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Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Chris VenHaus DIY Cables DIY Mains Power Cables Cable by Martythomas Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Model: DIY Mains Power Cables Category: Cable Suggested Retail Price: $0 Description: DIY Mains Power Cables Manufacturer URL: Chris VenHaus DIY Cables Manufacturer URL: Chris VenHaus DIY Cables
Review by Martythomas ( A ) on February 02, 2002 at 15:13:40
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for the DIY Mains Power Cables
I purchased some Belden 83802 recently and made up three flavor 3 and one flavor 1 cords, approx six feet long. I started by burning in the entire roll for 100 hours with a 100 watt bulb. I had some Hubble Plugs and Schurter IEC connectors from a previous failed project, so I utilized them.My power system consists of a Balanced Power Technology BP-2 plugged directly into a Acme Cryogenic dedicated line outlet. My Transport, DAC, Preamp, and turntable power supply are plugged into a MIT DUO ISO unit that does a good job of separating the digital from the analog. The MIT is plugged into a PS Ultimate Outlet, which is plugged into the BP-2. I have a pair of mono block amps plugged directly into the BP-2.
My amps use Synergystic Research Reference cords at about $650 a pop. The SR cords are made of 50 ohm coax, and have a ten ga center conductor made of seven silver plated copper strands. I tried to find this coax but could not locate a small amount, so I made cords out of Belden 50 ohm, low loss cable with a teflon insulator. These cords sounded much better than the stock cords, but not as good as the SR cords. They were warm, not too detailed and had a slight roll off on the top end, but the bass was huge and not to articulate. The system sounded good but left something to be desired.
I Have the grounds broken on all components and amps, the preamp is grounded to the Acme outlet, The MIT is grounded with the cord, but the components plugged into it have all broken grounds. The system is totally quiet.
The adventure begins. I replaced the SR cords on the amps with two flavor 3's. They sounded good, but compared to the SR cords, they did not have quite the bass impact and were a little bright on top. So I replaced the SR cables on the amps and proceded to replace the component cords one at a time starting with the transport, the DAC, the preamp, and finally the flavor 1 on the MIT. Each time I replaced a cord the sound improved. After listening for about a month I determined the bass was as deep, but firmer and more articulate, the mid range was more detailed and dynamic, the top was extended and the sound stage was wide and deep. The only negative was the top was slightly on the bright side with a touch of glare. This is only noticable on bright recordings such as Deutsche Grammophone classical CD's, one the other hand warm sounding recordings sound much better. I don't think the cable is fully broken in yet and hope the top end settles in with time.
The overall performance of my system is improved. This is the best bass and mid range I have had since replacing a Mark Levinson with a pair of Unison Research Amps a year ago.
Good job Chris.
Product Weakness: Slight brightness on th top end. Product Strengths: Firm deep bass, detailed, dynamic mid range, good sound stage, extended highs.
Associated Equipment for this Review: Amplifier: Unison Research Smart 845 Mono Blocks Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Ayre K-1 with Phono Section Sources (CDP/Turntable): Linn LP-12/Lingo/Graham 1.5 TC Arm/Ruby 2 . CDP: Mark Levinson 31/360S Speakers: Proac 2.5 Cables/Interconnects: MIT Oracle Speaker, MIT 350 Proline IC, Transparent Ref AES/EBU Digital, Cardas Neutral Phono Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical, Jazz, Vocals Room Size (LxWxH): 18 x 13 x 8 Room Comments/Treatments: Room lenses per Jon Risch,ASC bass traps, WW carpet, Drapes Time Period/Length of Audition: approx one month after break in Other (Power Conditioner etc.): BPT BP-2, PS Ultimate Outlet, MIT DOU ISO Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner Your System (if other than home audition): na
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Topic - REVIEW: Chris VenHaus DIY Cables DIY Mains Power Cables Cable - Martythomas 15:13:40 02/2/02 ( 4)
- And to think... - Eric Dube 07:36:17 02/5/02 ( 0)
Cryo'ing helped mine - monsterbill 11:08:45 02/4/02 ( 0)
Way to reduce glare... - Jon L 12:10:27 02/3/02 ( 0)
Chris VenHaus DIY Cables DIY Mains Power Cables Cable - ChrisVH 19:27:40 02/2/02 ( 1)
- Re: Chris VenHaus DIY Cables DIY Mains Power Cables Cable - Martythomas 08:30:17 02/3/02 ( 0)