SHOCKING: awesome Interconnects!!

Hey guys, had a nice afternoon with Roz yesterday. He came round with is modded S.A.T cdfix player, Black Rhodium Oratorio I/C's and a couple of mains fingy's. 1st of all, we did abit of A/B testing of his 2.3K cdp against my humble £500 Marantz cd6000Ki. His was hooked up with as meaty black rhodium mains lead and the £600 Oratorio I/VC's while mine was powered by the bog standard mains lead and some £70 VdH D102 I/CS with bullets. Both cdp's went thru my Marantz pm7200 and Tannoy Sensys DC1.I am still getting used to the new speakers and they are nowhere near run in yet but the results we got from them was astounding. Because i wanted to listen to his cdp with some speakers im very familiar with we started off with my trusty mission m53's.
1st cd we used was Rage Against the Machine's self titled album.

With track 1 bombtrack, it all sounded very familiar with me on my own system, great bass impact, explicit treble that had plenty of bite but never harsh and reasonably good midrange. The only flaw was the slightly boomy bass. We blamed it on the speakers...

Next was track 6, know your enemy. Again, plenty of energy and drive, speed was impressive for largish speakers and it was very exciting while being listenable.

We then changed to Rozzars cd player. Wow! was my 1st reaction. I never thought my system was lacking badly in any area but after hearing Rozzars cd player i realised what i was missing.or was it the cd player....we'll get to that in a minute

Everything was sooo much smoother and tuneful, the drumming in particular had more texture and thwack. Midrange took a step forward and lyrics were unravelled and made clearer. High frequencies gained refinement and a hint more detail. The best bit was that the bass boom almost completely dissapeared! Very impressed...

Roz and I were intrigued by how far my budget amp and speakers could be pushed with a decent source(again, at least we thought it was the source )

We did more A/B testing with a wider range of music, Filter: the Amalgamut,Katie Melua's call off the search album, Missy E so addictive and a couple of Roz's audiophile discs. A pattern of improvements became apparant. Each time we heard it on my marantz it sounded good and on the SAT every aspect improved significantly, especially in terms of openess. The bass always sounded tighter and much better controlled on the more expensive machine.

We then switched to the tannoys and things improved by quite a large margin. Now they wernt fine tuned positioning wise and the stands wernt mass filled so id say we were only getting 75% from them but still, they sounded better than the missions in many areas bar beefy bass but thats only because they arent as overblown. Playing Katie Melua again was an absolute joy, the Tannoys revealed an even greater difference between the two players. The very atmospheric track, learning the blues was life like when played on the SAT/Marantz/Tannoy combo. The level of emotion conveyed was simply breathtaking. I always thought my own system majored in this area but hearing it with a different source has upped the game even more.

After we grabbed some fish n chips we went back for some more listening. Roz suggested we swapped the I/C's around just for a laugh. I wernt expecting much as ive only experienced small to tiny changes in sound with I/C's in the past. This was where the fun began

We used a track that had already been played at least 10 times on the day, Katie Melua's learnin the blues. Played it for 50seconds or so on the marantz using the Vdh then swapped over the the £600 black rhodium. Not really a realistic scenario where some1 pays more for the I/C than their cd player!

Roz and I were staggered we couldnt believe what we were hearing. Whoever said that improvents thru changing cables is imaginary or psychological need to hear this. The improvent was MASSIVE. My marantz suddenly sounded phenomenal. It was almost as if the VdH was stangling it!No s***, i aint trying to start a heated debate but the improvement was instantly obvious and definately not imaginary. Im talking about the sort of imrpvement you'd associate with new hardware. It bought all the qualities i spoke of about Roz's cd player to my humble marantz. Roz wont admit it but i thought it gained 98% of the sound improvement his cdp produced but thats IMHO. Not bad considering his cdp cost £1500 new and has £800 worth of mod's put in courtesy of WM .

We used the VdH with the SAT and things didnt sound anywhere as good as they did. All the magic and sparkle was lost! So unsurprisingly i will be getting pair of these killer I/C's Most of you will probably think im crazy that my I/C is gonna B the most pricey item in my system but it made such a huge improvement i just have to own it!

Roz and I both agreed that my system when used with the Black Rhodiums sound far,far more expensive than it is. When my I/C's arrive, any1 living nearby is welcome to have a listen!

Pat on the back for marantz coz the pm7200 held its own even with kit costing 10x more! Also its impressive how my humble QED silver anni biwire can respond to all those changes and display the improvements clearly!

Ultra (very chuffed)

 

Congrats on a successful afternoon, thanks for the post, I'm sure a few people here have resisted these types of comments lately due to a fear of being shot down.

If you feel that spending your hard earned cash on an I/C will help you reach the "unobtainable" goal of audio nirvana then go for it, its your system and you have to live with it!

 

Just think, if a £600 interconnect improved your system that much, just imagine what it would do with £600 speaker cable and £600 power cables

 

Now, now Paul, don't knock it until you've tried it

In my system, I haven't been able to hear any sigificant differences between various I/Cs, but on other systems (eg WM's and at Julian's bake-off) the differences were quite marked.

Perhaps Rory can bring that magic cable around and see if that can make a diference in my system. Anyway, so pleased for you Ultra. Enjoy.

 

Erm, you were there, were you not Dev, at Rozzar's bake off

And you do remember the £600 interconnect dont you?

And you do remember how there was virtually no difference between it and a free one?

