[GHM]

Hey Matt hearing is believing on how different metals sound. I did have the RCAs replaced on an older Van Alstine amplifer. The difference was very noticeable. But the original RCAs were pretty bad to begin with. I also have Eichmann's as binding post on my integrated. Your report makes me feel a little better about spending the extra money for them. 

[gooberdude]

Hey GHM,

You're probably right that metals do sound difft - I just didn't want to get into that discussion!   I've seen nasty things happen on aa when people talk about improvements that are easily heard but cannot be measured, ya know.                    

I keep forgetting that the ball-breaking efforts on other forums just aren't present here....

I'm really blown away with the cablepods.  the fact that the guy who installed them tested them against high-end WBT's only adds to my satisfaction.   All my IC's except a Mapleshade Clearview have the Bullett Plugs on them.  For $10 each, i think they are a steal.  eichmann stuff is quality, IMO.

It seems like CAD design, advanced metallurgy & fresh ideas are steadily creeping into our audio experiences - making profound changes for the better.   I'm cheap (no less addicted though  ), so finding superior products that are affordable keep me interested...

Going back to metal differences, nickel seems to be the one metal that all agree sounds bad.  Removing all the nickel based wall outlets in my circuit certainly improved things.   nickel sounds 'bright' - i can say that with confidence...similar to your experience.

If i were to go by what many others say about silver, i'd get the impression its not to my liking.  however, i have a few furu fi-11 ag iec ends that sound fantastic with the oyaide p-079 (gold) male plugs & the SWO-XXX outlets.   Since i can buy 2 of them for the price of one oyaide, its a no brainer.

My thought behind putting the CMC silver rca's from nicholas on my amp are to create synergy between amp & pre...same with the cablepods on the amp in relation to the speakers.   I really wish Eichmann would come out with RCA connectors....

i'm quite anxious to get the tvc, and to get my amp's inputs/outputs updated while the tvc is breaking in.   Within a few weeks i'm going to have a completely new music experience in my house and it cost me $100 each for my amp & speakers + the cost of the tvc.  I've sold a # of pieces of old gear in the last 2 months to pay for all this.  Good to know that previous bad purchases are finally netting positive results!

Go Cards!!

matt

[NewBuyer]

I've read that silver might be preferable due to its higher conductivity (slightly higher than copper IIRC)...

I can understand why silver or copper (instead of nickel, brass, etc) would perhaps be helpful in power-level and speaker-level junctions, that primarily involve current delivery (speaker binding posts, speaker wire, AC outlets, etc).

But the tiny line-level signals are based around voltage modulation and accurate delivery of the waveform, and not at all about max potential current delivery.

So metal conductivity seems unlikely to me as a major consideration in RCA socket design... but perhaps I'm missing something here?   

Is there any objective reason why silver RCA's would be worth the considerable extra expense?

[PromitheusAudio]

SOrry guys did not reply earlier.
Yesterday was our last day of shipping before a week's holiday in our country next week
so as expect there was alot of rushing to get out as many tvc as possible yesterday.

actually silver from what the understand is only 6% more conductive than copper.

However most rca switches are not of a pure material (unless the high end types).
THey often utilize brass which is a more easier material to work with and best cost. Brass is a mixture of copper and something else

Often you hear me stressing silver has the purity of sound and in cables. ( i think you will hear the japanese stress on this and many too use it a major marketing hypes).

but to me IMHO, silver wire has that effect on me and I truely believe it. Maths and all don't know why silver is better. I too am an engineer, too explain things like why silver sounds better don't why. Things to do with ears is a truely subjective thingy.

So when i heard the CMC pure silver, i found that that the music was more relaxed, a veil being lifted that you never knew it was there. Also i found it to have more inner detailing perhaps because of the silver nature they always share this main characters when compared to copper
1) mids project better
2) highs are more extended and airy
3) better inner detailing
4) channel separation
5) bass is more textured
BUt i don't mean go out and and get silver all the way, (nothing comes free)
1)silver also tends to show the equipment faults very well-revealing
2) can be on the lighter side of the bass area
3) purity of silver if it is not of a good grade the highs tend to break up.

but considering most of our tvc does have problems 1 and 2, i found that the CMC compliments well with our tvc

BUt best to wait for Matt to receive his unit and comment on it. However the CMC sockets all the prices has increase and it will be around 30Usd per pair i was told by my supplier

Aluminimum version, i told paul that if it does not sound good, we will go with the wood version.  i have some new tricks (mechanical) up my sleeve. this will be used in the al chassis. Hopely this new trick works out well

[Randy]

Back from trip Friday night so am listening again.  One brief observation. I plugged everything in Saturday, but did not turn on my subwoofer.   Today listening to some orchestral music, I had to look at the sub to see if indeed it was off.  I was getting thunderous bass from my two-way speakers with them sounding like the sub was on supplying the deep bass.  It wasn't.  This is bass unlike I was able to get by playing the CDP directly to the amps or with any of my previous preamps. 

[NewBuyer]

Randy this is similar to the excellent bass-reproducing quality I also have heard with the TVC, from mains and also from subwoofer. Nicholas mentions this is one reason oversized transformers are used in the TVC design.

