Nuck's interconnects arrived safely today with only one corner of the box slightly crunched in. Inside the brown wrapper was an impressive blue box with magnetic flip top containing Dared Hi-Fi Super Audio Cable with a self description printed on the outside and inside cover "LOW LOSS, HIGH RESOLUTION CABLE FOR IMPROVED AUDIO PERFORMANCE AND VALUE". To which I wonder "Improved over what?" and if they truly retailed for about $599 then I will have to weigh that in when it comes to value as it is costlier than all four sets of interconnects I am using today.
Excerpt from description I found on the web;
A pair of DARED 1.5 meter high-end RCA cables offer an ultimate performance for your audio gears. High-purified OFC as conductor, solid PE or foamed PE as insulation to ensure low inductance and capacitance with lowest loss and high fidelity. 24K Gold-plated copper to lower contact resistance. Conductive PCV brings about coverage up to 100%, with double layer helix structure shield minimizes the circuit interference, and clears up EMI, effectively prevents noises from mechanical vibration and twist. They feature good cohesion of low frequency, superb extract force of intermediate frequency, superior extensibility of high frequency, and bulky and precise dynamics, and neutrality. Truly high-end IC cable for audiophiles and music lovers.
Well for starters, nice packaging, they look decent, better looking than my Audioquest King Cobra's, about as good looking as my Purist Audio Elementa's, but not as good looking as my Tara Labs Air 3 Interconnects.
Tonight I will swap them out with my Purist Audio cables from my CD player into my pre-amp and see if there is any immediate positive impact. Any negative or null impact and I will attribute to the Dared's may be needing a burn in. If so I will move them to my 2nd HT system for a week or two.
If I sense an immediate positive impact I will be busy this weekend, sort of like a mad scientist running experiments in his lab. Not like any of us could relate to that....LOL
I got mine as well and guess what.....they don't fit my Mira 3. Not enough space between the jacks for the plugs...bummer. I had them connected for a minute but...nope thay don't fit. Sorry!
Tomorrow I get my van den Hul "The Orchid" and Gutwire "Basic 2" to try. See what you started Nuck...for shame for shame..lol!
One correction, when I swapped the Purist Audio Elementa's out for the Dared's I immediately realized that they look much better than the Dared's , much better build. However the Dared Interconnects really locked onto my inputs, on both ends, much better than the Elementa's.
I realize that these are brand new cables but out of the box they immediately sounded more open than the Elementa's. My beta test song is Pink Floyd's Pigs, track 3 on Animals. At 9:25 I heard the piano slide wrap back for the first time.
I also noticed more air in the vocals.
Jennifer Warnes vocals were sweeter on "the hunter".
I heard better pace and more transparency on Floyd's DSOM, as the cables were warming up they were getting smoother.
Drums of various variety on Dead Can Dance's "Into The Labyrinth" were as natural as I ever had heard. I have played these things for 4 hours and cannot find fault with them, other than they outshone my cables.
More tests to come. Family is not exactly fond of me right now having to endure 4 hours of my lab work.
Must admit Michael I only had them hooked up for a couple of minutes as I feared for the structural integrity of my amp, but in that minute with my xm radio of all sources they destroyed my Chord Silver Sirens....embarrased them...then again they do retail for more money. Tomorrow I bring in the reinforcements...the moral of the story is that I am now most disenchanted with my Chord interconnects, the Chord speaker cable appears to be quite good. Could Frank be wrong!
I like them too, albeit ignoring the price tag(retail). Art, are the connector bodies too wide for the Mira? That must be a tight fit back there. I had one push-in that was very tight on the back of my little tube amp, and shied away from pushing too hard. Luckily, that is when I saw the directional arrow, which led the tight end into the headphone adapter end of the sound control module on the front of the 'puter. I had no problem installing them downstairs, if anything, one end was not as tight as the others. I mic'd the port on the Rotel 1072, and found a .020" difference in the ports. D'oh!
