Tír Na HiFi

Rocker wrote:Ivor, the only solution is to stop listening to the hardware and concentrate on what music is on the LP or cd.

Oh absolutely true but the music is a bit harsh at the moment. Only a bit and it doesn't stop me enjoying it.

Did he advise you of that Ivor before you noticed it? It really seems strange that a cable would change after burning in. I hope i didnt plant a seed there.

tony wrote:Did he advise you of that Ivor before you noticed it? It really seems strange that a cable would change after burning in. I hope i didnt plant a seed there.

Dave mentioned the cables would start great, then change and then after a while change back again. Given I've put so few hours on them I can't reach any conclusions yet. They are still very listenable and still have all that detail and depth it's just they have an edge too. Much less than was heard through your system.

What about your nanotecs? Are they now surplus or just resting?

tony wrote:What about your nanotecs? Are they now surplus or just resting?

they're resting in Derek's system.

Home from home in another airtight

And they feel right at home there

Quick update.. and probably the final one!

I hadn't had a chance to use the system in about 10 days so I sat down last night for a relaxed listen to anything handy.
I started off with John Hammond (on CD) an old but pristine recording. Tape hiss an' all. I was a few tracks before I realised there was no edge. No sharpness. Just detailed music and realistic soundstage/imagery. Lovely.
My next up was Bill Callahan (again CD). Now, the first CD was mixed at low volume so I had to turn it a fair bit to get the listening levels "right". This meant that ill was a little loud and given the amount of detail and background sounds on the album if there was to be harshness this would show it. Not a bother. Given the fiddly nature of reducing volume on the Airtight I just left it alone. It was fine. Next up was Joe Henry's "Reverie" - another festival of detail and atmospheric sonic doodles. Even though it was probably too loud it was never harsh. So...

it seems as if the cables have finally settled in and are doing what was promised all along. Detail, soundstage, imagery and space. Well worth the wait!

Ivor wrote:I think it’s the current issue of Sterophile that mentions Emmylou Harris – Wrecking Ball as one of those “discs to die for” or somesuch and it prompted me to get the old girl out again and give her a spin. Since its release in 1995 it’s been one of my favourite albums both musically and for its incredible production courtesy of Daniel Lanois. It has become something of a reference CD too. Not one that shouted “test disc” on its arrival but one that always shows improvements (or the opposite) when something in the system is changed.
I popped it on last night and wow… speaker cable again justified its existence. The snap of the snare, the plumy bass, the percussion that was coming from the very back of the studio, Emmylou’s vocals coming from five feet in front of me. Every sound in its own space.
It was a bit like listening to a re-recording or “remastered” version of an album I knew every note of – or thought I did.

it might not be a test disc, but it is certainly testing...

so easy for a system to tie itself in knots trying to render that very peculiar bass quality which seems to creep up the bandwidth and swallow the midrange whole if not handled with great authority...

I havent listened to it for years due to the mothballing of my main system... the small system and zeppelin just can't reproduce it !!