Quiescence C Tour

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Read 8611 times.

charmerci

Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #20 on: 9 May 2021, 06:37 pm »
I'd like to thank Jason for letting me test out his new Quiescence C(opper) cables. He sent along two pairs in the Hapa box with the bag enclosing them which you have seen in the other tour thread – hopefully. He also included little caps for the connectors!
Very quick summary, I enjoyed them very much.
 
 
  
As said earlier, they needed to be broken in. For me, most stereo equipment does not need to be broken in over more than a short period of time. Right off the bat, they sounded fine but Jason told me that they needed another 100-150 hours. As I have an AVA Ultra DAC with older tubes, I didn't just want to leave my stereo running all day long while I was out. If one of the tubes failed while I was out which was possible, I didn't want it to be left on for hours. But after a while, Jason told me that I could keep them a bit longer. So I hooked up my inexpensive Modi 3 DAC and let it run most of the day to get in the hours.
My procedure was to just listen to music while I was around in my small place. Suddenly, after around 30 hours or so (not to forget Jason's 100 hours of “cooking” before I received them), I did notice a perceptible difference in the high frequencies for the better while doing something else. Each night for an hour or two, I would listen to my reference recordings. These are songs which over a long period of time, I've found the sound to be most enjoyable at loud volumes on my not-very-changing system. I think it's been at least four years since I've changed out a major component. I am especially sensitive to “bad” high frequencies at high volumes, especially distortion. In this review, all the comments are “at volume,” meaning 80-85 db as referenced on my un-calibrated phone sound level meter at my listening position about 8 feet away. (The cables are perfect at lower levels! lol) My reference recordings aren't necessarily the state-of-the-art ones. It's funny how some recordings that I thought were more or less flawless, no longer were. One was Barbara Morrison's I Know How To Do It. In this test scenario which may or may not have to do the QC cables, the bass was a bit too overwhelming and her voice was a bit harsh. (Whenever I say harsh, it means that I emotionally have little physical tolerance and I cringe and want to turn down the volume simply because of those frequencies. Painful.) Other recordings such as Fleetwood Mac's Sara and Al Stewart's Year of the Cat, are songs that I love. Their recordings are not fantastic, to say the least, but I love to crank them up and use them as a test of a system or component to see how loud I can turn them but before cringing.... I could turn these two songs up louder than usual with the QC's. There were about 10 songs that I repeatedly listened to almost every night for about two weeks. Warm Ways by Fleetwood Mac being the song that I can turn up the loudest and thoroughly enjoy the sound. “Unfortunately,” the sound changed every single night which has never happened in my recollection in my 40 years of listening to various components. Not that I always specifically sat down to listen for changes in the sound of a particular component. I seemed to notice another change/improvement in the cables at around 100 hours and finally, before I sent them on yesterday at 180 hours, the high end harshness at volume on “those” recordings was continuing to reduce.
However, after having these RAAL tweeter Philharmonic speakers for about 4 and half years now, I suspect after doing some recent research is that they are not high volume drivers. It very well could be that the harshness that I hear on my system is simply them distorting. So this is a caveat that you need to remember as I write about them.
So, how did they sound? Smooth. They are best IC's I've ever had in my system. Instrument placement was wonderful, sometimes even being able to tell when an instrument was behind another one. From what I remember from my recent listening sessions with the Hapa Breathe C's, those made recordings sound like the players were in the room that they were playing in with less precise positioning of the QC's. After packing the Hapas to ship, I put back my IC's in and it seemed like the instruments' sounds were coming more from a pretty flat plain, much less depth. The bass was more prominent and more full on the QC's which I enjoyed very much but as mentioned above, in some recordings, it became a bit too much when played loudly. They also added a bit more clarity. Jan Ian on her Between the Lines album sounded like she was singing into the microphone. The QC's made that sound more noticeable.
Now here's the hard part. Saying what I didn't care about them. As I said they sounded smooth which in this case means that it takes the “bite” out of the sound. So, it softens the sound of a pluck of an acoustic string bass or the initial snap on a drum stick hitting the snare drum, for example. It goes across the acoustic sound board. So I guess if you like live acoustic jazz, this might not be your cup of tea. I would imagine large symphonic recordings would be ideal for these.
When I listened to my IC's after I packed up the Hapas, they weren't quite as pleasant as the Hapas, but the snap of the instruments slightly improved and the high frequencies were a bit more harsh at volume. However, personally, I'm afraid that the high costs of these are not in the cards for me for the amount of improvement as well as its lack of snap. The next most expensive IC's that I have and have heard are the G Huffmann's EX+ and the Morrow MA-3 which were both well under $200 when I bought them a couple years ago. The QC's could very well be fantastic for someone who has a much better system than my “budget” system. For me, I think the Breathe C's would probably be the better option, though I would have to listen to them again to be sure.
Anyways, designing sound systems are all about compromises and costs so you can't have everything at a low cost.
Thanks again, Jason!