I have balanced connections for the rest of the kit, so I cannot use a full complement of Dared cables throughout, but I like the space that these IC's display. They replaced a Goertz anniversary cable, and are still there.
Yep the connectors are too big. It's the imaging and overall big sound that I like best. They are not very articulate and in fact are a bit fuzzy...my wife didn't like them. What I noticed was the bass response and imaging. They made the Chord Siver Sirens sound rather dry by comparison. It's a sad tale that they don't fit.....oh well.
"They feature good cohesion of low frequency, superb extract force of intermediate frequency, superior extensibility of high frequency, and bulky and precise dynamics, and neutrality."
I'm not clear on this. Does this mean they allow "bulky dynamics" or disallow such? Can anyone explain what "bulky dynamics" are? Damn those translation programs!
Further comparison of 4 different interconnects left me with the impression that the Chord Company cables that I have do indeed represent good value, especially the Chorus. I'm not sure if the whole comparison was fair as the Chords were paired with their own recommended speaker cable so I will draw no conclusions from it except that I will not be buying any interconnects for a while.
Someone is going to have to help me understand this silliness. I know that I bought good interconnects, the ones I have employed were like fourth generation for me. Gold tipped RCAs, to Nordost Black Knights, to Audioquest King Cobra, to Purist Audio Elementa (CD) with Tara Labs Air 3 (Pre-amp to Amp). The last 2 upgrades courtesy of forum members or dealer recommendations. Life was good, ears were happy, I was happy with my investments having purchased the last 3 listed at 1/2 price.
Then Nuck comes up with this little known, unknown would be a better way of describing it, interconnect which does he buy one of? No, he has to purchase the lot of them so he could send them out for us to "demo". I would like to know when he found the time to come listen to my system. How else could he have known that this "over-hyped" interconnect with PVC mumble jumble from a phantom company would out perform not one, but both of my reasonably decent interconnects? T'ain't fair!
I swapped the Air 3's into the CD - Pre-Amp RCAs and moved the Dared's into the Pre-Amp to Amp RCAs. Tried to demo a couple of songs on the Linn and I end up playing the whole side of every album I queue up. There was only one A / B comparison and we are staying on B.
Figure it would be a waste of time but I switched over to the Apollo. Yep, there too, same two sets of interconnects as a couple a days ago, just swapped where they were in the system, and found a subtle improvement there too, everything is tighter. I do mean subtle and this is not because I have about 12 more hours on the Dared's as I had a friend over today and was playing the Apollo for him earlier.
I know these are subtle changes for most folks but to me it's like squeezing an extra 10 HP out of my stock engine in whatever car that I had owned and set up to go faster. I would spend a lot of money for that ten horsepower.
Everything is just a little bit cleaner, little bit airier, bass more controlled (2-5% maybe, it is all subjective as I haven't a clue how to measure it),sweeter vocals, and a lot tighter.
Between this Dared interconnect, Larry's Insanity Mat* and moving the power plugs on my amps out of the Power Conditioner its like I have to listen to my whole music collection again. Too bad this isn't November and Chicago instead of March and Dallas. I think I may have to put a lock on my media room door. Hmmm, maybe I should think this through or Marsh may put a lock on the other side of the door
I could never have afforded to pay for equipment to give me this kind of audio enhancement so in that respect I am in pig heaven.
Ok Nuck, I am ready for the tab.
Probably should have requested the tab before I posted this.
LOL
* During my extended playing the other night the Insanity Mat disappeared on me. Still hoping it turns up....
Well now I feel like a stupid @#$. Having read Mikes post about hooking them up to the Apollo I knew either he got a different version (yeah right) or I $*@#%$ up when I first tried to connect these. Well as you might have guessed Mike does not have a different version and I just (as in right now) got them hooked up completely and am running them in. They are better than the Silver Sirens and would be an easy replacement for them on the XM but now are they better than the Chord Chorus. As they are not run in yet I can't say. They are justa bit edgier on top but have better imaging. Testing has just begun but the Chorus is ahead by just a neck. The Sirens have been defaeted. I first tried them after work last week and must have been quite tired as I have no other explanation as to why I couldn't make them fit...not even scotch that night.
