Bigman80
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The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
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Post by Bigman80 on Feb 18, 2022 10:44:21 GMT
Another Cable........I am not a big fan of cable swapping and indeed I usually keep cables in my system for a fair number of years before swapping out and that only happens when something interesting comes along that naturally performs better than the incumbents. However as a disclaimer I must say all cables whether power or interconnects are in my view system dependent so the results you may hear will differ depending on what bits of kit are connected. I have tried cables from many of the top brands with interesting and sometimes controversial results which have made my head spin. First of all I have learnt don’t assume anything! Price, construction, materials, brand etc often only give you a small indication as to what the cable will achieve in you system as I have learnt to my cost. If you read all the blurb about cables, i.e. material purity with copper say 7 x 0.38 oxygen free, maybe silver coated with a magical phase stable outer braid which is impervious to all external noise both electrical, nuclear or the next door neighbour drilling through your wall then you think - Ah that must be the cable I am looking for. So you borrow or buy said cable only to find it either sounds no better than your current cable or it sounds worse than your current cable. Where it gets difficult for us Audiofools is when it sounds better! You then go in a head spin trying to determine what sounds better. Clarity, imaging, detail, soundstage, dynamics, transparency or I can’t hear the next door neighbours drill anymore. It is sometimes difficult to get a handle on what you are hearing and as we all know pulling cables in and out after turning equipment off can be a pain in the ass especially if they are difficult to get too, you have a bad back, you can’t find your glasses or you have to wait another 10 minutes for your valve amp to warm up. Or you don’t turn your equipment off and you just yank them out hoping for the best and trust the pops and bangs are just noise and not a valve, fuse blowing or something worse! So your potentially new cable sounds better, well to be truthful it sounds different. Then you get into the Audiofool psychodrama of cable burn in. Some of us hear it happen, some of us doubt it happens, some us would like to believe it happens ( like father christmas), some of us definitely don’t believe it happens and some of us don’t give a F@*$! You then live with the cable for a while juggling in your head a matrix of thoughts which will determine if this cable is a keeper. Can I really hear a difference and if I do is it really better or just different but most importantly is this cable worth it or even more importantly can I afford it! As we all know being an Audiofool plays funny tricks with our wallets. Money can strangely become elastic when quantifying the cost of a cable or indeed any piece of equipment. The calculations an Audiofools brain makes in order to justify expenditure are very complex and bizarre. Ultimately the deciding equation is based on can I live without this cable costing £2000 - err yes. Is £200 too much for this cable, maybe but I could stop eating out for a month ? Or at £20 I have sent a Paypal payment without even noticing . Price is always a consideration and for many of us probably number 1. Where it gets difficult is the strange no mans land of this cable sounds better or different. Is different better? I have often thought this many times when evaluating pieces of equipment. HIFI equipment is always a compromise and cables are no different. So you get a cable and plug it in, wait 100 hours and then start to listen. Ahh you think I can suddenly hear aspects of the recording more clearly. Yes there is definitely more detail. Bloody hell I am hearing things I have never heard before!! This is fantastic. The transparency, imaging and micro detail are stunning and my wallet has suddenly become very elastic! We keep listening and run through an Audiofool check list. Timbre, Dynamics, Imaging, transparency, PRAT, soundstage, sibilance, top end detail, midrange….wow and then suddenly we notice theres no Bass. F@*% NO BASS! But everything else is perfection, can I live without the Bass. Of course not! The dreaded compromise has struck. Quite often though are internal thoughts twist reality and we become flexible in our thought process and what were seen as negatives are ignored and pushed way down our check list and the benefits rise to the top and that startling clarity and new detail we are hearing trump everything. After all if we are hearing things in the recording we have never heard before it must be better! Our hand is on the Credit card and we are ready to pull the trigger. Evaluating any piece of kit is difficult and for me cables are the hardest to evaluate and often justify expenditure on. At the beginning of this post I had set out to write a review and recommend a new cable I am listening to but that will have to wait for another day.  Interesting, Jim. Obviously the mind is involved in all the processes we go through as audiophiles, but another question is "if the mind is happier after spending £2k, £200 or £20, and you enjoy what you are listening to more due to the new gear....does it matter what the cost of the cable is?" Either way, very interested to know what cable you have been playing with. |
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 18, 2022 10:50:51 GMT
"Elastic wallet" 😁😁
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optical
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Post by optical on Feb 18, 2022 10:59:09 GMT
