The Entry Level 2021, A New Set Up

The Entry Level Set Up

It's been a while since my last article, but it doesn't mean I have not been busy. If you've been following my restoration of a pair of  Acoustic Research M6 Holographic Tower Speakers, link here if you wanna read: http://hifi-unlimited.blogspot.com/2020/09/another-classic-restoration-acoustic.html

A buddy of mine have been rather keen to take it up for use as a simple system to relax in his bed room. However, he is an everyday guy with up to date everyday needs, meaning he wants to wireless stream music & remote control the system from his smart phone, plays MP3 music files on a USB stick and the occasional CD, if he is in the mood for sound decent sound quality. His needs are more of a practicality & connectivity, with absolute sound quality being less of a priority. i.e, he is not strictly dyed in the wool audiophile, but rather someone who wants decent sound quality, but with connectivity of a modern lifestyle system. And yes, he has provided a budget for me to work on too!

I set about studying the features he needs and the available components that will meet his requirements. but yet still providing high enough quality sound, while meeting his budgetary concerns.

Teac PD 650-B CD Player With USB Input

After going through the products that meet the budget, and lifestyle vs sound requirements, I have decided to start the set up with a CD player c/w front panel USB input for MP3 convenience, which lead me to the Teac PD 650-B model with see here. Retailing at just MYR 1380/unit, it's quite possibly the cheapest CD player with USB input and hifi brand credibility. After all, Teac used to make many good studio grade components. 

The plastic finished front panel still looks & feels solidly built, despite it's humble price tag. The satin black finished unit still looks & feels very decent to touch. The weight is not too heavy of course, but enough not to make it feel cheap. The central CD drawer design ejects in & out smoothly and all front panel buttons work with an reassuring "click".  The unit comes with a basic plastic remote for convenience too.

  

Yamaha R-N602 Receiver

The next star in this system line up is the amplifier, the heart of any self respecting hifi system, or in this case rather, a receiver, which in these days seems to be making a comeback of sorts. This Yamaha R-N602 is handsome, with pseudo classic looks that is functional and well built at one go. The Yamaha comes with all the modern feature that any audiophile or otherwise could want in a receiver. It has built in wifi, which could be wireless or wired, USB input for smart phone connection or just for playing MP3 music files, and it even connects to your smart phone via Bluetooth. Last but not least, once wifi is set up & connected, one can down load Yamaha's Musicast  app to your smart phone to access the Yamaha receiver wireless. Musicast app can be used as a remote control function or, play music flies stored on your smart phone. As a bonus, the receiver also come with FM/AM tuner.

The Yamaha receiver is rated at 80W RMS power output and the internal bits, such as beefy EI transformer for power supply, and over size heatsinks tells me the hardware is serious stuff! There are multiple RCA inputs at the back and the amp section can drive 2 pairs of speaker at once if required. 

Acoustic Research M6 Holographic Tower Speakers

The speaker in this system is my recently restored Acoustic Research M6 Holographic Tower Speakers. These are considered pinnacle of 90's speaker design and frankly, it still sounds pretty darn good today. Tonal balance is on the rich side of things, and the speaker is capable of projecting a big open sound space that is very transparent, yet managing to sound musical. With a built in sub woofer at the bottom cabinet, a nice weighty, low bass is there to anchor the music. This is an efficient speaker design and the Yamaha's 80W RMS feels comfortable pushing this speaker to it's fullest potential.

Ancillary items used in setting up this system includes a pair of Cardas Hexlink 5C RCA cable, a pair of Belden speaker cables, and a Weiduka AC2.2 power bar for power conditioning. Setting up the simple 3 component system was easy as A,B,C!

  

Once hooked up, the overall sound of this system was high musical of the foot tapping kind. I played The Best Of Yazoo CD from the Teac CD player and I was dancing to the music. Yazoo's blend of punk pop fusion music is synthesizer heavy and can sound distractingly jaunty and tiring in the wrong system, but here it actually sounded very nice. The near neutral tone with just a tinge of warmness from the Yamaha saved the day. Now, how did I tell who was doing what sound wise?

You see, both the Yamaha & the Teac allows USB input, and that is where the similarity and sound differentiation can be easily identified. When playing some of my old Canto pop music on MP3 via the USB stick, I first plugged in to the Teac CD player and then do the same via the USB input of the Yamaha  receiver. From the Teac, the sound was as per described earlier as playing CD, only less details and resolution, and maybe just a tad higher noise floor(white hash basically). However the same USB stick played via Yamaha, the sound turned even more musical, more danceable, and those MP3 files gained an analog like texture which to my ears are more sympathetic to the low res files. I also managed to stream music to the Yamaha from my smart phone and got very good results as well, with no signal drop of or anything as such.

I find it highly satisfying being able to enjoy music from an entry level system, costing even less than most of those high end cables that audiophiles prized. With the latest crop of budget hifi products on offer as represented here, I see a glimmer of hope for an industry coping with changes of modern life style. Lovely indeed! And lastly, after setting up this system in my buddies house, he sent me a thank you note, saying he was very satisfied with the sound of the system and will be so until he hit the jackpot, then he will consider an upgrade! 

For this project, I did all my shopping at Style Laser in Kuala Lumpur, a cash & carry outlet. 

Bi-wiring

I'd kick off by saying that bi-wiring is a YMMV practice.

