Russ Andrews cables

Hi all,

Just wondered what your thoughts are on these cables - i've been reading his catalogue and i'm tempted to try some of his gear.

How would you say it compares to other brands?

Thanks for your comments.

 

I've tried,and bought a few of his power cables over the years,but as with all of these things(and thankfully you can with RA's stuff) try before you buy.

Sometimes these can bring an improvement,such as with low level,esp digital sources,and other times,as with my Krells and WAD 300Bs,either no improvement or significant flattening of dynamics.

 

what cables you after..? - speaker, IC, power..??

I haven't used them myself, but you could do a lot better on fleabay imo...
but saying that, you do get them for 28 days with the option to return them if they're not up to scratch...

 

That was what I was getting at,as anything bought off fleabay is yours to keep(or resell!)whereas RA will at least take it back if it doesnt suit....BTW it's now a 60 day trial period.

 

yeah - we must have been typing at the same time!!

 

I've tried his power leads (yello, classic) and found improvements over the stock stuff in my system, especially the preamp.

The 60-day trial is an excellent way to experiment with stuff. No risk at all.

 

I've got two RA Yello power cords. I can't honestly say that i noticed any very obvious sonic improvements after i'd fiitted them . I bought mine during a 'two for one' special offer they were running a few years ago.
They are very well made, using good quality materials and workmanship, the 60 day money back guarantee meant that i could have returned them if i'd wanted to, Being a shallow badge junkie i decided to keep them , just in case...

 

I also have a Yello, and a Eupen but they are discretely placed behind my HUTTER - I take it you now thread the Yello across the front of your newly acquired M@N* stand - how is it, btw?

 

I used to use his stuff, then found you can get the same performance out of stuff less than a third of the price. Its a complete rip off imo though my experience is it does do what it says on the tin

 

which stuff is this, prey tell?

 

All sorts. Different things in different places. Theres very little thats clever about his cables, despite his claims. The weave may reduce RFI but it increases inductance which is generally a bad thing. Personally I make all my own stuff as do many others, all of it sounds better than the RA stuff it replaced. The only ready made cables I have are when I couldn't be bothered to make them up myself.

 

so nothing you can actually buy for a third of the price then?

do you have a cable in mind Anex? I'm happy to fit an MK plug on one end and a IEC on the other.

 

No it's is still discretely stuffed behind the new stand. although as i had to do a complete teardown and rebuild all connections were cleaned with reasuringly expensive contact cleaner and all cables 'dressed' nicely - just in case...

Looking good thanks and didn't take long to set up either. I got some nice new badges for it too, off a very nice fella on the **** site (marco), Hi-Fi without a 'badge' ! , whats the point !
A slight prob in that the stand is smaller than my old one there is no room to fit my TT PSU , never mind though, old cloth ears has 'gone back to Basik' with the Linn for the time being without noticing any difference !
I sold my old Stand on e-pay within seconds of putting it up for sale - i got my Buy-it-now price too !

I've even found the time to listen to a little music over the last few days and 'er indoors has even joined me on occasions - a very rare occurance....maybe it was the effects of the ... nah lets not go there , i've said enough.

 

Yes there are things you can buy for a third of the price or there abouts. I bought a mains cable from 'The Missing Link' when I used to be bothered about that sort of thing but didn't have the money for RA stuff, found it was better on my CD player than the RA stuff. Whether you find that is another matter but its still a rip off- that silver streak thing, 0.5m 2 copper conductors and one silver platted together, £150 ish (not looked recently) WHY?!!! You could buy 3 silver wires from where ever you want, your little sister could plat them together then your pet monkey could put the plugs on the end for you, £40 ish.
As your talking about MK plugs I assume you after a mains cable, screened mains stuff has always done me well.

 

With two daughters I have the plat thing covered but could I borrow your pet monkey

 

Mmmm - RA is a great salesman but also a good tweaker of kit - in the late 80's / early '90 he sold "speaker upgrade kits" (wth Kimber caps (Kaps??), wiring upgrades etc) and amp upgrades which made a significant difference to some equipment. In my case to a pair of Castle pembrokes and Quad 34/306. I've still got an integrated amp which he upgraded.
The current stuff - well, the Quave speakers are quite something, the cables - like most others - are equipment dependent. The mains cables are quite good if your mains are "dirty" and I use some and a 'purifier block' in my system. I've some of his interconnects (kcag and custom (4 strand) PJB) and also keep a pair of 8TC speaker cables to compare others to.
The 60 day trial shows faith which other manufacturers would do well to emulate!
I guess some don't like his success as a salesperson!!

 

I've no problem with his gear its just a bit pricey.......

If you want try some intresting mains cable pm me

 

Hi Zanash,

i'll see how the ICs go once you've got around to making them. Then we'll take it from there. Whats the state of play with them by the way?

 

One benefit (irrespective of performance) is that many of the I/C's can be had as balanced XLR's at no extra cost. That is quite useful as sub £50 XLR designs aren't that numerous.

 

A dedicated spur for hi-fi that cost about as much as a decent mains cord usually brings more improvement. Do it first if you can !!