I hooked up the Dared's and was disturbed as all the charcteristics that so impressed me with the brief audition the other day...were replaced with strange sounding bass and harsh highs...oops I thought sure I had the directional arrows going the right way...nope. Now I do and it sounds very nice. Played them the wrong way for about 45 minutes...anybody know if that's bad?
It don't matter Art, jut the end that is shielded. Following the arrows puts the ground at the source, which I prefer. I hope you like them, they are yours to keep.
And if they suck, well it's your problem now, haha. Please post your comments, it will not bother me. If anybody posts something not true, like tossing a bone, now THAT would bother me.
For what it's worth, here's my assessment of the cables Nuck sent out. They're very good and should suit many systems to a "T".
They are:
Solid state rather than tubes. Krell rather than Conrad Johnson. Dynavector rather than Koetsu. Shure rather than Grado. Jackson Brown not Dylan. British blues instead of John Lee Hooker. Thiel not Quad. Three way rather than Lowther. Push pull rather than single ended. Pentode rather than triode. Camry rather than Accord. Australian Syraz/Merlot not Chianti Classico. Mondrian not Picasso. Mozart not Bach.
Ah the weekend is here and so is time for critical listening. The more I listen tonight the more I sort of agree. Although a spitter vs pure movement of the ball almost seems reverse of your previous observations. But what do I know. I like the heavy sound of the Dareds but vocals lose there articulation. Dareds have the big soundstage and very natural instruments but vocals suffer pretty badly. More listening to be done. Hmmm....
All Dawgs: May I humbly remind y'all that for the first time, the Silver Serpent cables are all on sale at BetterCables web site. Pretty good sale - if you want to diss your $400 cables for cheaper kit! (grin)
"Although a spitter vs pure movement of the ball almost seems reverse of your previous observations."
Not so much what they threw, how they threw. Though I think the spitter vs. purity is still somewhat appropriate. Koufax moved through a game with plan from beginning to end that virtually never varied. Watching him pitch was watching a rerun of Gunsmoke every game. His plan was to get to the end of the game by plotting each inning. Gibson moved through a game with an overarching plan that was considered with every next pitch. The inning was made up of consecutive throws with each being built upon the previous and the next pitch. There were dynamics to his game plan that Koufax never considered because Sandy was too polite and meticulous to brush somebody back with a 97 M.P.H. fastball under their chin. Twice!
No, that's the wrong word, Koufax was too pure. He would finesse his way out of a jam. He relied on his control and speed. Gibson lived on the edge and sometimes he lost the gamble. Other than a knuckler - at 84 M.P.H.! , what's more dangerous than a spitter aimed at your head when the bases are loaded? Koufax and Wills vs. Gibson and Flood. That's these cables vs. what I'm using right now. Koufax was pure like Marshall Dillon was pure. Don't get me wrong, I can sit and watch a couple hours of Gunsmoke on TVLand and enjoy the moral purity of the story line - again an overarching plot that leads inning by inning to the end. But give me the choice of half an hour with Have Gun Will Travel's tempetuous relative moralism, and Palladin wins every time over Festus and Doc in the Longbranch. Palladin also lived on the edge when need be and chose his assignments based on their interest, intensity and thrill, not out of any sense of pure duty. Dillon was the hired gun turned Marshall because of his skills and steadfast demeanor. "Have gun will travel" read the card of the man who remained the hired gun and he was as likely to let the villain go with a moral undercutting as he was to shoot them. Or, he might turn the woman over to the authorities or leave her to walk out of the desert with no shoes and no water. Palladin lived by the "purity" of his own code of ethics but they weren't the same as Dillon's. You never quite knew what was going to happen next with Palladin and you always knew the plot line of Gunsmoke. Matt was not so much predictable as pure. There weren't many surprises with Dillon.