Have you noticed any other differences (TVC vs previous preamps) in the other frequency ranges as well? I also wonder if you are noticing any sonic changes over time in the TVC. My own seems to definitely be getting better with continued use, but I have no idea how/why this can be occurring...

[GHM]

Randy this is similar to the excellent bass-reproducing quality I also have heard with the TVC, from mains and also from subwoofer. Nicholas mentions this is one reason oversized transformers are used in the TVC design.

Have you noticed any other differences (TVC vs previous preamps) in the other frequency ranges as well? I also wonder if you are noticing any sonic changes over time in the TVC. My own seems to definitely be getting better with continued use, but I have no idea how/why this can be occurring...

Hi Newbuyer..as of lately I'm noticing the same thing. Especially in the highs. I didn't have a problem with them from the start, but now I really can't imagine the highs being more open. It makes me apprehensive of sending my version 2 in for the version 3 upgrades...I simply can't find anything wrong with the way this unit sounds now. It is as delicate as an infant in the midrange and highs. On the other end of the spectrum, it's like a 400 pound Sumo wrestler that can move like a ballerina in the bass.

[gooberdude]

you guys are makin' me SO jealous!   I have to wait one week more
to give the TVC a spin.   

Just last night I had a life changing acoustic treatment
experience - i posted it in the acoustics forum.    The db output of my stereo JUMPED
last night when i put one 2'x2' panel in a really weird place, like the sensitivity
of my speakers went up 6 db or so   i*n*s*t*a*n*t*l*y....   this in a room that was already 'tuned' by a michael green audio tuning kit.

This morning on my way into work I decided to throw the extra 4" thick ATS acoustics bass panel
in the back seat of my car.....KAPOW!    absolutely killer sound now.   soundstage is beyond my front windshield whereas its been square with my shoulders/ears for years....

If anyone has not addressed room acoustics, you should.  I spent less than $300.

and that panel in my car is the greatest $40 car stereo tweak ever.....

[denjo]

Gooberdude

This sounds very interesting! Are the 24 x 24 panels you placed in your listening lounge 2 inch or 4 inch deep panels? Can they be placed behind the speakers to increase the bass from the speakers? Is ther quite a bit of trial and error or is there a guide that ATS provides for us to instal the panels?

Best Regards
Dennis

[gooberdude]

Hey Denis,

Both panels are 4" thick & backless, meaning no back wood panel so bass waves can travel through.

This option makes the panels a lot more like bass traps than a typical absorber, according to the mfgr.

In order to bring about the changes I described earlier, it took maybe 2 hrs of playing with difft locations for the panels.   By accident i removed one from the room, heard an instant leap of bass, then played around for another 30 minutes before placing the remaining panel in the right spot.  This was 100% trial & error.

When I had both panels in the room, I thought I screwed up & should've ordered the 2" panels because of the bass issue (lack of bass that is) 

now, both 4" panels are permanent parts of my music listening experience.  1 in my car & 1 in my L/R.

I make no claims as to whether the ATS panel is a fantastic product.  It was the cheapest $ I found, which is why i bought it.

The location that the panel now sits makes NO SENSE to me, but it makes the room sound perfect.   Like a camera lense snapping into focus (if i can borrow an overused stereo term)    Funny thing is, i had no idea how 'out of focus' the sound was until now.     

If readers have not done any acoustic treatments, i suggest you look into them before trying any other tweak or stereo improvement.      to me now - a few years into audio nervosa - acoustics is WAY more important than amps, speakers, sources or cables.        BUT, i just learned this last night!  take it with a grain of salt.

[GHM]

If readers have not done any acoustic treatments, i suggest you look into them before trying any other tweak or stereo improvement.      to me now - a few years into audio nervosa - acoustics is WAY more important than amps, speakers, sources or cables.        BUT, i just learned this last night!  take it with a grain of salt.

Very interesting Matt!! I find this very intriguing. All though I don't think I would go that far throwing the importance of good equipment out the window(notice I say good not expensive). It is what puts the music in the room from the start. I haven't tried any acoustic treatments in my current room. It is well furnished and acoustically dead..no echoes with hand claps. Down the road I may experiment with these treatments..especially if I move to a different room/ house.

[gooberdude]

Hey GHM,

Good gear is important, you'll never catch me denying that.  However, if someone has the 'upgrade itis' really bad and has not addressed acoustics, then it should be really high on the list...before cables but NOT before a new ac wall outlet.

They way my speakers act now is unreal.  I've been in my condo with these speakers and amp for almost 3 years.  No matter where i put my speakers, the corner behind them was a haven for loud, deep bass.  The Room Tunes kit did NOT solve this -but did mitigate this- there was still a boom in the corner though.   

Now, i can walk around my speakers and hear no boom, nothing at all.  Its as if the sound pressure level in the room has been reduced while at the same time i can use less wattage into my speakers & get higher output...very odd to me.     the corners are no longer culprits, and the 4" panel is not near a corner exactly....
 
And the bass from my listening chair is chesty, forceful & friggin tight as a drum.    Like i got new speakers for the cost of that 4" panel.