Another Cable........I am not a big fan of cable swapping and indeed I usually keep cables in my system for a fair number of years before swapping out and that only happens when something interesting comes along that naturally performs better than the incumbents. However as a disclaimer I must say all cables whether power or interconnects are in my view system dependent so the results you may hear will differ depending on what bits of kit are connected. I have tried cables from many of the top brands with interesting and sometimes controversial results which have made my head spin. First of all I have learnt don’t assume anything! Price, construction, materials, brand etc often only give you a small indication as to what the cable will achieve in you system as I have learnt to my cost. If you read all the blurb about cables, i.e. material purity with copper say 7 x 0.38 oxygen free, maybe silver coated with a magical phase stable outer braid which is impervious to all external noise both electrical, nuclear or the next door neighbour drilling through your wall then you think - Ah that must be the cable I am looking for. So you borrow or buy said cable only to find it either sounds no better than your current cable or it sounds worse than your current cable. Where it gets difficult for us Audiofools is when it sounds better! You then go in a head spin trying to determine what sounds better. Clarity, imaging, detail, soundstage, dynamics, transparency or I can’t hear the next door neighbours drill anymore. It is sometimes difficult to get a handle on what you are hearing and as we all know pulling cables in and out after turning equipment off can be a pain in the ass especially if they are difficult to get too, you have a bad back, you can’t find your glasses or you have to wait another 10 minutes for your valve amp to warm up. Or you don’t turn your equipment off and you just yank them out hoping for the best and trust the pops and bangs are just noise and not a valve, fuse blowing or something worse! So your potentially new cable sounds better, well to be truthful it sounds different. Then you get into the Audiofool psychodrama of cable burn in. Some of us hear it happen, some of us doubt it happens, some us would like to believe it happens ( like father christmas), some of us definitely don’t believe it happens and some of us don’t give a F@*$! You then live with the cable for a while juggling in your head a matrix of thoughts which will determine if this cable is a keeper. Can I really hear a difference and if I do is it really better or just different but most importantly is this cable worth it or even more importantly can I afford it! As we all know being an Audiofool plays funny tricks with our wallets. Money can strangely become elastic when quantifying the cost of a cable or indeed any piece of equipment. The calculations an Audiofools brain makes in order to justify expenditure are very complex and bizarre. Ultimately the deciding equation is based on can I live without this cable costing £2000 - err yes. Is £200 too much for this cable, maybe but I could stop eating out for a month ? Or at £20 I have sent a Paypal payment without even noticing . Price is always a consideration and for many of us probably number 1. Where it gets difficult is the strange no mans land of this cable sounds better or different. Is different better? I have often thought this many times when evaluating pieces of equipment. HIFI equipment is always a compromise and cables are no different. So you get a cable and plug it in, wait 100 hours and then start to listen. Ahh you think I can suddenly hear aspects of the recording more clearly. Yes there is definitely more detail. Bloody hell I am hearing things I have never heard before!! This is fantastic. The transparency, imaging and micro detail are stunning and my wallet has suddenly become very elastic! We keep listening and run through an Audiofool check list. Timbre, Dynamics, Imaging, transparency, PRAT, soundstage, sibilance, top end detail, midrange….wow and then suddenly we notice theres no Bass. F@*% NO BASS! But everything else is perfection, can I live without the Bass. Of course not! The dreaded compromise has struck. Quite often though are internal thoughts twist reality and we become flexible in our thought process and what were seen as negatives are ignored and pushed way down our check list and the benefits rise to the top and that startling clarity and new detail we are hearing trump everything. After all if we are hearing things in the recording we have never heard before it must be better! Our hand is on the Credit card and we are ready to pull the trigger. Evaluating any piece of kit is difficult and for me cables are the hardest to evaluate and often justify expenditure on. At the beginning of this post I had set out to write a review and recommend a new cable I am listening to but that will have to wait for another day.  Interesting, Jim. Obviously the mind is involved in all the processes we go through as audiophiles, but another question is "if the mind is happier after spending £2k, £200 or £20, and you enjoy what you are listening to more due to the new gear....does it matter what the cost of the cable is?" Either way, very interested to know what cable you have been playing with. Yup . . . . I've always said I'd happily live in the Matrix as long as my mind keeps up the illusion (enough for me to 'hear' it). |
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JimBlog
Feb 18, 2022 12:02:15 GMT
via mobile
Post by stevew on Feb 18, 2022 12:02:15 GMT
The terms "red pill" and "blue pill" refer to a choice between the willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in contented ignorance with the blue pill.
