The good Karma cable thread

[CageyH]

So why not leave your comments up?
They were just your opinion of the cables, nothing more, nothing less.

No one cable will be universally accepted by everybody.

[karma67]

exactly,but if bigman feels he should delete them thats fine.

[Jimbo]

So why not leave your comments up?
They were just your opinion of the cables, nothing more, nothing less.

No one cable will be universally accepted by everybody.

Absolutely Kevin. Cables are system dependent and perform differently in every system. I have had cables that are £3000 a metre and they have not added anything to my system whereas some £100 cables have sounded superb. This can be applied to any piece of equipment, it all depends on how it sounds in your system.

We are all entitled to an opinion on how we hear something in our system and no one should be offended if they hear it differently. It happens all the time, just look how many folk can't stand the 2M Black yet I have found it to be the best sounding cartridge i have heard in my system!

[Bigman80]

Here is what i originally wrote whilst listening.

I used a varied range of tracks to get a solid understanding of what I was hearing and what they were doing. I spent approximately 5 hours on this and feel my conclusion is thorough.
The review will be based around the tracks I use most regularly to assess new kit.

Up first: Paul Simon – Crazy after all these years.

This song is well mastered and possesses an interesting intro. The Opening riff has a synthesized vibrato effect on the instrument. With the Karma cables, this came across very clearly and precisely. Exactly what I was looking for. As the track moved on to the Vocal intro, I noted that the Soundstage was more centered, rather than spread out. The vocals were also very clean, and the reverb used on Paul’s voice was easily audible. I noted at this point that although clarity was excellent, It was surface. The timbre and the audible movement of air, created by the chest cavity wasn’t there. This made the performance a little less natural. Further into the song, a saxophone solo takes lead. Again, whilst very clean sounding, it didn’t sound convincing as a real instrument. The body from the notes was lacking weight and there was no reed infused sound. No rasping sub notes from the air being forced through the small valve in the mouthpiece.

I decided to change track to: Guns N Roses – Mr Brownstone

This track starts with Heavy drums and Slash sliding down the guitar strings. There’s crunch and venom in the guitar and it’s an all-out, dirty nasty riff.
Straight away, the clarity and leading edge of the drum strikes was clear and again it was a very clean sound but the weight of the drum strike pushing the sound out of the bottom of each drum was shallow. The guitars have crunch and the distortion was very clear but the filth was missing a little. I didn’t feel the weight in my chest as I normally do.
I must admit, I stopped the track to try something else because it wasn’t working for me.

The Beatles - Martha My Dear

This is the first time I really heard the scale the Karma cables could deliver. McCartneys voice sprung out and really soared. The piano Notes clearly had the secondary harmonics from the vibrating strings and it was easily audible. It sounded fantastic. Then the brass section started, and the performance didn’t have the weight. The low notes rumble through this track and it didn’t really rumble. It was audible and clear but it didn’t have enough arse-end for me.

Free – Mr Big has a really low bass note which just didn’t appear where it usually did. Vinyl nor digital really made any difference in this respect. I did this to test if it was a source issue.

I tried the cables with loads of tracks and came to the same conclusion every time. Excellent clarity and immediacy in the highs and top mids. But left me wanting in the mid bass and lower registers. I felt like I was listening to a split personality. Half of the frequency range was clean, transparent, insightful and immediate but the other half was lacking. It was lacking that very bottom octave and it sounded a little slower and flat. Imaging was good, the soundstage depth was good and the sound generally extended beyond the width of the speakers. A good listen.

In my experiments with cables, I found a similar thing when using Silver plated copper cables and ultimately decided that they weren’t for me. That said, the Karma cables didn’t leave me feeling like I couldn’t live with them. They are better than Klotz MC5000 and I suspect they could oust any Sommer cables in a system, especially ones with valves.

[karma67]

brilliant thanks .

[JohnG]

I have read many of Ollie's posts and assessments and I feel he has shown his heart on his sleeve, in his description of how he perceived the loaned cables.
Ollie likes Bass, it is a presentation he searches out in any system.
His Cartridge choice has to deliver on it, his Tonearm Choice has to deliver on it,
a Phonostage has to seriously deliver on it.
The Krell's has got the Bass by its short and curlies.
So any interface cables between these devices are not going to win favor if they are seen to compromise on the Bass being created.

As for me, I am Bass sensitive, so following Oliies description,
I am sure I would enjoy these cables, as I smile with my ears when I hear a very pleasing, cleanly delivered Mid to High Frequency range, I'm sure the 57's grills might sqeeze out a smirk with me.

[Bigman80]

I have read many of Ollie's posts and assessments and I feel he has shown his heart on his sleeve, in his description of how he perceived the loaned cables.
Ollie likes Bass, it is a presentation he searches out in any system.
His Cartridge choice has to deliver on it, his Tonearm Choice has to deliver on it,
a Phonostage has to seriously deliver on it.
The Krell's has got the Bass by its short and curlies.
So any interface cables between these devices are not going to win favor if they are seen to compromise on the Bass being created.

As for me, I am Bass sensitive, so following Oliies description,
I am sure I would enjoy these cables, as I smile with my ears when I hear a very pleasing, cleanly delivered Mid to High Frequency range, I'm sure the 57's grills might sqeeze out a smirk with me.

Thanks John.

"Heart on the sleeve" is spot on.

HF and Bass. Detail, and weight is where my attention gets pulled the most. The HF of the cables is very good. I really liked that about them.

[brian2957]

Can whoever is next on the list drop me a PM with their full name and address please .

[YNWaN]

And what are your thoughts about this cable Brian?

[brian2957]

Just got them earlier today Mark . Take me a few more hours to get my head around what they're doing in my system .