Another Isolda convert...

Right - I've had my Townshend Isolda speaker cable for about a month now but the few comments I made here and there in other threads gave the impression I wasn't particularly convinced. It certainly didn't blow away my Dynaudio OCOS cable, in fact I was hard pressed to say it was better.

However, I was a little bit of an idiot when I ordered my Isolda :shame: :
My amp (Arcam FMJ A22) has BFA connectors but I deliberately ordered my cable with banana plugs at the amp end so that it would be easy to dem on other peoples systems. Following a suggestion by timpy I made some BFA to banana adapters using some QED Airloc BFA plugs and drilling them out. Trouble is, the banana plugs that Townshend fit are a little bit short - not the usual 3/4" and didn't really fit particularly well in the BFA adapters.

So, I thought, I'll order some of those hollow "Z" plugs, whip off the bananas that Townshend soldered on and solder on the new plugs. Well, the "Z" plugs I ordered (from hificables.co.uk) were shite and a bit short too - and they weren't half tricky to solder. I felt that my cable to plug joins were not doing the cable any favours.

So, when I took my Dynaudio OCOS cable over to the bake off at Dino's a couple of weekends ago I realised STUPIDLY that the Profigold BFA plugs I already had on it were perfect hollow plugs anyway and would fit 4mm banana sockets so the whole thing with soldering the other plugs was a total waste of time

Well, this evening I had time to unsolder the Z plugs (the joins really were bad) and screw on the excellent Profigold BFAs (a much better fit). I had bought a second set so I could now properly compare the two cables.

At last! A result! The Isolda was now significantly better than the Dynaudio - loads more ambience, space and depth and so much more detail and bass firmness. A resounding success then and thumbs up for Isolda yet again However, the Dynaudio wasn't by any means blown into the weeds. It's still a cracking cable for the money IMO and very little known in the UK (in the US it's rebranded "Sumiko OCOS" by the local distributor and is somewhat better known). The Dynaudio is now for sale but I'll put a notice in the Buy/Sell forum because I've yet to hear back from someone who has first refusal.

btw, just goes to show what a difference decent plugs and joins can make

Michael.

 

yep, that isolda is truly remarkable stuff. certainly woke up my system.
i can now listen to the cocteau twins ("heaven or las vegas" US remaster cd last night, not yet released in the UK) without wishing i had the vinyl ! there's finally some depth coming out of the speakers that had been previously masked. the amps etc were doing it but it was not being communicated to the speakers. isolda has rectified that.

 

MICHEAL
WHAT LENGTH RUNS ARE YOUR OCOS?
AND WHAT KINDA PRICE YOU LOOKING AT?
MUST BE BETTER THAN RUNNING MY DYN'S ON FFRC

(SORRY FOR CAPS, DAMN KEYBOARD STUFFED)

 

My OCOS are a 3m single wire pair with spades at the speaker end and, currently, Profigold hollow BFA plugs at the amp end but they will fit fine into 4mm banana sockets or you can re-terminate them (they're just screw fit plugs).

I'd be looking for about £110 for them (which is about half what they cost new). They made a pretty favourable impression at the bake-off at cookiemonster's.

As I said though, cookiemonster has first dibs on them at the moment and he hasn't got back to me yet. Looks like you two are competing to get WMs Trichord block aswell

Michael.

 

Just checked my PM and Dino doesn't want them so I'll put them up on the buy/sell forum.

Michael.

 

sorry
to short for my needs

 

Penance - you stalking me mister

Pity they are too short for your needs, as IMO this proved to be a very capable bit of wire, and for the money being asked should prove a substantial step up from the FFRC.

My current audio agenda is a maelstrom of activity, and unfortunately this cable has come along at the wrong time for me. My fusion programme is as yet unaccomodating for an immediate cable upgrade, and suffice to say my itinery has now been dislocated into further confusion with the arrival of a certain bad blokes Trichord box in the market place.

Damn hifi.

oops sorry - slight hijack.......................Isolda wins again - cool.....there back on thread.

 

Just in case there's any confusion (because this always confuses me), by 3m pair I mean 3m for each side, not 3m in total.

Michael.

 

yup
but i need around 5M pair, ill double check tonight to be sure, to be sure

 

Hi there,

I'm pretty interested, firstly could you answer a few (simple) questions...

1. I've got an A22 like your good self and the P25 power amp and Spendor S6 speakers, will it be straight forward to connect? i.e. no need to wave the soldering iron around?

2. Will they be a good improvement over my current wire, silver anniversary bi-wire?

I'm pretty sure my wire is 3m, I'll check tonight and get back to you.

Cheers

ram
________
FERRARI F399 SPECIFICATIONS

 

1. Yes - straightforward. The existing Profigold BFAs are perfect for the A22/P25. Don't know the Spendors but I've yet to see a speaker that didn't accept spades.

2. Hard to say. I don't know Silver Anniversary but it's a £5 a meter cable (£10 bi-wire) so I would be very surprised if it wasn't a significant improvement. OTOH, the OCOS is single wire so if you're bi-amping with your A22/P25 combo then that won't work. Even if you aren't but are just bi-wiring, you'll need to either make some jumpers or use the naff ones that undoubtedly came with your speakers which might have an influence on the sound.

Michael.

 

I am bi-amping at the moment. Anybody else got suggestions whether this would be a step forward?

cheers

ram
________
Vaporizer Instructions

 

I would say that if you're bi-amping then going to a single wire cable, even a very good one, might be a backward step...even thought I'm killing my own sale

Michael.

 

mike
don't suppose you've compared that Dynaudio cable with Nordost Blue Heaven/Flatline ? My set is a) a little short and b) a bit flat in terms of stereo imaging... any ideas?

 

Isolda is a cracking cable, thats works very well in a variety of systems adding bass/dynamics and imaging, plus it's not too out of the reach, and WM still has his (still have one set left) in the second system. Its a damn good cable

 

Rory, I don't have that much experience of various speaker cables so I don't know how it compares to the Nordost. I just know it's a very good cable that isn't that far off the Isolda IMO, for a lot less money.

For anyone interested in the cable who's in the London area I'll be back in London on the 28th and I can let people borrow it for a try out.

Michael.