REVIEW: Epiphany Acoustics 'Atratus III' interconnect

[YNWaN]

Unfortunately, Mark, your efforts on pfm have been unappreciated by the resident (agenda-driven) cynics, who as usual, are stopping any chance of a meaningful discussion taking place amongst genuine enthusiasts.

Tony is right, pfm would benefit greatly from more equipment/cable reviews of the calibre you’ve produced, but unfortunately it'll always be drowned out by the noise from those who consider that the ‘worthiness' of any audio cables is solely determined by the use of appropriate measurement apparatus, and thus our ears are rendered as redundant...

Marco.

Thanks for your support Marco. As you say, a number of individuals have attempted to derail the pfm review thread; or rather, have embarrassed themselves by attempting to discredit it.

Initially, attacks were from individuals who, for unknown reason, sought to attack me personally, claiming I was in the pay of Epiphany Acoustics (100% untrue) and generally attempting to discredit myself and the validity of the review. Most of these individuals usually post on a particular small manufacturers forum (the owner is banned from this forum as are his handful of toadies) - a manufacturer who sells interconnect cables.... draw your own conclusions (he's been banned from pretty much all the forums). More recently the audio objectavist mafia have sunk their teeth into the review. Their stance is that cables all sound the same because GCSE physics tells them they do. A couple of them have borrowed the cable (not from me) and, unsurprisingly, feel that it makes little difference - in other words, their previously formed opinion is confirmed. Somewhat ironically, all the noise they have made has meant that over 10,000 people have read the thread.

[synsei]

The politics of Westminster has nothing on that of the hifi community, I am reminded of the Crabs from Finding Nemo...



You have a PM Mark

[YNWaN]

Ha yes, very good

PM received and responded to (well, I'm responding to it straight after this).

[Floyddroid]

it's got me intrigued Marco. I wouldn't mind listening to a pair.

Unfortunately, Mark, your efforts on pfm have been unappreciated by the resident (agenda-driven) cynics, who as usual, are stopping any chance of a meaningful discussion taking place amongst genuine enthusiasts.

Tony is right, pfm would benefit greatly from more equipment/cable reviews of the calibre you’ve produced, but unfortunately it'll always be drowned out by the noise from those who consider that the ‘worthiness' of any audio cables is solely determined by the use of appropriate measurement apparatus, and thus our ears are rendered as redundant...

Marco.

[bronzeage]

Thanks for replying Mark.

The Atratus MK1 is one of the few cables where I can easily follow the baseline, and has a really nice puch.
Have comes across other cables that are far more detailed, but the bass loses its punch and becomes almost woofer like, and difficult to follow.

So it would really help me to know that the 'punch' is still there.

[YNWaN]

I'm just comparing the Mk1 to the 3 now. The Mk1 sounds quite lean in comparison to the 3 which has more weight and breadth - the three is smoother but not duller or recessed. I would say punch is just as good as the 1 but there is greater extension. Instrumental separation is really significantly better as is the texture of voices - much more human sense of inflection. The 1 sounds a bit band limited compared to the 3 I think. I find both bass rhythms and timing easier to follow on the 3 though perhaps the band limiting quality of the 1 helps reinforce timing cues (leading edge attack). Piano definitely has a more Yamaha quality to it through the Mk1 than the 3 and the 1 has a sort of 'edge of the seat' quality to it whilst the 3 is a bit more considered (though weirdly it also manages to make the system seem more intimate and sounds really spring out from the soundstage).

Ultimately, I can only write what I hear, your views may be different and the only way to truly know is to try it yourself (you can always get your money back if you don't like it).

[Marco]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your support Marco. As you say, a number of individuals have attempted to derail the pfm review thread; or rather, have embarrassed themselves by attempting to discredit it.

Indeed. Those people are a complete waste of time, as their position is simply too deeply entrenched to facilitate any desire to learn from the experiences of others.

I always enjoy reading pfm (indeed it is the only proper audio forum I bother with other than here), and the recent culling of irritants has made it a much friendlier and more interesting place to visit, but there are still a few diehard trolls floating around, posing as members, whose sole interest is to provide themselves with ‘shits & giggles’, rather than adding something positive to the community. I sense that Tony knows this, and is tiring of it fast.

When he eventually comes to the realisation that the asset-to-liability ratio of these, erm, ‘characters' is firmly in a position of deficit, and sends them packing, the forum will further benefit and become more of a place where genuine audio enthusiasts can share their experiences with others who are there for the same constructive reasons, leaving the circular-argument fetishists, pedants and irksome irritants to their own devices.

Their stance is that cables all sound the same because GCSE physics tells them they do. A couple of them have borrowed the cable (not from me) and, unsurprisingly, feel that it makes little difference - in other words, their previously formed opinion is confirmed.

The worst thing Jerry did was lend the cables to that cloth-eared idiot ‘avole’.

Quite simply, when you’ve got such a closed mind as he clearly has, an unhealthy mania with blind testing, together with an entrenched belief system of ‘science currently and irrefutably explains everything in audio’, then he’d have been as well lending the cables to his granny for evaluation than expecting ‘avole’ (‘whatsnext' or ‘Julf') to provide a meaningful [and honest] appraisal of them!

Marco.

[jandl100]

The worst thing Jerry did was lend the cables to that cloth-eared idiot ‘avole’.

Guilty as charged, m'lud.

As for the twunk interpreting any comment of mine as asking for only positive reviews I do have to wonder what weird and distorted world he lives in. He just seems to make it up as he goes along.

Ah well, onwards and upwards (that's the only direction left to go from that pfm thread )

[YNWaN]

The whole episode is extremely bizarre. As you probably know, I've written quite a few reviews/reports of this type before. For example, I wrote a massive review for the Ryan Sound Lab boards for Naim pre-amps - I even wrote it specifically for him to post on his website (after I had bought a set to use myself) - hundreds have read it and I didn't receive one suggestion that I was in the manufacturers pocket in any way. But I write about one £100 interconnect and every loony in audio descends on the thread!

I don't really understand why either of the people who borrowed the cable from Jerry actually bothered to. Certainly one of them had a pre-formed stance that cables make no difference (which he quite regularly states). Did he expect the Atratus to redefine his opinion?

I understand Tony's position and sympathise. Ultimately he wants free speech and light moderation. Personally, I am significantly less liberal about such matters - it's only a hi-fi forum and not the last bastion of freedom. Pretty much everyone on my ignore list has posted on that thread - says it all really. Unfortunately, audio and particularly audio forums seem to attract a special breed of nut - the kind who get their jollies trying to annoy others, worthless point scoring, weird ego tripping or just enjoy jumping up and down shouting 'LOOK AT ME'! Mostly I just ignore them.

[CageyH]

Mark,

Have you tried the MC5000 cable in a back to back comparison with these?
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts if you have.