VenHaus Pulsar™ interconnects

No type of burn in disc will ever achieve what a cable burner can. That's because the line level components in your system are basically limited to 2 volts of output at the max. If running them between your preamp and power amp, they probably won't ever see even 2 volts. That's why cables that have thousands of hours of actual use on them still sound "different" ( one way or the other ) after being cooked on a cable burner. Sean
>

PS... Interconnects will vary quite a bit from system to system due to impedance interactions from component to component. On top of that, personal preference, listening ability and system resolution all come into play. That's why one really has to try interconnects within the confines of their own system.

I'd be curious to see what Driver thinks of these cables now that he's probably had them a while. Personally, i think that they are a great buy. You can read some of my further comments here as posted over at AA's Cable Asylum. As i've mentioned before, my thoughts are that interconnects are more system dependent than speaker cables. As such, results and opinions are bound to vary. If they didn't, the item being discussed must be the best that money can buy : ) Sean
>

Throw them in the mail to me with funds for return shipping. I have no problems doing this for you. Send me an email and i'll forward my shipping info. Figure 5 - 7 days on the burner with 2 - 3 days transit each way and you'll still have 25+ days to listen to them. Priority mail is by far the best deal for something like this. Sean
>

I noticed just a wee bit of upper midrange "hardness" ( some would call it "glare" ) with the Pulsar's initially, but it was quickly and easily subdued via my cable burner. Having said that, this is a cable that seems to repond to burn-in relatively quickly as compared to some other silver or silver / copper hybrids that i've tried. There are some phenomenally well reviewed silver cables that i've tried that i could never get to sound "smooth" or "full bodied" no matter what i tried. For a point of reference, all of my experience with the Pulsar's has been with RCA based connections. Quite honestly, i have no idea how the coaxial design of Pulsar could be used / configured in a true balanced / xlr type design. Maybe the XLR based cables are actually using a slightly different design / conductor geometry. Sean
>

I just shipped out TVAD's Pulsars to him after cooking them on a Mobie for about 5 days or so. As i told him, my experience is that "cooked" cables should be installed into the system and then have music played through them for 24 hours prior to judgment. This has been pretty consistent with most cables that i've done this with, so i would have to assume that it applies to these too.

I don't know if jossling them about during removal from the burner, moving them around when hooking them up, etc... "lessens" the effects of the cooking, but the extra 24 hours of actual system use really seems to help. Given that i've noticed that here, where i can pull the cables off of the burner and install them directly into one of my systems, and i had to somewhat "coil" these up to ship them back to him, i'm sure that some time in his system will also help. None the less, the effects of "burning" should be audible from what i've experienced.

As a side note, i typically like to "burn" cables longer than this, but the Pulsar's seem to "cook" a little faster than other cables for some reason. I've done a few sets of these now for several different people and an extended burn doesn't seem to be quite as necessary as it with some other cables. I'm not going to name names, but there are some silver based cables that i've "cooked" until the meat was falling off of the bones and they still sounded bright, lean and edgy. My guess is that they are simply using a lower grade of silver as i've got some silver cables that are smooth as silk. The Pulsar itself is a hybrid cable with a copper hot lead and silver plated copper ground.

Tvad should have them in a couple of days. If he gets them Thursday, he should have enough time to throw them into the system, let them "play-in" till he gets home from work on Friday and have everthing ready for the weekend. Needless to say, i'm curious to see what he thinks, both initially and after a 24 - 48 hour settling time. Sean
>

HaHaHa... I probably shouldn't have done / said what i did. Nothing like dumping a "project" on someone that's not expecting it, huh ??? Sorry 'bout dat Tvad... : )

As the other guys said, take your time and don't feel rushed. While i am of the belief that initial impressions DO count, i also know that a high "wow" factor can be deceiving in the short term. As such, you have to balance initial observations & "gut feelings" with long term observations and becoming familiar with the product. Given our private emails, i know that you're capable of being quite articulate and a great communicator. You proved this to me when i asked for feedback in a "brutally honest" fashion. Boy, did you deliver... : ) Sean
>

KP: You crack me up : )

Tvad: Thanks for taking the time to offer up your initial thoughts. I would only add that changing the location of each interconnect i.e. the components that they interphase together could very well change the observed results. As mentioned, interconnects act as impedance transformers / buffers, so finding what cable works best where is half the battle.

Other than that, i'm glad that you felt that "burning" was beneficial. I do agree with a lot of your primary assessments of this cable i.e. it may not be the world's best in any given category, but it surely offers extremely solid performance for the money involved. I'll refrain from making any other statements as i'd like to see what you think after listening to them in your system for a while.

I would suggest tinkering with all Pulsars, Pulsar's in one place but not another, etc... to see what works best in your system. As mentioned, my thoughts are that cables do require some "settling time" with actual music playing through them once moved about, so give each configuration some time before passing judgment. We appreciate the effort and the amount of detail that you're offering here. Sean
>

Some of you seem to think that there can be a "best" interconnect. There can't be. There isn't an interconnect made that can act as a perfect link / impedance transformer between the multitudes of different input and output impedances that each different combo of gear presents. When you realize that, you'll be a lot better off, both system-wise and financially.

Now if all gear had the same nominal input & output impedances, that would be a different story. By this, i mean that either the input impedance was identical to the output impedance ( how it should be ) OR that the input impedance on all gear was a set value and the output impedance on all gear was a set value. In either case, you could design a cable to work with those specifics, but until that is the case, interconnects will remain a matter of guesswork due to the individual component to component interphase and personal preferences. Sean
>

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1091554516&read&3&4&