I just wanted to show everyone that Tara Labs has just introduced, for the first time since the early 90s a new conductor in their state of the art flagship interconnect only, The Grandmaster Evolution interconnect, I am hopeing over the next few years this new technology trickles down in some new models that may be introduced over the next few years, The rest of all the new current Tara labs interconnects and speaker cables has the Generation 2 conductors that are excellent for audio as it is, so This here is the Brand new Generation 3 conductor, known as Gen 3,instead of Gen 2, this is a great topic for all of us to talk about concerning Tara labs, This is called,,,,, Making Sense of….Gen 3 Conductors
TARA Labs, Inc. has just announced the introduction of its Generation 3 Rectangular Solid Core® conductor, to be used exclusively in its state-of-the-art interconnect cables.
TARA Labs claims that the Gen 3 conductor has an increased bandwidth or high-frequency extension, that makes it unrivalled in important test measurements and listening tests.
TARA Labs’ Vice President of Product Design, Matthew Bond, said that the new Gen 3 conductor has the same current-carrying capability of a 28 gauge conductor but has the high frequency linearity of a 40 gauge conductor.
Matthew Bond explains why this is possible. “In a conductor with a rectangular profile, there is a huge reduction of ‘flux-linkage’ or ‘coupling’ of electromagnetic lines of force. These lines of force are created as the signal (music) passes through any conductor.” Bond said further, “In a round conductor there is a large center that tends to roll-off or attenuate much more of the high frequency information … this does not happen in a Rectangular Solid Core® conductor”.
According to Matthew Bond, the new Gen 3 Rectangular Solid Core® conductor is smaller than the current Gen 2 conductor used in most of TARA Labs’ audio cables. The Gen 2 conductor measures approximately 25 thousands of an inch wide and 12 thousands of an inch in height. Bond says that the Gen 3 conductor is about 66% of the size of the Gen 2 conductor, and that it is Super-Annealed™ to increase its conductivity.
Both the Gen 2 conductor and the smaller Gen 3 conductor are said to be Eight-Nines™ pure copper, which is 99.999999% pure. TARA Labs’ trademarks for this technology are 8N™ and SA-OF8N®. SA-OF8N means Super Annealed – Oxygen Free 8 Nines copper. According to Bond, the term ‘annealing’ refers to the method whereby a conductor can be made softer and more conductive.
TARA Labs is widely known as the leader in cable technology and audio cable design. They are based in Ashland, Oregon. All cables are hand-made in the USA. Audiolabyrinth (Threads | Answers | This Thread)
Hi there,the gtx rhodium just arrived.Im running all rhodium now.Now we are talking,the stereo is just taken on a,new life,sweet.Yep,the rhodium is letting the onyx perform too its best,and everything else too.Apart from that,not much else really,busy saving,as much as id like to buy some more stereo.
Thankyou misternice, you alone have persuaded me to go all Furutech GTX-D Rhodium for my system that will further tweek the sound of my Tara labs Zero Gold interconnect, Omega Gold speaker cables, Cobalt power cord with oyaide terminations, I am very happy to read that your Tara labs Onyx interconnect has improved performance useing the Furutech outlets to accomidate the house sound of Tara labs, your interconnect is real good!, so, this is the decideding factor for the conclusion of Rhodium vs Gold Furutech GTX-D outlets for me, you have been an asset, thankyou for all your input concering the outlets, you done a great job with your impressions, you are also saying that more of the Rhodium outlets does not hurt nothing, but betters the sound even more?, Awsome!
Hi everyone, The Buzz has started about the new Tara Labs cable models on multiple forum sites out there, The top of the new line is called Tara Labs Grand Master Evolution, then the second from the top is called, Tara labs Zero Evolution interconnect and matching speaker cable Omega Evolution, this particular comment was on whatsbest forum site, I wanted to share to our audiogon community what is being said about these Tara labs cables for our discussions, brought to you by, The Audiolabyrinth, Enjoy!,
The
Evolution
unlike anything you've heard or imagined
REVIEW COMMENTS
Comment by Audiocrack from Whatsbest forum:
“The new physically flexible TARA Labs Grandmaster Evolution, incorporating almost twice as many rectangular, solid-core "8 Nines" oxygen-free copper elements (288 conductors versus the omega Gold's 168 per channel speaker cables), adds the speed, transparency, dimensionality and, especially, textural suppleness….”
