Ok, so a quick (or not so quick ) update having hooked the LS-40's up last night and had a few hours of listening.
Firstly there's a much bigger difference than I was expecting - more so in frequency response than anything else. Big increase in mid and upper bass level, so much so that I've had to pull my speakers further out into the room to compensate. By contrast the mids and upper mids seem somewhat reduced and restrained in comparison. The bass is very detailed with good tonality and indeed so are the mids, with less stridency than I sometimes used to get which is welcome. Top end seems a little smoother too though also less sparkle than with my existing cables. There's similar soundstage and imaging but slightly more inner detail and I've noticed things, particularly in the bass that I hadn't noticed on recordings before. For some reason having read the previous reviews regarding increased "clarity" I was half expecting a bright or fatiguing sounding cable but that couldn't be further from the truth, indeed It's possibly too much the other way in my system.
If you'd asked me before this demo if I had any criticism of my current setup it would be that It's a bit forward sounding in the mids and upper mids and a bit lean in the upper bass. If I could dial in a couple of dB boost in the upper bass and couple of dB cut from about 2 to 6kHz it would be more balanced and neutral. The LS-40's seem to affect just these frequency ranges but by a much bigger amount than I would expect a simple cable change to make, sounding more like a 6dB boost and 6dB cut to my ears.
So if anything I've gone from a slightly forward sounding, to a slightly laid back sounding system with these cables. Makes me wonder if its possible to get a happy half-way house? Would be interested in anyone's compared the LS-40's to the LS-25's and whether the LS-25's are maybe a bit leaner sounding?
Firstly there's a much bigger difference than I was expecting - more so in frequency response than anything else. Big increase in mid and upper bass level, so much so that I've had to pull my speakers further out into the room to compensate. By contrast the mids and upper mids seem somewhat reduced and restrained in comparison. The bass is very detailed with good tonality and indeed so are the mids, with less stridency than I sometimes used to get which is welcome. Top end seems a little smoother too though also less sparkle than with my existing cables. There's similar soundstage and imaging but slightly more inner detail and I've noticed things, particularly in the bass that I hadn't noticed on recordings before. For some reason having read the previous reviews regarding increased "clarity" I was half expecting a bright or fatiguing sounding cable but that couldn't be further from the truth, indeed It's possibly too much the other way in my system.
If you'd asked me before this demo if I had any criticism of my current setup it would be that It's a bit forward sounding in the mids and upper mids and a bit lean in the upper bass. If I could dial in a couple of dB boost in the upper bass and couple of dB cut from about 2 to 6kHz it would be more balanced and neutral. The LS-40's seem to affect just these frequency ranges but by a much bigger amount than I would expect a simple cable change to make, sounding more like a 6dB boost and 6dB cut to my ears.
So if anything I've gone from a slightly forward sounding, to a slightly laid back sounding system with these cables. Makes me wonder if its possible to get a happy half-way house? Would be interested in anyone's compared the LS-40's to the LS-25's and whether the LS-25's are maybe a bit leaner sounding?