I would like to commend Jason (Pez) , for allowing a “regular guy” to give my opinion on these Hapa Cables..
The cables I ask Jason to send me was a 1 meter and a 1.25 meter Breathe S (RCA).
They came packed fairly well, with some nice little rubber covers to keep the RCA ends clean..
At first I noticed they were light weight and easy to handle, with a very clean consumer level presentation to them (doesn’t look or feel DIY at all)..
I used only 2 sets of RCAs in my system during this evaluation..
From the Oppo- DAC to the Zrock-Bass Restoration unit then to the Amp..
The components in my systems chain consists of:
Tidal (streaming service)
InnuOS- Zen3 (streamer/server)
OPPO/Modwright- UDP 205 (DAC- CDP)
Decware- Zrock2 (Bass Restoration)
Decware- Zen Mystery Amp (Sophia Electric EL34 output tubes)
Tekton- Double Impact SE (speakers)
Tekton- Enzo (sub) x 2
Cabling:
Dedicated 20 amp line to 3 PI audio group duplexes
TWL (7+) from wall to the PI audio Group UberBUSS
Cullencable 10awg to the InnuOS
Cullencable 10awg to the OPPO 205 (dac)
TWL (10+) to the Modwright PS (dac)
TWL (10+) to the Zrock2
TWL (HP Digital) to the Amp
Cullencable 12awg to subs (x2)
——
PI audio group - Ethernet cable to streamer
PI audio group - USB cable to DAC
Hapa audio - RCA (Breathe S) to bass restoration
Hapa audio - RCA (Breathe S) to amp
Zenwave audio - (copper ribbon) to speakers
No brand - copper speaker wire to subs (will upgrade soon)
————
I won’t try to write an elaborate review, think I will come across better with just some remarks and opinions of my experience with these Hapa RCAs..
Installing the Hapa RCAs was a Snap, very easy to install and remove..
The rubber covers helped, keeping dust or rug fibers off the Silver ends, and out of my RCA inputs /outputs..
I played my “Demo Playlist” from my Tidal account that has around 100 songs on it about 3 times during this evaluation, plus some other familiar stuff..
Of course if you come across a less than stellar recording the Breathe S cables are going to let you know..
Some songs that I played Really transformed from a pretty good recording to something special, simply by swapping RCA cables..!!
I didn’t notice this phenomenon with every song just a couple/few ...
I will try to describe what I (think) I noticed..
Seemed that the Depth became a little sharper ( the snare drum appeared to be placed more accurately on the stage, placing the singer in front of the snare drum)..?..
Seemed that the upper mids became more prominent, allowing details previously down in the mix to come through with ease ( Horns, Drums, Cowbell, Backing Vocals, Ect.)..
These cables also appear to allow better Decay and Holographicness (if that’s a word)..
Surprisingly, the Bass also seemed to improve, the Drumming on some songs was just different, making a major impact on the way the listener receives recording..
I haven’t come across any real negatives with these cables..
Believe it or not, it felt as if I had a component upgrade..
Some songs I used :
JJ Cale - Don’t go to strangers
Greatful Dead - Althea live(May 15,1980)
Boris Blank - Electrified
Paul Simon - Kodachrome
Kasey Chambers - I still pray
A few songs that were transformed :
Ramey Lewis - Oh Happy Day
( The piano, backing singers, drums, all were very noticeably improved , transforming what I thought was a pretty good to an extraordinary recording)..
Pickin’ On - Let’s get rocked (Def Leppard)
(Much easier to perceive where the back up singers are sitting on stage)
Billy Joel - New York state of mind
(The piano filled the room and placed Billy somewhere in the middle of it all.. I believe this is where the depth comes through improving the perception of the recording)
Supertramp - Breakfast in America
(This song is soo played out for me, I seldom listen to it any more..
I thoroughly enjoyed this song, having a great time listening I actually felt as if I was hearing it for the first time)..
I really didn’t want these Breathe S (RCA) cables to sound better than my other ones, because I didn’t want to spend any money.. I could send them back with a major Thank You.. Jason hasn’t given me any pressure to purchase , only to give my impression..
BUT , you know these guys are staying in my system..!!
I’m gonna happily give up some space in my wallet to keep them..
Thanks Jason these cables are working for me ,
Burt..