Pez

Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #21 on: 10 May 2021, 03:34 am »
Charlie,
Thanks for taking on the task of breaking in the QC cables for the first leg of the tour.

I wanted to mention to folks on the tour, I decided to put a set of KLE-Absolute Harmonies on the 1.5 meter pair and the 1 meter pair has the Copper Harmony set. This will allow folks to potentially do some comparisons between the two connector variety options. Both sound lovely, but as others have noted, the Absolutes are just a more refined sound overall.

Looking forward to everyone's impressions!  :thumb:

nlitworld

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 1965
  • Strange things are afoot at the Circle K
Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #22 on: 22 May 2021, 06:47 pm »
Hi everyone,
I skipped the line for the Quiescence C tour and bought one last month along with a Breathe C cable as well. Both of which have the Absolute connectors to them.. I'm running the 0.5m Quiescence C as a phono cable and the 1m Breathe C from phono to receiver. Now just for clarification, I have a fairly budget system for several of the components. Analog front end is a Schiit Sol turntable, Benz Micro Zebra L cartridge, Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 phono stage, Pioneer Elite receiver and Klipsch RP5000f speakers and DIY speaker cables with KLE Harmony bananas. Slowly but surely I am upgrading components to decent audio reproduction quality.

After running each of the cables from pc sound card to receiver for quite a few days to burn them in, they're finally opening up all the detail I knew would be there. With this combo and the Absolute connectors, the bass extension is there in spades when I thought it was a little smoothed over on the Breathe C cables from the tour. They still present themselves with a wonderful smoothness and sense of poise but when called upon these have the nice attack like James Bond with a machine gun. As much as I love getting swept up in the groove of the music, I absolutely love nerding out on all the little hidden details and these cables perfectly balance the two nicely. I fully support using a set as phono cables for anyone who was curious of such things. Really I can't say enough nice things about these cables and how happy I am about the purchase. Absolutely overkill in comparison to a lot of the other gear it is currently with, but a massive instantaneous upgrade in sound quality and refinement to the system.

MttBsh

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 691
Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #23 on: 22 May 2021, 09:27 pm »
Having read glowing reviews of Hapa Audio cables I was looking forward to the opportunity to listen to them during this tour.  As background, for the past 5 years I’ve used interconnects and power cords from a well-respected cable manufacturer many of us on Audio Circle know, and have had no interest in replacing them with anything else, they’re that good.
 
The QC KLE-Absolute Harmony and Copper Harmony pair arrived last weekend. I placed the copper harmony pair between my Channel Islands Audio DMC-1 server/DAC and my Tortuga passive pre (by the way, the DMC-1 just came out last summer and seems to be flying under the radar as it hasn’t received much press but is an amazing piece of gear, the internal DAC betters my Yggdrasil). I put the Absolute Harmonies between the Tortuga and my DAC King Stereo Maraschino amp.