After my first post on the WBF I have been silent about the Tara Labs grandmaster evolution loudspeaker and interconnect cables because I wanted to break them in and learn more about them while doing so. I believe they are more or less played in by now and after some changes to my AC I believe I am in the position to make a final judgment. I am even more amazed and impressed now than I was at the time of my first post. These cables are so transparent and dynamic it is almost frightening. Furthermore, they present a huge soundstage, in particular the depth is unbelievable. Yesterday evening I played inter alia an old EMI recording of Shostakovich symphony no. 6/11, conducted by Paavo Berglund (beautiful recorded BTW by recording engineer Stuart Eltham), on my Forsell/Koetsu coral stone/Kondo step up/Zanden 1200 mk III (on the latter I used the special EMI curve) phono combination. The soundstage was phenomenal in depth. The stringtone was oh so sweet and at the same time the micro details in the recording were brought alive so easily and beautifully; I have never heard this recording sound so impressive before. In short, the Taralabs grandmaster cables are by far the best loudspeaker and interconnect cables I have ever experienced in my audiophile journey of more than thirty years. I urge everybody who is in the position to do so to give these Taralabs cables a listen: they are imho phenomenal. – Audiocrack
Hi fellow community, As I said before, The Buzz has started about the new Tara labs cables, This comment is from Audioshark forum site, this is really a great site, I like it and enjoy going to it from time to time,as always, brought to you by Audiolabyrinth, cheers to you all!, Comment found on Audioshark forum
"Tara Labs Grand Master Evolution ultra high end cables Okay guys. Non-believers in the cable side of this hobby please hit the back button immediately. Last week I received Tara labs new Grandmaster Evolution speaker cables and interconnects. These cables are definitely at a price point that only a handful of people would consider. Just a little over 100 K for a 3 meter set of speaker cables and a one and a half meter interconnect and a 1 meter interconnect….
The only thing I will say is wow! Out of respect for my other cable manufactures I do not want to go into much detail at this time …..
I know this is a truly crazy amount of money for cables. But could the performance increase possibly be justified? For the people that can afford it I will say a very big YES!
Hi everyone,this is more buzz from forum sites about the excitement of Tara labs new cables, of course, I welcome all discussions of the topics of the new Tara labs offerings, and their current offerings, and discontinued cables as well that are still top cables in the industry, This particular post was when Tara Labs had not yet officially started selling their new cables, that was less than 6-months ago, thankyou, Enjoy,, Additional Comments from Whatsbest forum
About two weeks ago I received the new Taralabs Grandmaster Evolution (6 ft) loudspeaker cable and Taralabs Grandmaster Evolution (1,5m) interconnect cable. These new top of the line cables are not yet officially launched by Taralabs. However the word spread rapidly that the Grandmaster Evolution cables are something extraordinary and they can be ordered, although the availability is restricted (partly because it takes quite some time to produce them). Being a music lover and audiophile for more than thirty years I have learned the hard way that a lot so-called break through products do not live up to the expectations. And although I was a little skeptical that the new Grandmaster Evolution would outclass my taralabs Omega Gold and Zero Gold cables, after talking several times to Matthew Bond and Devon Scott I took the jump. Boy, what am I glad that I did!
Having listened to them for about 50 hours I can say the following: the Grandmaster Evolution cables are by far the best loudspeaker and ic cables I have ever heard. These cables sound on the one hand very calm/serene but are on the other hand the most dynamic cables I have ever experienced. Furthermore they are very refined (velvet) sounding with a huge soundstage (deep as well as wide) but at the same time with a focus that exceeds easily all other cables that I am familiar with. Probably as a consequence of the great extension of the Grandmaster Evolution cables they also give you the impression that the soundstage is larger in height without making the players and instruments larger than they are. For example, the distance in height between various players in a large orchestra can be noted easily. Talking about an inky black background and transparency: the Grandmaster Evolution excels in this regard.
