Hi all,
An update to my set of QSAL cables. The GR snd GI power cables have fully settled in and I feel I now have a grasp of how they contribute to my system. The cables helps my system take a step towards sounding more natural and helps tame hardness in the treble. I had consider my system already very natural and treble well under control but when one hears a better version, you then realise there is still more to go.
I also feel that the cables add meat to the sound. Not only for bass but also in the mids and even treble sounds. I hear a thicker and more crowded soundstage but this eventually settles to a feeling of being closer to the stage and performance and so helps increase the emotional connection to the music.
At this point, my QSAL Ultimatum Infinity speaker cables arrived. I took the 3.5m option as I was told the longer the cable, the more one would hear the QSA effect. As some here have already described earlier, the impact of seeing and feeling the weight of the cables is shocking. My set was like a white 19kg anaconda, coiled up asleep in the box.
Installation turned out to be a little tricky. Unless your system has easy access behind where all the wires reside (mine is a little restricted), it's a bit of a pilates session with a lot of core action to install the heavy snake! I am told the wires are highly directional and so one has to follow the cable arrows carefully from the
+signal from amp-->speaker and
-return speaker-->amp.
The colour sleeves on the cables are only cosmetic and so I ended up following my amp and speaker standard of RED being positive. The cables are marked RED as being negative. So long as one is consistent and follow the arrows I'm told it's fine either way.
Second issue noted were the very large spades on the QSAL-UI cable. They turned out to be wider than the WBT connectors on my YBA1000 Passion monoblocks which accepts spades inside what appears to be an anti-dust slot. I had to remove the connector's plastic slot before the spades would fit. Also since the cables are very thick, and speaker connectors are close together, there is a very real possibility that the cables might short out if they came loose or undone. To prevent this, I separated the speaker side ends with some cardboard and tied the cable ends together with a strip of velcro. Location of the velcro strip as marked in red below. (Ignore the direction and colour of the cables below, I changed them later).
One last installation issue to note is that despite the very large spade connectors seen above the legs are not that thick and the copper is quite soft. When tightening them onto the speaker, one has to be careful not the move the cable sideways after tightening the post or the spade legs might splay outwards. Pure copper is highly ductile and bends easily without breaking so it's not a serious problem. It's good just to be aware of the issue during setup.
Ok, all that said, the installation completed fine and right off the bat, sounded BIG. That's the first impression, everything is larger and heavier. When loads of details and a lot more bass. Impressive but not really my preferred sound. And as some have said earlier a roller coaster ride during the next 200 hours or so. From really impressive tight and detailed sound, to dull and fat sounding. With hinesight, I think it would have been better to wait for the 250 hour mark before any serious listening.
But you'll know once the break in process is ending. Wow, as with the GR and GI power cables, the texture of the music takes a large step towards natural. Everything is so real it's shocking what more one can achieve after thinking you've already gotten so far. And treble hardness yet another step forward towards smoothen out while maintaining all details. Actually it's more than that, it feels like details are revealed once the treble is properly delivered. Right up to the end of the burn, I felt the stage wasn't quite right with large orchestra pieces sounding confused and not properly layered. And then it all gelled together nicely and became wide, deep with instruments positioned clearly. Tone took a large shift to what I consider now the QSAL house sound. Same as with the QSAL power cables the sound became thicker and meatier. For those with thin sounding system this is a major correction. For those with normal density systems initially it comes across as fatter sounding but over time as the burn continues, the separation of voices, instruments are very clear and with the soundstage developing properly, placed in the correct positions. Mids, upper mids and treble are all thicker and with that more real sounding. I didn't understand how a thicker treble like the weight behind a brush on a snare drum or weight behind a soft strike on a cymbal can make them sound more real until I heard this QSAL UI sound. I think this is a defining character of the UI.
In addition to the texture/tone being thicker, it is also wider sounding. The frequency extensions are clear to hear. Bass increases but becomes tighter at the same time. It's a whole new presentation of double bass sounds, like a different instrument or even a different speaker playing it! In real concerts one is always aware of the murmur in the air of the venue. I call this the weight of the air in the soundstage. This air weight is so much clearer now and helps define the shape of the venue and recording. I think this is from the increased tonal width of the cable.
An audiophile visited me last night to have a listen to the system. Being familiar with my system, with his last visit just before the QSAL UI and near the end of the GR and GI power cables burn in, he was shocked at the change in sound. He commented that unlike a component switch which affects aspects of the sound, it was more like a whole new presentation. Different and better way to connect to the music and emotion of the artist.
Recently going through my bookmarked tracks of favourite pieces, I'm finding that I end up listening to the entire album instead of just the track. This is something new for me. It's like I am discovering a whole set of music and so I'm curious to investigate further. Listening to more music is always a good sign I'm heading in the right direction. :-D
Kin
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