Could this be a 'giant-killing' tonearm cable?

[Marco]

No worries, dude. As you can see, the internal construction and materials used are different with each cable, and therefore explain the differences in cost

Judging by the 'sound-per-pound value' I've heard so far, with the entry-level 428 Phono, I'd expect the SPD-4 (for example, at £440), sonically, to perform far in excess of its cost, which is why Andy has already commented that it's even better than his usual Nordost tonearm cable, costing £1229!

Indeed, the 428 Phono (at £124) sounds as good as many other tonearm cables I've heard at twice the price and more, which augurs well in terms of what the 423.5 Phono will be capable of, and thus so far, ably demonstrates the 'giant-killing' potential of the cables that Yannis produces.

Marco.

[Marco]

Well, everything's arrived now, except the SPD-4, which should be here sometime late next week, so it's comparisons ahoy tomorrow at Martin's place!!

Marco.

[Wakefield Turntables]

I've been listening to the SPD-4 with my old Audio technica cartridge (see sig), I now have the Ortonfon black strapped into the 1210 to commence further listening tests and it will be nice to hear what comparisons Marco & Martin come up with over the next few days.

[Marco]

I've been having a brief listen to the 423.5 Phono Litz, fitted with Furutech CF-DIN(R) and silver Eichmanns, and even at this early stage it's sounding quite superb, and significantly better than the 428 Phono Litz, with standard connectors, which is to be expected, given the difference in cost.

The 423.5 Phono Litz has a gorgeously fluid, vivid and lyrical sound, punctuated by phenomenal filigree detailing, making all musical performances come alive in the most involving way. It's not fully burned in yet, but this cable has all the hallmarks of being something rather special indeed...

Stay tuned for some detailed thoughts, after my session tomorrow at Martin's place!

Marco.

[Stratmangler]

I'm getting near desperate for a new upgrade arm cable i'm just wondering weither to make one up myself!

Might be worth talking to Will.
He's not posted for a while, but he checks in once in a while.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Right just a few quick notes. I've had the SPD4 strapped in with an ortofon cadenza black. I just listened to Kind of Blue (Miles Davis). The cable gives a truly 3D representation of whats on the disc. Miles sits centrally in the soundstage, Bill Evans sits firmly in the background. Every instrument can be perfectly placed in a 3D soundstage. The TYR does not give this depth or width of soundstage as the SPD4. Every instrument has greater detail and texture. The cable probably needs a few more hours to burn in, but boy is it something special.

[MartinT]

Yesterday we (Marco, MikeMusic and me) spent some considerable time evaluating the tonearm cables at our disposal and we made some surprising and very revealing discoveries. We listened to:

• Stock Dynavector silver cable (came with my DV507-II arm)
• Yannis 428 Phono
• Yannis 423.5 with standard connectors
• Yannis 423.5 with Furutech & silver Eichmann connectors
• Furutech AG12

Having already played music on my stock system, we tried the Yannis 423.5 with Furutech/Eichmann connectors, thinking that if we're going to hear differences then let's put the top cable in.

Well, let's dispense with the usual jaw-dropping day/night stuff and simply say that we were stunned at what we heard. I turned to Marco and said "did she (Norah Jones) just stand up?" Such was the increase in stage width and, especially, height, that we were now hearing deeper into the mix, with much more delineation of individual strands of the music. The rhythmic intensity was improved and the insight and liquidity of the midrange was magnificent.

Marco's words were "the Dynavector cable was destroyed" and I reluctantly had to agree.

After this we tried the 423.5 with the stock connectors and the soundstage collapsed to smaller dimensions with less insight into fine detail. So what we were hearing, then, was just the change in the two connectors at either end! I must admit that this was a bit of a revelation for me as I couldn't really see why this would make such a difference. However, the proof was there and we swapped back and forth just to convince ourselves of what we were hearing.

We then proceeded to determine a ranking, with the 428 and AG12 not being in the same class as the 423.5, so they were fairly easily dismissed - this is within the context of my system, though, so the 428 especially still qualifies as great value for money in a less highly revealing system.

I'll leave Marco to add his thoughts but my strong memories from this session are that cable really matters (as if I didn't know) and connectors matter! I'll be waiting for Marco's comparison of his 423.5 with special connectors against the SPD-4 that he will receive, but Yannis is going to be receiving an order from me real soon

Showing Marco's deck with Ortofon SUT on my system's isolated rack. We switched decks and gave each one the space needed to perform at its best.



Vinyl Listened To:

Norah Jones - Not Too Late
Muddy Waters - Folk Singer
Tim Buckley - Blue Afternoon
Bill Callaghan - Apocalypse
Spirit - 12 Dreams of Dr Sardonicus
KT Tunstall - (Ltd Edition) False Alarm EP (on 7" vinyl)
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
Nina Simone - Wild is the Wind
John Martyn - Heaven and Earth
Kraftwerk - Tour de France (Kling Klang Analogue Mix), 12" single
Antonio Forcione - Tears of Joy
Gentle Giant - In A Glass House
Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom
Harry Belafonte - Live at Carnegie Hall
Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries
Yello - Touch
Jan Hammer - Oh Yeah!
Kokomo - Kokomo
King Crimson - Lizard
KD Lang - Drag

[Rare Bird]

Might be worth talking to Will.
He's not posted for a while, but he checks in once in a while.

I quite capable of making my own cables up.

[Stratmangler]

I quite capable of making my own cables up.

Misread post Andre.
For some strange reason I didn't see the word "cable", and thought you meant tonearm, and Will makes his own tonearms

[Wakefield Turntables]

Come on Marco, are we going to get some comments from you with regards your latest cable bake off??