While I was out eating oysters and drinking big wine with my father and brother who visited for the holidays, JoshK was up burning the midnight oil to finish the 25' powercable/OneAC mod. I couldn't wait any longer. I staggered through a snowstorm to pick up my new JoshKable last week. Josh finished it beautifully with black nylon mesh over red heatshrink. It looks mean.
Josh entertained me with some tunes while I worked up the gumption to go back out into the weather with my new toy. His wife had gone off to work out in the gym so we turned it up up up. I like it like that. Since I last heard his stereo he has reduced the toe-in on his big RM40's and dramatically opened the soundstage. He says the sweet spot is wider too and I believe him but I didn't give up my seat for a minute to test it out. Its totally seductive. Who knew that I could love 9 Inch Nails??? Time flew by as it always does when Josh turns on his stereo. Thanks Josh!
I didn't get to check out my new cable/power conditioner until the next night. Josh warned me that it would need some major burn in time but there was no way it could sound worse than my random assemblage of ancient extension cords. I plugged it in, cued up the first cut of Radiohead's Kid A and settled into my big stereo chair ready to enter Nirvana.
It was more like going to the DMV. The soundstage shrank to a little windowpane. It got congested on relatively simple passages. Suddenly my stereo sounded dingy and stale. It took a major act of will not to just revert to the old jury rig on the spot. Okay, okay, deep breath. Let it break in. Be patient!!!
Its an amazing experience. I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart but Josh and I have now proven that you can turn a bunch of good gear into the sonic equivalent of an enormous clock radio with a power cord. Nobody will ever get to hear the travesty worked on my stereo by that anaconda of a cord though. The cord I heard last week no longer exists. It is metamorphosing as I type.
I first got the sense that good things were happening yesterday. The stereo was on all day and by late afternoon I found myself getting involved again. Favorite passages would intrude into whatever else I was up to and demand my attention. Some of the air was returning. This evening I came home from a long day at work with no desire except to scarf some pasta and hit the sack. I stuck on some alternative rock my brother sent me a couple of weeks ago (Giant Sand--Chore of Enchantment). It left me cold when I first heard it but I figured if it played as background music I might eventually come to appreciate it. Suddenly it needed my attention RIGHT NOW. The soundstage had exploded. Sounds were coming at me from everywhere, textured and tantalizing, full of zip. Holy cow! And its still getting better! So here I am, up past my bedtime, unable to turn the dang thing off. Thanks Josh. I had no idea!
