Audioquest Leopard Phono Cable
Joey_V
Posts: 8,552
So this arrived yesterday and I put it through its paces.
Against stock.
Now, I haven’t compared any other cable against stock on the Zesto Andros 1.2, but I have compared stock against a wireworld gold rca, and I very much liked the ww rca.
I had high hopes for this unit, given its all silver and is 2 below their wel phono.
Have more thoughts to pen together. Will listen again to make sure.
Against stock.
Now, I haven’t compared any other cable against stock on the Zesto Andros 1.2, but I have compared stock against a wireworld gold rca, and I very much liked the ww rca.
I had high hopes for this unit, given its all silver and is 2 below their wel phono.
Have more thoughts to pen together. Will listen again to make sure.
Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
Comments
-
You know. I am just now getting back into audio. Forgot more than I have learned through the years.
Are those jumper cables? Hehehe
halen -
In with 33 Joey!
-
Were these new, or had they already been broken in?
But those WW are pretty good the few times I’ve heard them, so maybe worth just sticking with them.Analog: MoFi MasterTracker > MoFi UltraDeck > Sutherland 20/20
Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Arcam rHead > Hifiman HE4XX
Discogs -
So far, after some preliminary listening - my opinion is mixed.
But let me get this out of the way: there is no way you can say that cables don't make a difference, the moment I put these in the system, I was surprised by how much louder my system felt at the same volume # on the ARC Ref 40 preamp.
Mixed opinion:
1. lower noise floor
2. not bright, but it seems clearer.
3. less meat on the bone. This is the one fall out for me.
Prelim experience - picture Dean Martin "I'm confessin' ", atleast on LP playback via Avenger Reference/Lyra Etna/Andros 1.2 phono into ARC Ref 40 and into Boulder.... with the stock cable, you can hear his chest in addition to his mouth. With the Leopard, you hear less of the chest, more of the mouth which gives me a "net" soundstage shift upwards of approximately 6 inches.
Anyone who has heard my system knows that I don't like tall imaging because I don't like the viewpoint where I am front row looking up on the stage, I would rather be in a small club at floorlevel with the performers.
More research needs to be done in the lab. But so far, I am not impressed.Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
displayname wrote: »Were these new, or had they already been broken in?
But those WW are pretty good the few times I’ve heard them, so maybe worth just sticking with them.
I have the receipt from Upscale, looks like 9/2017.Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
fwiw I read a review last night after your initial post where the reviewer stressed the importance of breakin and he said that breakin would take forever with the small voltages from a turntable so he used a breakin device that used 1,000's x more current. He had very favorable things to say. Unfortunately he didn't test them prior to breaking them in.
Found the review:
http://www.10audio.com/audioquest_leopard.htm
"One other item before we take a listen. Break-in. How do you break-in a phono cable? According to Audioquest’s Joe Harley, the tiny voltage from cartridges will never fully break in a phono cable. He suggested that assuring proper break-in was a benefit of the DBS system. Just to be sure, I temporarily installed small wire jumpers in the JIS plug to connect the left and right leads, and then connected one RCA to an audio frequency sweep generator and the other RCA to a 47k Ohm resistor installed in a female RCA jack. The generator puts out 7.5 Volts, or about 15,000 times the voltage of my low output moving coil cartridges. I let it cook for over 200 hours before installing the LeoPard in the system. This is roughly equivalent to playing 9,000,000 record sides, or living in analog bliss for 3,000,000 hours. And you thought you would never use math after graduation! (Q: How many years is that? ...A: 342.47 years.)"George / NJ
Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
Onkyo A-8017 integrated
Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
iFi nano iDSD DAC
iPurifier3
iDefender w/ iPower PS
Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform -
always fun to drop in a cheapo control cable...Speakers: Polk Lsim, ATC SCM19 v2, NHT SuperzeroSpeaker Cables: DH Labs, Transparent, Wireworld, Canare, Monster: Beer budget, Bose ears
-
don't just start and stop at audioquest, here are a few i pulled from audiogon. https://www.audiogon.com/listings?q=phono+cablesAmplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
Puritan PSM156 -
don't just start and stop at audioquest, here are a few i pulled from audiogon. https://www.audiogon.com/listings?q=phono+cables
Yeah there’s not much to choose from
Dealer called me and asked if I was interested in Audience Frontrow
He was like it’s $3,300 retail.
I was like ehhh...Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
don't just start and stop at audioquest, here are a few i pulled from audiogon. https://www.audiogon.com/listings?q=phono+cables
Yeah there’s not much to choose from
Dealer called me and asked if I was interested in Audience Frontrow
He was like it’s $3,300 retail.
I was like ehhh...
So when will it arrive at your place Analog: MoFi MasterTracker > MoFi UltraDeck > Sutherland 20/20
Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Arcam rHead > Hifiman HE4XX
Discogs -
displayname wrote: »don't just start and stop at audioquest, here are a few i pulled from audiogon. https://www.audiogon.com/listings?q=phono+cables
Yeah there’s not much to choose from
Dealer called me and asked if I was interested in Audience Frontrow
He was like it’s $3,300 retail.
I was like ehhh...
So when will it arrive at your place
Hahaha... I dunno about that.
It's not like I'm disappointed with my current sound. I could live like this for a while.
Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
