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Why do my new Transparent cables make my system sound muffled?

My system is a Rotel 1590 amp, B&W 804S speakers, a Marantz SR8500 AV receiver used solely as a pre-amp in pure direct mode, and an Integra dbs 50.3 Blue Ray/CD player.  My speaker cables are QED XT40s, and I use two sets for each speaker to biwire the B&Ws using the dual speaker connecting posts of the Rotel amp, one cable set going to the bottom and one to the top connections for each speaker. 

Based on all the reviews I have read, and I admit, reputation, I bought some Transparent Musiclink Plus cables to replace my Audioquest Evergreen and fairly high-end Monster cables. Before I installed the Transparent cables, my system had incredible mid-range and highs, and tight, deep, fast bass. The 350 watts per channel of the Rotel amp really make the 804s work, I think the way they are meant to. (Frankly, anything I tried in the 200 watt range just did not seem to really drive the 804s.)  But, the system had just a tinge of harshness or distortion when multiple voices were laid over. For example, Lorde’s Melodrama, which is a great CD for testing, I think, sounded amazing, but for just a few places where I could hear a little fuzziness when her voice tracks were laid over each other. All else, especially the piano and bass, sounded simply perfect, to my ears. After installing the Transparent cables, I could definitely hear each individual voice in multiple-track voice sections, with no more of that distortion or fuzziness. But, the bass became muddy, warm, less punchy, and seemed to spill over into the mid-range. And, the mid-range became less clear, present, and realistic sounding. The voices, which were more "in your face" before, now seem more in the background with more accentuation in the lower mid-range than before also.

Honestly, I am disappointed. I would appreciate any advice I can be given on whether this may be how the Transparent cables are interacting with my system, or whether I should just sell them and try different cables. Yes, the Rotel sound is a bit "brighter" than some. I actually really like that about it. But, I don’t want any harshness either. The Transparent cables did not just remove the brightness; they seem to have made the whole system sound muddy, for lack of a better description.

In a few days, my new Rotel RC-1580 stereo pre-amp arrives. I am hoping that will open things up again. But, I have a hard time imagining it will completely undo the muffled sound I am getting right now with these cables. I have the Transparent cables connecting the Blue Ray/CD player to the pre-amp and the pre-amp to the amp.  Once I get the new pre-amp going well, I plan to get back into Vinyl.  Damn my ex-wife for dumping my old record collection.  It would be worth many thousands now.  Thanks.
kumakahn

Showing 3 responses by almarg

almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Given that the 12k input impedance may be an issue, and that the ratio of the output impedance of the pre-amp and input impedance of the amp has some importance (from what I’ve read), maybe the Rotel pre-amp might make a difference?
If my guess is correct that the root cause of the issue is the interaction of the amp’s 12K input impedance with the network in the cable, changing preamps won’t solve the problem since the cable would still be between the preamp and the amp. Although the preamp change could very well help in other ways, of course.
I didn’t even know they made adaptors for RCA to balanced.
The adapter shown at the following link should suffice, and costs very little. Cardas also makes such adapters, as do many other suppliers, although the Cardas adapters cost considerably more.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1026927-REG/neutrik_na2mpmf_3_pole_xlr_male_to.html

Also, while that approach might resolve the cable-related problem, it would of course mean that you would be using a different input circuit in the amp. Which in turn might result in a difference in the sonic character of the amp itself to some degree, for better or for worse.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
P.S: If the guess I provided in my previous post is correct, a solution might be to simply connect the cables to the amp’s XLR inputs via RCA-to-XLR adapters. That would probably result in the cable working into a 50K impedance (half of the balanced input impedance) rather than 12K.

Regards,
-- Al

almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
I presume the Transparent cables have RCA connectors, since the SR8500 does not appear to provide balanced inputs or outputs. And I see that the Rotel amp has a very low unbalanced input impedance of 12K (while having a much higher balanced input impedance of 100K).

While it’s difficult if not impossible for anyone to provide a definitive answer to your question without knowing what is in the network that is built into the cable, my guess is that the 12K input impedance of the Rotel is too low to be a good match to the network.

If you happen to have a multimeter, one thing I would suggest is that you measure the resistance of the cable between the center pin of the RCA connector at one end and the center pin of the RCA connector at the other end. If you measure an open circuit (i.e., an essentially infinite number of ohms) it would suggest that a capacitor is in series with the signal, which would be very likely to account for issues in the bass region when the load impedance is as low as 12K.

And while you’re at it, if you have a multimeter, also measure the resistance between the ground shells of the two connectors, and between the center pin of each connector and the ground shell of the same connector. If you are able to do that, let us know what all of those measurements are and perhaps it will suggest additional possible explanations.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

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