The perfect shiraz/merlot you can have with roast turkey rather than the adventuresome Chianti that demands food of the most flavorful kind rather than the most perfect. John Wayne in Fort Appache not Wayne in The Searchers. Wayne in Stagecoach not Rooster Cogburn. 1960's Superman vs. 1960's Spiderman. Reed Richards not The Thing. Batman vs The Dark Knight. Clooney's simple clarity (too harsh, mostly just poor script) rather than Micheal Keaton's hero. Tony Bennet always hitting the right note, right inflection and right intensity vs. Sinatra finding it all as he went along. Mike Medano vs. Bobby Hull. Italian soccer instead of what the N.H.L. has become. (As much as I like him) Elvis rather than The Killer. Fats Domino vs. Little Richard. Randy Travis vs. George Jones. Close mic'd vs. the Decca tree.
Which is something I don't get with these cables. All the instruments sound like the mic has been moved a bit closer. They even sound a bit louder through these cables. But they all have a leko spotlighting them and not a smoke filled PAR can. It's what you want from your system and the Dared cables should suit any system and make it sound good - exceptional in some cases. Sometimes I just wish they were a bit more of a spitter under the chin with a man on third.
I have made a major cable purchase for my Mira 3 to Apollo connection. I traded in my Chord Chorus for a set of van den Hul "Orchid" interconnects and Mainserver power chord. Absolutely amazing resolution without a hint brightness.
Great cable, soundly drubbed the Dared in a head to head. The Dared's will be with the XM for now.
Will use a Naim power cord for the Mira 3 until I can afford a van den Hul Mainstream power cord for it.
Meanwhile the Chord Rumour 4 appears to be working well for now but will likely be replaced eventually with van den Hul.
Still experimenting with Quantum Symphony Pro, seems too much to me so tomorrow will pick up the smaller model Symphony and give it a run.
JAN: Uh, how about "Still Life with Ginger Pot," or "Broadway Boogie-Woogie." Both by Piet Mondrian - I could go on. . .
Art: Interesting - and thanks for the responses elsewhere, sir!
Late this afternoon - following the Met opera and dinner, "Jon" called and we discussed my angst over sound qualityl. Seems that he's much more informed than I originally thought - being somewhat turned off by his appearance. We talked about cable brightness, and he explained "high-pass filters" to me, and how the newer cables with copper wire coated with silver defeats, in his opinion, the clarity of good cable. He put me onto some articles on the subject, and in the end I realize that he's right, in my case - the silver-coated copper cable became a sound nightmare in my system. As to Jerry - well, he's keeping the Kimbers, on Jon's orders, I guess. Heck, he can't tell the difference, anyway.
This evening, the SS digital cable is still smooth as silk, and working wonderfully. As are the Blue Jeans analog interconnects. Sigh. Next stop - maybe - Signal Cables, with their promise of smooth highs and warm lower register. I await a response from their owner. . .
The SS analog cables now have a return stamp, and will be sent back on Monday.
Amazing the lessons I learn - mostly the hard way.
2 Sets of Dared Intreconnects is expotentially better than one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One set of Dared ICs is still limited by whatever other IC you have in the equation, for a CD to Pre-Amp to Amp configuration such as mine. So unless you used the Dareds from a CD player to an Integrated Amp or headphones off of your Pre-Amp you really really cannot know.
Forget about it. Soundstage, the Dared ICs huffed an puffed and blew it up so much bigger, 2 feet higher and deeper, speakers have completely disappeared, wall to wall sound. Layers of music, echoes, distortion, back up vocals off mike never heard before. Gotta get a lock for this media room door cause if this was Friday I would of gotten a hotel room from the rest of the family for tonight and tomorrow, bought a couple of bottles of Single Malt Scotch and about 4 frozen pizzas.
