HMS TPO MATCH cables

I absolutely notice a difference in all of the Top Match cables that I have (power, interconnect, speaker) using the different settings. Using the interconnects, you can hear the soundstage change dramatically. Having gone through a few amps since I've had these things, I have gone from one extreme setting (9) to the other (1) depending on the amplifier.

My current amp is a Wyetech Topaz 572 connected to a Silver Rock Signature C37 treated pre-amp. I use the #1 settings. Going to zero collapses the soundstage and causes the background noise to go up. You also lose image focus, and it gets louder. Going to 6 causes the volume to go down too much, and the low level detail is masked over. I haven't found these things to be subtle, but you should tune your system in the early morning hours when you have lower ambient room noise.

Tekunda's advice about about tuning the cables fits with my experince, and it's the first time I've heard it. The volume level does decrease slightly when they are tuned correctly. Regarding the speaker cables, they work pretty much the same way, but don't affect the volume as much as tuning the interconnects. The power cables are really amazing. I have rid my system of a very well respected power conditioner as a result of using the HMS power cables.

As you can tell, I'm really sold on these things. No matter what I put in my system, which changes frequently, my cables will always match whatever components I buy.

My experiences are limited to using the HMS between my dac and the preamp, although I have used different dacs and preamps. The big problem is that in all cases the volume dropped off so sharply with each higher setting that I could not get an exact constant volume setting using my pots. Since louder is generally accepted as better, I did not think this was a good test. Given the recent posts suggesting benefits, I will try again.

I spent about 2 hours with the settings on the interconnects and definitely noticed some changes. With the Piega-10 's I found the best setting was at 2. At 0 the soundstage is the biggest. When I switched to 1 and 2 the imaging was tidied up and more pinpoint and the soundstage decreased ever so slightly which I preferred. This will be interesting to play with since I am biamping and can change the bass or the treble independently with those settings.

thanks for all your responses, any idea of experimental settings between a passive pre n power amp.the soundstage review seems to favour zero settings with active pre.

If you read my post, you saw that I am using a passive pre (Silver Rock). It still depends on the equipment. The Soundstage reviewer didn't evaluate these cables properly by not substituting different components. That's the real value of these cables....being able to match different components in your system. When using my Accuphase straight in without the Silver Rock, I use the "0" setting. Different components, different settings. You'll just have to try it for yourself. The way I always start is listening to the "0" setting first, then go 1 click each way (9 and 1) to get an idea where I want to start. From there, I try to move up or down to fine tune it.