cable as tone control


I'm looking for recommendations into a cable that can help me control breightness that I cannot otherwise tame.

The system is actually my portable - A Panasonic 580 "walkman" type CD player, Grado RA-1 headphone amp and Koss portable headphones. This is a Headroom recommended system and I use it while driving my '66 MGB, in which I dare not put an aftermarket stereo. And it actually sounds quite good considering the source player.

What's your recommendation for a cable that will help tame the brighness as best I can, since I can't use a DAC or bring my SCD-1 in the car! (The Grado RA-1 headphone amp uses standard RCA cables to connect to the Panasionic with a mini stereo adapter).

I do a lot of listening on this system, so I'd look at cables with a list price of up to $1500 (i.e Golden Cross, Quatro Fil, etc. -- but my gut feeling is that's there is some lower price stuff out there that might be specifically good at helping to tame that digital edginess that I hate so much. --Lorne
lornecherry
Lorne, shoot me an email. I've got the answer to your prayers for an unbelievably good price. Sean
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I've never listened to the Grado RA-1 but do use the HeadRoom Total AirHead for portable listening. The circuit they include to compensate for the fact that a pair of speakers would produce interference at each ear is intended to improve the spatial characteristics of headphones. The other effect is that it takes the edge off the top end since that is where the interference has its greatest effect. -- Though I used a tube headphone amp for a while (non-portable), I went back to the HeadRoom equipment (Little More Power Premium) because of much lower levels of listener fatique. -- I've also used the Senneheiser HDC451 active noise cancelling headphones in noisy settings. They don't have a lot of bass but avoid the difficulty of having to crank the volume to get a decent signal to noise ratio. -- Another, more costly alternative, is the Etymotic Research ER4P (louder than the ER4S with a roll off in the highs). Though they give you about 25dB noise reduction, they block outside sounds to a point that may not be appropriate for driving. -- Finally, having experienced the same effect with headphones when used with Silver Bullet interconnects, I have used inexpensive copper cables from bettercables.com ($60 for 1m). I agree that copper is your best choice.
-- Good listening.
You might look into one of those tiny little dacs that people use with DAT players. They may only be A to D but I think that would be the most efficient use of your $.
Simple, try Harmonic Technology's Truthlinks, they will be as good as anything at smoothing out the edge without sacrificing quality or tonal bajance. Best $150 you will ever spend on a cable, given your criteria.