There isn't much discussion on this cable yet. I am anxious to hear more myself. There has been a small amount of discussion over at Cable Asylum.
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Jim Wang, one of the owners of HT told me they are the only one in the us to have this tech. I plan on outfitting my system with these cables. If they do what they are purported to do. These cables should make all other interconects obsolete, unless you are looking for a cable that adds some sort of color or tuning to your system. |
As with most of the high end cables, these are priced at about 10 times what they should cost based on manufacturing costs. Of course, the way things have gotten in the industry, to be considered as really high end they have to be really high priced. Optical cable costs pennies per foot. And if you all are willing to pay $400 for a battery power supply then I'm really in the wrong line of work. Breaking the ground should be a good thing and these cables may actually make a useful difference. However, any time I ask the question "what other system upgrades are available at this price" then expensive cabling always comes up short. You'd have to spend a minimum $5000 to wire your system with this stuff. More if you have a more complex setup. For that kind of money I can think of a lot of component upgrades or system changes (bi-amping or acoustic treatments for example)that would be within my reach and have the potential to make more of a difference. Sadly, none of what I say will deter any customers. Might as well pick up those $30,000 speaker cables while you're at it. Gotta have 'em to impress your friends. Quick, somebody find a way to reverse engineer this product so that we can DIY it for $50 or less. That would get my attention. The world is full of over priced cables. The only reason cable companies are coming out of the woodwork, so to speak, is that the profit margins are insane. |
I have owned the Harmonic Technology Cyberlight cables for a while now, well before either one of the Positive Feedback reviews came out. In my opinion these reviews were right on the mark the Cyberlights are every bit as good as they say. http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue17/cyberlights.htm http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue17/cyberlight.htm Willster said: As you said this is a ground breaking cable technology. If it was so easy why hadn't it been invented before? There had to be start up tooling, research and development which costs time and money. However, any time I ask the question "what other system upgrades are available at this price There are people such as myself who are happy with their components and may just want to bring out the best in what they all ready have. This cable, I believe has helped me do that. I for one am thankful for people like Jim Wang for thinking outside of the box, and for bringing such an exciting new product to the market. You dont have to buy it or even like it, but why bash something you have never heard? Brad |
No such thing as a perfect cable. System match will always be an issue just like the best cables out there. If your system is a little bright you will hear that with a neutral cable and end-up trying to find a cable that corrects the problem. HT has excellent marketing hype (7 nines OCC wire) and now the Cyberlight with huge audio press support. Price is too high for many audiophiles but I am sure they will sell a bunch. |
Ez2hear: Here is what I have read. The transmitter and receiver ends use Light Analog Module (LAM), a Uniformity Density Modulation technology to transfer the signal from electron into photon. The transfer is conducted via audio-grade fiber glass at the speed of light, it does not use any LED similar to toslink, but true telecom/broadcastiong quality analog laser with invisible light. The Photon is then converted back to the electron on the reversed end of the Lam Module. For every electron that comes into the system, it outputs 1 photon into the fiber and then back. It does not matter if the wave form is sinusoidal (analog) or square (digital), since the electron to photon transfer is done in an equivalent ratio. The Lam has a 1:1 voltage-current conversion that does not require the use of a DA or AD conversion. The result is a true analog wave form, without any sampling, that preserves all musical information . This preservation maintains a neutral decay in the musical harmony to provide greater depth, airiness and soundstage. The Cyberlight wire's input and output are pure R. With the body of the wire being pure optical all sounds and frequency will travel at the speed of light and reach the other end uniformly. Brad |
I didn't bash the cable at all. I suggested, and rightly so, that the price was fabricated to put these cables in the same leaque with other high priced cables. I also said that I probably wouldn't be discouraging anyone inclined to buy them. I would be willing to bet that construction cost on this cable would allow it to be sold for $150 rather than $1500. You probably don't know very much about cable technology, otherwise you would realize that, outside the box or not, technologicly speaking, there is nothing bleeding edge about this cable. Optical cables have been around for ages but no one has bothered to apply it to analog. I would love to have these some of these cables just because of the elimination of the electrical ground. You'll probably never see them in my system though because of the markup. |