Hi everyone, I wanted to acknowledge this Audiogon member, he owns some of the very first Tara Labs cables ever produced, the cables still work correctly after all these years with no defects of the cables coming apart, Tara Labs has a life time warranty on their cables, as you can see, the warranty likly never gets used, congrats to Tonykay for being such a committed Tara labs cables owner!,this is his post from the beginning of the year, cheers,,,,03-26-14: Tonykay 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.
Misternice, Hi, have you enjoyed all that you have read so far, I have input alot of work here, the biggest mistake alot of audiophiles make is they believe they cannot afford Tara labs cables, when in fact, Tara labs makes cables at many different price points, no other cable company makes cables to match the system an individual has in their homes, I will get to that latter with an explanation, I look forward to you impressions, cheers.
Hi,I cant talk for anyone else,cause we are all different, and have different goals at different times.I could get the omega gold sc right now,if I wanted it. I have other things on which have doubled my money,and make life a lot better and easier.Xmas is nearly on us,the stereo is only one of my interests.The new leonard cohen album is not a bad listen.Ill put the new u2 album on next.Happy listenining
Misternice, I understand, there will be some tara Omega Gold on the used market when you are ready, I was asking if you read and liked what I posted about the comment's of owner's of some of the new cables by tara labs cables, Is your Rhodium GTX-D out-lets getting better sound as time gos on?, you know, likly, I will be moving up to the Zero and Omega Evolution cables myself, this will take some time to pay for, you get what you pay for, I know the cables I have now are worth every penny I paid for them, no other cable brand or model that I have tried has bettered what I have now, so to be able to move up the cable food chain of Tara labs will be likly my last for any cables by any one, here over the last year, I have rented a few cables from the cable company to hear what all the fuss was about with a few brands out there, I was disapointed, you cannot believe all the hype, I believe that can be said about alot of high-end these days, however, every time I have moved to a better tara labs cable, It has lived past all my expectations with mouth dropping amazement!, thankyou Bob, reply back when you can, cheers.
Hi Jebsmith73, I have my own blue book for audio, most cables re-sale value drops by atleast 40% from retail on the used market, I know of a brand of cables right now that drops 60% to 70% from retail that is NOT Tara Labs cables, no, I do not believe Tara labs has the best resale value at all, defiantly not the worst either, about in the middle accordinally to my saved archive of cables I have created, I have kept up with alot of the high-end resale market over the years to give me a bassis for an offer when I would like to buy anything, cheers.
To Jebsmith73, or anyone who would know.. What audio cable company has a very good resale value or the best resale value, and why? Just curious.. I honestly have no time to research.. would rather listen to music in the sweet spot :)
@ Gslone, I would like to know the answer to that question myself, I do not believe there is a best resale value of cables, I do know that there is some that re-sale for less than others, most of your top name brands and models sale around the same here on audiogon, I would like to know what componet has the best re-sale value, I believe these subjects would be subjective, and controversal, cheers
This is a interesting subject at hand here, I do not believe there is a clear answer, as you know, because of system dependency, how can their be a clear winner of what cable has the best re-sale value?, as I said, this is subjective and controversal, however, I welcome all to chime in, I would like to know opinions out there,thanks to jebsmith73, this could be a learning exsperience for all.
Melb was expanding on resale value side of things if you didn't already get that. And now, how does resale value correlate with system dependency as per your saying?
Tara labs Cobalt A/C Power cord. Retail price is around $5400,used market value is only $1500. Omega Gold speaker cables MSRP is around $22,000. Used market price only around 5 to 6K. Ouch!! . Who would pay 4 grand for a Zero-Onyx cable when you own a Zero Gold for a little more than 5 K , and it's a much better cable?