The QC KLE-Absolute Harmony pair particularly impressed me. Right out of the box, they were indistinguishable from my existing cables, which is a great compliment, but as they ran in for a couple of hours they opened up more, in fact despite having had quite a few hours of break-in before I received them, I noticed incremental improvements during my time with them.

In comparison to my existing cables, the QC KLE-Absolute Harmony pair delivered a wider soundstage and instrument separation – very 3D - greater clarity, detail and improved bass. Charlie (Charmerci) who auditioned the cables before me felt that the bass was at times overpowering. In my system I felt the cables simply allowed tighter, deeper bass through, which afforded the sound more heft or body. I did adjust my subs down a couple of notches, but the bass is the best I’ve heard from my system. Charlie also mentioned they were smooth to the point of taking a bit of bite out of the sound. I didn’t notice that anything was smoothed over, only improvements across the board, they just let more of everything good through so that music was more present, live and refined. I believe the Hapa cables let you hear the full potential of your equipment.

Do you get the feeling that I liked QC KLE-Absolute Harmonies? suffice it to say that I just bought a pair before sending the touring ones on to the next person. I hope he enjoys them as much as I have.

Pez

Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #24 on: 25 May 2021, 07:59 pm »
Gents, thanks again for taking the time to give your impressions. It's not always easy to summarize what one hears in a way that makes sense to the end reader, but you all are doing a splendid job of it. Thank you!   :thumb:

jmolsberg

Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #25 on: 25 Jun 2021, 07:41 pm »
Big thanks to Jason (Pez) for organizing and making the QC tour happen. I certainly enjoyed my time with the interconnects. I think they are pretty-pretty special. Because of vacation plans, my time with the QC was a bit shorter, so I placed them exclusively between the Audio Mirror Dac and 45 SET. The QC are good looking cables! Well made, light weight, and flexible - all of which I like.

My current (about 5 years) cryo treated copper interconnects with KLE Harmony do not rise to the level of Jason's interconnects, plain and simple. The QC take everything I like about my "neutral" interconnects: tone, dimension, speed, and dials it up. They just bring you closer to the music. With the  SET amp and Omega speakers, I thought I had the dimensionality licked. Albeit, I can't have my speakers 7ft out in the living room. The QC deliver a very layered soundstage, not necessarily a bigger one per se, just a more dimensional one. QC are fast people! And shielded! My stereo is quick but these guys are Usain Bolt fast. Once you get hooked on that speed - I am telling ya...
It was evident from the very first track that QC can delight on the clarity side. They remove that last little bit of haze, you do not even realize is there, until it's not. I suppose some might perceive the QS as slightly less warm or lean but for me they deliver the resolution and tuneful bass in spades.

I certainly think J did his due diligence while designing these cables. I have auditioned a handful of nice interconnects over the years but none really bettered mine enough to bother. The Hapa QC proved to be that one interconnect that made a tangible enough difference to bust out the wallet. Cheers















Pez

Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #26 on: 26 Jun 2021, 02:34 am »
JM, Rock on man! I've enjoyed chatting with you and love how unique your setup is. More good times to come.  :green:

thanks a million for sharing your impressions.

MttBsh

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 691
Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #27 on: 26 Jun 2021, 05:01 am »
I just wanted to reiterate that these cables need a lot of hours before you get a real sense of how they can bring the music. I received mine already cooked for 100 hours and frankly, compared to the fully broken-in pair I auditioned during the tour, they sounded a bit flat. I knew this would be temporary. It took another 150 hours for the magic to arrive, and they continued to improve up to 300 hours of play. Once fully broken in, I have heard no other interconnects that can compare. The only reason I mention this is that I would hate for someone to return the cables before putting some serious mileage on them... patience is definitely rewarded, they're amazing!

mresseguie

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 4691
  • SW1X DAC+ D Sachs 300b + Daedalus Apollos = Heaven
Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #28 on: 26 Jun 2021, 10:39 pm »
It's been a while since I wrote a review, so I may be a bit rusty. There's a good chance I'll edit this a couple times before I'm satisfied that I got my message across.