Blue pill… blue pill please.
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Post by jimbo on Feb 18, 2022 12:15:52 GMT
Interesting, Jim. Obviously the mind is involved in all the processes we go through as audiophiles, but another question is "if the mind is happier after spending £2k, £200 or £20, and you enjoy what you are listening to more due to the new gear....does it matter what the cost of the cable is?" Either way, very interested to know what cable you have been playing with. Yup . . . . I've always said I'd happily live in the Matrix as long as my mind keeps up the illusion (enough for me to 'hear' it). Great analogy the Matrix...excellent |
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Post by jimbo on Feb 18, 2022 12:16:32 GMT
The terms "red pill" and "blue pill" refer to a choice between the willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in contented ignorance with the blue pill. Blue pill… blue pill please. Blue pill for me too and not just because of my age!!  |
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Post by antonio on Feb 18, 2022 17:09:05 GMT
I'll take the red one, a be damned.
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Post by jimbo on Feb 18, 2022 17:46:18 GMT
photo
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Post by misterc on Feb 18, 2022 18:05:09 GMT
I'll take the red one, a be damned. I like your style Dave |
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optical
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Post by optical on Feb 18, 2022 18:11:13 GMT
I'll take the red one, a be damned. I like your style Dave He's "The one" for sure. |
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,407
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Post by Bigman80 on Feb 19, 2022 7:25:05 GMT
Just catching up on a few things from last year. Although I was not posting much I was busy. These tasty Croft 7R mono blocks were here for a while and sounded very good indeed. Great refinement and total control of the large Heco speakers. Had some nice NOS valves firing them up too!  P1020843 by , on Flickr You moved these on pretty sharpish Jim, IIRC. What was it about them that didn't make the 7R stick? |
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Post by jimbo on Feb 19, 2022 7:42:42 GMT
I preferred the unregulated version of the Series 7 in my system and indeed have used Croft 7 mono blocks.
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,407
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Post by Bigman80 on Feb 19, 2022 7:50:29 GMT
I preferred the unregulated version of the Series 7 in my system and indeed have used Croft 7 mono blocks. Oh, so you have added another 7 to the system? Excellent! |
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Post by karma67 on Feb 19, 2022 10:41:31 GMT
The mighty Heco 702GT's remain and have in fact got better after a long run in period. I would say they took 6 months to come on song but still improved in the following year. Having lived with them now for some time I would say their greatest strength is in their midrange and their natural almost neutral presentation. They look like typical HIFI floorstanders but they sound almost old school to me. Probably because of the use of Kraft paper cones and soft dome tweeter.  did you import these jim or buy from uk? |
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Post by macca on Feb 19, 2022 10:44:13 GMT
what are the dimensions of your room there Jim?
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Post by jimbo on Feb 19, 2022 10:44:25 GMT
I imported them from Germany Jamie. They cost £60 for delivery - a man in a van! They were brand new and cost £1000 although they are one of Heco,s older models.
