Movin' on up...

Well, Santa is going to be good to me this year. He's getting me one hell of a nice gift. Some of you know or have read that I recently have gotten some Transparent interconnects. It all started after I purchased a "spare" Musical Fidelity AC3r amplifier [to temporarily give me sound until the two Anthem1's I had were repaired] that ended up becoming the main amplifier in the rig as soon as I put it in [yes, it's that good]. I didn't like the sound I was getting due to the synergy being altered and I knew I could do better, so I went through my entire box of interconnects to find the best ones for the application. Out of what I had, a pair of AQ Sidewinders and a Wire world something or other fit the bill.....but something was still missing. So, I went on a warpath to find other options because what I had just didn't quite cut it anymore.

Man, did I ever blindly luck out. I ended up purchasing a used pair of Transparent Music Link Plus interconnects and tried them out. Wow! Out of all of the IC's I have [over 30 pair], these sounded the best. I'm thinkin' to myself that I'm done and I do not have to start wasting money on other IC's to find what it is that I'm looking for. Well, time marches on and I'm finding things that I'd like to improve upon so I set about to tweaking every possible aspect of the rig. After moving the speakers back to the optimal position and adjusting everything I possibly could, I still found myself wanting more. Time to raise the bar.

Since I was very pleased with the Transparent IC, I decided to see what I could find if I moved up the lineup. I was able to find a set of Transparent Music Link Ultras for less than $500.00 delivered to my door. These were my most expensive cables to date but now I could use Transparent IC's from the pre to the amp and from the CDP to the pre. Hoping that they would sound decent in my rig and praying that I hadn't made a mistake, I tried them out.

I was floored, absolutely floored at how well the synergy in my rig came together when I put them in. Many of the gripes I had with the reproduction across the spectrum were simply gone and the one thing that improved upon the most? The bass. There was more but this time with less. Allow me to explain that. The bass extension improved to my absolute astonishment going lower than I have ever heard my rig go before. I'm not talking about kick drums or anything like that, I'm talking a lower level detail and extension that I never even knew existed...and I do mean LOoooooow, so low that the subs have for the most part been off since I got them. In fact, the only time they have really been on is during certain poorly recorded albums or when watching movies. What a wonderful treat!

Now what I mean by less bass is something I haven't been able to shake with any setup since moving the rig downstairs. That being the overloading and overpondering of the bass/midbass. I have never put up with boom at the bottom and for the most part, my rig scored well on this aspect compared to most other systems I have heard but this was something that I had just assumed was a room interaction and acoustical problem that I just had to deal with until I got a dedicated audio room again. I couldn't have been more wrong. I don't know how just one IC can do this but all of that is part of the past now. It doesn't matter what is played or whether it's a poorly recorded album or a reference album, there is no overloading of the lower registers whatsoever until I reach a volume level that comes close to reaching concert levels. Talk about enjoyment in listening! I can now enjoy albums at pretty much whatever volume level I want with no fear or retribution of overloading the room.

Well since Transparent has hit two for two in my rig, bringing me to the next level, and even though I feel I don't need anything else because of the pure musical bliss I'm experiencing? I'm curious to see if there is anything else my rig can offer. So, Santa has found a seller that has Transparent Reference IC with the original-MM technology and RSE1 locking ends that I was able to get a great price on. Holy crap, this is one hell of a step up in price but just based upon my experience with the synergy of the Transparent lineup within my rig, I do not think I will be disappointed.

When I upgraded my ic's and speaker cables my bass went from good to outstanding. Deep, tight and controlled. Extremely musical.

I currently have IC's that were not cheap that change just about any and all aspects of the reproduction. Not all of them improved the bass, some took it away to where you had to almost strain to hear it and there are some others that bloated the bass so damned bad, they only lasted about 5 minutes in the rig. Then you have the differences in the imaging. Some have the 2D sound stage, some lower the sound stage and others are well rounded when it comes to imaging. None of the ones I have image like the two Transparent IC's I have. When it comes to the mids and top end, seemingly every IC changes. The silver cables can tend to be bright [confused for "detail"] but I have one silver IC that F'd the top end up so bad that I can't understand why they get good reviews. That same cable made the bass seemingly just disappear altogether. The stranded copper IC's usually topped what sounded the best in my various rigs over the years, no matter the brand.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that not all upgrades are particularly a good one. I have hit a home run with the last two upgrades to the rig. I wish myself luck on hitting another one! If it raises the bar once again, I will be getting another one just like it so I can have them from the source > pre and pre > amplifier. If that raises the bar even more, I'll be selling every damned extra IC I have just sitting in a box to fund the purchase of some Transparent speaker cables. Heck, they might even start up a trade in program again, check out what they did earlier on this year...