I have to disagree with two of your statements, Brad. "For every electron that comes into the system, it outputs 1 photon into the fiber and then back." A one to one ratio here is of no consequence in terms of retrieving the whole signal at the receiving end. "The Cyberlight wire's input and output are pure R." I may be nitpicking here but there is no such thing as a pure R with no capacitance or inductance. It may be significantly lower than in normal wires, and this would be a good thing, but.... |
Have tried a pair between deHavilland superverve and Bam[use Nirvana SL's between Bam and Music Reference RM-200 with Pursangs to Merlins]. They do make a possitive difference.A back ground that is quiet, quiet, quiet and I have JPS dedicated line. Guiatars and plucked strings sound more natural and more controled bass. Have listened only a few hours. Can not add much more. Peace, jlowens |
My biggest beef with these cables is the ridiculously short 1 year warranty. for $2K cables you'd think a little more backup for simple devices like these. I can agree with the non-transferrable warranty. Have to wait and see how they sound, by the way no trickery just heads up engineering and application. |
Carefully listening, I have been, now answer I shall. Audiophile - 20+ years, worked in high end - YES Musician- YES, expert set up for studios - that would be me. Write physics books since age of 16 - YES me too. Sick , crazy audiophile who bought house for system - your looking at him. Cables, had them ALL , loved MIT for many years, sold gobs of Transparent crap, but then I got a call from LA, you gots to try these, so reluctantly I did, 4 hours later I realized that all the cable companies are out of business. And no sir, it's not system matching , that's bull, how many of you built a simple barrel and connected a DAC directly to a pre input to hear what your 5K or .05 cent wire does to the signal, then listen to light, then stop buying wire, start buying more LP's CD's 8 traks, whatever, and spend less time reading this crap. As far as cost, 1100 a meter, for what they do , A BARGAN . THEY BLEW AWAY 15,000.00 interconnects, and not by a small margin, if you guys have a good rig, its like listening to a new system, sounds simply analog, NO its not real, I still hear all the MICs and the mixing board where there is one, but I HEAR it! |
Has anyone experienced humm from these cables? I just recieved a pair to try from the Cable Company and it seems there is a humm coming from one of the interconnects. This humm is pretty signifacant but, out of only one channel. I have tried exchanging the cables and the hum travels with one of the cables. So, I guess that cable is defective. Before I get replacments from the Cable Company,has anyone had theirs play ok intially and develop a humm later ? They are very expensive, and only come with a one year warranty. If this is a problem with these cables then I wont bother to try another set. |
Mystery humm cleared. But still strange. I am using a APL 3910 direct to my Krell Amp. I had a Composite Video (RCA) connected to the APL and then to a small TV so I could use the TV when playing DVD-A's while navigating thru the menus. Once I disconnected that RCA Video connection the humm went away. I still think its strange though since these cables claim to break the grounds that this video connection produced the humm and it was only in one cable. |
I totally agree a one year warranty for such an Investment is way too short! The Power Pack (+$399 Option)contains a special battery and charger for running the cables straight from the battery. Now the battery life must be limited and problably hard for the consumer to change. The charger could malfunction. |
For those of you who have tried the HTC cables, tell me about the power supply. Has anyone tried both the wallwart and the high buck power supply? I did speak to someone who had some issue with the optional power supply but said the factory had told him this was being revised. What's the experience with the power supplies? |
These cables have been out for about a year now. I would like to here from people who have had these cables a long time. How are they performing? I know thre has been compatibility problems, but to those that did not have that problem , have you had any other problems? Will they last for the long term ? |
I have had a pair of Cyberlights P2A for about 5-6 months. I have had no problems with them. Huge, large, deep, soundstage with excellent bass. mid and treble. Better than any cables I have tried. I believe I read that early on in the production of these cables they had problems. Once you try them you can never do without them, they make that much difference ! |
Have owned these cables for about two years now and have nothing but good things to say! They are the most amazing cables I've tried, transparency, imaging, clarity, detail [all the buzz words] are light years better than ANY metal cable I've tried [though have never tried any of the ULTRA expensive cables] It is also worth upgrading the battery packs to the newer "set and forget" versions, they are a SIGNIFICANT improvement over the rechargeable versions. I'm not a big conspiracy theory guy, but I really wonder why these things have not taken off more!! [the Stereophile review seemed to dismiss them on measurements, and since when have we ever put all faith in mearusements!!!] I urge any and all to get a home trial of these cables and decide for yourself. |