Why are you shouting?
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- 36 posts total
I have compared the Purist Venustas to the Graham IC 50 and the Hovland. Sorry I can't type more. Order of preference...Graham last...hovland...then the Purist is a big step ahead. The Graham and Hovland are good...the hovland being warmer. The Purist is just a competely different cable...much blacker background...much more details and extension. I've owned all 3 for a least a year each...The Purist will stay for a very long time! Maybe a dominus one day ! |
I always thought for phono cartridges, a "phono" cable was required and thus I only used such in this application. When I was looking to upgrade the Audio Research balanced phono cable, I contacted SilverAudio. Max there suggested I try their SilverBreeze tonearm cable. This brought on so much more resolution and openness over the ARC that I had not imagined possible. Initially this was on the Linn LP12 (din connector) and then later on a Clearaudio Ref TT (RCA-phono connectors). For $400 then, this was an unbeatable value. Even now in the $500-600 range, I suspect it has few if any peers in its price range. With the Clearaudio tonearm having RCA connectors, I was recently able to try the Kubala-Sosna Emotion RCA ICs. According to Joe Kubala, these would work fine and he said they had no need to market a "phono" cable. He was right; this cable worked beautifully improving upon the SB's strengths with the K-S's trademark of greater see-through and blacker background attributes which resulted in more silence between the notes; tonality was as close as it gets. The differences were not subtle but they were not huge. At that point (late last year) the $2000 cost difference made no sense in this link of the system. The SB remained as it is that good. And then two months later, I tried the Purist Venustas RCA ICs. The differences here were as dramtic but for different reasons. The Purist brings on a greater dynamic contrast and thus a more lively presentation over the SB. I did not hear any greater degree of resolution in the Venustas over the SB like I had previouslt with the K-S Emotion. Overall, I found the Venustas to be more musically involving so I ran with this for a month and then returned back to the SB. The SB's presentation was indeed more mellow but still I was so impressed with this cable. I guess it would depend ultimately on the cartridge or music as to which one to go with. With a $800-900 difference, the gap narrows. But on the used market, the difference is only $300 or so which makes it more realistic to compare the SB to the Venustas. For these auditions, the cartridge was the Clearaudio Accurate. Phono stage is Aesthetix Io. I then got the opportunity to try a Purist Dominus "phono" cable. It was a bit shorter than the others so I had to shift components around to get it to work, but the result was incredible. The strengths brought on by the Venustas were magnified significantly here. Not only did the contrasts increase, but so did the bass foundation and the Dominus trademark of doing lower midrange textures like no other cable I have heard. To go back to the other cables was VERY difficult. But with the Clearaudio TT, this short of a cable would be a hassle. With the Versa Dynamics, where the RCA connectors are way down at the bottom of the back of the TT, these cables would be perfect. I was able to borrow a 1m Dominus-B RCA IC from a local audiophile friend. When I tried this cable on the Clearaudio arm, I got the same benefits as to the Dominus phono cable. I did not compare the two Dominus RCA cables as I would have had to move the gear around again. But if there were any differences, they had to be very small. For my situation at least, the need to rely solely on a "phono" cable was determined to not be necessary. Based on the above comments on the Venustas, I suspect the SilverBreeze could easily compete with the Hovland and Graham. So try and give this cable an audition. I suspect SilverAudio still offers 30-day home trials. John |
- 36 posts total