EVERYTHING IS BETTER, MORE ALIVE, LIFE LIKE, CRYSTAL CLEAR
Not the most articulate review but decidedly accurate.
Jan, et al: Sorry - this has been "a day." Washer broke whilst washing, and a faucet in the bathroom not only sprang a leak, but broke apart in my hands as I was trying to fix it. Sigh. Big martini night. . .
I've ordered new Belden 89259 interconnects from Blue Jeans Cables - with Canare gold connectors. $38 for two feet - a real bargain! I really love this company - they answer questions pronto, and are willing to take on any challenge.
As to the high pass filter - sigh - I had a good link to an article, but simply lost it. Will try to retrieve it after I get the washer fixed and a new faucet. So goes the ole CD budget. . . . double sigh.
"I've ordered new Belden 89259 interconnects from Blue Jeans Cables ... "
If you subscribe to the idea Bob Wills, Buddy Holly and early Beatles should only be played back through tubes and Alnico magnet speakers, you're on the right track, Larry.
No insult, just a comment. Some folks do think that way. And Belden is what was probably used in most recordings. We are not communicating very well, Larry.
Jan: OK, let's try again. Are you saying that the Belden cable is passe' or old-fashioned, out-of-mode, etc?
Belden still makes excellent product - although many super-fi people swear by their thousand-buck-per-foot stuff as "better." If you can hear it, fine, etc.
So - in order to communicate better, I've gotta figure out what you're saying, Jan! I'm trying. . .
Belden is excellent cable and has been a studio standard for generations. It was very likely the cable of choice for Bob Wills', Buddy Holly's and early Beatles recording sessions. One of the DIY interconnects considered "best" at this time is based on Belden cable.
Any cable is subject to "taste" and is a clearly a subjective choice. Whether Belden is the best cable for the dollar is as questionable and defensible as any other cable. On the face of it I see no reason why Belden wouldn't make an excellent choice based strictly on electrical parameters. If you feel cables do "sound" different, then it's up to you to decide whether the Belden sonics are to your taste.
Jan: As you know, a long time ago, Mer and I did a most unscientific "cable shootout," but that was before our current gear - so it might well be different now.
Currently, Mer and I were quite upset with the Silver Serpent analog cable - thought it much too bright and a bit screehy - while we both love the SS digital cable! Go figger.
In comparing the SS analog with my current Blue Jeans/Belden cables, the Belden is much smoother and if I may say so, "refined" in sound quality.
After reading so much about the 89259, and hearing Verne rave about it for recording work, well, I took a chance and ordered some.
Nice thing about Blue Jeans is that they don't charge you arm-and-leg for their stuff.
Will post any and all differences when the cables arrive.
Subjective? You bet. Just read ANY stereo forum to find that out, as I have.
All I'm trying to do, Jan, is to get some decent MUSIC through my admittedly low-level system.
Interesting, on another thread, people are talking about Carver gear. Had some, and if I could afford it again, I'd have it in an instant. For me (note clarifier) it was the best gear I ever heard.
Well - back to installing a faucet. Makes one humble, stuck under the basin with crud falling in one's face. Yep. . .
The Carver gear has its own sound just as Jan was saying about the Belden cables having its sound characteristics too. I have a refurbished Carver M-4.0t in my "A" system running the Gallos and to me its a marriage made in heaven. I sense that the Gallos love a high powered amp and the Carver has plenty to offer. The Dared ICs do the best job in my experience in bringing the source material to the Carver. I can't say its the "Carver" sound I like any more than I can say its any other component or connector in my system. I truly enjoy the sound of my "system".
I actually bought 3 Carver amps, a M-1.5T and two M-4.0t amps, a Carver 4000T Pre-Amp, Model TX-11 Tuner, 2 DCM Time Window 3 Speakers, among other items, $700 for everything. Helped an old friend get her garage sale started as I really did not think I would really use this equipment. Then I got some excellent advice from our forum brethren and had one of my Carvers refurbished for less than $250.
