Abyone being doubtful about buying highly priced cables, audition them first and make up your mind, I was pleasantly surprised with my latest cable upgrade. My review is below which was posted on the chord facebook site, I can tell you it takes a lot to please me. I felt compelled to do a write up about my Shawline Analogue 5 Pin Din Out To RCA and RCA out To 5 Pin Din. I am in no way connected to nor do I represent chord at any level, I am a simple customer of HI-Fi Corner in Edinburgh who enjoys his music. I would like to state upfront that Chord have made all my cables to a specification for connecting the Herron VTSP-3A and Supernait 2 and the Naim DAC using their Shawline process with each cable pointing in the correct direction for termination into each respective amp. DAC out to VTSP-3a and Herron out to Supernait 2 etc. All my cables are custom to a specific request and are used interconnecting exactly as Chord instruct me, I usually spend about an hour discussing what I am trying to achieve with Hi-Fi Corner in Edinburgh and they make recommendations, they also know I am on a journey which started about 9 years ago, I have found them to be very patient and helpful. The Setup: Chord Shawline tuned Aray RCA to 5 Pin Din (Herron to SN2) and 5 Pin Din out to RCA (Naim DAC to Herron) which was an upgrade from a Chord Crimson VEE3 4 RCA (Play and Record, was done to hook up my Pioneer RT 909 Prior to the Herron coming online). This allowed me to hook up my Herron VTSP-3a amp to My Supernait 2 and to also take a direct feed from My Naim DAC to the Herron, providing the perfect loop. The Test and Playback: Immediately upon replacing my standard Crimson VEE3 RCA to 5 Pin DIN from the Supernait 2 to Herron with my Shawline RCA Out to DIN Input on my main Supernait 2 amp and installing my Naim DAC shawline 5 Pin DIN out to the Herron VTSP-3a, I noticed a more fuller bass from my digital library which is all FLAC uncompressed or level 5 and on the fly transcoded by DBpoweramp Asset sitting on a Qnap drive to WAV. As it plays back on my NDX out (Digital out with Chord clearway and BNC connector) to my DAC (Chord Shawline 5 DIN pin out to RCA) to the Herron VTSP-3A out via Chord Shawline to my Supernait 2 Amp out to my B&W 805d2 with again Chord speaker cable. The digital sound at the same levels is a lot more pleasant sounding and has that more live feeling with detail coming through much more sharper and crisper, the left and right channels are much better balanced and sharper again, also the extension on the sound is another level, more foreground is present and it feels like the sound is more real time, instruments especially pianos and trumpets come through a lot clearer. I never expected such a big leap with the digital but with that alone I feel the cables justify their pricing, I feel I got an upgrade in sound with just the cable. My SME 20/3a has a standard Chord clearway feeding from the Quad 24p amp to the VTSP-3a, the Chord Shawline sits between the Herron (RCA out) and SuperNait 2 (5 Pin DIN In), once again I am getting a more wider dynamic than before, I wasn't complaining but it has improved substantially, In general all my gear running on standard xlr and rca are sounding crisper, needless to say that all my kit will have shawline throughout.. I hope this helps anyone wondering if the Shawline range has any improvement on the previous line down, my conclusion, they are worth every single penny matched with my setup, hearing is believing and I would urge anyone to do their own audition. I also have standard power cables and will seek to audition that next, I cannot express how pleased I am with the Shawline, unexpected and they still have 60 hours to go for the burn in process. Anyone looking for a more professional review can click here https://theaudiophileman.com/shawline/ I can agree wholeheartedly with the review based on my findings. I didn't realise how hard that would be to explain all that lol. Made my gear sound so much more detailed and better.
Cables do make a difference and they are so system dependent too. I think once you have everything else sorted, it’s definitely worth looking at cables. I use Spectral Audio cables which is made for them by MIT, to be honest I went with Spectral Audio as the warrantee would be void on my setup if I don’t at least use Spectral Audio cables between the power amp and the speakers. I hope the cord cables you got are cheaper than Spectral cables? The Spectral cables are good but not £3600 good for 12ft stereo pair, they kind of have us Spectral users over a barrel. If I don’t use their cable and the amp get’s damaged I would be looking at a big repair bill. I did not need Spectral Audio interconnect between the Pre / Power amp but i got them anyway, i am already in so mite as well go the whole way.
