Electraglide Epiphany vs Kubala-Ssna vs....

I now own two of his (Kubala) power cords, which I use in conjunction with electraglide epiphany X. Good stuff indeed. I will probably try the IC's at some point, but am pleased with the stereovox IC/speaker cables, so 'why fix it if it aint broke.'

John, you summed up the experience quite well. I must explain that I am not affiliated with Kubala-Sosna other than the fact that I have been fortunate enough to have met Joe, and use his cables. He has become a friend, and I enjoy him (the man) even more than his cables. My impressions at this point are jaded (excuse the pun) so take my thoughts with this in mind.

Having said that the CAT Signature amps and Aesthetix Callisto are amazing pieces together! This was the first time I full appreciated the CATs for what their potential is.

For John, I believe the entire experience was eye opening and yet too much for one session. I found once I understood what I heard on my own system with these cables, I could not go back. The KS cables do something Joe and I have spent a lot of time discussing on the phone and in person. They are so quite, and so neutral that the initial impression is something is missing when they are installed. I think I'm getting a handle on it, and yes something is missing.

In our Audiophelia world we consider edgy, fatiguing, bright, and aggressive as part of open, extended and airy. We are so conditioned to accept these traits if we want the high frequency extension that we program ourselves to accept them. The KS cables simply do not have these negative characteristics, yet they are more open, more airy and far more extended than my Valhalla's were. Where I was accepting thin and possibly brittle sound with the Valhalla's I now have body and tonality. Joe and I actually discussed this over dinner last night. Even the lowly triangle in real life has body and form. Trying to reproduce this generally means a rolled off high end, or accepting it as a sound hanging in space, and not associated to anything. I hope that I said that clearly, because it is important.

So the first impression, and as Art explained when we tried KS speaker cables and interconnects on his system was as described above. He felt there was a lack of attack and dynamics, again these are words I believe we have programmed ourselves to use to explain the problems with other cables. I may be wrong Art, and I'm sure you would clarify if needed. (Remember the demo speaker cables we used had a loose spade, in my system this was a big issue compared to a proper pair.)

So redefining and reprogramming our vocabulary is an issue when first listening to a full out KS system. As for the bass, it is full and tight, but because of the neutrality, anything else going on with the equipment will become clear to see. I honestly do not mean to pick on the Manley, but please consider the faults we heard in my system, to achieve perfect lush midrange which the Manely does in spades. There has to be a better solution that will take your system one huger step forward. I believe we can find it in one box, and you can reduce the three components into one, less cables, less hassle, less bloated bass. That was my only complaint yesterday; the base was too thick to be pleasing to my ear. The good news is those amps were driving an amazing amount of bass through the electrostatic speakers, so I'm sure theer is nirvana close by.

I must thank Joe for allowing me to drag him over to my friend’s house and spend an afternoon. This is not exactly the most efficient use of his time, and given the unique qualities of these cables, Joe's time is in demand.

Thank you Joe and thank you John for allowing me to push you into places you were not sure you needed to go. I had a lot of fun yesterday, and with every day together I have grown to enjoy your company more.

JD

Wrong JD, the cables sounded plain old 'crappy' when I tried them. In my all-tubed system, it was too laid back, too rolled off, too compressed. Im not buying the 'our ears are conditioned to think' nonsense either, sorry dude.

Now, it may be that this was a matter of the cables being damaged, and I would be happy to try them again, but as of today, I am not jumping on the K-S interconnect/speaker cable band wagon. OTOH, I freely admit I really like the power cord.

Understanding that I also once had all Valhalla cabling, and MUCH preferred the stereovox cables, so it's not like where I am coming from is shabby, mind you.

To the extent we can believe the audio press, reviewers gave it a 99 (out of possible 100) for tonality, and 100 for noise see here:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1202/stereovoxsei600.htm

Anyway, I'm making the point that for me, round one was a no contest: the stereovox cleanly trounced the K-S. Again, I referring to the IC/speaker cables, not the power cord, which i like quite a bit.

Sounds like round two is in order!

There's so much talk about Epiphany X vs. the Kubala Emotion vs. the Purist Dominus power cords. Has anyone compared the Kubala Sosna Emotion power cord against the Harmonix XDC Studio Master? Or any of the above vs. the XDC Studio Master? How do they compare?

Thanks.

Well, FWIW, I'm not sure which of the Harmonix cords I heard at my dealer's (it was fairly pricey, in the $1200 or so range), but it had a distinctly "warm" or "mellow" sound compared to others I have heard and particularly vs. the other cord they put in its place while I was listening. Probably similar as a general matter to the Kubala-Sosna (unfortunately I did not hear them both in the same system), though my impression was that the sound of the amp with that cord was a little too warm for my taste, masking some of the low-level detail in the recordings I was listening to. However, I heard it with an Accuphase amp that is a little warm to begin with; perhaps it would be better suited for a more neutral or leaner-sounding amplifier.