I got back into this hobby in 2013 after a 26-year hiatus. For much of that time I was having far too much fun galavanting (wandering) around many of the countries in East Asia (with most of the time spent in Taiwan) soaking in the cultures, food (OMG!), people, and languages (primarily Mandarin). Most of the places I lived in were concrete boxes that suck the life out of audio. Anyway, by the time 2013 rolled round, I'd been back in the US for ten years, and I was ripe for a new audio adventure. I started out with baby steps because I was afraid to spend too much money. Slowly but surely, I added ever higher quality components that brought my system to the point where it is now. I absolutely love my Don Sachs amp and preamp; my SW1X DAC III+, and my Daedalus Audio Apollos with Wywires speaker cables, a PI Audio UberBUSS, and TWL power cords. I no longer dream about listening to this or that pair of speakers at audio shows nor do I wonder if there's a better amp out there. Okay, I'll admit to playing with the idea of upgrading my DAC to the SW1X DAC3 Special or <gulp> the DAC4, but it's not a "I gotta do it!" need.

When Jason (Pez) announced his new line of cables and his eagerness to send out demos, I just had to give them a shot. Somehow, I conned...er...persuaded him to send me a total of four pairs of single-ended interconnects to audition. He sent me two pairs of the Quiescence C and two pairs of the Quiescence S IC cables. [THANK YOU!] I received the QS cables a couple weeks before the QC cables.

I tried four different combinations and got four different resulting sounds. For simplicity, I'll list each combination followed by my impressions.

1. All QS cables DAC to preamp to amp - This was a livelier, more forward sound than I'm used to - front row seat, perhaps. Higher frequency mids tended to be a bit bright for my liking. There's an adjustment switch on the back of my Apollos that adjusts higher frequencies by 0.5db (I think this is correct.) I set the switch on each speaker to the lowest setting and found that this improved the brightness a bit, but there was still too much 'ssss' and 'shhh' for my tastes. All silver isn't what my ears want to hear in my already revealing system.

2. QS from DAC to preamp; QC from preamp to amp - This combination sounded okay, but nothing to get excited about. Nothing stood out as "WOW!" I tried different genre of music hoping to hear something special, but I came away thinking, "$$$$ gets me this?!?" Meh.

3. All QC from DAC to preamp to amp - All this copper combined with all three tubed components bathed me in warmth. I <almost> imagined myself swimming in a pool of Maple syrup.  :o  Bass was powerful - too powerful for my liking. I felt as though I had moved a bunch of rows back except that the drums moved with me. I'm not sure how else to describe it.

4. QC from DAC to preamp; QS from preamp to amp - HOLY SHIT! This is jaw-droppingly good! The lows are dynamic and realistic striking a balance between power and finesse (struggled with which word to use). Mids are beautiful and just warm enough to keep me smiling - no need to change into swim trunks. I love listening to women's vocals, piano, acoustic stringed instruments, and lots of Jazz, and this combination makes all of it sound mesmerizing. :wink: Highs are right where I want them - clear.

As you know, combination #4 may not sound so great in your system. YMMV, ya know? However, it sounds f------ AWESOME in my living room.

I just paid for one 0.5m pair of QC with the standard solder and one 2m pair of QS with the Absolute Harmony solder. This combination of lengths will allow me to slide my audio stand against the wall to the right, but leave my amp on a slab on the floor between the speakers. It'll be better for my soundstage and will go a long way toward mollifying my wife <perhaps>. My stand was built in such a way that the 0.5m pair can be used vertically or horizontally without straining the connectors or the cables. [I already tried both orientations with a 0.5m demo pair.]

Jason is super easy to communicate with, but I expected that after reading so many of his RMAF reviews.

