transparent Gen 5

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Interesting comparison. One minor point...is your TA Ref calibrated for your equipment or close enough? You might wish to check. Of all of your comments, the one that makes me ask the question is 'air'...if it feels a bit shut in, I am wondering if that might be a calibration issue. On the other hand, relative tot he Shunyatas perhaps it simply is how they sound in comparison.

TA are very expensive cables without doubt. For some reason, those who really like them...REALLY like them and stay with them in my personal experience and observations generally.
 

Ian B

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Oct 19, 2020
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Interesting comparison. One minor point...is your TA Ref calibrated for your equipment or close enough? You might wish to check. Of all of your comments, the one that makes me ask the question is 'air'...if it feels a bit shut in, I am wondering if that might be a calibration issue. On the other hand, relative tot he Shunyatas perhaps it simply is how they sound in comparison.

TA are very expensive cables without doubt. For some reason, those who really like them...REALLY like them and stay with them in my personal experience and observations generally.
The calibration should be right, or in the ballpark. At the Reference level you have either Hi Z or Low Z, and since my DAC has a 300ohm balanced output I'm using the Hi Z.

I do think much of it is the character of the cable, I have an Ultra level headphone cable that sounds similar. I can see why people like them, for the musical effect they provide. In terms of true sound quality, I can't really say they are great bang for the buck.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
14,411
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The calibration should be right, or in the ballpark. At the Reference level you have either Hi Z or Low Z, and since my DAC has a 300ohm balanced output I'm using the Hi Z.

I do think much of it is the character of the cable, I have an Ultra level headphone cable that sounds similar. I can see why people like them, for the musical effect they provide. In terms of true sound quality, I can't really say they are great bang for the buck.
Thanks...I can see that having heard Ultra some time ago. And I owned Reference but 2nd hand and very old when it was also much less expensive. And yes, I see the 'character' that you refer to. I was always very happy with XL MM2 and clearly very happy now with Opus Gen 5.

Perhaps if you have a chance to try XL you can determine if you like the TA sound or not more definitively?
 

treitz3

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Dec 25, 2011
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Hello and good evening to you, Ian. I have to ask this. I do not have XLR's but I am curious as to why you would state what you did about the TA XLR's as, "TA coloration like grain, glow, and compression?"

I have the RCA's and while they do have a "slight" hint of color? The attributes of what I hear outweigh any perceived coloring with no deficiencies. I was wondering if you could expand on your observations with this...

Tom
 

Ian B

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Oct 19, 2020
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Hello and good evening to you, Ian. I have to ask this. I do not have XLR's but I am curious as to why you would state what you did about the TA XLR's as, "TA coloration like grain, glow, and compression?"

I have the RCA's and while they do have a "slight" hint of color? The attributes of what I hear outweigh any perceived coloring with no deficiencies. I was wondering if you could expand on your observations with this...

Tom
In context of my recent comparisons with Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 8 and Shunyata Sigma V2, and also my older Audioquest Colorado, the Reference cables sound a lot like adding a triode tube stage to my system. Some loss of high frequency, more smoothness, more glow or coloration, more bass and low midrange, a bit extra three dimensional quality, and a bit of distortion or grainy texture. It also reminds me a little of vinyl compared to digital.

It is a pleasant effect, but to me the tradeoff is that I can't hear reverb tails or room reflections as well and instruments can sound a bit densely packed upon each other without enough dynamic separation (kind of a squat, bottom heavy stereo image), and there is always that little bit of distortion that thickens but obscures detail. I think this compressed quality may be part of the sound signature because along with the increased bass it anchors the bottom octave so it doesn't move around a lot but feels solid and steady. The problem is that it denies the rest of the mix room to breathe.

The other cables are considerably more dynamic, open at the top, and lack the grainy texture. They do have their own drawbacks, though. It seems like the ideal would be to have this kind of fullness and musicality, but also a bit more openness and more purity/refinement.
 

jfrech

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Sep 3, 2012
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The calibration should be right, or in the ballpark. At the Reference level you have either Hi Z or Low Z, and since my DAC has a 300ohm balanced output I'm using the Hi Z.

I do think much of it is the character of the cable, I have an Ultra level headphone cable that sounds similar. I can see why people like them, for the musical effect they provide. In terms of true sound quality, I can't really say they are great bang for the buck.
Transparent isn't usually described as grainy and compressed or dynamically challenged. You just may prefer something else (and that's ok!). Reference is in the middle of their line up and is a pretty good cable. The better Transparent cables do get better (lower noise=blacker backgrounds, more resolution and textures, better bass), but I am not sure you'll change your opinion based on the sound characteristics you may value.