Michael: You make me drool, my friend. I know that a lot of people would argue, but for me, the Carver gear gave me absolutely top-flight sound - very clean and warm.
I found the Carver excellent for classical music, which is about 75% of my listening. Sigh. Maybe someday. . .
Hey all. I've been listening to a pair of Nuck's Dared interconnects for about 2 weeks now. Don't kill me, but...
I don't hear any difference between them and my Audioquest King Cobras. This has to be due to one or more of the following -
My CD player sucks. It just celebrated its 10 anniversary this month. Manufactured in March 1997, according to the sticker on the back.
My phono pre-amp sucks. Actually, my NAD PP2 isn't bad per se, its just not very good either.
The rest of my gear isn't up to par. The Dareds retail for more than most of my gear. Only my speakers and turntable retail for more. My turntable's only got $50 on it though.
My room acoustics are horrible. A local Naim dealer dropped by one afternoon on his way back from an install in my area. When asked his opinion about a Naim system in my room and what can I do to make the room better, he simply smiled and said "a good set of headphones." If I owned the apartment, I'd invest in lomg term acoustic treatments.
Even through my headphones I can't definitively tell the difference between the interconnects. However, I could tell a night and day difference between the old Monster interconnects I used and the King Cobras, so I'm not saying that all cables sound the same. I'm saying that my CD player and phono pre-amp are the limiting factors at the present moment. They've achieved all they're capable of achieving.
Also, I'm probably the only idiot who learned the hard way, but if you're having problems with the RCA ends being too loose or too tight like I was having, I found a solution - The caps over the wire adjust the tightness of the connector. Loosen it and the RCA will go in easier. Tighten it and it'll stay. I had one that wouldn't go in no matter how much I fought with it, and one that wouldn't stay on. I somehow figured out that the tightness could be adjusted. Is this true of most high end RCAs, or are these an anomaly? I don't call myself Stu Pitt for nothing.
Michael,
My King Cobras are somewhat loose. Do the small screws on the sides of the connectors adjust their tightness? This just dawned on me now. Remember, I'm a little slow.
. This method of clamping is true of most locking RCA plugs. The Cobras should have similar plugs. The small set screw on the top of the connector is used to clamp down on the outer dielectric and should have no affect on the tightness of fit around the jack of the RCA connector. This is how AQ has built their cables in the past. If things have changed, there might be more pertinent information coming.
Stu, thanks for doing the trial, and for the input. There may, indeed be no sonic difference in these cables and your King Cobras at all. On your gear or any other, either!
Oh and Happy Anniversary to you and your cdp, I will mark it on my calender for next year, LOL!
I should have mentioned the lock, sorry about that.
Mike owns King Cobras and while he didn't explicitly say that the Dareds are better, he certainly implied it. I think its safe to say its my gear and room that aren't up to snuff.
The Dared's are just different, like Jan pointed out, I think. Stu, your previous testing and reporting show a balanced sensible approach and a good result, likely the best you could hope for. And at a very good price, to boot.
Well done.
I sent mail, did yo see it? Mike's email keeps kicking back at me.
I had moved the King Cobras to my Tuner to Pre-Amp connection as I thought both the Purist Audio and Tara Labss provided a marginally better sound. When I got the King Cobras they did a wonderful job of quieting my fatiguing sound I had when I had a SS pre-amp. The NAD M3 I heard was very warm and natural sounding so I do not think fatigue is a factor with your system in any way.
When I demoed the Rega Saturn through a NAD M3 and Magnapans it did not have the energy / force that I feel with my system. I suspect that my set up maps well with the Dared ICs as there is more detail within the framework of a sound I prefer.
