best cost no object, cables

[Sablon Audio]

Hi All,

I have been waiting nearly 4 months to get the system completely reassembled and tuned...it is not there yet, but at least all of the key pieces are back in order. New speakers, new preamp, Gryphon amp got damaged due to a fault in another piece of equipment and finally came back today.

And of course, the reason for this particular post...a new set of power cables...changed from my historic 10 year 'old reliables'. Sablon Audio Prince (Orange fuse). Over the years, I have heard:

- Transparent Audio Opus Gen 5
- Purist Audio 25th Anniversary, 20th Anniversary, Dominus (own all)
- Vertere (brief hearing...do not recall which one)
- Crystal Cable Absolute Dream
- Gryphon VIP Reference (own)

I have A/Bd in home:
- TA Opus Gen 5 vs Sablon Audio Prince vs PAD 25th Anniversary, 20th Anniversary and Dominus
- Crystal Cable Absolute Dream vs the above

Overall, I declared the Sablon Audio Prince Orange the absolute winner on all counts. It was not based on price but on absolute all-out performance, and the decision was decisive. Namely:

- a density of tone with a clarity that I did not find in the 25th Anniversary (which is the most lucid of the PADs other than the Dominus which is exceedingly clear but a bit coarse)
- shockingly, a far more powerful propulsion in upper bass (something I was not expecting)...the ability to shock/punch in the upper bass
- a quiet ease which eluded the Crystal Cable Absolute Dream (which was neck and neck with the PAD 25th Anniversary in the Gryphon)
- a clarity and superior capability to maintain an even effortless keel on all the syncopated rhythms of deep house simultaneously that very cleared bested the TA Opus Gen 5 (which in our system was remarkably elegant, but almost too much so)

Now on to the value proposition which is astoundingly good given that it costs half of the TA Opus Gen 5 and 1/6th of the PAD 25th Anniversary or Absolute Dreams. Again, this was a search for all out absolute performance, not best performance/price ratio.

This is only our system, our ears, but I have been waiting until the system settled in, the old cables have been formally and finally swapped out permanently (now for resale) before posting. Thanks to Mark Coles who founded the business and continues to dedicate his time and efforts to constantly driving his products forward.

Glad you're enjoying them Lloyd and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts here. I suspect many members would acknowledge the acuity of your hearing and your meticulous quest towards achieving the best sonics in your home. Glad to play a supporting role

 

[strapper211]

Hi,
I have searched hi and low for the best I could find.
The best I have had or heard is the couple year old Elrod Master series.
It does things I can't believe.
Robert

 

[LL21]

Hi,
I have searched hi and low for the best I could find.
The best I have had or heard is the couple year old Elrod Master series.
It does things I can't believe.
Robert

Interesting! I think both Sablon Audio and Elrod are 2 of perhaps 3 companies that use Bocchino termination which has been a big part of Sablon Audio's next gen products.

 

[highstream]

LL21, Thanks for the report. Where on the neutral to (variations of) warm continuum do your tastes lie, and how do the Prince’s line up with that? I read that the earlier Corona versions were on the warm side, while in my system its successors, Elite as I recall, were not so and to my tastes unpleasant in spite of their other fine qualities.

 

[LL21]

Hi Highstream,

Before I answer, some context: I have heard the evolution of Sablon from its very first days when Mark founded the company. I have a lot of admiration for Mark and have nothing but great things to say about him, the way he does business, the integrity of his businessmodel and his constant pursuit for great sound.

In regards to your question, I have listened to many generations of Sablon Audio cables...and used them with our Oppo, Subwoofer...but never the main system, always keeping the Purist Audio cables (which you may know have that black background, dense tonal color and nice touch of natural tone, warmth). Not the last word in detail or clarity but they stood me in good stead for over 10 years.

I then heard the Elites, and for the very first time, I was 'tempted' to switch but I did not. The reason? I have my own personal priorities around tonal density and deep color saturation. Not over-saturated, but if even a hair of midrange density/tonal purity is shaved, that is a non-starter for me.

In our system, we gained tremendous levels of detail, layering, nuance...absolutely fantastic...but on Middle C on the piano, Glenn Gould's keyboard felt 5% too lite. I obsessed for a full week about whether I could live with that, and intensely seeing if I could even mitigate it...and this obsession to mitigate this was despite all the massive gains in all of those other areas. And I realized I could not live without this 5% of tonal density...and I passed.

Fast forward to Sablon Audio Prince (with orange fuses)...the Bocchino IEC but a Furutech UK plug.
- All of the benefits above, but an astounding depth of tonal color in conjunction with that tremendous decay and detail
- Shockingly propulsive, disciplined and power bass where it beat the PADs (which I was totally not expecting)
- Soundly beat the PAD 25th Anniversary Cable...there was no area where I did not prefer to the Sablon Prince Orange
- See the other cables which I have also listened to in our system...the 25th, Dominus and 20th Anniversary were all in the system being compared directly with the Sablon Audio Prince Orange.

