Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[Barry]

New interconnects.
I bought these on an eBay whim, as one does, and they arrived today.
I have to say that these and my new Vincent amp are a match made in heaven.
My Black Cat cables were a bit edge of the seat with the Vincent, although they worked very nicely with my previous Trigon monoblocks.

Anyway, I'd never heard of these before - Esoteric Audio USA, AIR-LITZ Technology 1.

Anyone come across these before?

They look exactly like the cables I used to knock out for about £10 a pair!

[User211]

I can't stop listening to this f&#!ing amp.

Nomad states it is well ordered.

Drag me away from it. Normal life functions need to occur.

[User211]

So Jerry came round yesterday and is allowing me to keep the Luxman.

He said he thought my system had totally changed, which I found interesting. He hadn't heard it for a good while.

Reasons are probably my crossover customisation (all me), DAC rebuild and the Luxman. None of which he had heard before. All three is a massive cumulative effect.

I'm kind of miffed Tom (montesquieu) didn't hear it this way because with a decent DAC and the Luxman it is a far cry from what he witnessed. But hey. Tis the way of things.

[jandl100]

Hmm, yes, not seen you in a while.
You're a lot greyer.
I'm a fair bit balder.
Both still as daft as ever.
So it goes.

Wow - that Lux is a big lump. Very pretty.
And yes, your system sound has changed hugely in some ways, not so much in other ways.

It's still HUGELY dynamic. Massive slam, seemingly starts and stops instantaneously at any dynamic level.
No change there.

But ... it's no longer so much inyerface. The detail and presence are still there, it's just not rammed down your gullet in the way it used to be. Pleasanter. "Nice" as Justin put it. Lots more niceness than there used to be.

And the 'old' amps are still there - Accuphase A/B solid state and 211 valve monos. He just needs a big class D amp for a full set.

In my view, it's still not ideally suited to classical music. There's no reason why it should be, Justin's interest in classical is as near to absolute zero as current cryogenic technology can get.
But imo it's a bit lean, a bit thin in the upper bass and lower mids for classical. It sounds simply awesome on electronic and rock, classical needs a bit more warmth and bloom imo.

Justin has threatened to visit chez-moi - primarily I suspect to diss my interior decor (or lack thereof) - but also to hear my new Vincent amp with the MBLs. He can also have a listen to my Podium panel speakers.
He'll probably find it all too warm and boring. Most systems are, compared to his, even his new 'nicer' system.

Curiously, whilst I found his system a bit bright and forward on classical, when I returned home my system now sounded a bit too laidback and bloomy. Stuffing some socks in the rear port of the MBLs has tightened things up a bit. Yes, that helped ... and a speaker cable upgrade (hopefully) was also ordered this morning!

[User211]

I've long told Kedar they aren't the speakers for classical music in their current form.

They just are not tolerant of some of the poorer and older recordings which, in my limited experience, seem absolutely plentiful.

A bit of digital equalisation would help for classical, but since the system makes it easy to hear you have equalisation applied (and it really so obviously does - I always know if I have left some on whilst frigging around the night before), I am not really a fan. But with some recordings it does help to a degree.

What I mean here is digital eq filters. Implementing FR changes in crossover hardware sounds infinitely superior to digital filtering.

You have to strike a compromise, and the speakers do measure quite flat in room from 20 Hz to 12KHz. Then they drop off. So technically they actually aren't bright. They just don't implement a gradual downward slope from low to high frequencies. It's my choice not to do that and for me it gives the best overall result.

Still it currently does sound far more luxurious than it did. But when I want raw, or valve like awesomeness, those options still remain via amp swaps.

[jandl100]

Ah, flat to 12KHz (I probably can't hear higher than that these days anyway).
That would explain it.

Most hifi measures a linear downward slope as frequency goes up, as it does in a concert hall due to higher attenuation of high frequencies with distance.

So classical will tend to sound brighter in your system than it would in a concert hall or in a system optimised to replay it.

[Macca]

Flat in room response is certainly going to make things sound different, classical or otherwise.

[Barry]

Wow - that Lux is a big lump. Very pretty.
And yes, your system sound has changed hugely in some ways, not so much in other ways.

It's still HUGELY dynamic. Massive slam, seemingly starts and stops instantaneously at any dynamic level.
No change there.

But ... it's no longer so much inyerface. The detail and presence are still there, it's just not rammed down your gullet in the way it used to be. Pleasanter. "Nice" as Justin put it. Lots more niceness than there used to be.

Sound like Justin has achieved a perfect system, or if not perfect (no system is), is getting there.

[User211]

Sound like Justin has achieved a perfect system, or if not perfect (no system is), is getting there.

You never get there.... but in some respects it scores very highly. Can't hope for more than that.

[User211]

Flat in room response is certainly going to make things sound different, classical or otherwise.

If HFN measured them it'd be atrocious cos they'd do it at 1 metre. They did that in a tiny room to the Analysis Omega.

I'm talking fairly flat at 3 metres. That's what I aim for. It's the only sensible place to measure it with such a speaker.

I wouldn't read too much into it. Even the test mics differ but mine is calibrated FWIW.