@TooCooL4, I was surprised to read in your post that Massachusetts Institute of Technology were making and selling HI-FI cables... A kick search and I saw my mistake, it's actually Music Interface Technologies, that I didn't know. ;-) The prices you're talking about sound insane. I wonder if I would like to be in situation to compare so good cables versus normal ones: dunno if I want my ears to hear the difference...
Ha ha yes a different MIT Yes the prices are crazy, i thing their top new cable is around $80,000. When cables start costing more than the equipment, it's the end. Well i guess if someone has spent £1 million on a system then 80K is pocket money. If i had that kind of money i don't think i would spend it on cables. Yes cables do make a difference but 80K difference? I would love to hear that kind of cable in a very high-end system so i can make up my own mind as to if it makes that much of a difference. I guess when you get to that level price / value for money does not come into it anymore, it's more about if you can justify it and have the money then why not.
I think it is prudent to step carefully with cables, as you mentioned it is absolutely system dependent, My two chord shawline cables were about £200.00 per metre and they absolutely do make a difference. For me I started with standard decent cables and I am now working my way up, I wont buy anything without first auditioning the cables on my system first. for me AMP interconnects and power are an absolute must. Will I go further than my Chord Shawline, I doubt it, they are perfect for me, I think we can push something to the point where you lose the sound you love. Cables have a ceiling and best not to get to obsessed but to at least audition when you have a basic footprint, fashionable spending is never appealing to me but performance based on my own hearing is critical.
Hi James Tervit now that you have gone down the changing cables route, have you looked at power conditioners? Depending on your home power supply quality it may be worth a look. Here is what i wrote about the one i use in my home system, i wrote this on a different forum "Power conditioners anyone ever tried using computer server UPS instead of the over priced audiophile ones? I have tried dedicated audio power conditioners and heard what they can do, but the price in the UK for good ones are £2000+ I would rather put that money into my system. Anyway I decided to get a very sophisticated double conversion UPS meaning the AC is converted to DC then regenerated back to pure sine wave AC, I got a Emerson Liebert GXT4 3000VA / 2700W UPS. The first thing I had to do was change the internal case fans to very quiet ones, the ones that came in the unit sounds like and aircraft is about to take off. With the new quiet fans, the sound is down to a whisper and I need to turn everything off in the listening room and be near the UPS to hear it. In the UK we use 240V and I have noticed my power in the flat fluctuates between 225V – 239V, I set the UPS to give out a steady 240V no matter what the input voltage is doing." I connected the UPS to the system, I was expecting the noise floor to be lower. I was not prepared for what was about to happen once everything was up and running. Wow the first thing I noticed was depth of the image, then the clarity and separations of instruments and vocals. The next thing, which really threw me, was the bottom end just dropped wow the bass was so deep and tight and faster and I felt it. The bass was not bloated or woolly like you would get on a beats headphones. Wow I would never have thought a good power conditioner could do all that. The last time I heard this level of improvement in my system was when I tried the latest version of my pre-amp and that was £2800 more than my current Pre-amp. All of this have been achieved at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated audiophile power conditioner and this being a UPS, it will also run my system should there be a power cut. It should run my system for at least 1.5 hours before the battery dies. I know one thing this UPS is here to stay. Watch this to know how the Emerson Liebert GXT4 works, it’s just amazing a superb upgrade to my system. If you are thinking of an audiophile power conditioner, give a UPS a try first just make sure you get one that put's out pure sine wave and does re-generation and not line interactive."
I have started to take notice of Chord power cables which achieve the same thing or similar. Power is even before source so the effects can be dramatic. Great info, with me having 22 cables to fire up my system, I am not sure if the UPS model would work, maybe I could run it from that one source ??? Great info and something that I am seriously looking into..
I have tried and have some fancy power cables admittedly non of which I have spent my own money on, friends that have upgraded to better ones have given me some and some are nearer £200 in price. I have tried even more expensive ones in friends systems that have them. With power cables it’s always been for me, can I hear it / did I hear it / oh is it my brain playing tricks on me? If it’s inconclusive like that, I don’t spend my money as like I said it’s inconclusive. My friends say they can hear the difference, maybe they can I can’t say either way. One thing I did try and still use now are audiophile fuses which I can hear the difference. Putting in a power conditioner was an immediate night & day difference that I can’t even be bothered to put the fancy power cords back in, I am just using the standard UPS server power cables.