 

Yes Paul. You are absolutely right. However, in other systems I've heard more marked differences. Sorry I edited my post while you were typing your reply.

 

ultrasonic,
whilst iagree with you wholeheartedly that cables can make or break a system. i may be prudent to do a bit more auditioning to other cables before spooging that much money. for 600 quid there are a lot of new cables to choose from and second hand there are even more. have a look around on audiogon, hi-fi for sale and the usual web sites for some ideas.
at the end of the day though if you like the sound of the br's and you can afford to splash the cash then good luck to you. hope you enjoy it.
cheers


julian

 

I have to confess, I bought a new Black Rhodium Rhythm terminated with bullet plugs to compare to the standard one I had before and I noticed a considerable improvement which I certainly wasn't expecting.

The detail is much clearer and the music just sounds more open.

Only strange thing is a hissing in the background on the CD but I think that may just be a poor recording, will try others tonight

Andrew

 

Yeah i knw they are pricey but ive fond a pair for pretty cheap

I knew Paul would have something to say

I dont know how Rozzars bakeoff went but when we tried that cable in my system there was a genuine improvement in sound. Maybe it brings different levels of improvement with certain kit. Im quite careful with my money, would you think id splash out that much on a piece of wire if i didnt %100 know there was a massive improvement in sound??

Id be happy to show any1 the difference if they want to visit-yes that confident. I wernt even listening in a critical kinda way, it was just a lets givit a go thing and both Roz and I were staggered by the improvement.

According to Roz, they take yonks to run-in, so maybe they wernt cooked when you heard em paul? Anyway, i like what they do in my system and dats most important.


Ultra

 

Last winter, I socially met someone who is the manager of local Phase 3 hi fi shop. He told me that mark up on cables and interconnects are often 100% or more.
He called them 'add on sales' and customers tend to buy whatever the salesman recommend.

 

I'm saying nothing

..but if you want to buy a £600 IC for a budget system that's completely up to you :cry:

Michael.

 

Nice use of font size and colour!

 

guys, im very aware of the mark up on cables, the markup on the Oratorios is around 250%!!!! u think id pay 600 4 em?not a chance!lets just say im gettin mine fore a wallet friendly sum

Ultra

 

I'm interested in these £800 of mods on the sat fix?, I reckon about £120, and it aint clocked either, just cap changes on the upsampling board, main power caps, some hard wiring with some O/A deliverence and the op-amps swopped for some better 8066's, nothing really fancy, just a spurce up & the loop mod.
Just be careful about selecting the right I/c audition many, however I would would start with power first, I've had cases where the VDH was only a little off the top cables of the Day, they are system specific, so do try quite a few, and take your time and experiment.
Although I'm surprised you didn't post this on hfc?

 

Hmm, i was told there was extensive mods done. Was quite a impressive player none the less! I dont know if other cables will sound better but the way it opened up the whole sound and took the cdp to a new level was truly amazing. Maybe the VdH just doesnt suit my gear? If i wernt confident that it elevated my system by quite some margin i would have kept quiet as i know the whole cable fing is a touchy issue. I was prepared to get a grilling for this thread but i just had to share my findings, isnt that what this forum is for?

Ultra

 

Ultra,
I'm not having a dig (no use of smilies on that post I guess ), I'm not knocking the BR either, its just you may find some thing that gives the same sort of results in your system for less what ever it is, that is all my point was.
My bit about hfc is prehaps you may have gotten a slightly rougher ride when mentioning cables of any form.
The sat fix can be seriously improved further by jiggery pokery, interesting today I saw a Teac vrds 10 with 2 Never connects side by side going into a digital output board, though the interesting bit was the "amazing mains lead" that was adorning it, multistranded/braided ferrite ringed and tasty mit/transparent style juction box attatched, I have to take a photo of it, Blue max would be proud.
Still perhaps our esteemd leader can tell us how the tnt merlino faired against his eupens?, the forum expects Micheal

 

Not sure what you have paid for this wonder toy. If it is more then £20 then you have been rip off. Why are you so keen to destroy my comfortable idea of a world where cables don't make any difference?

We the followers of the dark art of critical listening will not give in so easily.

If you claim you are willing to listen with very critical ear then go on and tell us when you have done so and I will come visit and pay homage to this wonder snake oil....... sorry.... cable. Bad wolfie.

 

Ultra, if you like the effect power to your elbow.

Buy what you feel is best for you, and makes you happy.

Julians bang on the money about trying a few more options before you splurge.. you know he's right... the BR cables are still going to be there in a few weeks after you've made some comparisons

Chris

 

yes, so was I. To the value of £800. never mind, its a stonking cd player.


Those VDH D102s of yours Ultra really really do hold back the system. We chucked them on my cd player, and it sounded flat, uninspiring and boring. The Oratorios really do lift a veil off the sound and make it so much open and musical. I was staggered too.

I'm putting it down to system synergy. With the cd6000ki/oratorio/pm7200/tannoys it really was a superbly balanced system. You couldn't ask for more bearing in mind they aren't exactly high end components (no offence Ultra)

All you non-believers- if you're using VDH102s or below, you could well be covering the true potential of your cd player.

And yes, they were the same interconnects that sounded not-too-different from studio grade stuff at the Bakeoff. Just shows you what 10 months more burning in does!! (it wasnt 6 months Ultra, you've got a long wait pal!)

 

devils advocate -

have you tried some 'studio grade stuff' Ultra?

it might sound similar to the BR cable on your system too.

you never know, it might save you a ton.