I know, some audiophiles have reported positive improvements from bi-wiring their loudspeakers, while many others have pooh-poohed the practice as they could discern no change or no improvement at all.

I have been wanting to try out bi-wiring between my Pass Labs XA160.5 monoblocks and the TAD-CR1 loudspeakers (incidentally, each  XA160.5 comes with 2 pairs of output binding posts, easily facilitating a bi-wiring arrangement).

The missing bit was another pair of compatible speaker cables to go with my existing JPS Superconductor 3.

I am in the school that cables don't (always) sound the same, so I was concerned that if the 2 runs of cables used in my bi-wiring exercise were of different make, then I could get a ying-yang sound. So, I was adamant from the outset not to mix-and-match speaker cables, and that the 2 pairs of cables must also be of the same length.

What with JPS no longer having a dealer in Malaysia, I had to wait for a pair of Superconductor 3 to turn up the used market. A pair did turn up fortuitously, and I happily became their new owner.

What were the reasons for my interest in bi-wiring?

I thought of these:

- increased contact surface for the connection between amp and speaker, as 2 pairs of connectors are used for each channel instead of 1 pair.

- increased cable cross-section area for the signal path, kinda like giving a wider highway for the signal to pass through.

- reduction in the number of "junctions" in the amp-speaker connection with the elimination of the jumper cables between the bass and the mid/high sections of the speakers. The signal sees a straighter path to pass through.
(With the use of a jumper, the signal path at the speaker side is Speaker cable -> binding post -> jumper -> binding post. Each "->" signifies a "break" in the connection.
Without the jumper, with bi-wiring, the signal path is simply speaker cable -> binding post.)

All these would reduce the impedance in the amp to speaker connection, thus would hopefully better preserve the signal integrity.

Of course, it could be argued whether my thinking is entirely scientific or that the effect is significant enough to be audible, but let's not go down that road for now. 😉

The proof is in the pudding as it is said - so I took off the speaker jumpers linking the bass terminals to the mid/high driver on the TAD-CR1, hooked up the second pair of JPS Superconductor 3 and listened.

From the get-go, I heard a few improvement areas that I liked, which were also somewhat in-line with my expectations:
- There was an impression of increased extension at both ends of the audio frequency
- There was a better grip and improved definition on the bass notes
- Clarity and transparency of the sound from top to bottom improved quite a bit
- A somewhat more expansive and more enveloping sound-stage
- The amount of details in the music improved, low level details could be heard more clearly. This was the most pronounced improvement among the lot.

But this trial did not come with zero downside. I could sense a "discontinuity" between the bass and the mid/high regions (the TAD-CR1 is 3-way. The lower binding posts feed the bass, and the upper ones feed the midrange and high). The character of the sound shifted a bit as the notes traversed the music scale. The sound was relatively more transparent and had better definition and excellent pace and attack as it went up the frequency scale, but as it plowed the depth, there was a tad of added warmth and the proceedings became a tad languid relative to the high, though in absolute sense the bass region had seen significant improvement from before.

So this was not a plug-and-forget kind of tweak. I had to solve this difference in tonal balance.

The Superconductor 3 was factory-fitted with WBT copper spades as standard, but I upgraded my original pair to WBT silver spades on my own. The second pair of Superconductor of course also came with the standard WBT copper spades, and there I suspected was where the culprit lie. The differences in tonal balance I heard were the same as my impression as I moved from copper to silver WBT spades.

So, I had to bite the bullet (i.e., spend money) and changed all the copper spades on the second pair of Superconductor 3 to WBT silver too. And behold, the tonal difference issue was solved.

Things didn't stop there. Thereafter, minor adjustments were still needed to better accommodate the improvements, for example the increase in perceived details would also make the sound a little more forward or slightly bright at certain places, the bass could be a little overbearing on some recordings too. Minor room treatment tuning allowed me to resolve these small issues in my case.

A few audiophile friends also tried out bi-wiring subsequently and shared positive outcomes with me, though a couple also reported tonal difference issue as they didn't have 2 runs of similar cable to try out.

So, bi-wiring is here to stay in my system. It is a winning practice from my point of view.

Things I learned - keep both pairs of cables absolutely the same, in make, in length and even down to the connectors; it is not a plug and forget thing, expect to work a little to resolve some issues that bi-wiring might throw up at the same time as it releases greater capabilities from your system 

I do keep an open mind that bi-wiring would not work in some systems or with some speakers though - so YMMV.

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P.S., I know, bi-amping is even better than bi-wiring. But I have no access to another pair of XA160.5 to experiment, unless some kind souls like to loan me a pair of power amp or a quartet of monoblocks to try out. 😉
And no, I have no desire to try mixing different amplifiers with my Pass Labs for bi-amping, at least not with the TAD-CR1, I don't want to mess with its outstanding top to bottom coherency.

P.S., Before I found my second pair of speaker cables for bi-wiring, I actually tried changing the factory fitted jumpers on the TAD-CR1 to after-market ones from reputable cable companies, costing from a few hundred to a couple of thousand Ringgits. I found none of them could match TAD's factory-fitted jumpers, let alone better them. So,  I had to move on. 

So Grand! Skogrand SC Air Markarian 421 Speaker Cable & Interconnects.

Skogrand SC Markarian 421 speaker cables. All Skogrand cables are hand made to order.

