More signs of tweakness

I've got a little bit of cash to throw at the hifi, or more specifically the analogue part of it (SystemdekIIX/RB250/Denon DL110).

Basically, I shall either do the Incognito rewire on the Rega arm or buy a phono stage (Gram Amp 2 seems the sensible option). My preference is to go with the rewire, since I feel that's where I stand to gain most.

But having now read the Hifi Plush review of the Incognito, I'm troubled by the report that the Incognito can highlight the treble and add a bit of grain to proceedings. Smoother highs and better extension, I can live with. Merely brighter I can't.

So I need the experiences of those among you have done rewire: how does the sound change, and particularly the treble?

Also, the phono stage on my Rotel RA02 integrated strikes me as being rather good, better I would say than that in my old Cyrus One, which was supposed to do the phono thing well, so would the Gram Amp 2 offer a significant improvement? Am I right in prefering the rewire or am I underestimating the power of phono preamp?

Your considered opinons, please.

 

perhaps you should look into a copper re wire instead of silver?

 

Agree with rob, silver is probably the culprit. In all my experience of listening to cables (quite a bit) silver always exhibited harsh/forward treble. Avoid it, especially with tonearm wiring.

 

isent silver tone arm cable more prone to resonate than copper?
or something like that.

 

Surely though, thats only silver plated copper that does this? My mate has pure silver cable and I'd say it was quite polite even compared to pure copper.

 

I would definately recomend the incognito rewire. I did my RB300 a few years ago and i would describe the change as improving the smoothness of the sound considerably. No false brightness that i could detect. The standard wire sounded very edgy and the incognito removed this.

I also added a Heavyweight counterweight shortly afterwards and that seemed to improve the sound in terms of its structure ie transparency, soundstage and depth. The incognito on the other hand improved tonality and smoothness.

The incognito rewire is copper by the way.

 

Absolutely, silver plated copper is a bit naff in my view (see Nordost ), but I've owned some pure silver cables myself and simply find their treble to be artificial to varying degrees. Horses for courses though, if it's what you like, go with it.

 

i just tried some silver jumpers on my speakers (feeding the mid / treble) and i've gone back to copper - to 'bright' for me. psychosomatic maybe but real enough to me.
cheers


julian.

 

I'd have thought spending the money on a good used phono stage would be a far wiser investment long term. IME, the difference between virtually all built in stages and their off board counterparts is not subtle.

 

I dont Thats why I also use exclusively copper cable when possible

 

dosent silver have a really long burn in period as well?
and a tendancy to sound a bit bright and coarse during this period?

 

i had some silver plated copper chord cables (rumour 4)

and they sounded bloody awfull at first... burn in took almost 3 months... but after this they remained open and crisp.. with good bass.. but never harsh... definately not a cable to pick if your system is already quite bright though.

I'll be looking at getting more of the stuff soon for my new speakers