If anyone reading this has questions to ask of me, ask away. I probably forgot something or I may not have been very clear.

I may have to hold my demo cables hostage until my new cables arrive.  :icon_twisted:

Michael
« Last Edit: 28 Jun 2021, 02:41 am by mresseguie »

Pez

Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #29 on: 26 Jun 2021, 10:49 pm »
That is an excellent insight. I tell my clients around 250 hours for full break in, but there are a ton of variables that could in fact increase the amount of time it takes. I burn in all orders for 100 hours unless otherwise specified by my clients. This gets the cables passed the worst part of the process, but that doesn't mean they're ready for prime time.

Any way, thanks again folks for posting your impressions.


mresseguie

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 4691
  • SW1X DAC+ D Sachs 300b + Daedalus Apollos = Heaven
Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #30 on: 26 Jun 2021, 11:17 pm »
Saved for photos.








A little belated birthday present for Aldcol.  :thumb:


« Last Edit: 8 Jul 2021, 06:04 pm by mresseguie »

Tomy2Tone

Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #31 on: 27 Jun 2021, 04:19 am »
Excellent review Michael!  I’ve been contemplating what combo #4 would sound like in my system, just haven’t pulled the trigger. Thanks for taking the time to do this comparison and share with us your findings!

Pez

Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #32 on: 27 Jun 2021, 06:08 am »
Excellent review Michael!  I’ve been contemplating what combo #4 would sound like in my system, just haven’t pulled the trigger. Thanks for taking the time to do this comparison and share with us your findings!

Let us know, you can be the next stop on the review set.  8)

Tomy2Tone

Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #33 on: 27 Jun 2021, 11:41 am »
Let us know, you can be the next stop on the review set.  8)

I’ll send you a message!

Pez

Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #34 on: 27 Jun 2021, 11:17 pm »
Michael, looks like you've started a defacto tour here.  :lol: If anyone else is interested in signing up to hear these let me know, I'm currently coordinating with 2 other folks to hear these once I'm done crafting Michael's cables.  :thumb:

mresseguie

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 4691
  • SW1X DAC+ D Sachs 300b + Daedalus Apollos = Heaven
Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #35 on: 28 Jun 2021, 02:38 am »
No way, Jason! I'm boarding up my windows and barricading my doors. I'm not letting these outta my sight until my new cables arrive.

 :peek: :flame: :flak: :tempted:

I finally connected my Tom Christiansen Audio HP amp to my SW1X DAC. I've got the extra pair of QC connecting them. The Audeze LCD-2 sound very different now.

I'll try the QS tomorrow, I think.

 :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

Tyson

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 11082
  • Audio - It's all a big fake.
Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #36 on: 28 Jun 2021, 04:10 am »
If you think Jason's RCA interconnect cables are amazing, you should try his headphone cables, they'll elevate those Audezes quite a bit.

mresseguie

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 4691
  • SW1X DAC+ D Sachs 300b + Daedalus Apollos = Heaven
Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #37 on: 28 Jun 2021, 04:29 am »
If you think Jason's RCA interconnect cables are amazing, you should try his headphone cables, they'll elevate those Audezes quite a bit.

Howdy!

I asked him about HP cables, but I just don't spend enough time listening through headphones to justify the expense. I also asked him about the possibility of his someday making speaker cables. That expense I could more easily justify.

Pez

Re: Quiescence C and Quiescence S IC Cables
« Reply #38 on: 28 Jun 2021, 04:20 pm »
I just don't spend enough time listening through headphones...

Maybe you would if you heard them with my cable.  :green:

Honestly, the thing I have learned from my own listening habits is I will go out of my way to listen to something that sounds amazing.  :dance: I got my demo cable back from Mr. Hollis (check out his thoughts here) and would gladly lend it out if you're interested.  :thumb:

jmolsberg

Re: Quiescence C Tour
« Reply #39 on: 29 Jun 2021, 05:10 pm »
let the break-in commence