To the few of us in the know, these cables have come to be known as "So Grand"! Skogrand Cables aren't exactly new, but on these shores, we're practically about the first people to have heard them, thanks to my buddy Jo Ki, of LS3/5A fame. He bought the best interconnects & speaker cables that Skogrand had to offer, called the SC Air Markarian 421. For now, available direct only from Skogrand's web site. Jo told us recently that he heard god speak to him, while he was listening to music. He wanted me to confirm if I heard what he heard too, and that's how the Skogrand cables ended up in my place  for a good few weeks.

First let's examine the cable's physical attributes. The Skogrand SC Markarian 421 range of solid core copper cables are stiff. They can be quite a handful, and it seemed like I was wrestling with a pair of Anacondas in the palm of my hands. The hand build quality is solid of course, and very well finished too. The outer jacket deserves a special mention as this is not your normal clear heat shrink, rather it contains a knot every 2 inches of so intervals and it seems some air is trapped inside so that the actual cable conductors never rest directly on the floor. Inside, there is further insulation with the use of silk and cotton fibres. The solid core conductors are thick gauge and hollow in the core, to trap air for dielectric purposes. All these layers makes the cable thick and stiff, so not advisable to bending aggressively when routing the cables(gentle curves are best suited in this case), or you may weakened the core and eventually break the cable altogether. I have another minor complain about the use of extremely thick electro gold plated spades, due to their chunkiness and smooth gold plated surfaces, the speaker terminals on the amp and speakers find it difficult to lock them down, because of the resistance to bending on the cables it self. Like I said, they're a handful to handle.

Note the knots on the outer transparent heat shrink tube, not your normal cable dressing!

The first Skogrand that went in to my system are the speaker cables. Listening to music through them was like as if you are just re-discovering your first kiss all over again. Everything you've remembered from that first experience is still there, the moist lips, gritty teeth, exchange of fluids and that juicy twirling tongue, but only more intense that you last remembered it to be. So it was with my familiar music, and I mean all music genre, was like as if I was re-living that first time I listened to all those music, but only with so much more insight, and the way the artist expressed so that we can hear the way it was intended to convey, the mood, the feelings and truly be touched, establishing an emotional connection to the music being played back right in front of us.

However, this is an audiophile blog, so hifi artifice must be presented nevertheless. The Skogrand possesses a rather warmish tonal balanced, which at first listen, I though the highs were slightly rolled off on the extreme top end. On further listening, I change my perception that the highs were NOT actually rolled off, but rather presented in a more laid back fashion that I am used to. The highs were of the velvety smooth with nano particle like finest and most fluid I've heard. There is also real bite and attack when the drum kit cymbals come crashing too. The mids have dense volume, yet sounds clear and articulate at the same time. Like the few modern cable I tested recently, the Skogrands are also bass champs. The bouncy and tuneful bass, which underlies the whole musical spectrum, providing a solid foundation for the mids and top end to work their magic. The bass has slamming and dynamic qualities too, when the music calls for.        

The extremely thickly gold plated spades, which are a bitch to work with. However, once you hear the way the Skogrands sound, all is forgiven and forgotten!

I am often reminded how natural, musical instruments sounded thru the Skogrand, re-producing all it's harmonic textures and truthful timbres(we are talking about non amplified instruments here of course!). This I put squarely to the darkest of background, indicating a truly noise free and transparency factor of the highest levels, never before heard like this in my system. If you've been following my audio adventures(or mis adventures!) long enough, you'd know I am a sucker for these hifi artifacts.  Despite my initial feeling that the highs may be rolled off, I eventually came to the conclusion that the Skogrands actually played within the widest bandwidth which my system allowed. Dynamic contrast and shadings in musical scores are often not easy to achieve is a music reproduction via hifi system, which only the most high of ends will do, but that, the Skogrands did very well. All this tiny hifi artifacts adds up to a whole lot of realistic musical performance facsimile.

Sound staging and imaging are further proof in the pudding that if you can afford it, you can eat it too! My room walls and what ever boundaries, be they real or imagined, are banished, replaced with acoustics of the place in which the recording was done, be it studio on a studio album, or hall acoustic, if it's a concert recording. It gives real meaning to the term "breathing the same air as the recorded musicians" or "swimming in the same water as the fishes"! The Skogrand acts like a teleportation device, beaming one to the event, not the event in to one's hifi room. Sound stage scale versus imaging size is spot on in "live" recordings, but some things can appear somewhat bloated, or out of proportion with some studio album recordings(that's probably some multi tracking recording artifact). If you heard that via the Skogrand, don't go messing with ye hifi, go blame the recording and mastering engineers instead!

Another look at the spade termination of the speaker cables.

While all the above hifi attributes maketh a good cable, the best cables are the ones that just transmit the signal, and never imposes it's sonic signature on the music. For all it's sonic prowess, by the fourth song, I was listening to Hitman, by David Foster & Friends, I got my first of the many goosebumps experience while the Skogrand remained in my system. Not many equipment, let alone hifi cables gave me this much goose bump experience, with familiar, or new music materials. There were also times when the music moved me till I moist my eyes a little, yeah I know, what that means I am a SNAG(Sensitive New Age Guy), in contemporary terms! Hey, these guys don't only appear on Sex & The City you know?