You should order one and simply try it out, especially if you're room doesn't need much in terms of acoustic help.  Your room may actually benefit a lot more than you think....   I have older Thiel CS2's.  I've updated the woofers and just put new posts in...they sound good but weren't exactly hi-end speakers to begin with.   As of 8pm last night, they don't make a sound.  The music is everyhwere in my room though, even behind my head sometimes...but not ever coming directly from the drivers - which is where the music has been coming from for years.   All shop owners told me i'd need new speakers to get decent imaging...all i needed was properly working gear and a tuned room.

My room is 25' x 14' x 8' + an L shaped area of 10'x13', about 500 sf.

 

[GHM]

Hi Matt I totally see your point there. Hopefully I'll be moving some furniture out and around. I'll definitely give the panels a go and see how it sounds. From your post I'm sure it can't hurt. I'm always open to learning something new.
I've had speakers in the past that exhibited that boom thing ..it drove me nuts!!
I found that those speakers had a built in hump around 50Hz. Once I moved to my current speakers the one note boom was history.


Good listening

[gooberdude]

I'm not experienced with much of this, other than the 1st hand stuff i share with people...but my Thiels have had that one note THUMP for the 3 yrs I've owned them.  I figured that's how speakers sounded back in '92 & that my wallet wouldn't allow for much better.

Now that i've experienced a tuned room, i kinda have to re-learn everything.

its a really, really eye opening experience.  I hate to wax poetic, but i've been on a roller coaster ride with my rig the last few years trying this and that.   the ride is over...

it almost seems like this is a secret the industry wouldn't want folks to know about.  I mean, recording quality means very little now - everything i've spun sounds amazing. Gear is probably still imp, but maybe only in that its of a good design and working properly, not 'hi-end' per se.

One of the biggest downers is that my $140 CDP last night sounded better than my tt...and i HATE my cdp and LOVE my tt.  I hadn't even powered up my cdp in months.

If proper room acoustics seem to make the vinyl vs digital argument null & void...then this is something to look into!  that's a big IF, but one thought i had last night.

what gets me most excited is the arrival of the TVC - i'm probably gonna have to take a week off work and wear a bib to control all the drooling....

[GHM]

what gets me most excited is the arrival of the TVC - i'm probably gonna have to take a week off work and wear a bib to control all the drooling....

  Funny Matt!! Just don't get any on the keyboard!

I've been bugging Nick about the Power Energizer. He doesn't have everything mounted as yet. He did send me some pics of the Raw transformer that will be in this unit. It weighs over 30 lbs! He told me the transformers will be placed in a box and filled with wax to dampen them.On the box there will connections for IEC and output (US 120V)

[gooberdude]

I saw the Energizer listed on his site, what the?

what does it do?  how many components does it power up?

Is nicholas chua gonna change the way we enjoy the music???

[GHM]

I saw the Energizer listed on his site, what the?

what does it do?  how many components does it power up?

Is nicholas chua gonna change the way we enjoy the music???

I'm still waiting to find out about how many outlets it will have. It is a power conditioner of sorts. I ask him if this was his own design..he said yes. All I know is it will have 2500 watts of reserve power and weighs roughly 44 lbs. If it has at least 8 outlets..it will work for me. I'm planning to order one. I'm just waiting on its final completion.

[gooberdude]

Please report back if you get one, it looks quite cool.   

I just recently bought into the Oyaide craze, glad i did.  I ended up with a cryo'd SWO-XXX at the wall & a BPT Pure Power Center strip with 3 more swo-xxx's.  The pc connecting the strip to the wall has an Oyaide P-079 male plugs, a Furu fi-11 AG female plug and DH labs bulk ac cable.    I'm really, really happy with the set-up...amazing how quiet my gear is + keeping my cable box & tv plugged in doesn't seem to add any perceptible noise.  It sure did before!

the quality of the ac current our gear gets is crucial, in my experience, to good sound.   

nicholas' transformers all look really cool to me...

matt

[ryno]

Hang in there Matt, I ordered mine on the 4th and got it yesterday. Works great, no noise or hums. The only problem was a volume set screw was loose on the inside, just a good excuse to take the cover off. Just one night of use and I know it's well worth the price. Not huge differences with my purist, but the purist isn't an ordinary passive either. It's kind of funny, every difference I noticed had a positive and a negative side. The TVC has more bass, but it is a little less tight, more detail and impact, but with a slight harshness, A tighter image but not as wide or deep. Granted, the TVC is right out of the box, the differences are slight, and I didn't do any level matching or anything. After I enjoy it for a couple weeks, I'll do more serious comparisons. I've allways bought used so I've never heard break-in, It's very good now, any improvement would be sweet.
Ryan

[NewBuyer]

Ryan, if your experience ends up being like mine, you will see all these aspects improve with the TVC with continued use. It's really surprised me, it just keeps sounding better and better over time. Although I wish I could better understand how it is even possible that the sonics of the TVC can change like this. Hearing is believing, but after all they are transformers - I never realized a passive component can have a "break-in"!

Don't forget about the Output Transformers that Nicholas is advertising as well, that go between solid-state amps and speakers. This too looks very interesting, at least to me.