Updated power cords, ICs and speaker cabling. I am ready to believe.
ROHfan
Posts: 1,014
I was going to post this in the power cord upgrade thread but I feel it would have hijacked it so I made a separate thread here.
Harry (pohlrbear) here has loaned me his Pangea AC9 to fool around with for a while. First I tried it with my Emo XPA-2. My son and I listened to "Black Cow" by Steely Dan with the stock cord then swapped in the AC9. We acknowledged there was a difference, but it was hard to put a finger on what the difference actually was. I had read somewhere on the forum that using an updated power cord on the source would yield good results so I put everything back together and swapped out my Oppo's power cord for the AC9. Now we were hearing something different for sure. It would be difficult to state exactly what was going on without doing a blind A/B test but the music seemed to have more "snap" to it. Bass was a little more authoritative and horns had a little more "air" around them whereas before they had gotten a little lost in the mix. Although vocals seemed to get a little dirty but I was pushing reference levels. The difference was definitely not night and day, mind you, but I am starting to accept that if I make many cable and interconnect upgrades throughout my chain that the tiny differences along the way will add up to produce a more profound, noticeable effect.
Which brings me to my next task. Choosing proper incoming and outgoing ICs for use with the Mapletree Line 2A Tube Pre that I will most likely snag from Face next week. Then I will want to upgrade the speaker cables going from my XPA3 to the Electromotions. Can anyone give suggestions for such cabling? Not looking to spend hundreds, just looking for something better than stock, something that will give a noticeable improvement in sound.
Harry (pohlrbear) here has loaned me his Pangea AC9 to fool around with for a while. First I tried it with my Emo XPA-2. My son and I listened to "Black Cow" by Steely Dan with the stock cord then swapped in the AC9. We acknowledged there was a difference, but it was hard to put a finger on what the difference actually was. I had read somewhere on the forum that using an updated power cord on the source would yield good results so I put everything back together and swapped out my Oppo's power cord for the AC9. Now we were hearing something different for sure. It would be difficult to state exactly what was going on without doing a blind A/B test but the music seemed to have more "snap" to it. Bass was a little more authoritative and horns had a little more "air" around them whereas before they had gotten a little lost in the mix. Although vocals seemed to get a little dirty but I was pushing reference levels. The difference was definitely not night and day, mind you, but I am starting to accept that if I make many cable and interconnect upgrades throughout my chain that the tiny differences along the way will add up to produce a more profound, noticeable effect.
Which brings me to my next task. Choosing proper incoming and outgoing ICs for use with the Mapletree Line 2A Tube Pre that I will most likely snag from Face next week. Then I will want to upgrade the speaker cables going from my XPA3 to the Electromotions. Can anyone give suggestions for such cabling? Not looking to spend hundreds, just looking for something better than stock, something that will give a noticeable improvement in sound.
TV: 65" Samsung QLED 4K
Fronts: Energy RC70 --- Center: Energy RC-LCR
Front Heights: Polk RC65i --- Rears: Polk RC85i --- Sub: Power Sound Audio XS15
Pioneer VSX-1120K --- Parasound HCA-1000A --- Oppo BDP-103
Vincent Audio SA31 preamp --- Teac UD301 DAC
AIYIMA Tube T7 preamp --- Nobsound 12AX7 tube preamplifier
Fronts: Energy RC70 --- Center: Energy RC-LCR
Front Heights: Polk RC65i --- Rears: Polk RC85i --- Sub: Power Sound Audio XS15
Pioneer VSX-1120K --- Parasound HCA-1000A --- Oppo BDP-103
Vincent Audio SA31 preamp --- Teac UD301 DAC
AIYIMA Tube T7 preamp --- Nobsound 12AX7 tube preamplifier
Post edited by ROHfan on
Comments
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You are welcome to sign up for the MIT cable demo program.
BTW, what you are hearing is the result of a lower noise floor.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
You are welcome to sign up for the MIT cable demo program.
BTW, what you are hearing is the result of a lower noise floor.
Cleaner signal=lower noise=more space around notes. That seems reasonable to believe.
How do I sign up for the cable demo program? Although I'm not sure I can afford MITs.
Edit: Who is Doug and what kind of cables does he have?TV: 65" Samsung QLED 4K
Fronts: Energy RC70 --- Center: Energy RC-LCR
Front Heights: Polk RC65i --- Rears: Polk RC85i --- Sub: Power Sound Audio XS15
Pioneer VSX-1120K --- Parasound HCA-1000A --- Oppo BDP-103
Vincent Audio SA31 preamp --- Teac UD301 DAC
AIYIMA Tube T7 preamp --- Nobsound 12AX7 tube preamplifier -
How do I sign up for the cable demo program? Although I'm not sure I can afford MITs.
Sticky at the top of the page, http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?157156-MIT-StyleLine-Cable-Demo-Review-Round-5-USAPolitical Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
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Yeah, not gonna go with Doug. His IC's run four figures.TV: 65" Samsung QLED 4K
Fronts: Energy RC70 --- Center: Energy RC-LCR
Front Heights: Polk RC65i --- Rears: Polk RC85i --- Sub: Power Sound Audio XS15
Pioneer VSX-1120K --- Parasound HCA-1000A --- Oppo BDP-103
Vincent Audio SA31 preamp --- Teac UD301 DAC
AIYIMA Tube T7 preamp --- Nobsound 12AX7 tube preamplifier -
I was fortunate enough to get some MITs speaker cables from George Daniels got the matching ICs off E-Bay best $250 I ever spent, I also got a Pair of Signal Speaker Cables a Center Channel Cable, and 5 Signal Ultra ICs off the forum paid $200 so I have got some pretty good deals off the flea market.
I think the Signal Ultras might be up your alley for what they go for, you should also sign up for the MIT samples that Jesse is sponsoring, you might as well try them out.Home Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable
2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+
Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365
Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin
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Yeah, not gonna go with Doug. His IC's run four figures.
http://www.douglasconnection.com/Douglas-Connection-Analog-Interconnect-Cables-DCFAIC.htm -
Given that the gear you've put together already sounds damn fine as is, I figured you'd have nothing to lose by swapping in a new cable; my interpretations of my own system were very similar to yours after I upgraded too.
Next time we meet up I will let you try a Signal Cable Magic Power, also a Xindak digital cable if you want. I also have a couple different ICs you can test out. And no worries on the time, these are spares not currently in use for me.
And take the advice and try out the MITs, they are worth the effort to get your ears on them.So, are you willing to put forth a little effort or are you happy sitting in your skeptical poo pile?
http://audiomilitia.proboards.com/ -
Yes, get in on RoadShows to try different IC's. It's worth the time to find the ones that are right for you.
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For speaker wire, hard to beat this price for the Signal Ultra:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?161575-Signal-Ultra-and-Monster-Z2-speaker-cables