It is for all these emotional touchy feelly elements that earns the Skogrand Markarian 421 speaker cable the kodus that it deserves. And it is in these elements, the way the Skogrand makes the rest of the system hardware disappear, and only the music remains, that makes it priceless.

Top: Skogrand SC Markarian 421 uses Xhadow RCA plugs. Bottom: My reference Audioquest Sky XLR interconnects. 

All the above observed was only while the Skogrand speaker cables were in my system, I next plug in the RCA interconnects from the same Skoprand range in to my system, between the Bryston BDA-1 DAC and Pass Labs X0.2 pre-amp, replacing my long term reference Audioquest Sky XLR pair. I know, there's at least 6db of noise reduction advantage to be had from the balanced cable configuration, but I heard no peeps, hiss, hum, hash or any kind of noise floor for the matter, via the Skogrand Markarian 421 RCA interconnects. Only dark silence emerge from the sound stage back ground. I thought the Skogrand interconnect shared all the hifi attributes and sonic signature with the speaker cables. The interconnects got out of the way just as well as the speaker cables.

In fact sometimes I thought the all Skogrand combo shared too much of a good thing? While the combo pushed the au natural organic qualities to the max, I find the whole musical canvas just a tad too soft for my taste, compared to when the AQ Sky's were still in play. I could not be sure at this stage if it's the RCA's single ended topology disadvantage at play here? I can't be unless I could have a pair of Skogrand Markarian 421 XLR interconnect on hand to confirm. Since these are Jo's cables, they are made to suit his system's operating topology, not mine. In his room Jo did not heard that over boiled softness(as per when cooking Maggi 2 minute instant noodles!). So it most likely a system compatibility issue more than anything else.

Another look at the beautiful hand termination of the Skogrand SC Markarian 421 interconnects.

Despite having brought out the above concerns for the RCA vs XLR issue, I heard very densely filled imaging properties, but I did wished for firmer imaging outlines as heard thru the AQ Sky. No bad thing here, I think, just a matter of preference and system compatibility issues, perhaps. I also found the triangle in the orchestral performance rings with more conviction and it's post attack harmonics hanging around just a little longer, before fading in to the darkness of nothingness. The all Skogrand combo further put more layers between the sound stage front imaging and back instruments, making the whole staging and imaging presentation more 3D believe able.

Adding the Skogrand interconnect in to the mix pushes the performance envelope of the system further, but at this stage, the point of diminishing returns has long been breached, as so often happens in the world of high end audio. The Skogrand Markarian 421 speaker cables cost more than 8k, and adding the interconnects will set you back a further 7k, all in cold, hard American Dollars! No small change indeed, but if one has the system of high enough stature, and is committed to the singular objective to extracting the best musical enjoyment out of the system, $$$ not with standing, the Skogrand can actually take one's musical journey to audio nirvana, at least, that is until the Divine one himself decides to speak to you.

The plastic flight case in which the Skogrand came packed with.

And there I was, on the eve of what was supposed to be the end of the world(see, even the Mayans get it wrong sometimes), I sat there on my throne, listening to god speak to me, thinking that my life as an audiophile would've come full circle, and complete if you will, if the Skogrands are the last piece of equipment I'll ever listened to again. There's this quality of completeness which the Markarian 421 exhibited each and every time I listened to music through it that makes all the right sonic cues to the discerning audiophile, yet all is not lost because in the end, and the only thing that matters, is that the Skogrand cables put music on the altar. Not many equipment, let alone cable can do that to such accomplished levels, that puts it so far ahead of the exotic cable pack race today. If that's not "So Grand!", then what is?

It's one of those hifi gears that even if any self respecting audiophile doesn't wish to buy, should at least aim to audition, once in his/her life time. At the moment in Malaysia at least, there is only one place you can hear em' Skogrands, and I think most of you would know where to go by now. Start making that orderly beeline queue!

For more infomation and purchase enquiries, please visit http://www.skograndcables.com

Best Budget Choice! Tara Labs TL-2/14 Speaker Cable.

Tara Labs TL-2/14 speaker cable as pictured. No fancy build or garden hose thickness. Just sturdily built.

Let's get the nitty gritty out of the way first, this is the entry level Tara Labs speaker cable your money can buy, priced at RM$1,019.00/8ft pair. If that's not a steal, just buying the Tara Labs brand, then there's indeed more substance to the name after all. All Tara Labs products are declared made in the US of A on their website. And with the marketing muscle of local dealer A&L Audio Station behind the brand, the Tara Labs products may proved more difficult to lay hands on.

The cable came sealed in regular printed cardboard box(nothing fancy here), no un-necessary packaging thrills either. The cable looks sturdily terminated with gold(not too shinny) plated banana plugs on both ends, if the cable size is a little weedy looking(who says good sounding cables must be thick, and come with shinny plugs?). There are the usual directional markings for signal flow on this 14 AWG copper cable. So far, everything seems mundane and not terribly exciting.

Check out this "live" CD and Blu-ray set, featuring amazing performances by many, many artist in collaboration with the Hit Man himself, David Foster. The Blu-ray has brilliant picture and stereo quality in PCM audio playback mode.