This was all prior to Brexit however!
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Post by jimbo on Feb 19, 2022 10:51:33 GMT
what are the dimensions of your room there Jim? Its around 22 x 12 feet with 8 foot ceiling. |
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,407
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Post by Bigman80 on Feb 19, 2022 10:53:09 GMT
I imported them from Germany Jamie. They cost £60 for delivery - a man in a van! They were brand new and cost £1000 although they are one of Heco,s older models. This was all prior to Brexit however! Yeah, add about 50% to what you paid, Jim every time i hear them i think "biggest bargain in hifi" Off to hear a pair next saturday. |
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Post by jimbo on Feb 19, 2022 10:55:53 GMT
I imported them from Germany Jamie. They cost £60 for delivery - a man in a van! They were brand new and cost £1000 although they are one of Heco,s older models. This was all prior to Brexit however! Yeah, add about 50% to what you paid, Jim every time i hear them i think "biggest bargain in hifi" Off to hear a pair next saturday. Your right Oli, that was a very good call you made and I am glad I acted quickly before they became so difficult and expensive to import.  |
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Post by macca on Feb 19, 2022 11:19:48 GMT
what are the dimensions of your room there Jim? Its around 22 x 12 feet with 8 foot ceiling. was just wondering if you had tried the opposite arrangement with the speakers on the other wall and listening position with your back to the window? Also have you tried having the speakers further into the room, say 8 foot from the wall behind? |
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optical
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Post by optical on Feb 19, 2022 11:33:41 GMT
The mighty Heco 702GT's remain and have in fact got better after a long run in period. I would say they took 6 months to come on song but still improved in the following year. Having lived with them now for some time I would say their greatest strength is in their midrange and their natural almost neutral presentation. They look like typical HIFI floorstanders but they sound almost old school to me. Probably because of the use of Kraft paper cones and soft dome tweeter. Wow, they look great in the flesh, nice angle you've captured them from there. They look well suited to the room there. Great catch |
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Post by macca on Feb 19, 2022 11:54:41 GMT
Only asking as the times I have had rooms with a big window like that I always found it better to have the speakers back on to the solid wall firing at the window (with the curtains closed ofc) rather than the other way around.
Was also reading about placement the other day and it was reckoned that between 2 foot and 8 foot out from the wall is the worst position, that is to say you should have the speakers 2 foot or less from the wall behind, or 8 foot or more. Can't find the damn article to link to now though!
Know what you mean about being a pain to move, 39KG here so I can shuffle them about on my own but that's about it. Good speakers need to be heavy though, not much you can do about that.
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,407
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Post by Bigman80 on Feb 22, 2022 6:37:30 GMT
Something interesting coming up later this week when i get round to it.  P1030371 by sy, on Flickr Jim, you tease! |
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Post by jimbo on Feb 22, 2022 6:41:40 GMT
I know, wanted to write something up but bloody decorating got in the way!  |
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Post by firebottle on Feb 22, 2022 7:58:46 GMT
PSU feeding reclocker and Dac?
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Post by misterc on Feb 22, 2022 10:08:10 GMT
One of those 'intersting' after dark clocks which is really a dev board and some sticky back carbon fibre sheeting lol
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Post by jimbo on Feb 22, 2022 10:09:02 GMT
One of those 'intersting' after dark clocks which is reallly a dev board and some sticky back carbon fibre sheeting lol Something like that  |
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Post by misterc on Feb 22, 2022 11:11:18 GMT
Should have asked we have quite a few of these things that have been traded back pretty sure they are six of them here lol
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Post by antonio on Feb 22, 2022 12:58:38 GMT
"Jim, you tease!"
The photo is nicely out of focus just to add to the suspense.
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Post by jimbo on Feb 22, 2022 13:13:03 GMT
"Jim, you tease!" The photo is nicely out of focus just to add to the suspense. I'm a bad photographer! |
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