Chops' Current System Pics ....
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chops
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- #323
After letting the new jumpers cook for the past couple of days, it seems that the top end is just a touch cleaner sounding and the interaction between the woofers and tweeter are a bit more cohesive. Then again, the stock metal gold plated straps on these Klipsch were pretty cheesy.
chops
Active member
- Thread Author
- #324
A few mini reviews of the latest cable upgrades...
Tara Labs The One AC Power Cable...
There’s a few things I’ve noticed with The One cable, but nothing earth shattering.
One thing I was getting with both these Klipsch and the previous Audio Nirvana fullrange drivers (due to their high efficiency) was a notable amount of hiss, even at the listening position. It wasn’t loud, but you could hear it in between tracks. Once I replaced the Wireworld Aurora 7 cable with this Tara Labs “The One”, that hiss has been reduced to almost nothing. If you get about a foot away from the tweeter, you can hear the tiniest bit of hiss, but nothing like it was.
Probably due to the greatly reduced hiss, the overall sound just sounds cleaner and more personal, if that makes sense. Kind of like if the room had some acoustic treatments added. It’s hard to explain.
Bass weight and tactile punch is vastly improved. Where I noticed this first and mostly was at very low listening levels, typically where loudspeakers lack extension and punch. Of course, those improvements remain at higher volume levels as well.
With more listening over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed that the midrange is more palpable and three dimensional.
The really neat thing about all of this is, since I have both cables, I can (and did actually) swap them back and forth for comparisons, easily repeating the effects from both cables on the spot. The improvements are noticeable, so much so that even my girlfriend heard the same changes, and she has slight hearing loss in one ear.
Tara Labs The One CX Speaker Cables...
After getting these Klipsch RP-F8000's in the room, I tried several difference speaker cables including my old Wireworld Oasis 7 bi-wire, Audioquest CV-8, and a pair of Monster Z2 Reference, which these were the ones I ended up keeping on the Klipsch. I've never really cared for the WW Oasis 7's as they were a bit too lean in the bass and upper bass and smeared or something strange on the top end. The AQ CV-8's were decent but a little too harsh and/or forward in the midrange. The M Z2 Ref were surprisingly pretty decent and more pleasing than the other two, though lacked bass and midrange detail, and just a touch of grain on the top end.
With the Tara The One CX, it's a little more like the Tara power cable with a little more weight and tactile force in the bass and mid-bass. There's more speed and detail throughout. Treble is clean and detailed, yet also silky at the same time. Soundstage is a bit wider and open. There's more sense of space in the recordings.
Nordost Odin 2 Balanced Cable...
Let me just start this off by saying that these cables are extremely hard to find on the used market. It's even harder than that to find them at a price that I can stomach (next to impossible)!
The sound?... Holy smokes!
These are between the Freya+ preamp and Emotive XPA-2 Gen 2 amp, replacing a pair of WireWorld Oasis 7 XLR's.
Right off the bat, one thing I really like about these cables are the Holo Plug XLR connectors. No locking mechanisms of any kind, but they fit so snug and securely, there's zero need for locking mechanisms like traditional connectors. They look great, feel great, and fit perfectly. No wiggle or sag. By far the best solution I've seen.
Similar to the Tara power cable, these Odin 2's make things dead silent. This silence allows these cables to dig in deep for all of the minute details berried in the recordings. This also increases dynamics and speed. It's almost as if I'm feeding my speakers more power and you can actually sense the velocity of the sound, if that makes sense... Probably not.
The Odin 2's add even more weight and solidity to the ever so important midrange, giving both male and female vocals real life scale and force. There's more soundstage depth and openness to be had and the treble shares that same depth and openness; airy without being "tizzy" or fatiguing. It's just there, clean and pure.
I'm feverishly searching and searching for another pair of these Odin 2's to go from my Bifrost 2 DAC to the Freya + preamp. That will complete my interconnects since those are the only two in the entire system, luckily.
I think what's most amazing about all of this is the equipment and speakers these cables are connected to, more so the speakers. The fact that these Klipsch RP-F8000's DON'T sound like Klipsch speakers at all is a triumph of its own. The only trait they have with Klipsch is dynamics, and with 500 watts on tap, they have plenty of dynamics when needed. They're so naturally lively and life-like and snappy with no effort. The sound never sounds "forced" into the room.
The 8000's never get harsh or honky, bright or in your face, and believe it not, they never get fatiguing. Bass extends deep, well into the mid-20's in my room, very taut, detailed and punchy. Midrange is clear and natural sounding with plenty of detail retrieval, and the treble is clean, accurate and open.
