ARC Ref 8 and Transparent Cable Powerlink MM
-- Sun, 02/15/2009 - 02:52
I have recently upgrade my Cd player from ref7 to ref 8 and in the mean time upgrade my turntable from VPI scoutmaster to SME 30/2
due to the long break-in of the Ref8 and almost magical sound of the SME i found my self listening to LPs rather than Cds...
Ref 8 was definetely an improvement over Ref7 (in terms of the soundstage background noise and speed) but over 350 hours of listening i found the Ref8 to be toooo fast...it was so fast that definition in the bottom octaves was disappearing.. in other words cd playback in my system started to sound to thin...
My system consists of ARC ref3 ref8 ref 610ts and Ph7...my disappointment led me to look at other cd player such as esoteric x01-d2 ...
at my hi fi dealer we tested the Ref8 in Krell Evo 400 mono and Krell 202 pre...findings were the same..Ref8 was simply playing tooo fast...
than a miracle happened last night...
I have upgraded my power cords in my system...Shunyata Anaconda Vx and Anacondas went out...came in Transparent Cable Power Link MMs..I have been very satisfied with my Shunyatas since the day I got them (with the V-ray conditioner)...well until last night...
off the shunyatas ....in the Transparents...with their huge network and hard to bend thick cables ,sweat was running through until they fully made their way into the system...and the rest was all history in the making...
first and foremost the bass definition in the system jumped 3 to 4 levels...within the first minute both my dealers and my jaw dropped to the floor mimicing the scene in the movie , the mask. Soundstage was deeper than ever ...it was sooo deep it was spooky ...
but the most interesting and yet shocking thing happened to my CD Player...Ref 8....it went from running ultra fast to relaxed and may be precise...CD player transformed itself into another league...It shocking I know but slowed down..it become ultra transparent and the definition in the bottom octaves was just mind blowing...my fears about the cd player went out of the window and the search for a potential cd replacement was over....
I strongly urge anyone trying the Ref8 to try with Transparents super super power cords...Shunyata VX was good cable...until transparents power cords threw them out the window...shunyatas were like a 6 cylinder merc until the transparents came in much like a bugatti blowing past the merc... One key difference of the power cables is that Shunyatas were forward playing (i.e pushing the music forward) and the transparents throwing a deep deep soundstage to the back of the speakers...
i know transparent is expensive but they make outstanding cables...if not the best in the world...one should not rule out ref 8 cd player before trying the match made in heaven transparent cable power cords...
Thanks for sharing this experience....
It goes to show that digital is much more sensitive than we thought. Now power cords can make or break a player - we could not have said this 5 years ago. The improvements will continue as we (finally) reveal what's on our recordings. And for 16-bit digital, it was a LOT more than we thought......
.
JPH-22
all i can say that i am every bit shocked...if someone would have told me their experiences like i did , most likely i would have said that its impossible or the listening session was under the severe influence of distraction ....say alcohol....I think its the most important upgrade i have done after my SRA stand for the ARC 610ts...
" I think its the most important upgrade i have done after my SRA stand for the ARC 610ts..."
Which model of the SRAs are you using under your 610Ts ?
Nice info. But how about Ref 8 + std factory cord ?
Is it listenable ? I think at least any product should be listenable reasonably well with its own supplied power cable.
"TOGA -- Thu, 02/19/2009 - 12:06 Nice info. But how about Ref 8 + std factory cord ?
Is it listenable ? I think at least any product should be listenable reasonably well with its own supplied power cable."
Reread the first post!
Hi Zeb,
I am using the Ohio Class XL Plus under 610s and highly recommended
Thanks. I've been looking at their products and there's the Ohio XL, then XL+, then XL+2. What's the difference between them and why did you go for the + as opposed to the other models? It doesn't seem that clear from the site, so sorry from bombarding you with these questions.
not a problem...
in fact mine is xl +2...its the thickness rather than anything else between the models...alll are the same but the thickness..not a great picture
but you can see them on here... http://www.lotusconcept.com/cpg/displayimage.php?album=11&pos=4
have you tryed nordost valhalla mains cable wow
i have not tried the valhalla powers but tried the Odin interconnects in my system... and i tend to find the nordost cables to be tooo fast , lack of bass definition and rather on the thin side......not for me at all...
Post new comment