Sabai, can you explain what cables run in series means to you, many different opinions of how cables should be run, I enjoy talking to you, I applaud your efforts to be different, that is exactly what I do, go against the grain by experimentation to confirm the truth of what works best on my system, cheers.
Jebsmith73, You are incorrect of the used market values of the cables you have specified, my values corrospond to my archives that I have been keeping since 2012 from the watch list of audiogon,The Tara Labs cobalt power cord is $5,000.00 new retail, with oyaide terminations it is $5,400.00 6ft, used market for cobalt for 6ft is $2,300.00 to $1,900.00 depending on which cobalt power cord you buy, The Tara Omega Gold is $24,500.00 new retail 8ft, on the used market $11,000.00 to $8,000.00 depending on if you get a Regular Omega pair of speaker cables that does NOT say Gold on the cables, alot of people try to pass these speaker cables as Omega Gold cables, THEY ARE NOT!, they are the first Tara labs Omega speaker cables built, The Omega Onyx speaker cables has more performance than this cable, The Tara Zero Gold, depending when it was made!, The first version had a much smaller box called floating ground station,it said the Zero, this is not the same as the HFX grounding station, the station before the box that said zero was a grounding station that said Tara labs on it which was inferrior to the box that said zero, so now we have three different versions of the Tara Labs Zero Gold that new full retail cost $15,950.00 to $14,500.00 depending what country it is sold, now the used market for the Zero Gold can range anywhere between $5,500.00 to $8,000.00 a meter!, this depends on which version you buy, they do have different performance from one version to the other, Jebsmith73 I paid nearly $7,000.00 used market for my Tara labs Zero Gold 1-meter Balanced I/C, the cable was one year old, I had a relationship with this cerified Tara Dealer to get this cable at this price because of the age that with the serial numbers Tara Authenticated this Tara labs Zero Gold WITH HFX ground station before I bought it, only select Tara Labs dealers are allowed to sale such a cable, currently all the cables you are talking about here has dropped used value by a little bit, considering the introduction of the new Power cords By Tara labs that Is not on their web-site yet that any one can buy now, they are the new Cobalt AC Reference power cord, The new Omega Evolution AC power cable, and The new flagship GrandMaster Evolution AC power cord,, currently, The Tara labs Zero Gold and Omega Gold cables are third in the new line up, however, according to Tara, these cables are subject to be dis-continued soon, the new two top models of Tara labs is the Zero Evolution I/C and matching Omega Evolution speaker cables, and the new flagship cable system is called the GrandMaster Evolution I/c and speaker cables, Tara labs also introduced much more new models in their line up that I did not specify here, all these new cables are driving the used market down for the cables you mentioned Jebsmith73, The Tara labs Onyx I/C and Omega Onyx speaker cables have been dis-continued nearly a year, this model on the used market would be a great buy for what you pay for it now, also this model out performs most other cables on the new market, cheers.
I remember several years ago getting the opportunity to meet with the owners of a famous NASCAR racing team. We were pitching a software solution at the time and during the meeting, it was painfully obvious that the Mother of this racing team called the shots for her late husband and son. I remember during a break saying to her, “it must be so exciting to be in the business of racing cars.” She looked at me and said, “son, we are not in the racing business, we are in the advertising business.”
In high end audio, there are certainly a lot of “flavor of the month” brands and products. The audio marketing machine brings these flavors to us with regular flare. It is not an accident, that the most successful brands in this $200 million a year business are also the ones who are often the most successful at marketing and advertising. I’m not suggesting that these successful companies are in the marketing business first and audio second. They just know how to play both cards simultaneously well.
Digging back through the cobwebs that cloud my memory, I remember in the 70’s, 80’s and even into the 90’s, high end cables were met with much of the skepticism that a lot of audio voodoo like isolation is met with today.
However, something happened in the early 2000’s. It all of a sudden seemed that the audiophile collective realized cables do matter! During the entire decade it seemed that the next greatest cable was around the corner. The perpetual cable swapping on Audiogon gave even the most ardent audiophile a massive headache!
