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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> IC's & Isolation Transformer arrived!
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Message started by Fireblade on 03/28/12 at 03:27:00

Title: IC's & Isolation Transformer arrived!
Post by Fireblade on 03/28/12 at 03:27:00

I received Will's Decware Silver Ref IC's (thanks Will!), along with the Tripp Lite Isolation Transformer, early today.

First impressions (on the IC's) are better detailing/transparency and better bass. I couldn't help noticing also what seems to be a slight tendency to the bright side: Acutes seem more so than ever (some Art Pepper's highs, for example). Also, I found some female vocals are more 'on your face' than with the previous cables.

I also could not find them particularly airy, and I think this is due to the limits on my existing setup. Let me speculate here: There's so much more analog information getting through those cables now that the signal is reaching the point of saturation for my current amplifier and speaker combo's resolution.

In other words, I'm under the impression we have reached a resolution bottleneck which starts to show the amplifier/speakers' limitations. For example, even though the sound is richer in detail, this seems to clutter the end result in the more complex passages. As if there is more information being pushed down than what the SS setup can handle properly.

I'm beginning to believe that not only hi-rez amplifiers and speakers demand good quality cables, it also works the other way around. Right now I have very good sourcing/DAC signals and if most of this is reaching the amp (through the new IC's), some of it is properly reproduced, but the rest is just not getting processed right. The overall sound has definitely improved, as described earlier, but my ears are now demanding higher resolution down the road (after the IC's).

All of the above is relative to my existing SS/Speakers combo, of course, and will hopefully improve tremendously with the arrival of the Mini Torii and DM945's, some time early May. :-/

Title: Re: IC's & Isolation Transformer arrived!
Post by stone_of_tone on 05/02/12 at 18:28:11

Are they there yet?! Hold the Vegemite Sandwich, you have some listening to do (soon)!

-Stone
PS-(Vegemite), my ode to Men at Work and the passing. The 80's, good good times! I should get Business as Usual on vinyl..... . Even though I am a Jazz Head, with the likes of Art Pepper you referenced. However, I love my Pop Music too. But Jazz....Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section....he ain't just showin' off.....he is just that damn good!

Title: Re: IC's & Isolation Transformer arrived!
Post by Lon on 05/02/12 at 18:38:23

Well, it is early May. Glad the iCs and isolation transformers arrived. I took my transformers out of use in my second system and stuck them under the bed; I was getting better sound running the PS Audio Duets straight into the wall than into the transformers.

I'm pretty sure that the ICs will sound better with the new amp and speakers.

Stone, the 'eighties were the roughest years of my life (hard work, small pay, living far from my family, disastrous romance, very lonely) and I really didn't get into the 'eighties music much, that was the decade I started seriously listening to the music of the twenties through the sixties. :)

But enjoying music of any type is what brings us together!

Title: Re: IC's & Isolation Transformer arrived!
Post by Fireblade on 05/03/12 at 20:53:13

Nope, not yet! :'( Nevertheless, I have a whole stack of 'vegemite sandwiches' ready for their arrival ;D

Yes, Art Pepper is something else, indeed. These days, though, I'm mostly listening to classical music. It's amazing how these very different genres push the right buttons in me. It's all about good music and virtuosistic playing/conducting, no matter what the style of the tune is.

Now and then, I listen to rock oldies also, and some brazilian music.

Regarding the isolation transformer, I bet the system is going to sound better with it, as where I live the quality and consistency of the mains power really sucks. Sometimes in the evenings you see the lights starting to dim intermittently for a few seconds, swinging back and forth, evidently way beyond any acceptable deviation range standards.

I live in a smaller city in the suburbs, and housing developments here have quadrupled in the last couple of years. I guess the local power company is playing catching up. :(

I'll let you all know when the gear arrives and will post my first (within break-in) impressions. Thanks for asking ...

BTW, I spent the best part of the 80's in Chapel Hill, N.C. studying my heart out, so I did not have much time to appreciate music then.