Many might have read about Alex, Mr Wywires, coming to my house just prior to THE Show in VEGAS.
We changed virtually every cable in my 2 channel system "except" for the digital cable (from transport to DAC) and the Power Cable from the Power Conditioner to the wall.
These replaced some rather expensive AudioQuest cables I have used for years.
For example the $3000 Volcano Speaker Cables.
All at the pre-Vegas GTG felt the Wywires made a nice improvement based on only a couple hours of A/B comparisons.
However when Alex left he only left the Speaker cables.
Just yesterday I received a box from Alex with three PowerCords, one having the 20amp IEC to run to the wall, and he also gave me a pair of XLR cables.
OK, too keep it simple, I listened to but a SINGLE Cut which I have heard hundreds of times both on my systems and on many others:
From
DIANA KRALL - Album: The Girl in the Other Room
Stop This World
Krall's vocals, her Piano, John Clayton's Bass, and the brushes on the drum kit, are all quite good on this cut.
So I pre-set the volume control to a good volume that was not too loud or soft, but that was sufficient to let me hear into the recording and sat in the listening chamber and pressed PLAY.
It, in fact sounded marvelous. I listened for the subtlties like the brushes on the snare and the cymbals, the realness of the bass drum kick pedal, the tonal quality on the String Bass, and the attack, decay, imaging of Kralls Piano, and of course her sultry sexy voice.
I really can't say I found "ANY" weaknesses or faults to the sound. In fact it sounded just as good as it always has, which is better than I have ever heard it on another system.
So, I now SWAP the AudioQuest PowerCords from the two Monoblocs and the PC from the PowerConditioner to the Wall.
So now every cable in the system (except the coax digital) is Wywires.
I press PLAY
While I am not a big CABLE GUY, I often suggest that my customers, clients and friends use a GOOD Quality cable with good metals and good connectors. And while I have many times heard differences in cables, I don't feel mega-buck cables are generally needed if you pay attention to metal quality, and connector quality.
So what did I hear?
Well when I wrote about first hearing the
VMPS RM50 in Vegas this year, I mentioned that it sounded "better" than last year, and that it had SUNDAY SOUND on Friday.
Well I am now sure that these cables may have played a role in that sound.
I was expecting subtle differences but didn't know what they might be.
Now what is subtle and what is HUGE is likely up for debate, but the more important point is, that I heard clear differences and they were improvements.
The first thing that CLEARLY Stood out was the drum kit. Can't really explain it any other way except to say is was just more available and clear in detail and immediacy.
The brushes on the snare were so clear that I could hear the drum head reasonating, and the cymbals were just more metallic. I could clearly hear the qualities of the materials rather than just snare and cymbals. If you have ever played or stood by someone playing a drum kit with brushes, you know what I mean.
The Bass of John Clayton is always good and the difference here was that it was simply more tonally rich. Overtones were a bit more present and decay was a bit more prominent.
Also, the Jazz Guitar which I heard on the first run through was also just more there, and supportive to the song.
While I really don't like how the Piano is miked and imaged (it is like I am sitting within a couple feet of it) the clairty of keystrikes and the decay of many of the notes was improved.
Kralls voice too was just a bit more full bodied and the raspy nuances and sultriness was thicker and more "there".
Am I floored? NO, but now, I can say that Brian made a good choice when choosing Alex's cables for this years demo.
I like them so much that I am taking them on as a
dealer and for those VMPS clients and customers looking for THE SHOW sound, we had in VEGAS these are one step in that direction.