My first exposure to Tara Labs cables was in the late 90’s. Tara cables, even their entry level products, were something I could only dream of. I remember hearing products like the Tara Labs Isolated Shield Matrix “The Two” interconnects and speaker cables. In those days, those were the things I put on my “one day I will own” list, along with a red Ferrari, circa Magnum P.I. and a BIG 37 inch TV!
The Tara website states that Tara Labs has been known among audiophiles “…as a manufacturer whose cables set the performance standards and whose technological innovations and patents constantly advance the frontiers of the industry.” Throughout much of the 2000’s, several of my audiophile friends continued to mention Tara Labs cabling as being the stalwarts of their great sounding systems.
Founded in Australia, Tara Labs has been making cables for almost 30 years. Their first product to be reviewed by an American Magazine was the Tara Labs Phase II Speaker Cable, reviewed by Stereophile in 1988.
That glowing review put Tara Labs on the map so much so that Tara Labs moved their operation to the U.S. that year (1988).
Throughout the 90’s, Tara Labs continued to innovate, bringing products like the Rectangular Solid Core cables, or RSC as they are known today. Tara Labs states that RSC cables are the only cables in the world to use” a solid, extruded conductors with a rectangular cross section. It is believed that these conductors improve on the performance of regular round solid core conductors by having the current-carrying capability (power) of a large conductor, combined with the frequency of linearity (musical accuracy of a small conductor.” RSC power cables have been in my system for quite a while now.
Fast forward to 2013. I was invited to a demonstration at Design Audio in Texas. I met with the owner David Baskin, a Tara Labs dealer. David had a broad range of cable products, but it was these particular Tara Labs The Omega Gold speaker cables he insisted I hear.
We first listened with a competing brand of similarly priced cable and then switched over to the Tara Labs The Omega Gold speaker cables. The difference was not subtle. It was equivalent to a component change. It was like a veil had been lifted.
Over the next few months, I kept thinking about those cables and the difference they made. I contacted David and he agreed to ship me his pair to try in my system. I had been using a variety of different speaker cables including WireWorld and AcousticZen.
From the first note, the first thing I noticed was how much wider and deeper the soundstage was. But even more significant was the space granted to each instrument and vocal. There was absolutely no smearing or edge which had been the characteristic of the WW cables and many other previous cables in my system.
Some cables on the market today deal with transients in a very forward, almost aggressive manner. Not so with the Omega Gold. The Omega cables handle transients with a delicate touch, especially with acoustic instruments. While listening to Oscar Peterson deliver his superb piano playing on Goodbye J.D., We Get Requests (Verve), I experienced the cables delicate touch with transients. A characteristic that is so important when emotionally connecting the listener to the music. At no point did the piano sound “hard” or “soft” – it only sounded right. In fact, I know that song well and it never sounded so good, so natural.
A great cable has the ability to extract the last little bit of information from the source, while never making it sound forced or hard. The Omega Gold cables handle decay with exemplary performance. Female vocals just hang in the air.
On the downside, the cables themselves are not very flexible, so if you need to go around a tight corner, you may want to look elsewhere. At their max flexibility, you can get more of a U shape. Even the pig tail ends are a little stiff to work with for angling a connection on to an amp.
These obstacles aside, I greatly appreciate the interchangeable ends on the speaker cables. Wide spade, standard spade, banana – are all options now. Brilliant!
Tara Labs is not a marketing company, they are a cable company to the core. They also aren’t a flash in the pan new kid on the block. Tara Labs has been around almost 30 years and are one of the most respected brands in high end audio.
I could go on and on about these cables and just how natural they sound, but I recognize that recommending $24,000/pair cables is a bit crazy. OK, not a bit…a lot. But if your system (and budget) are up to it, I definitely recommend an audition. Just be prepared to not want to give them up – ever.