I recall that using my Creek 5350 SE for a SS pre-amp with my Carver as over the top for me. Swapping to the tube pre-amp afforded me what I mean by "within the framework of a sound I prefer". With the tube pre-amp I get a warmer, not in your face presentation than I did with the Creek, but with the Dared ICs I get the same level of detail as I had with the SS pre-amp. I suppose one could say I am having my cake and eating it too as I was willing to give up a certain level of detail so by my going with the Rogue Magnum 99 I chose warmth over detail. The Dareds have returned that detail.
What I cannot explain is how I could have that level of detail with 2 generations removed cables that I dismissed with my upgrades only to not have it when I changed from SS to tube pre-amp.
How would the Dared ICs sound with the Creek? Probably awful I'm thinking.
I am not at the level or ability with electronics as some of Larry's buddies or Nuck, Jan, and a number of other forum members so my inferences are borne out of a logical assessment of my experiences. The Dared ICs, 2 sets, are a remarkable addition to my set up;
- In that they replaced ICs that replaced ICs that I thought were too fatiguing and provided too much detail in a previous system. - The original replacement ICs resulted in a trade off of detail for "warmth" and an "easiness" to my listening. - The Dared ICs restored the detail while keeping the "warmth" and "easiness" in listening. - Any other ICs in the signal path will impose its characteristics on the sound thereby potentially negating the integrity of the performance the Dared ICs offer.
Lastly, the Dared ICs work for me. Someone else may be able to write this exact same post substituting "Blue Jeans", "Chord", "Tara Labs", or whichever ICs that they employ.
Lastly, the Dared ICs work for me. Someone else may be able to write this exact same post substituting "Blue Jeans", "Chord", "Tara Labs", or whichever ICs that they employ.
And there's the rub. Getting to try them all is a challenge. Mike, I missed the '2 sets' bit. You got a pair from Jan, then?
I don't want to hijack the thread here, but I am going to buy a new Rotel cdp and the dealer is surely going to push some Mogami IC's at me. Is there anything glaringly wrong with Mogami that would make me pass on these and go for something else? The Dared's seem to be getting a decent review here and I respect the opinions here enough to go right to them.....then again, the upgrade in the deck from my 6-disc Onkyo changer- the cutesy ic's bundled up nicely in the box will sound light years away from my current setup I'm sure.
"Lastly, the Dared ICs work for me. Someone else may be able to write this exact same post substituting "Blue Jeans", "Chord", "Tara Labs", or whichever ICs that they employ."
Sorry Joseph, I haven't read this thread for a little while.
Audioquest's site isn't easy to navigate. The differences I was able to get between the Diamondback and King Cobra are the King Cobra uses three 21 gauge wires, the Diamondback uses three 22 gauge; the King Cobra uses a 22 gauge silver plated copper "drain wire," whereas the Diamondback uses an unplated copper "drain wire."
What this means in terms of sonic differences, I don't know. I haven't heard the Diamondback. I was going to try them out when I got the King Cobra and Copperhead (I returned the Copperhead), but the only Diamondback they had left was 3 meters, and therefore almost double the price of the King Cobra.
I can't imagine them sounding too different from each other. It wouldn't be enough for me to dump the Diamondback to try out the King Cobra. But that's just me.
I'd be intersted in hearing what you come up with. The $100 price tag on the 1 meter patch cord gives me the shakes, but the dealer said he'd take it back if I didn't like it. And I'm hoping to listen to the Kimber next to the Dared's and a pair of Mogami. I'm sure I'm going to hear a difference...I just don't know which I'll end up buying. I've never had the luxury of listening to several different brands in a blind taste test at home.
If you don't give the Kimber's at least 100-150 hrs before you start to judge them you will be sorry. They sound awful right out of the package but have improved immensely in just one day. Another friend who owns them said 200 hrs minimum to get the goody out of them and I believe it. The Dared's will sound full and rich out of the box and then you will realize that you are missing some of the details, it may be worth it but it just depends on the listener.