If I'm shocked/surprised about anything in my system it's these speakers. The kind of sound they produce for their price point is nothing short of amazing. Out of all of the speakers I have, these are by far my favorites. And the fact that they can easily display the changes that all of these new cables make to the system is excellent. Whatever the cables do to the system, these speakers let you know.
Just for reference, here's a few albums that I've used over the past few weeks to help evaluate the cable changes...
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And just today, listened to this album. Actually very good sounding and the music isn't too bad either. Not what I would usually listen to, but it's a pleasant change of pace. Nothing wrong with trying something new.
Tara Labs The One AC Power Cable...
There’s a few things I’ve noticed with The One cable, but nothing earth shattering.
One thing I was getting with both these Klipsch and the previous Audio Nirvana fullrange drivers (due to their high efficiency) was a notable amount of hiss, even at the listening position. It wasn’t loud, but you could hear it in between tracks. Once I replaced the Wireworld Aurora 7 cable with this Tara Labs “The One”, that hiss has been reduced to almost nothing. If you get about a foot away from the tweeter, you can hear the tiniest bit of hiss, but nothing like it was.
Probably due to the greatly reduced hiss, the overall sound just sounds cleaner and more personal, if that makes sense. Kind of like if the room had some acoustic treatments added. It’s hard to explain.
Bass weight and tactile punch is vastly improved. Where I noticed this first and mostly was at very low listening levels, typically where loudspeakers lack extension and punch. Of course, those improvements remain at higher volume levels as well.
With more listening over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed that the midrange is more palpable and three dimensional.
The really neat thing about all of this is, since I have both cables, I can (and did actually) swap them back and forth for comparisons, easily repeating the effects from both cables on the spot. The improvements are noticeable, so much so that even my girlfriend heard the same changes, and she has slight hearing loss in one ear.
Tara Labs The One CX Speaker Cables...
After getting these Klipsch RP-F8000's in the room, I tried several difference speaker cables including my old Wireworld Oasis 7 bi-wire, Audioquest CV-8, and a pair of Monster Z2 Reference, which these were the ones I ended up keeping on the Klipsch. I've never really cared for the WW Oasis 7's as they were a bit too lean in the bass and upper bass and smeared or something strange on the top end. The AQ CV-8's were decent but a little too harsh and/or forward in the midrange. The M Z2 Ref were surprisingly pretty decent and more pleasing than the other two, though lacked bass and midrange detail, and just a touch of grain on the top end.
With the Tara The One CX, it's a little more like the Tara power cable with a little more weight and tactile force in the bass and mid-bass. There's more speed and detail throughout. Treble is clean and detailed, yet also silky at the same time. Soundstage is a bit wider and open. There's more sense of space in the recordings.
Nordost Odin 2 Balanced Cable...
Let me just start this off by saying that these cables are extremely hard to find on the used market. It's even harder than that to find them at a price that I can stomach (next to impossible)!
The sound?... Holy smokes!
These are between the Freya+ preamp and Emotive XPA-2 Gen 2 amp, replacing a pair of WireWorld Oasis 7 XLR's.
Right off the bat, one thing I really like about these cables are the Holo Plug XLR connectors. No locking mechanisms of any kind, but they fit so snug and securely, there's zero need for locking mechanisms like traditional connectors. They look great, feel great, and fit perfectly. No wiggle or sag. By far the best solution I've seen.
Similar to the Tara power cable, these Odin 2's make things dead silent. This silence allows these cables to dig in deep for all of the minute details berried in the recordings. This also increases dynamics and speed. It's almost as if I'm feeding my speakers more power and you can actually sense the velocity of the sound, if that makes sense... Probably not.
The Odin 2's add even more weight and solidity to the ever so important midrange, giving both male and female vocals real life scale and force. There's more soundstage depth and openness to be had and the treble shares that same depth and openness; airy without being "tizzy" or fatiguing. It's just there, clean and pure.
I'm feverishly searching and searching for another pair of these Odin 2's to go from my Bifrost 2 DAC to the Freya + preamp. That will complete my interconnects since those are the only two in the entire system, luckily.
I think what's most amazing about all of this is the equipment and speakers these cables are connected to, more so the speakers. The fact that these Klipsch RP-F8000's DON'T sound like Klipsch speakers at all is a triumph of its own. The only trait they have with Klipsch is dynamics, and with 500 watts on tap, they have plenty of dynamics when needed. They're so naturally lively and life-like and snappy with no effort. The sound never sounds "forced" into the room.