I never doubted Chord simply because they made "generic" interconnects included for free with all Naim Audio boxes. The only non-Chord interconnect in my main system is AQ Columbia, between Wadia 781i and NAC52. Everything else is Chord/Naim I dissented from Naim "party line" and instead of buying Naim Hi-Line power cords went for Shunyata Research V-Ray + Snakes a few years ago... And thats when I stopped, because everything I hear at Audio shows or at LA Opera is just as good or worse. I totally agree with @TooCooL4 : power regeneration is a Miracle!! But no one will be able to guess whether you gonna like it or not. I kept PS Audio Power Plant for my bedside h/p stereo (Naim CDX/Lehmann BlackCube/Senn650) for a few years, but then got rid of it. Funny thing, I can explain why I loved it, but cannot pinpoint that tiny "something" which was taken away from the sound. It was almost nothing, but it was important for the "flat-earther" like me.
cables, siltech make good ones. bit pricey also go for pro. always use xlr. i think, mogami makes good ones and use neutric xlr. there is a difference between RCA and xlr. RCA the instruments are behind each other. xlr instruments are next to each other. xlr is the better choice. when you have money, always go for full xlr setup. ohh, if i had money. sonosax pre-amp, boulder power amps and mbl 101e mk2 speakers.. have heard xlr sennheiser big orpheus setup. i think, only mbl speakers are better, but it's range is 100k and more
Umm not so sure I agree with you 19lexicon78 on this one. Personally Balanced XLR makes sense if you are in an environment that you have potential for interference or you need long runs of the cables, else you are wasting your money. With what you said about Balanced XLR and instruments being next to each other and instruments behind each other with Single ended RCA, well I don’t know where you got that? Well for me I want the instruments were they were when they where recorded and not in a different location.
hi toocool, i've noticed this big difference in my setup. besides the RCA cables that i've used were more expensive, cardas gold ref. playing jazz lp's gave the biggest difference, with full xlr i was listening in front of a band. RCA had a far more narrow setup and instruments were behind each other. my setup was studer d730,emt 950, eela 120,studer a68, for rca revox 285. studer/revox have almost the same sound. same feeling with big orpheus setup=also xlr.
19lexicon78 cables are very system dependent so what sounds good in one system may not sound so good in another. I say at the end of the day always trust your own ears and never follow anyone else, your ears know best what you like. I have to say I am not a fan of Cardas cables, the last time I tried Cardas was when I was changing the cable between my tonearm and phono stage. It was Cardas golden reference at over £700 and I put it against Furutech AG-12 cable at £400, the Cardas did not even get a look in.
cardas has an addictive sound. bit colored, but makes me smile. perhaps when you go to an audio dealer or a audiophile friend, listen to a RCA setup and a full xlr one, so no xlr/rca pre-amp. real xlr. listen to the placement of instruments and voices. as an bonus, xlr is to my ears more dynamic. but the placement is the more noticeable one.
We all like different sounds, Cardas is not for me. With regard to Balanced XLR Vs Single ended RCA I have listened to both and if it’s been well implemented and you match the volume while testing on short runs with no interference, I feel no need to go Balanced XLR. I use Spectral Audio and the Balanced XLR and Single ended RCA connections are equally well designed so no advantage to either as long as the criteria I said above are met. Now if a company put the effort into making the XLR on their component better than the RCA on that component then the XLR option would sound better. Often people perceive XLR to be better, now don’t quote me on this one but XLR are designed to be 3db louder then the equivalent RCA. We all know with our brains on first impression louder is better. For me on my short runs of cables in my system, it makes no point in me going to extra expense of XLR for no gain. Like I said before everybody’s system is different therefore only that individual can determine what works best in their system combination / room etc, no one rule fits all.
tja, i don't know. till now, i've never heard a RCA setup with the same separation as a xlr one. perhaps one day i will hear a good rca setup with the same separation. the 3db, perhaps thats the difference i hear in dynamics. 10-15 years ago older professional stuff was reasonable priced, think studer/emt,etc. that's the reason i have my xlr setup. only years later i've heard the difference between rca and xlr. it was the moment when i and a friend of mine were testing different audio setups and cables. separation was the first thing i've noticed.
I only use XLR for my R2R out to RCA. As mentioned its all dependent on the kit, my Naim gear is specifically tuned for the 5 pin din config and that's better than RCA but apart from thet Chord shawlines are perfect for my setup.