Cabling is definitely system and listener dependent. What I love, you may not...
 
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microstrip

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Hey, I was wondering at what level do you have to go before you lose a lot of the TA coloration like grain, glow, and compression? I'm trying out some Reference level XLRs and kind of surprised how much grain and compression there is, although I did expect that they wouldn't be very airy. They also don't have the deepest blacks.

A recent Shunyata Sigma V2 really killed these in terms of dynamics, noise (blacks), air, width, and detail, but of course the TA win terms of tonal balance, bass, image size, and ease of listening. The Shunyata price is actually $600 less. The Reference is actually probably the least dynamic cable I've used in a while, including $500 Audioquest Colorado. I'm wondering if the Sigma V2 is more comparable to the more expensive Reference XL, or if some of these artifacts are just part of the sound until you get to the very top cable models.

IMHO unless we have a lot more details about the experiment, it is hard to explain what you are listening. Cable interaction with a system is complex, the Transparent Audio are not universal cables. I have listened to them making a system singing like no others, but also sounding compressed.
 

Ian B

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Oct 19, 2020
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Transparent isn't usually described as grainy and compressed or dynamically challenged. You just may prefer something else (and that's ok!). Reference is in the middle of their line up and is a pretty good cable. The better Transparent cables do get better (lower noise=blacker backgrounds, more resolution and textures, better bass), but I am not sure you'll change your opinion based on the sound characteristics you may value.

Cabling is definitely system and listener dependent. What I love, you may not...
I found that adding an Ultra cable down the line from the Reference cleaned up the noise floor a lot, to the point the combination was on par with the Shunyata. I can tell the more of these you use, the quieter the signal gets. So, the fact that the Reference XL has 2 network modules tells me things get a lot quieter beyond the Reference level, and the custom tuning per components tells me that the frequency response gets a little more extended and balanced. I'm guessing the other stuff I mention is to do with the actual wire, which is (as I understand) a fairly "old school" copper design which gives the sound some density, but it isn't going to sound the same as other geometries/materials.

All things being equal, you really have to love the TA sound, or have a lot of them in series (cumulative noise reduction), to justify the big price increase over Shunyata and others. And I think some gear you almost can't do without TA, like DCS and Wilson.
 

Mdp632

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May 29, 2016
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In context of my recent comparisons with Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 8 and Shunyata Sigma V2, and also my older Audioquest Colorado, the Reference cables sound a lot like adding a triode tube stage to my system. Some loss of high frequency, more smoothness, more glow or coloration, more bass and low midrange, a bit extra three dimensional quality, and a bit of distortion or grainy texture. It also reminds me a little of vinyl compared to digital.

It is a pleasant effect, but to me the tradeoff is that I can't hear reverb tails or room reflections as well and instruments can sound a bit densely packed upon each other without enough dynamic separation (kind of a squat, bottom heavy stereo image), and there is always that little bit of distortion that thickens but obscures detail. I think this compressed quality may be part of the sound signature because along with the increased bass it anchors the bottom octave so it doesn't move around a lot but feels solid and steady. The problem is that it denies the rest of the mix room to breathe.

The other cables are considerably more dynamic, open at the top, and lack the grainy texture. They do have their own drawbacks, though. It seems like the ideal would be to have this kind of fullness and musicality, but also a bit more openness and more purity/refinement.

Please try MIT 2C3D line of cables (Level 2 or 1 if you can). MIT might be more transparent for you than Transparent :)

That being said, also consider a full "loom'" regardless of Transparent or MIT.

Even if not all the same level.

I was always told Mixing and matching "Network" cables is not ideal.

Sure, you are subjectively tweaking the sound but, you might end up driving yourself crazy.
 
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Sa683s

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Jun 26, 2017
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Transparent isn't usually described as grainy and compressed or dynamically challenged. You just may prefer something else (and that's ok!). Reference is in the middle of their line up and is a pretty good cable. The better Transparent cables do get better (lower noise=blacker backgrounds, more resolution and textures, better bass), but I am not sure you'll change your opinion based on the sound characteristics you may value.

Cabling is definitely system and listener dependent. What I love, you may not...
Very true. My wife order me to buy XL Speaker cable after listening many other speaker cables.
 

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