That is until I plug them Tara Labs in to my system, replacing my resident, and many times more costly Siltech 25th Anniversary 330L reference cable. I had previous left the TL-2/14 on my home made kable kooker for 2 whole weeks 24/7 to burn in. On my first album, the very entertaining Hit Man Returns, David Foster & Friends, featuring the likes of Seal, Donna Summer(possibly her last public appearance prior to her un-timely death), Chaka Khan, Earth Wing & Fire and many more artist I'd care to remember. I am very familiar with this "live" recording and the Blu-ray AV disc too. I was stunned by how organic, yet kick ass dynamic this cable sounds!

Here we have a very quietly dark sounding cable, with smooth, non-jarring highs, honeyed mids and propulsive(with very low extension too) kinda bass. It's like as if my PMC Fact 8 speakers was operating with sub-woofer(2.1 set up) kinda low end kick. It was as if the Earth Wind and Fire medley performance was rocking my gulis(balls for non-Malaysians) all over, just sitting on the throne(sweet spot). I would say the tonal quality is rather well balanced to the warm side, making my system less critical of recording faults, making it easier to consume my music(ala instant noodle style).

The other area that took me by surprise, which I never believed should not be attainable from such a cheap/budget cable is sound staging. The stage is deep, layered, tall and wide(beyond both sides of speakers and out side of the physical wall). However, the pudding just got sweeter when I realised that there's even a halo of "air" around each vocal, and instrument neatly projected within the sound stage!

By now, you must be waiting for some sins committed by this Tara Labs, right? Well, I won't disappoint you either. Coming from an entry level product, there must be some kind of performance compromised. First thing, while still relating to the sound staging and the imaging properties, while organically projected, it may not be solidly out lined enough for some taste and system synergy. However, one area I am sure the performance is compromised in the level of absolute transparency. In the high end audio game, transparency is highly prized commodity, while the TL-2/14 isn't the most transparent of speaker cables around, I was actually too busy enjoying my music to spot it, until the time came to remove it, and had my reference Siltechs re-installed in to the system. Only then, the one sin of omission became startling clear.

Otherwise, I am all praises for this Tara Labs TL-2/14 speaker cable. It's highly musical and appealing on an emotional level, does all the basic hifi performance parameters right, plus a sound staging and bass "king", all for beer budget money. It's been a blast of a time spent with it.

If one is in the market for any speaker cable, regardless of budget, do give this Tara Labs a try first, especially if one is after the music first, and the hifi-ness of sound next. It's that good!

Tara Labs is sold by A&L Audio Station, contact Yap(Wah Chai) at 03-79582884.

NBS Professional IV Loudspeaker Cables

A few of us were having our regular ‘teh tarik’ session. Someone said that someone else has upgraded his cables, which were now more expensive than the components those cables were connected to; and yet another someone else spent tens of thousands of Ringgit upgrading his entire cable set and the sound quality saw tremendous improvement. And thus the polarizing topic of cables in our hifi system came up, and it immediately invited both support and ridicule.

The supporters opined that cables should be regarded as a component in a hifi system and not an accessory, simply because, like other components in the system chain, no sound will be produced if there is no cable. Cables should thus be accorded the same emphasis like the other components. The naysayers countered with the argument that if one has an amount of, say, RM50k to spend, which is now not an unheard of sum spent on cabling in a highend system, one can possibly get a bigger improvement if the money is used to upgrade something else in the system, for example the loudspeaker or the source, rather than the cabling.

Then there were those who took cables as the ‘be-all and end-all’ - all ills could be cured and all the glories could be revealed by the right cables in a system; and there were those who took cables as a fit-and-forget – find something just decent enough, put them in and don’t tinker with them anymore; instead focus on your room and your main equipment where more returns on sonic improvement can be had.

So this perennial debate/discussion topic in hifi went on and on, and like the other great topics in hifi, there was no consensus. At the end, when all the ‘teh tarik’ was finished and all the ‘roti bakar’ eaten, the topic was settled with the great escape clause we use whenever we came to a deadlock, “there is no right or wrong, it is the person’s preference ‘lah’!” And so it was, until the next time the same topic rears its head again.

I digressed. Let’s start talking about the focus of this write-up, the NBS Professional IV loudspeaker cables.

The NBS Professional IV retails at RM35,700 per 12ft pair, which immediately puts it as one of those cable aimed at the highend.

NBS is the abbreviation for ‘Nothing But Signal’. NBS says that, and I quote from its website,
“This is the key to the design philosophy behind our cables. At NBS, we do not attempt to "reproduce" sound. Instead, we RETRIEVE what's on the recording.

Most audio cables incorporate devices of one type or another to filter-out undesirable frequencies. While these devices do remove a certain amount of hiss, they also, by their very nature, add to the noise floor. NBS cable does NOT employ any ancillary device. We use a unique weave of solid core copper combined with unconventional applications of silver shielding to achieve true retrieval of the recorded sound.

As a result, NBS cables deliver the lowest noise floor in the industry - reducing Radio Frequency and Electromagnetic Interferences up to 98% - while transmitting the FULL dynamic range of recorded sound. That's why, with NBS cables, you literally hear nothing but signal. This is the primary reason why NBS cables convey such a realistic presence.

You can test this with your own ears by listening to the pauses in recordings. No one delivers silence like NBS. You'll also experience an increased gain (volume boost) as well as significantly greater clarity and recognition with NBS cables.”

