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Upgrading Chord Sarum Super Aray to Sarum T?

John777

John777

Active Member
Anyone 'tempted' by those Chord people to upgrade your Sarum Super Aray cables to the new Sarum T spec with the new Taylon dielectric?

In my case I shelled out loadsamoney to get all the cables I had upgraded from Tuned to Super last time, as I was not sure if I was keeping any and thought it would make them easier to sell on, as latest version. Having unused cables that are now NOT the latest version, makes me somewhat homicidal...:mad:
 
I have a Sarum Tuned Array somewhere that I must get around to selling. I am certainly not tempted to upgrade it. I bought it used out of curiosity and my curiosity was definitely satisfied. It sounds very similar to their cheaper cables like Chameleon - fast but a little thin. A massive waste of money, although I really shouldn't say that since I am trying to sell it.
 
After trying out on a variety of equipment at home and at a dealers, the Chord TA cable seems to be system dependent. It works best on equipment that has a tendency to harshness or brightness where it can provide a more natural and smoother sound which does not emphasise any particular part of the sound spectrum.

On more neutral or less dynamic equipment it can sound a little dull.

I've been using a Din to Din cable very successfully with Naim equipment and following a recent demonstration it has been sent to Chord for the Sarum T upgrade. I didn't bother with the Super upgrade.
 
no I would most certainly not even buy sarum in the first place . I am extremely happy with using 2 runs of epic side by side [like epic reference] . the realism and sparkle is superb .

if someone could convincingly show me its worth the £££££££ to change then maybe but I am extremely sceptical . the chord demo at Bristol was good but not enough for me
 
John777 said:
Anyone 'tempted' by those Chord people to upgrade your Sarum Super Aray cables to the new Sarum T spec with the new Taylon dielectric?

In my case I shelled out loadsamoney to get all the cables I had upgraded from Tuned to Super last time, as I was not sure if I was keeping any and thought it would make them easier to sell on, as latest version. Having unused cables that are now NOT the latest version, makes me somewhat homicidal...:mad:
Click to expand...

Chord Co have recently been pushing out countless new products based on the same
Sarum concept, products placed in very high price range.
Each and everytime the "(new super duper") item gets a price hike

The good thing is mostly people can get their stuff updated (at a substantial expense)

It seem to be a trend launching silly priced cables, some people do actually buy this stuff
I'm sure manufacturers profit are huge

Threads mainly on green/white forum confirm Tellurium Q, Lumina, Vertere and Chord Co. amo, have succes in this niche.
 
Most of these specialist cable companies do a 30 day try out option and if you don't like it or if it doesn't meet expectations you can return it for a full refund.

So those who buy new and keep it must have decided it's worth the money.

Mark-up on a lot of hifi equipment is massive but I suppose cables have less perceived value because they're just wire, although manufacturers would know doubt argue the costs are related to R&D costs.
 
Yes, a lot of money... This is a crazy hobby that extracts dollars left and right for sure. Then again, I work hard for my family and have a very understanding wife :) Money priorities are very unique to everyone..
I can say that the Chord Super IC from my Urika to 552 transformed the deck to a boogie machine...worth every penny.
ATB,
Mark
 
Jonn said:
After trying out on a variety of equipment at home and at a dealers, the Chord TA cable seems to be system dependent. It works best on equipment that has a tendency to harshness or brightness where it can provide a more natural and smoother sound which does not emphasise any particular part of the sound spectrum.

On more neutral or less dynamic equipment it can sound a little dull.

I've been using a Din to Din cable very successfully with Naim equipment and following a recent demonstration it has been sent to Chord for the Sarum T upgrade. I didn't bother with the Super upgrade.
Click to expand...

Not my experience in my system, which prior to the Sarum was certainly not harsh or bright. I found it to work extremely well, and following a trial of the Super Sarum this was a distinct improvement too, now using from Chord DAC and Urika phono stage to 552 preamp (phono to DIN). I did try the Naim Super Lumina but it did not work well at all.

I'll borrow a Sarum T from my helpful dealer & give it a try.
 
The Sarum TA sounds great connecting my HDX to 282 but the same cable sounds comparatively dull connecting an NDS to 552 where I much prefer the Naim SL.
Be interesting to hear if the T version is better in the latter location.
 
Jonn said:
The Sarum TA sounds great connecting my HDX to 282 but the same cable sounds comparatively dull connecting an NDS to 552 where I much prefer the Naim SL.
Be interesting to hear if the T version is better in the latter location.
Click to expand...
From other folks' experiences it would appear that for those of us who didn't get on with SL, almost all of us were using it with non-Naim components.
 
I can comment on the sound of Sarum T from a demo at Bristol. This included Naim amps - NAC272 plus NAP300 I think - with Neat speakers (IIRC) and they had cabled up with Sarum T or Chord Music except for the speaker cable, which they switched from cheaper Chord (Shawline?) to Signature and finally Sarum T.

This I found interesting and helpful because I'm looking at cables for my own system based around the 272.

Anyway, the system as a whole sounded great with 'cheap' cables and benefitted from the upgrade to Signature and then Sarum T. It was obviously better each time. However, the system balance tilted slightly with Signature towards a slightly mechanical sound, even though there was more detail. Adding Sarum T lifted it both technically - with more detail, depth and tonality - and musically, with a better flow and sense of timing. I much preferred it and could forgive the cost given the obvious improvement.

Now to cost: sadly, Chord have R&D, staffing, manufacture, materials and marketing costs to absorb. That's an awful lot of cost compared to other cable manufacturers in our favourite industry. Hence a large element of the price. However, I do agree with many here that it looks like bling pricing to a level commensurate with fat wallets rather than a true reflection of all of these costs. If only they were (say) £500 a metre cheaper!

When I can get my act together I'll be off to my nearest Sarum dealer to listen. I loved the musical uplift at the Bristol show so it might be a case of raiding the piggy bank....
 
Do these cables make use of the Tuned ARAY idea? If so, then a very odd idea it is too. If you read Chord's white paper on it the idea basically boils down to an extra bit of wire connected at one end of the cable - so, an aerial - precisely the thing that the majority of cable is trying to avoid. I think it used to be connected to one return only but Chord have subsequently 'developed' it so extra wire is connected to the + as well - so more aerials equals better...... very odd indeed!
 
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