, I know your opinion on this! :)

@misternice I tried the 6h30 dr tubes on my ayon cd2s. They are good tubes but in my system it didn't help enough. However they are probably the best tube in that tube family. They add a more body to the sound without losing detail.

@misternice I tried the 6h30 dr tubes on my ayon cd2s. They are good tubes but in my system it didn't help enough. However they are probably the best tube in that tube family. They add a more body to the sound without losing detail. I think it was more the ayon cd2s not working in my system. That's the best tube in that tube family.

Hi Tonykay, wow!, your Tara labs cables do go way back, I believe you have the oldest cables that I know any body is useing, that are Tara labs, I agree with what you read, the surest way to audio hell is using different brands of cables, However, I do not knock any one for doing so no longer!, thats a sure way to get into an arguement with members that do, I learned recently, what ever makes that person happy, I just let it be, you are among many that I have talked to that has the same testimonial that believes using a loom of Tara labs cables works best, I also use a full loom, I understand it's not for everyone, Tell us how long you have been a Tara labs owner?, cheers.

Update: I've had the 2 + HFX running for 48 ours. I must admit at first the sound was compressed and nasally. Lots of nuance and detail was missing. The music does not sound organic at all. After 48 hours it got a little better but there is still a long way to go for these to match what I heard with the 2EX. Keeping my fingers crossed things improve.

Great thanks,sorry I've been a little busy with work.Iam leaning this way,in the tube department,A little more body should be what I'm looking for,plus 10 000 hours makes them not so expensive.I'll go for the earlier tube as possible.Got to run,and have a good day,Hi Keith yes,I still have the onyx and its a winner,well for me it is.bye for now.

@tbooo keep running them in for about 10 to 12 more days they should sound a lot better.

@ Tboooe, well, looks like no one gave you advice on the jumper cables, It may not make since to you, however, If you do not use those jumper cables as instructed by Tara labs them selfs, you will NEVER get the body, organic sound, bass, you are suppose to have with that interconnect, it is as simple as that, I am sorry to put it that way to you, I have been as honest about helping you as I can, this is not an opinion, this is a fact about what I have said about the jumper cables, Happy Listening.

Thankyou for your Response Misternice, glad the Tara labs Onyx interconnect is a winner for you, ever one, that onyx interconnect use to be Tara labs second best interconnect, under the zero Gold!, A very exspensive interconnect, both the onyx and zero Gold is discontinued as of 5-1-14, replaced by newer, better models, still, the onyx is one bad m.f. interconnect, likly to kick the crap out of nearly everthing on the current market, Enjoy the music.

It's hard to recall when I first bought Tara Labs cables but probably about twenty years ago. Can't really see a reason to change. If it ain't broke, why try to fix it.

@ Tonykay, I agree, sounds good, leave it alone!, Thankyou for your reply, hang-out, you are welcome here, talk about anything off topic you like, share your experiences, ask us questions, lets enjoy this thread, cheers.

Recently bought 2 tara labs cobalt PC . Love what I heard , like the tonal balance & quietness . However I noticed that since Matthew bond quit Tara labs & founded Madison sound labs funded by Chinese owners , tara labs seems to disappear from the audio radar. What happen ?

I wasn't aware of the personnel changes at Tara Labs. That's the sort of news that can have buyers running for the exits. Not me! I'm using the same cables today as I was at least a decade ago. I bet my cables don't know who made them or where they were made. Has alchemy really produced some combination better than gold, silver or copper? I doubt it. I do have a few pairs of Kimber KCAG and even some Monster Cable (video and audio). For now, I'll stick with my vintage Tara Labs cables for serious listening.

Has anyone compared tara cables with Madison audio lab cables? According to a 6 moons review Matthew Bond claims MAL cables will outperform all Tara cables at 1/3 the price. Bold statement.

@ Audioblazer, Hi, what happened?, Mathew Bond is still with Tara labs, Thats who designed all the New cables that officially are available 5-1-14,Tara labs told me this them selfs, Merril Burks is president, and runs the company, Mathew does not do shows any more, mathew and Merril own the company, I will contact Tara labs and check into the claims that has been posted here.

@ Audioblazer, @ Snooke2, Hi, LOL!, I did not even have to call Tara Labs, You guys read The April 2012 6-moons review of Madison audio labs cables, Now read the August 2012 6-moons review!, yes Mathew Bond is part of a team of electrical Engineers, and started the Madison audio labs company with a partner friend, and yes, the best cable from madison may be better than the Tara labs-The One, and The two for less money, However, Read the august 2012 6-moons review, The new beginnings, Mathew Bond Has NOT left Tara Labs!, This is a side project, like a lead singer in a national known Rock band starting a side band!, The August 2012 6-moons review clearly states, Mathew Bond retains 50% of Tara Labs ownership of the company, nothing wrong with this at all, Bands do side projects all the time, so can a cables designer, Tara labs was not dishonest with me at all, Mathew Bond Did design the NEW cables that are officially released 5-1-14, really, all the Tara cables, The New cables are- The Air Forte, The Evolution Air, The New 0.3 that comes in two versions, The Evolution Zero interconnects and Evolution Omega speaker cables, and The Evolution Grandmaster interconnect and speaker cable, Mathew Bonds Best effort went into these New Tara Labs cables!, The New watershed of the cable industry, The Grandmaster speaker cable is 000 gauge speaker cables with the new ultra flexible air-tube design, for 8ft pair is a whoping $53,000.000!, The Grandmaster interconnect and speaker cables has the industries best specs!,The interconnect has an astounding 2 pf per foot of capacitance!, so NO, I do not believe Mathew Bond Made a cable in a side project to better any of the new cables that He designed for Tara Labs that he owns 50% of the total company that is Tara Labs, cheers.