Commensurate with its price level, the construction of the NBS Professional IV is impeccable. When I handled them for the first time I was surprised by their weight, which probably attests to the amount of metal that has gone into the cables. Coupled to the weight is the rather unyielding nature of the cables, making cable routing just that little harder than others. It is just as well that the NBS Professional IV is constructed as a single-run cable, meaning that 2 separate cable runs are used per channel (4 separate cables in total for stereo use), allowing more flexibility to the user to work on one cable at a time for placement.

It is also interesting to note that the cable marked as the red/positive leg is constructed differently from the black/negative leg. In the photo above, you can see that the red/positive leg has a tighter twist pattern, giving more turns for the same cable length. This is NBS’s secret construction recipe for better sound possibly?

The NBS Professional IV loudspeaker cables are an excellent performer. Through my TAD Compact Reference loudspeakers, the sound conjured up through these NBS cable was bold, impactful and explicit. The sound had excellent body too. I’d put these NBS cables in the ‘yang’ camp, meaning that they give relatively more emphasis on the masculine aspects of sound. Listening to the bass guitar tracks on Dean Peer’s Ucross album, his every pluck was launched with energy and gusto into the room. The bass notes also had better definition and focus compared to my resident JPS Superconductor 3 loudspeaker cables. The latter gave slightly more diffused image edges and a more warmish feeling, though it also has to be said that the JPS cables are less than half the price of the NBS.

The scale and soundstage that these NBS cables conjured up was also grander than that achieved by my JPS. Listening to orchestral recordings (try any Reference Recordings CD), the soundstage stretched in all 3 dimensions, and was more clearly projected independent of the loudspeakers. The images within the soundstage were nicely focused with very good definition of position and ambiance/air. Image delineation was excellent, each instrument group played at its own defined location within the stage without congealing together. I credited this to the transparency of the NBS cables, which let through much more low level details, allowing the loudspeakers to paint the acoustic space much more effectively.

I mentioned earlier that the NBS cables allowed the music to sound bold, impactful and explicit. Indeed, music played through them gave an energetic feeling, as opposed to being draggy or lethargic. Yet, the cables did this without harshness or aggression. The energy was tempered with an appropriate amount of smoothness and refinement, which was evident in the naturally rendered midrange (listen to vocals or jazz sax) and the silky and extended highs (listen to cymbals and high-hats). This smoothness and refinement, while just a little short of what some silver cables could achieve, is beautifully balanced with the cables’ other robust qualities. In my opinion, it is a package deal that is very well judged and in most circumstances well nigh unbeatable.

The NBS will prove to be a superior choice for an appropriately high resolution system. With the NBS Professional IV, you loudspeaker cables will not be the stifling link in the system. They will ensure that the full glory of the musical details reach your loudspeakers.

And that is what a highend pair of cables should be.

NBS is carried by The Audio Store, contact Mr Aw at 03-78872233.

Best Cables 2011.

Cables remain controversial within audiophile community, because many are in the opinion that moneyed monkeys spend silly money on cables, while there are many in the high end community who are convinced that cables are just as important as any other equipment in the hifi chain.

We are pretty satisfied with the cables we had in hand, except for my search to obtain the best digital cable that I could practically afford. Hence the list below reflects my personal "best" choice rather than the ultimate.

I am a big fan only the JPS Aluminata range, this co-axial digital interconnect didn't disappoint.

JPS Aluminata Digital.

This was the first cable I tested during my search for a suitable digital cable, and has since remained my benchmark for other cables to emulate. Stunning transparency and zero noise floor results in digital music coming alive and breathing in my man cave. Every little detail and harmonic texture of each musical instrument, voice and emotional content is transferred wholesale to the next equipment in the hifi chain. Staging and imaging is life like, as if "I am breathing the same air with the musicians"(borrowed this from a good, good friend) experience! Possibly one of the best sounding digital cable money can buy today.

Wireworld Starlight Platinum is a top contender in the digital cable stakes.

Wireworld Starlight Platinum Digital.

This Wireworld equals the performance of the JPS Aluminata in so many ways, that it's hard to favour one over the other. However the Starlight Platinum out does the JPS in the bass department. I found the meatier bass quality highly enjoyable, only because it was just as articulate with a propulsive nature. It's only in the highs where the JPS sounds more open and extended, compared to the darker top end of the Starlight Platinum. It's a though choice between this two alpha cables and I know more than a few people who made this digital cable their reference, but for me it's the JPS Aluminata, if only by just a hair. It's that close a call!


Entreq Discover offers well rounded sound quality without silly prices. 


Entreq Discover Power Cord.

Entreq is a new brand represented by Swedish Statement. I had the chance to try out their Absolute Reference power cord, but ended up liking this cheaper Discover model instead. The Discover offers honest build quality for the price and more importantly, balanced, if a slightly immediate sonic character to suit a vast variety of high performance systems. It's not exactly cheap, but still offers excellent value.

VooDoo Reference Digital, my current reference.

 VooDoo Digital Reference.

VooDoo cables offers excellent price to performance ratio across the range. They may not be the best, but they certainly come very close in terms of sound quality, for a fraction of the asking prices compared to those snooty alpha cables. The VooDoo Digital Reference is lightly built, but will certainly be lasting with gentle handling. It's my starter cable while aspiring to something better in the future. 

Here are a few other cables that impressed me in 2011.

1) Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 6 Interconect
2) ASI Liveline Digital Co-axial
3) Supra DAC XLR Gold Digital
4) AOR Reference For Torus Power
5) MIT Shotgun MA Speaker Cables

Best Cables 2010.

Cables are the most controversial item(or is it Power Line Conditioners now days?) in hifi related discussion! I know many readers here, whose blood pressure goes up a few notches each time they read about our expensively insane, high end cable escapades!

If you're one of those people, then 2010 would have surely made your blood pressure boil less, as we become less cable obsessed. Talking about cables, I would like to share my thought on the cable loom theory a bit, based on our experience with the Kimber Kable set, courtesy of Hi-Way Laser.

I think that if one does not want to go out and explore the pit falls of cable matching, then cable loom theory does apply very positively in practice, as it'll provide a consistent sonic characteristic that'll take away cable matching guess work and almost guaranteed to achieve very high standards of fidelity vs price ratio performance . However, I am in the opinion that a set of well matched, highly synergistic cables from various manufacturers can potentially give more ultimate satisfaction. Having made that statement doesn't mean my mind is set in stone just yet. I'll need to do at least one more set of cable loom to prove or disprove my own conclusion.

In the mean time, here are the top three cables we liked in 2010.
Cardas Clear speaker cables.

Cardas Clear interconnects.

This Cardas Clear range of interconnect and speaker cables are the best we've heard from George's efforts. Gone are the romanticized, much laid back tonal qualities of the Golden Reference cables(which I like a lot, and feel there's still a place for them in today's market place), replaced by what is now crystal clear transparency and highly neutral, not to mention natural sonics. I really appreciate the new custom designed XLR connectors on the interconnects too! Only one brick bat, at these astonishing prices, Cardas should really give the cable packaging a re-think! But we already know what he would say.
Kimber Kable KCAG interconnects.

These mid priced Kimber KCAG silver cables are an interesting option. They offer high value overall performance, that will surely impress many. It is tonally neutral, highly transparent and looks like a pair of high polished jewels. Even that packaging case is special too!
Kimber Kable PK-10 power cord.

Another Kimber Kable rounds up our top three cables this year, and it's the PK-10 power cord. A 10 gauge design, meaning it's suitable for powering every hifi equipment, including juice hungry power amps. This near budget design out performs many other more expensive power cords for sound quality, and low noise floor levels. Terminated with gold plated Wattgate audio grade plugs on both ends! Need we say more?

More Best Of 2010 to come.

Excellently Made - Kimber Kable KS-3033 Loudspeaker Cables

With the Kimber Kable KS-3033 loudspeaker cables in my system, the cycle was finally complete.

I have progressively moved from Kimber’s power cords (PK14 and PK10 Gold), to its interconnects (KCAG) and now its loudspeaker cables, the KS-3033, to complete an all-Kimber installation.

The KS-3033 is the entry model in the Kimber Select loudspeaker cables range. In the 3-series Select cables, the KS-3033 is a copper cable. Going higher, you’ll get the KS-3035, a copper and silver hybrid. Finally, the KS-3038, a fully silver loudspeaker cable.


The packaging and the construction of the KS-3033 is the best I have come across among loudspeaker cables, well worth the RM10,470/8tf pair list price. The pair came in a sturdy, padded, genuine Pelican case – way much better than the cardboard boxes and plastic bags that the others came in.


The KS-3033 is a very thick cable, using the description ‘water hose’ will not be inappropriate. The pair came with beautiful WBT bananas on both ends. The cable’s girth, its sheath design and colour, gave it a sort of menacing, macho look.

Hooking them up between my amp and the loudspeakers was no problem despite its size. It was flexible and could be easily routed.


Describing the physical attributes of the cable is easy, describing the sound is more difficult. I mean this in a good way though. The KS-3033 handled the entire frequency spectrum equally well, there was no one area that stuck out. It did not have an overt character anywhere.

With this even-handed temperament, the KS-3033 let the rest of the system speak for itself. Anyone who does not like cable to be a tone control should just check the KS-3033 out.

I believe anyone who moves up to the KS-3033 will be impressed by its supple and tuneful bass, its clear and natural mids and the clean, smooth highs.


My own set of cables was eventually swapped out of the system and the rest of Kimber Kable went in, creating what’s called a “cable loom”.

As expected, and in line with previous experience, there was no matching problem. The Kimber sound was beautifully even. The little treble dryness that I noticed with the PK-14 power cords was there, but was not obtrusive. I’d take it any day compared to, say, an unruly or jangly highs. I believe it was also easily cured if it was not your own cup of tea, exchanging them with the excellent PK-10 Gold will just do it.

In a sea of cable brands where some occupy the ‘smooth and refined’ end, and others go to the ‘big sound and impactful’ end, Kimber Kable occupies the great middle ground. With Kimber, I had the uncanny feeling that I was just listening to the recording and the equipment that reproduced it. Kimber’s cables were just quietly and faithfully passing the music signal on from one piece of equipment to the next.

And that is just how it should be.

Kimber Kable is available from Hi-Way Laser. Contact Kenny 03-7873.8325; 019-281.3399 .

Kimber Kable Loom

Many of you must have heard this by now - hooking up your systems with cables from only 1 brand, also called a cable loom, will give you better sound. Nordost is a strong advocate of this (perhaps the originator even?). Our fellow blogger, Lam Seng Fatt of hi-fi avenue, also tested this with MIT cables and reported positive results.