As soon as I bought the first Sablon Orange, I then switched cable by cable, one at time, to see if there were any negatives from an 'additive effect' of something I was missing. There are now 6 of 7 cables in the system which are all Sablon Audio Prince Orange.

As for my own 'sound priorities', I suppose if you look at the Zanden 4-box digital, Robert Koda K15EX and the Gryphon Mephisto amp...exclusively otherwise cabled by Transparent Audio Opus. So I think that probably speaks best for the sound I seek. Hope that helps.

 

[highstream]

Thanks for the reply. I don’t know if it helps, that is, if we’re using different terms for the same thing or entirely different conceptions, and if that has anything to do with my having not heard equipment of the caliber in your system. I realize that there’s a whole other level that I don’t have familiarity with, roughly like the difference between a moderately high level citizen athlete and someone at the world class elite level..

 

[spiritofmusic]

Lloyd, interesting you mention that the "standard" Elites missed an iota of tone density that the Bocchino Princes restore. For me, I felt that density is fully present on the Elites, but the Bocchino Princes highlight a broader range of attributes via their scary low noise floor. I'm less aware of tone density on the Princes, and more on tone color, air and timbral accuracy.

The Princes on one hand feel like an evolution of the Elites, and on the other hand a more major opening up of things like air and timbral accuracy that really adds to the illusion of reality.

I have three Princes in, remaining three to go.

 

[LL21]

Lloyd, interesting you mention that the "standard" Elites missed an iota of tone density that the Bocchino Princes restore. For me, I felt that density is fully present on the Elites, but the Bocchino Princes highlight a broader range of attributes via their scary low noise floor. I'm less aware of tone density on the Princes, and more on tone color, air and timbral accuracy.

The Princes on one hand feel like an evolution of the Elites, and on the other hand a more major opening up of things like air and timbral accuracy that really adds to the illusion of reality.

I have three Princes in, remaining three to go.

Hey Spirit, I think an iota is a fair positioning...and because there was no way I was about to give up the Zanden (or any other major equipment in the system), then by definition there was only so much that I could do to get that iota back. By contrast in an entirely different system, one could well have more than enough.

That is why it always about personal systems and tastes.

That said, I entirely agree that new Princes present a shockingly lower noise floor, opening up to a whole world of new details, clarity (all very naturally and effortlessly presented...rather than thrown at you, highlighted or somehow 'carved out'/dissected and splayed') than I have heard on any of the cables I have auditioned in our system (again for those just joining: Transparent Opus Gen 5, Purist Audio 25th Anniversary or Crystal Cable Absolute Dreams...plus a super brief listen of a Vertere (very impressive), and Gryphon VIP Ref).

 

[LL21]

Thanks for the reply. I don’t know if it helps, that is, if we’re using different terms for the same thing or entirely different conceptions, and if that has anything to do with my having not heard equipment of the caliber in your system. I realize that there’s a whole other level that I don’t have familiarity with, roughly like the difference between a moderately high level citizen athlete and someone at the world class elite level..

If it helps, I started out listening to warm because I did not want to live without it...despite the fact that 20 years ago golden hues also came with their own compromises. And what has happened is I have continued to search for designs that carve away [what I perceive to be] excess golden hue...leaving the pure tone as dense, as complete as possible.

Any time I have come across something that seemed to sacrifice that tone in the interest of removing 'golden excess'...I have rejected it.

Hopefully that helps you calibrate my own priorities on the 'spectrum' of warm to cool.

Today, I would like to think I sit in a territory inhabited by dense purity of tone, lots of details and powerful propulsive bass and effortless scale...which i believe to be 'natural/organic'...but which, by some other people's standards, if it is going to be 'deemed colored sound', is going to be deemed warm.

 

[microstrip]

Francisco, Garden hoses provide flow.

How would you describe the difference between your transparent power cords and the ching Cheng power cords?

A night and day difference, as people say. IMHO the Ching Cheng were not adequate to my system using mainly Transparent Audio or Crystal Dreamline full sets of signal and speaker cables, I avoid commenting on their sound generically.

 

[Lagonda]

A night and day difference, as people say. IMHO the Ching Cheng were not adequate to my system using mainly Transparent Audio or Crystal Dreamline full sets of signal and speaker cables, I avoid commenting on their sound generically.

Why Francisco ? I would like to hear your sound impression of the CC,s.
I find them a little more focused on the midrange than the treble, with nuanced bass that doesn’t emphasis the deep bass like many high price cables do.