@ pops, Hey, what are you up to?, I hope you answer my question from a while back, Are you still using the Elrod power cables on your amps?, Get back to us when you can, Thanks pops.

@ misternice, Did you decide to go with the 6h30-Dr tubes?, what year are you considering?

Thanks for the clarification . I find it odd a designer & a 50% owner of a high end cable co will do a sideline project ie Madison cable to compete with his own products at a much lower price range . Madison cables using SGP ,star ground pod & Tara labs HFX , floating ground station

@ Audioblazer, Hi, The thing is, the sgp-star ground pod is equal to the tara labs componet ground station system that has been dis-continued for years,, the HFX ground station has three leads with ceralex compound, this does rf/emi and componet ground, where as the Madison has only componet ground, then the HFx station is far superior than the past ground stations of Tara labs, they are bigger, have more ceralex compound, do emi/rf and ground at the same time, much better. and the answer to your statement in your post, why not produce a good cable for less money, none of the madison cables are better than the one with HFx ground station, and up the cable food chain of Tara, Mathew Bond is making money with madison, many cable designers would jump at the opportunity to make more money if the chance came up, I would, would'nt you?, since the band scenerio did not work, I will explain it like this, General motors use to make saturn automobiles, no where the quality of GM or chev, however, It was a path to expand making money, sure saturn is gone now, I also suspect the same to happen to Madison audio labs cables, when you read the august 6-moons review, it states that the madison cables was a project, cheers.

@ Audioblazer, Hi, The thing is, the sgp-star ground pod is equal to the tara labs componet ground station system that has been dis-continued for years,, the HFX ground station has three leads with ceralex compound, this does rf/emi and componet ground, where as the Madison has only componet ground, then the HFx station is far superior than the past ground stations of Tara labs, they are bigger, have more ceralex compound, do emi/rf and ground at the same time, much better. and the answer to your statement in your post, why not produce a good cable for less money, none of the madison cables are better than the one with HFx ground station, and up the cable food chain of Tara, Mathew Bond is making money with madison, many cable designers would jump at the opportunity to make more money if the chance came up, I would, would'nt you?, since the band scenerio did not work, I will explain it like this, General motors use to make saturn automobiles, no where the quality of GM or chev, however, It was a path to expand making money, sure saturn is gone now, I also suspect the same to happen to Madison audio labs cables, when you read the august 6-moons review, it states that the madison cables was a project, cheers.

Hi,not yet,I will go for them next.My tubes have 1200 hours on them,and they are not too bad.I was thinking recently maybe I should try some 50s amperexes, 12ax7 in the cd player,and try and get some warmth and smoothness there first.Im currently using treble cleffs,and they are stunning on good recordings.Im trying to bring some not so good recordings back into play.A more middle ground if you like.Im slowly getting there.My speaker cables are doing it,but ideally some really nice cables would be the go.Ill hold off a bit longer.Hows your system going.

Misternice, My system is the same as before, I like the 12ax7 tubes better than 6h30 tubes, what cd-player do you have?

Waxwaves, did you get all your Mac equipment back now?

Misternice, for warmth and smoothness in a 12ax7 try long plate Mullards from the 50s. In my experience this will do the job nicely! Good luck.

Hi,a mhzs cd88h,a Chinese cd player.its alright too.I have a ps audio ac12 power cord on it which gives it speed and fullness.$138 on eBay which was a bit of a bargain ,I liked it more there than anywhere else on the system.Thanks wax waves for you suggestion on the Mullard tube.

@ Tboooe, Hi, did you use your cable the proper way yet?, how is the sound coming along, 300 hrs, your done, 200 hrs will sound good, yet the cable will get better by small amounts to 300 hrs, like to hear from ya, what's happening?

Well everybody, Tara Labs has all the new cables on their site now!, Hit the interconnect link, then hit products after that, wala, they have many categories, you have regular interconnects, controlled band-width interconnects, extended band-width interconnects, speaker cables, etc..., However, there will be NEW power cords coming soon, enjoy the NEW Tara labs site, cheers.

Other than reading a mundane review has anyone owned
tara cables and Madison audio cables for their system

@snook2. I would like to know the answer to that too. It would be an interesting comparison.