After living with the cables for two months, I wasn’t about to let them leave. I had David order me a new pair. I have since added the TaraLabs 0.8 Interconnects and TaraLabs Zero Gold phono cable which I will review in another post. But for now, let’s just say the TaraLabs 0.8 IC’s have eliminated a lot of noise I was experiencing with my WireWorld IC’s. The phono cable is also noticeably cleaner and quicker sounding than my previous Furutech phono cable. Rounding out the DC loom of Tara Labs has taken my system to new heights.
I can now cross Tara Labs cables off my list. The Ferrari will have to wait, This author desires to be unknown, for reasons of over whelming comunications to the author, cheers.
Hi Bvdiman, I said used market value had alot to do with system dependency, well then, common sence states that an individule will pay for what they need to further the performance of their system, an example of what I am saying here is the fact that a 69 chevelle automobile may be worth to someone the asking price, however, as much as I love this car, I will not pay nothing for it, I have no use for this automobile, cheers.
I assure you, I did not write the Tara labs Omega Gold speaker cable review posted 10-23-14,however, I believe I will give my account of these fine sounding speaker cables, currently, on my system, the Tara labs Omega Gold speaker cables are the BEST I have ever heard, I have never heard my amplifier create music as does now, it's like I got a substantial, many times more exspensive componet change!
Misternice, If you liked the tweak I told you about with Furutech GTX-D Recepticles, then you should like this one to further accomidate the sound Of our Tara Labs cables, It's the Synergestic Quantum Red fuses, these are getting plenty of buzz here on Audiogon as the current Best, they are newly introduced to the market, they take 200 to 250 hours to burn in give or take, research these, their user feed back and pro reviews, Bob, they are $59.00 to $90.00 U.S.D. depending on which size and specification you require, the one's I need for my amp, are of course the more exspensive fuses, I would need 4 for the amp,also looking into the possibilty of useing some for my digital,cheers.
Thankyou for the phone call to me waxwaves, we go way back, great to hear you are still useing Tara Labs cables, and working your way up the Tara Cable food chain, Awsome!
07-27-14: Himiguel Even Taralabs Grandmaster Evolution series cables can improve if you use a Tripoint Troy Signature to remove EMI/RFI. Check out this review from a WBF member. Dealer disclaimer. BTW, I connected the (double box) Taralabs grounding device to my Tripoint audio Troy signature se grounding device and noticed that the haze on some vocals was (nearly completely) gone. Spooky! I got some shocking news for you Himiguel, and any other Tripoint audio signature owners, yes I agree that this is a fine product, However, The post here that Audiocrack made on whatsbest forum above is absolutly INCORRECT!, I have done my own research with a genuine out come, Let's explore this, I have a HFX floating Ground station that came with my Tara labs Zero Gold extended Band-width interconnect,The HFX station is out side the signal path, not made onto the interconnect,The HFX station is very similiar to the duel-mono block Tara labs Grandmaster floating ground station, I also have a interconnect called, The One with ISM on board, what this means is that this model interconnect is a controlled band-width interconnect with the cerelex material made inside capsules made onto the interconnect within the signal path,thus the term, ISM on board, the user cannot use a HFX floating ground station with this model called, The one with ISM on board, I dis-connected the Zero Gold I/C and removed it completly from my system, I left the HFX ground station in place with the left and right leads completly disconnected from the HFX station that is for the Zero Gold Foating shield, Inserted the Tara labs The One with ISM on board, mind you, this I/C was in no way what so ever connected to the HFX station!, wife was standing their with expectations of the sound of the Tara The one with ISM on board from past memories as I was, we both looked at each other with pure amazement, she said, what did you do?, I had no answer at the time, we both walked up and looked closer at the cables, WALA!, the componet ground of the HFX station was still connected to source by way of spade connection and pluged into the HFX station, I said, what's this?, How is this so?, unpluged componet ground jumper wire from HFX station and the noise floor shot straight up in the Tara The One with ISM on board, connected it back, the noise floor dropped HUGELY, the both of us was like, wow!, this Tara The One with ISM on board never ever sounded this good, conclusion to this true story is that the componet ground is an entirely seperate circuit from any interconnect the station is connected to, the ground scheme on these ground stations will drop the noise floor to anything they are connected to, That is Amazeing, The Tara labs Duel mon-block ground station is better than the standard HFX station, it is really two HFX stations made onto one unit, so when Audiocrack hooked his Tara labs Duel mono-block ground station that comes with the Tara Grandmaster Evolution I/C to the Tripoint troy signature, it dropped the noise floor to the Tripoint Troy signature significanty!, If anything, The Tara Labs HFX and Duel mono-block stations are IMHO phenomenal!
