Some pics of what I'm using and not using right now.

Oops.
Had me beer head on. 24 bottles of San Miguel's for 12 quid at Sainsbury's. Sorry folks.
🙊
 Reading it back I must say I'm  amazed at the eloquence  considering I passed out half an hour later . 🙂
I'll  have another go tonight eh ? 
..
.
.note to self.....must try alternating San Miguel with wine tonight and compare results.

In vino veritas

Just arrived from Scotland this morning.....so far so good

Cheers Oli been after a new arm for a while as you know,decided to pull the trigger on a Audio Origami PU7 very pleased with it so far,fairly easy to set up as Johnnie sends all the templates you need and their is a video on youtube. And I got him to make it with a 5 pin plug to use the Spotfire cable 😊

Yeah Johnnie is a super bloke to deal with very helpful

they have a good reputation,ive always fancied hearing one.

Stupid cables.

Day off today so thought I'd attack the hi-fi again. I've tried a lot of things trying to get back to the sound I used to have with the old Sony XB790QS - DCB1 + Krell KSA50S that was a close to perfect as I've ever heard.

Someone said to me awhile back that the 'softness' that had been driving me nuts was just the 'character' of the Krell KSA100. I suspected they had to be wrong even though my practical experience was suggesting otherwise. This wasn't 'character', it was clearly that something was sitting on the sound. It was like you could tell there was a good system in there, trying to get out, but was just falling short.

I thought I had tried everything - New CD player, nope that didn't cut it. Add one of the latest and best measuring DACs ever. Still not doing it like that old set-up. Different transports? Nope. Try different pre-amplifiers. Nothing happening. Deploy a 10 band graphic equaliser and rack up the HF a bit? Fun to play about with but still no dice.

Running out of things to try I got to thinking about interconnects and speaker cable. When I got the first Krell I was using Chord Odyssey 2. Swapping that out for some nondescript 79 strand had made a significant improvement that time. Suddenly there was body and bass to the sound. Maybe cables were the key. I've always said cables are horses for courses. So I put in the same unbranded 79 strand stuff that nowadays is in use on the TV system.

At first I thought it was maybe a little better but on extended listening the softness and lack of 'rez' to the sound was still there. Fail.

Looked through all my other speaker cables ( must be at least ten sets), but wasn't convinced any of them would help. However while I was up there I saw a whole carrier bag of interconnects so pulled out some NVA SSC that I had used for years when I had an NVA pre-amp. Something in my distant memory told me that I had got these way back when I was having a similar issue (with a completely different set up) and they'd fixed it.

So I swap them in and... well it doesn't solve the problem. In fact now it all sounds a bit weird, hard to put my finger on it but I switched the whole thing off and went and did something else instead for a bit.

Taking some kit back upstairs in vain attempt to tidy up after all the messing about, I noticed some Chord Odyssey 2 speaker cable lying under the bed. Well that did not suit the Krell KSA50S at all so surely not worth the bother to try it with the KSA100ii is it? But the Chord cable does have a rep for being 'bright' and it was brightness, or rather sparkle, that was lacking. So thought I would have one last go at it, took it downstairs and plugged it in.

And bollocks, it actually does the trick.

I mean I would not believe it if I was not sat here hearing it. No more 'shushy' cymbals! There's a couple of songs that have a big cymbal crash and decay, the start of 'Where Do You Think You're Going?' on Dire Strait's 'Communique' album, a number of them on Donal Fagen's 'True Companion' and all through the 'Nightfly' of course.' So I try all of these, and yes, the proper shimmer and decay is there!

Not quite as good as on the old set up mind, that was just jaw-dropping in every respect, but at least it is there now and not just a frigging 'shush' sound. Plus the rest of the sound has opened up too, and although you'd think there must be a con-commitant drop in bass level, or quality, there isn't. That's better too.

Why would a cable that was a poor performer on one Krell be the best option on another Krell? What's that all about? Impedance? I suppose everything comes down to bloody impedance at the end of the day. But it isn't really supposed to matter with cables.

I had been toying with the idea of flogging the Chord cable as well, as it was quite expensive stuff and I figured I wouldn't have use for it ever again. There's a lesson - never sell anything!

The fact is, the Krell IS big creamy cruiser of a muscle amp. Its rich, lush and unfortunately as i said to you a few months back that whilst on some material its divine, eventually you start to hear it's impact on everything you listen to, and once you hear it...you cannot unhear it.

The fact the Chord cable is giving you the sound you crave, tells me the big Krell is the issue because that Chord cable is shite. It's sharp, edgy and bright....all the things the Krell needs to satisfy for a little longer.

Now, Macca.....i am only going to tell you once more.....

Sell the Krell and every other spare amplifier you have.....Get a Neurochrome 686....with torroidal PSU, the same as mine. You will NEVER look at another amplifier. It would drive those JMlabs to nirvana and back for every session. I realise you need someone to build it, but Alan is on here and Simon, and there are folks on AoS who can help. It's not impossible. I mean, I can do 90% of it

WHEN the AWM Preamp is built and has the Custom stepped attenuator fitted (channel matched to 0.03db ) I will bring both pieces to you for a listen.

I loved the Krell....I'd have another for the odd dose of American lush-ness, when the mood suited.

Definitely one of my faves but the 686 crushes it in all honesty.

I realise I have become boring, repetitive and crap to follow in terms of box swapping, but that says everything about the 686....it's a cure.

Maybe once or twice lol

With regard to interconnects/speaker cable and LCR check out post 11 onwards on this thread www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/low-distortion-attenuator-for-building-a-passive-pre-amp.14536/

I've said for years these things can make a slight but audible difference if the sum total of all the parts adds up (input and output impedance of source and amplifier, the load the speaker presents, the LCR of the cables connecting them). This bloke actually measured a quite severe HF roll-off.

Krell KSA50S is working and back in the system!

Infinite thanks to Alan 'Firebottle' - I will be having a word with the Pope and get him made a Saint.

Yay, well done, Alan.

So, has musical bliss returned, Martin?

.... and you probably need to set an autoblock on the phrase "should have got a Neurochrome 686"

Hahahaha!

I'll leave him alone for now....but a bakeoff is looming!