Apologies for the tardy post concerning my time with the LS-40 speaker cables. Big thank you to Alan for loaning them out and allowing me extra time to listen.
Tracks used for auditioning:
Gretchan Peters;
This used to be my town.
If heaven.
Joni Mitchell;
The dry cleaner from Des Moines.
Karrin Allyson;
Every thing must change.
Mary Gauthier;
God damn HIV.
Last of the Hobo Kings.
My 6m x 4m listening room has double glazed glass on three sides on a 1m high rendered block wall. The Speaker end has single glazed doors with side windows into the kitchen.
Window boards covered in around 20 assorted orchids plus other plants, a wooden dining table and chairs and two rattan sofas and a chair.
My speakers cables were from Missing Link, many years ago. Silver plated copper in a soft black rubber insulation. One is 7.5m long and the other 2.5m. Speakers are Audio Physic Virgo 25, chosen after listening to many many brands including home auditions. The first speakers that really worked in the room.
Amp is Lyngdorf TDAI 2200 with Room Perfect. Sources, Vortex box streaming flacs & quobuz and an Audio Analogue Paganini cd player.
After listening to all of the above tracks with my existing set up I swapped over to the loan cables, immediate thoughts were an increase in volume, with more and better defined bass. Everything sounded cleaner and crisper, I listened to a couple of tracks and swapped the cables back. Bemusement, it sounded exactly the same, bizarrely though I still perceived an increase in volume when I swapped back to the LS-40. I then played a track using my pad as a peak hold spectrum analyser, despite what I thought I could hear there was no difference in the peak dB readings. I then changed only my left (2.5m) channel cable to the LS-40 and listened again, sounded the same with no shift in left to right image.
I stopped listening at this point as I couldn't reliably draw any conclusions. However I had been suffering with a 10 day bout of migraine attacks and these do affect my hearing, fortunately Alan was kind enough to allow me to keep hold of the cables for a while. I didn't re visit them until returning from a surprise trip away with my good lady, this entailed a good deal of relaxation, a bottle of veuve clicquot and some medicinal canoodeling.
Feeling much relaxed and recharged I sat down to listen again. After about five minutes I realised what I had heard before as increased bass, volume etc was infact nothing of the sort, what these cables did for me was to remove an imperceptible amount of smear around every note, bringing each note into crystalline focus. Once I had identified what I was hearing I realised they created realistic spatial images around instruments and vocalists, with my eyes shut I could sense her standing in 3D. Without the smearing every note was easier to diserne, female voices were exquisite, I have heard Tina May live, sitting 4' from her so I know how she sounds in the flesh, these cables were a revelation to me.
Why haven't I purchased them ? Firstly the cost, due the lengths I require it would be ruinously expensive. Secondly, I was only aware of the smere issue once I'd tried the LS-40 and it doesn't take long to have forgotten the improvement. If my room was acoustically better and not joined to the kitchen so I have to listen to the oven and extractor through the door and if I had the readies under the mattress maybe. Mind you, I get to take a lump sum when I retire, I am very tempted.
Thanks Alan.
