“What another fine mess you’ve gotten us into”
I’ve been quite happy with the system in the form it was until I thought. Yup, that thought crossed my mind, gee since I truly am happy with the equipment what can I do to cause more stress in my life and before I knew it I’m on the phone with my supplier. Jason was happy to send me the Torsion speaker cable I wanted to try but then he drops a “hey, gotta a new interconnect and would like your thoughts on ”. Well who can say no to that based on his track record and what I’ve heard in my system with his wares. A few days go by and I have a package at my door step. Upon opening the first Hapa Bag (two of them) I’m holding a set of the most aesthetic and best looking speaker wire I’ve ever seen but as you know, no one gets by on their looks alone and neither does the Torsion.
Before I go any further I’d like to say that I’m not good (nor do I want to be) enough to tell you that a piece of equipment is a percentage better than another. All I know is a- is it better and b- am I willing to dish out the dough or not.
Anywho, I get the Torsion hooked up and immediately find an incredible ease to the music. I read a review on the Coda #8 amp and the gentleman commented about the LF was a little weak. That’s what I was getting before the switch out and thought it’s there but just not predominate so attributed it to the amp. Boy was I mistaken. The Torsion came in like a cavalry of thundering sounds of LF, MF and HF that I didn’t think the Rubicon 6 could even produce. And this was within five minutes of turn on. I avoided the tour when it was happening for just this reason. The sound has never been cleaner with the instruments adding weight and substance that the class A fed to the Dali speakers. I truly am amazed at what sound was filling my room. I gave a little curse at Jason cause I knew my wallet was going to scream on this one. So a- is it better? In my system it is a no brainer. And b- ya I’m dishin out the dough on these. If you get a chance, you really owe it to yourself to audition Torsion. It’s that good.
Well, after that decision I came to the second bag. In it were two pair of interconnect, the first was the prototype Jason is working on and the second set were unfamiliar to me so I put them to the side for the time being (we’ll get to that later). This IC has the same material makeup as the Aero cables he has and is a solid run of copper. It’s the way the cable is made that makes it special. I placed the IC between pre and amp cause I wanted to hear how it interacted with the different inputs. I let it run in for a while before critically evaluating. I found it to be warm with decent detail but didn’t see myself changing the Quiescence Silver (QS) in that spot.
The second set of IC were Haiku. I was not prepared for what I was about to hear. Again I placed them between pre and amp and let them run in for a couple of days before critical mass. But of course you can’t just not hear them while breaking in. Everything sounded quite a bit better. I have the cable box (piece of junk) connected to the pre so the television sound is through the stereo. All the vocals cleaned up so that I could listen at a lower volume and still understand what was said, done or felt about each other (CSNY). The Dac took on an incredible sound quality so check a (yup) and check b (dang). This little adventure has now turned into a major undertaking and I’m wondering what I can get for my plasma. The Haiku is an awesome piece and having it between pre and amp has shored up every piece before it.
So, I’m sitting here and talked to another person about the proto cable and he suggested I place it between dac and pre since the Haiku isn’t going anywhere. Let it run in while listening to other things for a day and then gave it a go. What the hell did I just do??? The music took on an entire warmth and detail in that position and the haiku turned it into a kaleidoscope of sounds and textures. Don’t get me wrong the QS dac to pre and pre to amp is quite impressive and if I had not done this experiment would still be in their positions. I could (would) not pay to have a loop of Haiku but having it in the position it is and then hearing the proto cable before it is a scenario that I’ve really fallen for. I had a friend come by and we went through each change from before to finish and he has concurred with me on every move.
And ay, proto IC, a- crap crap crap crap crap and b- ditto. Got more blood to sell.
Hapa Audio has been more than generous with the loaners and I’ve saved myself a lot of money since I didn’t return anything (Ha).
Note: All ICs discussed here are single ended.
Don
Addendum: The new cable will have the Areo name and I think it’s very fitting.