Hi Everyone, This is a quote from whatsbest forum site by a member named audiocrack that owns the Tara labs Grandmaster Evolution cables with duel mono-block ground station,Begin Quote “Even Taralabs Grandmaster Evolution series cables can improve if you use a Tripoint Troy Signature to remove EMI/RFI. BTW, I connected the (double box) Taralabs grounding device to my Tripoint audio Troy signature se grounding device and noticed that the haze on some vocals was (nearly completely) gone. Spooky!”End quote. This assumption is absolutely INCORRECT! Let’s explore why?, I have here at my house the Tara Labs Zero Gold Extended Band-width I/C with HFX foating shield ground station on my system, Tara Labs has their own invention inside the ground station called, cerelex compound, unlike other cable manufacturers, The station uses no batteries or electricity, which is in my opinion, an incredible engineering feat, The station has a left and a right plug in hole for the tiny wires to plug into the station, the tiny wires are terminated with tiny banana plugs at both ends to connect the wires that come out of the cable to the station,Floating the shields of the inside of the I/C at both ends to the cerelex compound that is inside the station, having and using these tiny wires is crucial to the over all sound and performance of the interconnect, connecting a station directly to a I/C is not recommended by me at all, the sound doing so is poor in comparison, the station’s design purpose is to remove EMI/RFI from the audio signal, the HFX station also has a third hole for what is called, component ground, the tiny wire that is used for this is terminated with a tiny banana plug at one end, and a tiny spade on the other end, this component ground scheme is connected from the station with the banana plug end, and the spade end of the wire can be connected to anything you want to connect it to, keep in mind that whatever you connect the spade end of the tiny wire to, you are grounding that device!, I will get to the explanation later in this review of the grounding scheme. I also have here at my house the Tara Labs The one with ISM on board controlled band-width I/C , this I/C is many levels under the Zero Gold I/C in terms of performance and cost with the Tara labs interconnect model line up, ISM stands for isolated shield matrix, the cerelex compound is used inside capsules that are made onto the I/C, in the audio signal path, thus the term, ISM on board, this I/C is not designed to be used with the HFX grounding station, or any other station Tara labs makes, also, there is no way of connecting the Tara labs The One with ISM on board I/C to any out board stations Tara Labs makes, I started my experiment by taking the Tara labs Zero Gold out of my system, keeping in place the HFX ground station, but not connected to any cable, then I installed the Tara labs The One with ISM on board, the wife was there to listen and see what I was doing, we both have fond memories of the sound of the Tara Labs The One with ISM on board I/C, However, The component ground of the HFX station was still connected to my digital source at the spade end to one of the screws of the unit, and the banana end of the tiny wire was plugged into the station, the wife asked, what did you do?, I said, what do you mean?, we both looked at each other in amazement, she said, I have never heard the Tara labs The One with ISM on board sound so good!, I showed her that the HFX component ground was still connected, this dropped the noise floor substantially, again, keep in mind that the HFX station was in no way connected to the I/C, I Proceeded to unplug the component ground from the station, this was much easier than disconnecting the spade end on the digital source, the noise floor shot straight up with the over all sound, again, we both looked at each other with amazement, we realized that the component ground scheme is a totally separate circuit on the Tara Labs HFX ground station, The Tara Labs duel mono-block ground station is essentially two HFX grounding stations made together separated by metal to make one unit, a complete station for each side of the floating shield of the Tara labs Grandmaster Evolution I/C with component ground scheme made onto the station like the HFX station, the two stations are similar, conclusion of this review is that in no way did the Tripoint Troy signature se benefit the sound of the Tara Labs Grandmaster I/C, since the component ground is a separate circuit that grounds and substantially drops the noise floor to what ever the component ground is connected to at the spade end, The fact of the matter is that the Tara labs Duel mono-block ground station benefitted the Tripoint Troy signature se by dropping the noise floor of the unit Hugely, thus thrusting the over all sound performance ofwhatever is plugged into the Tripoint Troy signature se to far greater performance expectations than what the Tripoint was originally designed to perform, Brought to you by Audiolabyrinth, Happy Listening to all.