If only I had known then what I know now ....

With research, dealer demos, and good old fashioned dumb luck my cable adventures have gone well. I have pretty much been able to extract more from my system without loss. Right now I'm a very happy camper.

That's great to hear! If you don't mind me asking, what have you found that works well in your rig, Snoop?

That's great to hear! If you don't mind me asking, what have you found that works well in your rig, Snoop?

Audioquest Columbia 72v DBS interconnects (XLR termination between the amp and preamp rca everywhere else) Audioquest Sidewinder interconnect between my tuner and preamp, Audioquest Gibraltar 72v DBS single bi-wire speaker cables, and 2 PS Audio Prelude power cables for the Lightstar Reference power amp. I don't recall reading on the forum about you rolling tubes. I think it is something you should consider if you haven't. NOS tubes can work wonders!

I am currently using a full compliment of 12AX7 Ei Gold pin's in both the Jolida and the Dodd [6 total]. I have different tubes and I have tried them but I kept going back to these. Tube rolling will e done in the future but I like the sound so much out of these tubes that I will be designing the rig around these tubes until I feel I have reached as close to my goal as I can get. I'm not too far off now, just need to get some things done before I re-explore that aspect.

One of the tube suppliers I use will let me buy the tube, try it out in my rig and if I don't like them, I can return them and try something else so it's not like I'm not rolling for fear of losing money. It's that I'd like to take my rig the the next level and beyond before I go rolling tubes again. With the recent discoveries and blind luck, hopefully this leap will help to take me there. Baby steps, you know.

I am currently using a full compliment of 12AX7 Ei Gold pin's in both the Jolida and the Dodd [6 total]. I have different tubes and I have tried them but I kept going back to these. Tube rolling will e done in the future but I like the sound so much out of these tubes that I will be designing the rig around these tubes until I feel I have reached as close to my goal as I can get. I'm not too far off now, just need to get some things done before I re-explore that aspect.

One of the tube suppliers I use will let me buy the tube, try it out in my rig and if I don't like them, I can return them and try something else so it's not like I'm not rolling for fear of losing money. It's that I'd like to take my rig the the next level and beyond before I go rolling tubes again. With the recent discoveries and blind luck, hopefully this leap will help to take me there. Baby steps, you know.

Try some Telefunken smooth plate 12AX7's. Chauss introduced me to them. Fantastic tube! If you like more warmth you can go with NOS Mullard 12AX7's (Chauss again!!!), RCA long black plate 12AX7's (may require tube dampers) and if you have enough gain in your pre my favorite GE five star black plate triple mica 5751's.

I am about to try a pair of these 5751's you speak of Snoop!

I am about to try a pair of these 5751's you speak of Snoop!

I have to thank our recovering forum brother BillD for introducing me to the black plate 5751's. Hurry up back BillD!!!!

Well, just to give you all an update...they should arrive this Friday. Damn, I hope they are worth it....

BTW, Chauss....that song was was going through my head when I titled this thread.

The IC's have arrived. They actually arrived Thursday but I didn't have a chance to put them in until today. You can expect a long and in depth review of these in about a week or two. I sat down to listen to a song off Pink Floyd's The Wall album and ended up accidentally hitting play, instead of the song I wanted to audition. I'll put it to you this way...I only got up once to put the 2nd disc in. Listened to both CD's from start to finish in their entirety and learned quite a bit.

More on that later. To sum up my initial impressions? Musical.

Enjoy buddy!
And ...Happy New Years to you and yours!!! Be safe everybody~

Cheers!~

Glad to hear that you finally figured out cables sound different .