 

[PeterA]

I had older generation transparent REF XL mm2 Power cables and I inserted the Ching Cheng. In my system the transparent power cords colored the sound by emphasizing certain frequencies and they homogenized the soundstage and ambient information of all the recordings. The Ching Cheng are much more convincing or believable And I am able to hear the unique recording venue of each LP. I’m not saying they’re the best power cords, simply that they do not have a strong sonic signature the way so many other power cords I’ve heard do.

i’m sorry you do not want to describe the sound Francisco. That’s one of the most helpful aspects of discussions like these on audio forums.

 

[LL21]

I had older generation transparent REF XL mm2 Power cables and I inserted the Ching Cheng. In my system the transparent power cords colored the sound by emphasizing certain frequencies in the homogenized the soundstage and ambient information of all the recordings. The Ching Cheng were much more convincing or believable.

i’m sorry you do not want to describe the sound Francisco. That’s one of the most helpful aspects of discussions like these on audio forums.

Hi PeterA,

Interesting feedback. For what its worth, I listened to the Transparent Opus Gen 5 cables (having passed on a much earlier generation of TA power cables for probably not dissimilar reasons as yours). And I am a BIG TA fan having used their signal and speaker cables for 12 years running now. And now a user of TA Opus Gen 5. So that should say something...

...and yet on the TA Opus 5, the sound was 'elegant'...strikingly elegant which was fun during classical...but to the point where everything including deep house and electronic also took on that character. Whereas the Sablon Audio Prince Oranges really seemed to show music like piano differently on different recordings, same for electronic deep house or club recordings made by the DJ during his session which had been given to me personally. And yet in each case, I could verify words were clearer as were decay...and my references (where i know how i like to hear them...would never say i know how they should actually sound as if i were in the room during the recording)...and that was what the Sablons give me in the same way it seems CC provide that to you.

 

[Reference Analog]

I have been having a lot of success implementing Audience Front Row cables. I would put them up there with some of the best I have heard

 

[microstrip]

Why Francisco ? I would like to hear your sound impression of the CC,s.
I find them a little more focused on the midrange than the treble, with nuanced bass that doesn’t emphasis the deep bass like many high price cables do.

I avoid commenting on cable sound as it depends too much on the equipment being used and unless we use the bizarre descriptors that fit everything we can very easily be posting something that can be taken out of context.

I like an effortless and powerful sound that grows outside the boundaries of my room - the XLF's do it particularly well. In my current system the CC's sound constrained and boring, exaggerating the technical details of the recording. The treble looses air. They make top digital equipment sound like average. And yes, I never listened to the Studer A80's with CC ...

I have posted several times my favorite recordings and opinions supported on them. No one is this forum has listened to them, our musical preferences are different making more details useless.

 

[microstrip]

(...) ...and yet on the TA Opus 5, the sound was 'elegant'...strikingly elegant which was fun during classical...but to the point where everything including deep house and electronic also took on that character. Whereas the Sablon Audio Prince Oranges really seemed to show music like piano differently on different recordings, same for electronic deep house or club recordings made by the DJ during his session which had been given to me personally. And yet in each case, I could verify words were clearer as were decay...and my references (where i know how i like to hear them...would never say i know how they should actually sound as if i were in the room during the recording)...and that was what the Sablons give me in the same way it seems CC provide that to you.

Your excellent digital source is night and day to mine. We agree on using the same speakers and signal cables, I would find very strange if we could both use the Transparent Audio power cables.
I like them a lot with the DCS Vivaldi, but, for example, they are a complete disaster with the Kondo KSL DAC that I am trying to sell.

 

[Lagonda]

I avoid commenting on cable sound as it depends too much on the equipment being used and unless we use the bizarre descriptors that fit everything we can very easily be posting something that can be taken out of context.

I like an effortless and powerful sound that grows outside the boundaries of my room - the XLF's do it particularly well. In my current system the CC's sound constrained and boring, exaggerating the technical details of the recording. The treble looses air. They make top digital equipment sound like average. And yes, I never listened to the Studer A80's with CC ...

I have posted several times my favorite recordings and opinions supported on them. No one is this forum has listened to them, our musical preferences are different making more details useless.

Thank you Francisco ! Now was that so hard ?

 

[Khamonyo]

Hello guys!

Did you see the launch of Crystal Connect? They launched the Art Series cables, it are made with a proprietary conductor, Infinite Crystal Silver.
https://www.crystal-hifi.com/products/da-vinci/

 

[Handmade Audio]

As the title says, among the cost no object cables, which are the best? Siltech, Crystal Cables, Tara Labs, Transparent, MIT?

Is there a manufacturer that delivers cables with similar performance, but with not exorbitant prices?

None of those brands are even close to Omega Mikro and the cost is much less.

 

[infinitely baffled]

Hello guys!

Did you see the launch of Crystal Connect? They launched the Art Series cables, they are made with a proprietary conductor, Infinite Crystal Silver.
https://www.crystal-hifi.com/products/da-vinci/

Welcome aboard Khamonyo ?