Audiolabyrinth, Are you calling my customer Audiorack a liar? Have you ever heard the Troy Signature in combination with Tara Labs Grandmaster Evolution series? To assume that the HFX station is benefitting the EMI/ RFI filtering capabilities of the Troy Signature is completely absurd without knowing any of the design philosophies of the Troy? I challenged anyone with Tara Lab ground boxes to a challenge. Bring your checkbook.
Hi Melbguy1, how have you been?, yes that is true about the copy and past, next, I will be making links, anyway, anything change in your system since the last time we talked?, how did the Rhodium GTX-D wpo work for you?
Himiguel, Hi, I did my own testing, I know what the reality of the ground stations are!, Hell yes The Tara labs Ground stations benifitted the Troy signature, I do not care what you have to say about this, My review is the truth!, Audiocrack does not know squat about Tara labs or my research on the products!, I seen and heard my self what My review says, Really!, Its a seperate circuit!, How can it not benefit the Troy, it grounds and drops the noise floor to whatever it is connected to period!,I challenge you to find out what my review revealed, how much money do you have?, re-read my review!
For someone who has no experience whatsoever with either the Taralabs grandmaster evolution or the Tripoint Troy se your comments/claims are absurd. Both mentioned products are superb and combining them make the Taralabs cables shine even more due to the Tripoint Troy se.Let us be happy about that and stop your miscommunication. Audiocrack
Jebsmith73, Matthew Bond is selling a limited run 1-10 of the Zero Gold for the last time, likly the Omega Gold as well, This cable system is now discontinued, after a 19 year run, no other audio product in history has had such a shelf life, there were many different variates over the years of the Zero Gold and Omega Gold, Tara labs tweaked this cable system every couple of years, the last and best version is the Zero Gold I/C with HFX station and the genuine Omega Gold S/C, not to be confused with the s/c that only says Omega on the speaker cable that people try to pass on selling as Omega Gold, their is a huge difference, cheers.
Jebsmith73 and JMCgrogan2, well it appears that Matthew Bond pulled the plug on that speacial discounted sale of the limited run of the Tara labs Zero Gold I/Cs, I supose he might have gotten flack from dealers who still had some in stock?, the ad was suppose to run till 11-30-14, it is expired on my end, cheers.
Audiocrack, I suggest you read my review here on this thread!, diconnect your ground station to your interconnect, put your componet ground on your troy whatever, or put your componet ground on a componet, and keep disconnecting the ground wire from the station at the box end of the station, it is substantial of a noise drop, it's a seperate circuit!, Then come back and admitt I know what I'm saying!, I have 25 years exsperience with Tara, what do you have?, what research have you done?, do you know everything their is to know about current Tara cables and past cables?, If you do not, then listen to me, why fight the truth of the matter, I have proof!
Btw audiocrack, I do have the exsperience with the top Tara cables!, I have some, really!, if I were you, I would not listen to that dealer you have, I bet he does not sale the top Tara cables, but sales the tripoint troy products, come on man, wake up!
Thanks Jmcgrogan2, I watched your video link, I got a good laugh out of it, I liked it when the kid come up to the glass, I do feel like that at times, especially tring to convince someone the sky is blue and they say it's green currently, great sence of humor John, I needed that, cheers.
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