The 8000's never get harsh or honky, bright or in your face, and believe it not, they never get fatiguing. Bass extends deep, well into the mid-20's in my room, very taut, detailed and punchy. Midrange is clear and natural sounding with plenty of detail retrieval, and the treble is clean, accurate and open.
If I'm shocked/surprised about anything in my system it's these speakers. The kind of sound they produce for their price point is nothing short of amazing. Out of all of the speakers I have, these are by far my favorites. And the fact that they can easily display the changes that all of these new cables make to the system is excellent. Whatever the cables do to the system, these speakers let you know.
Just for reference, here's a few albums that I've used over the past few weeks to help evaluate the cable changes...
And just today, listened to this album. Actually very good sounding and the music isn't too bad either. Not what I would usually listen to, but it's a pleasant change of pace. Nothing wrong with trying something new.
jadedavid
New member
Do you belong to a "Speaker of the month club"? LOL
I hope someone is keeping track
Is this speaker pair #5, #6 or #7 in the past 12 months? Do they even have a chance to break-in before moving on?
chops
Active member
- Thread Author
- #330
I hope someone is keeping track
Who cares? And the system literally runs 24/7. You figure it out.
Quite frankly, I'm getting tired of people saying crap about me changing speakers from time to time. Don't like it? Keep quiet and move on. Simple as that.
I don't think anyone is criticizing, we're just interested. For example: are you trying to (essentially) demo a bunch of speakers to see what you might want to settle with longer term? are you just interested in a variety of different sonic palettes? are you getting frustrated trying to find something you like?
There are all kinds of philosophies in this hobby, and since yours appears relatively unusual I think the rest of us might like to be able to understand your approach a little better.
There are all kinds of philosophies in this hobby, and since yours appears relatively unusual I think the rest of us might like to be able to understand your approach a little better.
chops
Active member
- Thread Author
- #334
Most likely.
And as of right now, the Klipsch are back in place. Just reinstalled them about an hour ago. Even though the Monitor Audio's are great speakers, they just fall short in more areas where the Klipsch are just stronger in those same areas and several others. Quite a surprise actually as I was expecting the MA's to outperform the Klipsch in almost all aspects.
And as of right now, the Klipsch are back in place. Just reinstalled them about an hour ago. Even though the Monitor Audio's are great speakers, they just fall short in more areas where the Klipsch are just stronger in those same areas and several others. Quite a surprise actually as I was expecting the MA's to outperform the Klipsch in almost all aspects.
MRJAZZ
Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2013
- Messages
- 206
The latest generation of Klipsch speakers are much better than their previous ones.....Especially their HERITAGE series. Check out the Cornwall IV....
Cheers....
chops
Active member
- Thread Author
- #337
Any of the Heritage line with the exception of the Heresy IV are way too large for this room. But like you said, this latest generation of Klipsch loudspeakers are really good. It's why I like these 8000F's so much, because other than their better than average efficiency and great dynamics, they sound nothing like Klipsch.
Here's a little "review" I just posted in another forum because a member asked me about my thoughts/findings between the Klipsch and Monitor Audio towers...
"Definitely the Klipsch. They do a LOT more right.
The Klipsch's tonality remains the same no matter how quiet or loud you play them. With the MA's, you have to turn them up a fair bit for them to open up and start sounding good. To "wake them up" so to speak.
The Klipsch's treble is more refined. They easily reproduce those airy, light, delicate cues in music that the MA's just completely mask over. I mean, you hear them from the MA's, but it's like they are trying to do something they aren't capable of doing. Hard to explain.
Vocals and midrange in general is more open and natural through the Klipsch. They produce more space, width and depth with really good layering, detail retrieval and a super solid phantom center image and pin-point stage imaging.
With the Klipsch, there's more texture and energy upper bass, lower mid-bass region, giving you solid impact from drums, piano and the like. Low-end bass extension may seem greater with the MA's, but I'm beginning to think it only "seems" that way because there's simply more energy above that low bass with the Klipsch as I just mentioned, which slightly makes that low bass a bit more subdued.
The things that stand out with the MA's is that upper bass/lower mid-bass is a bit too soft around the leading edges, the midrange/vocal region seems congested a lot of the times, the treble is a little too etchy/unrefined, and the only way to get a solid center image in my room is to have them placed about one foot closer together and toed in almost directly at my ears, which doesn't guarantee that it remains anchored to the center all the time, and absolutely kills stage width and depth."
steve59
Member
There’s no rules that say we have to listen to the same speakers all the time.
Bobvin
New member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2013
- Messages
- 1,068
Back to the Monitor Audio Bronze 500's again... Just to give them another shot.
Well this setup has to be better, the cat is in the room!