Thanks ghdprentice. I think what I am also hearing is the difference between good, really good recordings and not so good recordings. Playing some jazz tonight - all Blue Note series. Dexter Gordon's One Flight Up has always sounded superb, as does Cannonball Adderley's "Know What I Mean" and they sound even better now. Art Blakey's Just Cool'n never sounded especially great - and the gap is wider now.
the good, the bad and the ugly........truth I guess.
RCA interconnect recommendation
Would like recommendations for interconnects for both analog and digital side to an integrated Rogue Cronus amp from a Nottingham/EAR 834P on one side and an Antelope Zodiac DAC on the other side. What should I be looking at and what kind of budget should I set. I'm thinking up to $500 for a pair but have no idea. Thanks for all advice.
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One of the attributes of components and of a system which I found really really difficult to manage is adding too much highlighted detail so one’s system brings out flaws. High lighted detail can be very rewarding when listening to your system but gets in the way of listening to music. I got a pretty good handle on it about 20 years ago when I had a system I called my “reference system”. The difference in venue and mastering techniques were in my face… I enjoyed getting lost in the space” of a symphony hall, but it got in the way of falling into the music. This was not an ear bleed system at all. But poor recordings were emphasized as poor recordings. I found that reading through professional reviews I could actually figure out if the component was going to enhance or detract from this tendency. Over the time since when I have upgraded components my system has improved detail and nuance and lot it’s unnatural emphasis highlighting detail. So all recordings sound better. It took me thirty years to figure this out and how to manage it. But it has been very worthwhile. Hopefully, this is useful for you to think about. But, the good news, I think, is that the difference you describe sounds like new cables, and if interconnects have only a couple dozen hours on them, making bad albums sound worse will probably go away as the break in.
This attribute in combination with the desire to enhance rhythm and pace is what component by component led me to Audio Reseach tubed equipment. The music first with the detail in realistic and natural emphasis. |
@smaarch1 Not to sidetrack you too much on your interconnect thread but wanted to ask for ya., Have you already been down the small-tube rolling path with your Rogue integrated yet? (i.e replacing the stock original JJ 12aU7 12aX7 tubes). Can be a nice improvement and will benefit you on your interconnect realization too. Back in 2017 I recall several groups of Rogue Cronos and Cronos Magnum II owners were haggling with swapping out trying various NOS, RCAs, new-repro Mullard’s, and landing on PSVANE and Gold Lyons replacing all (12au7, 12ax7) of the small stock low cost signal and driver tubes and very happy with the results. I have tried a decent NOS collection myself (25 different matched pairs of NOS, including the best of the very best early vintage Mullard Blackburns) and NOW just run the newer version small PSVANE (2021+), quite smooth. Allows one to save off the rare NOS stuff too. My new theory is good small signal/driver tubes first and good caps inside the amp(s) before more interconnect upgrades. Makes a notable and engaging difference with the flow of the music, fwiw. If you have not tried it yet in your Rogue, it can be a fairly affordable upgrade and change for the better. Best of luck. |
@decooney Thanks - no sidetrack at all. Yes I briefly played with a few tubes, in fact I have box sitting here of matched tubes - gold lions, rca's and a few others. I tried a reissued Mullard in the preamp spot and it was awful - not listenable actually....tried it again with the same result. I swapped out the JJ tube for a tungsol and I've been pleased with it. I'll get back to the tube thing eventually. |
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