Art - I do not understand how the Dared ICs had such different mannerisms in your set up. You had indicated poor vocals, now missing details. I find the vocals with more enriching inflections, depth, and realism. The detail I am getting from my Dared ICs rivals that what I had when I used a SS pre-amp, the Creek 5350 SE, but now it is not fatiguing, in fact maintaining the warmth of the Rogue tube pre-amp.
I suppose Frank or Jan may be able to explain such diverse experiences in two different systems for the same cable. It is intriguing to me that this can occur. Is it the differences in the combined electronics of our systems that creates these sonic anamolies?
I came to this forum looking for opinions on a speaker. First it was new separates......Now I'm listening for the "speed" of my new cd player with these fancy a** cables I could never afford trying to figure out what's more up front, the bass or the drums- are the background vocals more "airy"- pentode or triode.
I'm just glad I wasn't around for the insanity mat insanity.
Seeing as how I've contributed to your recent declining bank balance and children's decrease in inheritance, I've got a very inexpensive tweak for you -
Have you tried cleaning your CDs with Pledge Multi Surface? Its a great improvement, believe it or not.
hehehe...Stu, I didn't want to get involved with the whole buffing my cd's with carnuba wax and trimming out with Armour All. I was going to hold that level of "tweaking" until I got the gear and cables and stuff straightened out. But now that you mention it, I will give it a shot.
I keep saying this. Some day I'll mean it. I think I'll just sit back and coast.
And don't worry about the bank account- I'm gonna go to Vegas later this month and get the money back.
"Art - I do not understand how the Dared ICs had such different mannerisms in your set up. You had indicated poor vocals, now missing details. I find the vocals with more enriching inflections, depth, and realism."
Probably because the cables we are comparing them to are different.
Stryvn et al: Chuckles all 'round on the Insanity Mat experiment. I did it as both joke and experiment - being retired is pretty boring! (grin) But what I've found, to my amazement and amusement, is that the mats really do make a difference on some CDs! This is mostly true for old CDs - made before about 1987, when production became much more controlled. An old string quartet CD is strident without the mat, while with it the overtones somehow settle down. Can't explain it. . .
You would not recognize Bradenton these days. As with all of West Flawed-duh! it is exploding in population, and the roads are crowded. Not yet as bad as Orlando - but catching up.
Catch my latest post on Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks under Audio - and you'll see that the "clean the disc" argument continues.
BTW - the Pledge does a good job of cleaning CDs, and is cheap! Just be sure NOT to use Pledge for wood!
Larry, I've been watching the other threads as well. Your experiments save me time and money- Thanks. And I admire your enthusiasm. :-)
I'll be picking up some Pledge next time I make it into town.
I have a sister that lives in south Sarasota and works on Siesta Key now but I haven't been down there in some time. I plan on making the trek back down next summer.
Stryvn - I like best your unspoken comment: "and they save my sanity as well." Yep?
Well, sir, as all the Dawgs can attest to, I've been around the block and by hundreds of hydrants without missing one - yet!
So - I'll leave Art to his cable-spaghetti, and I'll continue on with - believe it or not - my "music!" Huh? Music, not mats? Incredible!
burned out - that's me. I'm ordering all sorts of new CDs and DVDs and building up my library of classical, jazz and opera. The rig is "good enough" at this point, and unless Mer unleashes a torrent of cash, there'll be no CD player upgrade in the near future.
Stryvn, you won't recognize Sarasota - BIG building boom going on downtown, and the bums and drug pushers are being, well, pushed out. Things are changing for the better - and my beloved Opera House is undergoing a 22-million-dollar renovation.
We're supposed to get BIG STORMS this summer, so if you're coming down - watch the Weather Channel often. Meanwhile, we're in the worst drought in Flawed-duh! history. Sigh.
I really considered the apollo here. But I have multiple sources, and have a higher purpose. I want new speakers. The Psb silver stratus have been run through, and have done everything I have asked, but a change of pace is in order.
But less than 2000cdn.Out the door, delivered to my room, with some advise along the way.
! Sincerely, thanks Nuck.