We are also going to investigate this here too. Big E collected an entire set of Kimber Kable from Hi-Way Laser for this test, enough to link up an entire system, starting from the mains supply, going all the way to the loudspeakers. And I got this tasty assignment.

Kimber Kable galore:
left: KS3033 speaker cables (RM10,470/8ft pair);
top right: KCAG balanced interconnects (RM3,470/m pair);
bottom right: PK14 powercord (RM850/6ft) and PK10-Gold powercord (RM1,490/6ft)

Kimber Kable PK-14 (14 gauge powercord), I'll use them on the CD player and pre-amp

Kimber Kable PK-10-Gold (10 gauge powercord).
This thicker powercord will be hooked up to my monoblocks

Kimber Kable KCAG silver interconnects.

Kimber Kable KS-3033 speaker cables comes with the best cable packaging I have ever encountered, a genuine Pelican carrying case.

I hope to report on these cables individually and as a cable loom if time permits.

Kimber Kable is available from Hi-Way Laser. Contact Kenny 03-7873.8325; 019-281.3399 .

KLIAV 2010 - Centre Circle Audio

Centre Circle Audio will be showcasing flagship models from the major product lines they represent.

The hifi centrepiece will consist of the Pathos Endorphin CD player as the frontend,

with Halo JC2 Pre-amp and the imposing JC1 monoblocks from Parasound providing the power,


and the latest incarnation of the renowned Andra model, the Andra III, from EgglestonWorks completing the chain.

Cleaning up the juice to feed the system will be the Titan power conditioner from Isotek.


Rounding out this stellar cast will be powercords from JPS and audio cables from Purist Audio Design.

Centre Circle Audio will also be displaying acoustic treatment products from Auralex. If you have a problematic room, you should check them out.

330L + 550L = 770L? Siltech Classic Anniversary 550L Speaker Jumper Cables.

The Siltech Classic 25th Anniversary 550L jumper cable vs the PMC supplied silver coated bus bar.

I never really understood why the Brits like to supply their speakers with bi-wiring speaker cable binding post. Other than to facilitated by amping which, in my experience can bring about some sonic improvements at a cost. I've never really bothered with bi-wiring either. My audio guru and DIY er Papa Nelson Pass seems to agree too.(Hey! isn't it the other way round?)

So when I bought the pair of PMC Fact 8 speakers that came with the bi-wiring facility, I knew that I needed to spend some $$$ on this issue, despite the fact that the PMC supplied binding post links seemed pretty well made from silver coated bus bar. Believe me, they are much better made than those supplied by PMC in their i range and all those supplied by other British speaker brands that I've seen.

To see if I could get any sonic rewards for replacing the PMC supplied bus bars, I wanted to use a set of Siltech 330L Classic Anniversary jumper cables to match my main pair of speaker cables of the same model. However, CMY had not stocked the 330L jumper set just yet, and proposed that I try the next higher model of 550L jumper set instead, which they have a set to go. I looked at the build quality of the CA 550L jumper set and found that it's just as well built to Siltech's usual high standards. I especially loved the custom machined and well engineered spade ends.
This is how it works!

I removed the bus bars and proceeded to hook up the Siltech CA 550L jumpers as seen on the picture above and went ahead to play some music and allowed the new cables to settle down. I had in mind that the new jumpers will make little if much difference. When I started some serious listening session, boy was I in for an immediate but pleasant surprise!

The most notice able first impression was that how much more musical details and low level resolution is enhanced. The next impressive trait I noticed was the sound stage and imaging. The stage width and depth of field perception improved tremendously. The stage depth layering is also more clearly defined.

However, with the Siltech CA 550L jumper cables in, I did find that the bass is slightly leaner but better articulated. Since my PMC Fact 8 allows slight tonal adjust ability via it's rear mounted toggle switches, I decided to bring the bass up by another 3db. That leaves my high frequency setting at 0db and bass frequency setting at -3db(where it was previously set at -6db). That slight adjustment brought back the bass volume in to the tonal balance of the system. However, that extra bass articulation remains, and I could hear more bass related details, which is good. The highs and mids maintains the high refinement standards set by the Siltech Classic Anniversary series cables.
The standard Siltech poly-styrene box packaging.

Wait a minute! Doesn't 330L + 550L = 880L? If you have to ask, the answer is simple, Siltech does not have 880L in their range and the Classic Anniversary is topped by 770L. What I am trying to summarize is that the Siltech CA 330L speaker cable when used with the 550L jumper set will edge the sonic performance closer to the direction set by the Siltech CA 770L. This is perhaps due to the fact that the combo will yeild the musicality of the 330L and the technical superiority of the 550L all in one, just like the sonic characteristics of the CA 770L speaker cable.

If you need a refresher, please re-visit my "Tale Of The Three Heavenly Fairy Sisters. Siltech G7 Classic 25th Anniversary 330L, 550L & 770L" article, dated 14 August 2009.

The Siltech Classic Anniversary 550L jumper set retails for RM$3980.00 per set. Yeah!, Yeah! I know it's bad maths, the price is insane, but the sound is just....... heavenly(for the lack of a better word). I am such a nut to keep this Siltech jumper set.

Siltech cables is sold by CMY Audio & Visual, tel: 03-21439406.