Sakura Systems OTA Cable Kit

As previously mentioned, I have been experimenting with ferrite rings and cylinders on OTA this week. Apparatus and procedure: the full range of MFSC rings from MEC were acquired, and attached to different points in the cable infrastructure. Observations: a little extra speed, and resolution when attached to digital cables. A little less noise when attached to power cables and DC hook-ups. A little extra sparkle and purity when attached to all cables downstream from a filter-less DAC (without alias filtering) perhaps due to dampening of high-frequency modulation (which can have a damaging effect on some power amps and speakers/crossovers). Upon installing these ferrite rings there was an immediately rewarding combination of air and presence, of crisper and even less blurred transients, and increased detail, clarity, and definition. In many ways, I found this positive result surprising, given the failure of shielding to improve Stratos cables. However, since I have not tried out all combinations, I am still not so sure that some connections are not reacting adversely to this type of dampening treatment.

Slawney: Is there a website for MEC? I have not heard of them. I tried ferrite magnets a year or so ago with various cables (not the OTA) and found them to supress the HF's (less noise, but also less music). These were not high ticket magnets, but the ones used on wall warts, digital cameras and the like. I had an accident with the TT today which yanked the OTA IC's off of it and will be figuring out a better stress relief system tomorrow. I will also shorten the IC's, as much as possible, when doing the repair, but cannot swing the minute lengths that you are using. More urgency to the music would be nice with the budget Thorens/Grado combo that I am using. Hopefully shorter lengths will help to supply this. I can also cut the phono preamp to preamp leads down to 6" or so (might as well do it all @ one time). I have not tried IC's shorter than 24" before and this should be interesting.

"I tried ferrite magnets a year or so ago with various cables (not the OTA) and found them to supress the HF's (less noise, but also less music)."

Same here... I was trying various ferrites for years and never have gained results I was hoping for. I have them now attached to various appliances all over the place but none in my setup. YMMV.

Crap: I rewired the TT again today and am getting a low level hum in "both" channels (it was very silent before). I will completely redo it in a couple of weeks if I cannot trace it to a bad joint (hope that I did not screw up the tone arm cables, though it would be an excuse to replace them with something newer). Everything was the same this time (or so I thought) except that I shortened the length of both sets of analog IC's. I cannot hear the hum from a seated position @ normal listening volume, but the system was so quiet before that it should be again if things are done right.

I have completed the ferrite experiments this weekend. My conclusion? Used in moderation, these ferrite rings can reduce interference and have beneficial sonic effects in the following situations:
1.) on DC leads, esp. when on base and collector leads of transistors in preamps, amps, and digital circuitry. Using the smallest size MECs were sufficient for this.
2.) on OTA digital cables, the smallest size MEC (MSFC4EX 4-5 mmm dia.) positioned close to the plugs of the output end. This will hinder sliding of + and - cable against one another, and change the impedance of OTA protective tubing. The sonic improvement is noticeable esp. in the rise and fall of signals, and there are also noticeable improvements in clarity. I detected no negative losses in this application.
3.) another possible route of entry for ferrite rings is at the output end of the speaker cables. Speaker leads may happen to resonate at interfering frequencies and thereby interfereence potential. An 8-ft length of OTA speaker lead is resonant at approximately 30 MHz. Using one MFSC4EX ferrite ring each on + and - leads to speaker cabinets had about the same effect as an ENACOM loudspeaker device. But I imagine that this trick works best with properly stabilized amplifiers.
4.) The larger sizes of ferrite rings (up to MSFC10KEX and 13KEX) were used on OTA power cables with positive results. This was the only time I used the larger magnets. I had best results positioning them near the IEC or inside the chassis of the component when possible.
Of course, the optimum values of ferrite rings should be determined experimentally for each system. It took me a long time to find the right values for my system. Having many ferrite rings at hand, it was easy for me to play with different combinations. Using them on analog interconnects between components, there was a very noticeable loss in stage response, and I would not recommend the use of ferrite on Stratos analog interconnects at all. The ferrite rings act like a resistor, and excessive values of resistance can easily impair high-frequency and transient response. That is why I recommend moderation in ferrite use, and the smaller sizes to begin with.
Dekay, I do not know any MEC website: I ordered them from a German electronics supplier. Sorry to hear about your turntable accident. Shortening the length of your phono lead with OTA will bring some more urgency to your set-up, and probably differentiate your LP sound even further from your CD sound. However, as I well know, this arrangement can certainly expose certain problems with your existing set-up that were previously inaudible. In my own case, I had to resort to grounded Mu-Metal (high permeable Nickel Iron) shields and a completely reworked ground and power scheme. Good luck.