Sakura Systems OTA Cable Kit


Has anyone tried this "minimalist" cable kit? After receiving a recommendation from someone with similar musical values to myself, and whose ears I trust, I could not resist ordering one. I will report on how they sound in a few weeks, but am interested in others' opinions too.

For those that have not heard about them look at www.sakurasystems.com for an interesting read. The cable sounds as if it is very close to the specification of the conductors in Belden Cat5. So I may have spent around 100 times what the kit is worth. We shall see.

If you have not heard this cable, please don't bother posting your opinions of how it MUST sound here. Nor am I that interested in hearing how stupid I must be to order this kit - it's my money and you are free to make different decisions with yours. Sorry for this condition, but I am bored with those that have nothing positive to offer on this site, and post their opinions based on deductive logic rather than actual experience.
redkiwi
I got real lucky and got the Kit for less than 1/2 price.With the kinda recommendations I have read and people have written to me I am jazzed!
I have a pair of solid core Tara Labs,so I will have a slight comparative basis to go by.

Would like to know what other's experience has been using this stuff as a Digital IC or if you can use it in that capacity?I will look through the post to see if anyone has mentioned it.
Abex:

I ended up with a very nice OTA digital cable (it slightly bested my Mapleshade Double Helix anyway - even less HF smearing which is what Mapleshade is all about).

The center (+) lead was 30" long and the outer (-) lead was 60" long. The longer lead was looped around the shorter lead by the means of 5-7 half knots (approx. 1.5"- 2" in diameter).

More and smaller loops close in the sound (though they further define imaging) while fewer and larger loops open up the sound while making imaging less precise. The trick is to balance this out to your liking (the cord is adjustable in the way).

Per the originator of this concept (Richard @ Vantage Audio in the UK), this will work best with total lengths no shorter than 90" (the one that I used) and no longer than 120" (I did not have enough cable left to try this length).

The concept is loosely based on a design that Vantage either uses, or has used, in the past, though their formula (as it was described to me) is far more complex/precise than the cable that I made.

If you do not feel like going to all this trouble, just make the (+) lead 42 " and the (-) lead 48" and separate the cables along the run by approx. 2". This is not as good as the looped design, but it betters equal length runs as the sound is more articulate and open.

Short versions (under 42") did not sound good with my DAC's (Bel Canto 1.0 & 1.1), but some people seem to like them and this may vary with the equipment used. I do use 8" OTA IC's from preamp to phono preamp with super results, but these are analog cables running to dual/mono phono sections with but 34 dB of gain.

I also do not hold to the concept that 75 ohm coaxial designs are the best digital cables as these cables have been my least favorite so far.
It is an intresting read though.I will try somethimg else.I tend to agree with the 75ohm theory becuase I am at present using CANARE 75ohm cable and it's just ok ,but not as revealing as I know it could be.

I have been on a cable quest of late and have a variety of cables coming and on hand so I will be able to give a fair eval of how my system will jive with the OTA's,but if It only works well in my system as speaker cable I will be happy.If it works well as a replacement of all cables excluding the Digital cable I will be overjoyed!

Synergy is a big issue with me after getting out of the reciever stage in my life many moons ago and becoming a more critical listener.

Thanks for the reply!
Abex:

Where did you "get lucky"? I gotta get some of this stuff. I am not very excited about using it as an interconnect unless I can solder it to my RCA jacks. I am not keen on using Delrin, or any plastic in my system at all. Just as the EnjoyTheMusic interview says, I am in the camp that says we can't kill resonance. My entire system is built around this idea, and I have nothing in my system that dampens at all. I am not about to ADD plastic. Plastic will make vibration bounce back into the component and thereby making it harder for the vibration to drain properly.

Anyway, I do want to try some. What's the best place to get it?

Thx!

B
Excellent cable!I just hooked it up and ran a few of my test recordings and it works just fine for me.

I only ran into 1 snag which I have not figured out yet and that is I could not get my CDP to work using the OTA.Will have to try something else to see why that is.

The best thing I can say is that the innerdetails shine on through at low vols. which is something I have been waiting for in a cable.The recording I use has chimes at the beginning and it always bugged me that I would have to turn the Vol. up in order to hear them.Not the case now.

I have heard that OTA a similar in design to Kimber Select and I do not have any ,but I can believe it.Vocals ,soundstage and Bass are phenomenal

Another issue that was critical was the Capacitance of the Cable.I am using a Passive Preamp.Out of the batch of cables I have and knowing that the Canare is around 20pfd this cable is alot better.

Thanks again for this thread as I just happend to get this cable due to another person having synergy issues using a SET amp with highly efficient speakers.I do not know why ,but his lost and my gain I guess!