Recomend some IC's

New year - lower budget!

I want a new ic to replace an atlas explorer from phono - amp.
I have some cable on way from Bottleneck, but that is destined to sit between pre and power, if its good for that it will stay in situe.

Ill be looking for second hand, so probably blind buying

Criteria -
open soundstage
controlled lows, clean highs

Must lend itself to vinyl playback

Cheers

 

Tones's infallible I/C selection guide:

1. Measure length required;

2. Add a bit more the same length as the equipment is deep to allow for the fact that the equipment may be needed to be pulled out of a shelf for connection/disconnection;

3. Go to decent shop, buy cheapest I/C of appropriate length.

4. Plug in and enjoy.

 

1) assume 1 meter

2) see 1

3) i hear differences

4) see 3

Sorry but i am after suggestions, this is NOT a thread for people to argue about cables, if this happens i will request an admin to delete thread and assume ZG will not help me in my quest

 

what's your budget?

 

maybe up to £100 s/h
thats at a push and if i dont tell the boss

 

Oh, come on, Penance, where's your sense of humour? I have no intention of arguing about cables, and I'm sure that lots of True Believers will be along shortly to tell you of the divine revelations they've had when substituting one bit of copper for another, how veils were stripped from the music, how the highs were higher, the lows were lower, the mids were more, er, middy and the whole thing was the audio equivalent of The Second Coming

Behold, I tell you a mystery
We shall not all sleep
But we shall all be changed, in the moment, in the twinkling of an ear
At The Right Cable

For The Cable shall sound
And the clearness be raised
The clearness be raised - insurpassable!
And we shall all be changed

Then shall go forth the saying that is written
Sheath is swallowed up in dielectricity!

 

Tones, sorry mate, wasnt a dig at you. Just dont want the usual argument
Love your lil lymerics btw, nearly always put a smile on my face

 

I see dead people


I'll get my coat...

Michael.

 

I see dumb people
thier dumb, but they dont know it yet

 

[shameless plug]
Penance, I have a 1m pair of Transparent Musiclink ICs you can have for £75 (they're £150 new). They even have little magic boxes attached to them, to reduce RFI 'n stuff.
[/shameless plug]

Don't ask me what they sound like, me no hear these differences of which you speak. I used to use them on the turntable, seemed to do the job, now surplus to requirements.

-- Ian

 

Penance, get some Mogami mic cable - under 2 quid a metre - and solder some bullet plugs onto it.

 

You might want to consider the VDH ultimate the first. These can be picked up at around your budget. They were £250ish and I expect the drop in price means a new model is on the way. To be fair I haven't tried them on my phono stage to pre but they made a huge difference to my linn genki. it tamed the overbright top end, improved the midrange and tightened up the bass. Previously to putting these in my system, I was fairly dubious about the benefits of relatively expensive i/c's but IMHO these are worth a punt.

Rod

 

thanks for the idea's guy's, keep em comeing

Sideshow - Ill think on those, ive hard they can roll off the highs but only one review said that. Can i ask what replaced them?

Alex - all my previous attempts of DIY IC's have been very lacking when put against the real guys stuff. May try if its cheap tho.

Rodrat - Ill look around for a pair, although tameing top end is something i dont really need

 

Now you're asking. It's a yellow VDH cable, can't remember what it's called, quite a bit cheaper, sounds no different to me.

-- Ian