Cable dressing, stands and tweaking...
Posted by: Top Cat on 23 January 2002
After a break from the forum (a month, give or take, due mainly to my lack of internet access), I'm back, and my system is finally getting to where I want it to be. I finally upgraded from the Mana supports to a QS Reference ensemble, which I will come onto later. Suffice to say that it has brought some tangible improvements over Mana Phase 8, although I feel there is still room for improvement.
However, the biggest change in my system of late has been finally getting some decent wire - replacing the fine-at-the-price- but-ultimately-a-bit-limiting DNM solid core with some Nordost stuff. Whether you personally love or hate it, I have to say that the Nordost wire certainly makes a difference, more so than either the Mana or the QS Reference racks did. In my system, it has resulted in a MUCH faster but also more musical sound - but then, I would expect it of a pricy wire. Whether additional improvement may be wrought by careful dressing is difficult to say, so I thought I'd see if anyone has any tips on cable dressing, such as:
* can I group interconnects from difference components together (e.g. with, say, an Ikea cable-tidy) or should I keep them apart?
* does having a cable rest against the rack or another cable or bit of equipment really matter?
* if an interconnect has to pass over a power cable, do I assume that right-angles are the best solution?
...and so on. I've tried a few things, but ultimately it is pretty tricky getting the cables routed in the right way due to space and kit-location.
Next up: Nordost Pulsar Points. I borrowed a set but they didn't do much for any of my kit - has anyone else here had any luck with them? I mean, I think they're very well made and all, but surely if I can't hear any benefit then they're just cosmetic distraction and nothing more?
QS Ref versus Mana. Don't want to ignite the debate, but I can confirm that QS Ref suits my kind of system better than Mana did, and at lower cost, but YMMV. Under the speakers, the custom Mana bases are very good indeed, although they make an already tall speaker that bit taller. I will keep the custom stands and sell my pair of soundbases (actually flattops with boards on them) - anyone want them for £180 including courier to your neck of the woods?). I also have a PSU table should anyone be interested.
Tweaking: I was delighted to find out that Naim-wired DIN plugs work just fine on a DNM preamp - my question now is, if they work just fine in this way, what benefit would having them wired up in a DNM manner (i.e. ++00u (left to right, as compared to Naim's ++0uu, where u is unused)?
Obviously comparison is going to be a bit tricky, so has anyone ever tried (for instance) the reverse, i.e. a split ground DIN on a Naim) - did this work?
Ah well, I'm delighted to be back - just had the boys from Telewest install my cable modem and it's great! Surf away!!!
TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."
Where the lead into the mains block intersects a run of speaker cable, I have created a "bridge" so that the two do not come into contact.
In fact, I feel content that there is no wire in my system touching another.
Every now and then paranoia sets in and I have to go and have a look at the back... 
It's always a nice day for it 
Have a good one! 
Steve.
quote:
So, 'Call Centre Voice' wasn't quite enough for you? Intersting.
Not at all, it's burbling away well - it's getting a lot of interest, and we took our first member of non-director-level staff on last week - so it's going fairly well. It's great working from home, though!
quote:
As you may know I'm using DNM cabling throughout the system - spurs, mains cables, interconnects and speaker wire (twice). Its good and fantastic value.
Absolutely. However, it's not quite up to the best by a reasonable margin, and I had a gut feeling that it was holding things back a little.
quote:
I have decided that Nordost would be the way to improve but at ridiculous cost. What Nordost have you put in place? I have been advised Red Dawn. From memory, that would cost about 2K just for speaker wire! I'd rather go on holiday.
secondhand SPM Reference interconnects (a 1m and a 0.6m) and Red Dawn speaker cable. All-in, yeah, I could have had a nice holiday for that sort of dough, but once I'd heard what it could do for my system I was hooked. It's phenomenal stuff, and I would strongly advise anyone whose system will work with it (do Naim amps?) NOT to listen to it unless you are serious about buying, as you will find a way to justify it to yourself. It's a bigger improvement than Mana or QS Ref, in my experience, although a different one. Crazy prices, yes, but then so is an XPS when you think about it, and the value is in the music, not the materials.
quote:
And if you believe Russ Andrews you should work 'source first' with cables too, so that means re-wiring the spurs first. That's 30 metres!
ALready done - but not DNM solid core - simple B&Q 6.5mm.sq. - 8 metres of the stuff, a 30A fuse and an MK Logic double unswitched, floor mounted (so that it fits beneath the rack). For a total cost of around £30 or less, it was a tremendous bang-for-the-buck upgrade.
quote:
I recently underwent a Pulsar Point conversion, followed by an almost complete renouncement. They do nothing (apart from a slight negative, loss of bass definition perhaps) when used with a Base rack (I think the CDS2 is sufficiently well isolated that it would sound superb on a pile of rubble).Pulsar Points do work instead of speaker spikes though (plus they won't damage a wooden floor) and when placed on top of my erstwhile granite stands they worked wonders for my ex-N805s (not enough to save them though).
I found the same thing. I didn't hear a difference under any components, although I may have heard something change when I tried them under my speakers. However, unless it's a night-and-day thing, these days I am not interested. So, back to the dealers they go... (they were on loan, fortunately)
quote:
Frankly, I can't be bothered with cable dressing but do try to ensure that not much is touching. I'm not going to start bubble-wrapping all my wires - people visit.
...and they talk
Seriously, I rather suspect that Naim amps won't work well with Nordost anyway (due to the design - I'd imagine NACA5 is a very difference beast, electrically speaking, from (say) Red Dawn) so stick with the DNM unless you really want to open an expensive can of worms...
SPM is rather lovely, though, beyond all expectations... expensive, but I found a good site - Used Cable Company who had some SPM at around half UK list (which I snapped up!!)
TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."
Good to see you again. Nordost, I'm not really a fan of - my experiences have always of a bright sound.
Anyway, have you got your CD source sorted out yet? A guy like you with a cable modem should be able to afford a nice Sim Moon spinner
Andrew
Andrew Randle
Currently in the "Linn Binn"
It's always a nice day for it Have a good one!
Steve.
quote:
have you got your CD source sorted out yet? A guy like you with a cable modem should be able to afford a nice Sim Moon spinner
Not yet; I borrowed a Moon Eclipse, but the shop forgot to pack the pointy feet and so it didn't really shine. I've agreed not to spend any more money on new kit until 2003, though, once I've finally sorted out my cables (I've yet to send the SPM off to Nordost for retermination with DNM-wired DIN plugs), so a new CD player will have to wait until then.
quote:
Nordost, I'm not really a fan of - my experiences have always of a bright sound
It has a tendency to be slightly bright with the lower cables, such as Solar Wind or Blue Heaven. Red Dawn adds a bit more 'oomph' down in the bass, and SPM shapes that bass up a bit more. It certainly doesn't lack bass-carrying ability, but its speed and precision (hey, ho, and musicality ) means that bass doesn't hang around long, unlike with cheaper cables. So, bass drum notes are very defined and brief, carrying an impact rather than a note, if you follow. Of course, my room is rather small to get really deep bass anyway, so I never had a bass 'overhang' problem to speak of, but there is definitely a substantial amount of extra, much tighter and musical bass than I had with the DNM Reson cables. What's more, the speaker cable has yet to break in, so it should improve some more over the next month or so...
TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."
Just goes to show its all down to PP.
I have the points under the CDP, I like to ehink they make a difference but at the end of the day I think they just look good 
I would however like to get another pair to see what they would sound like under the speakers.
What would peoples opinions of placing the points just on the fronts of the speakers be? (would save me 50 quid, plus they might look good!)
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Toy:
... amazing the amount of junk I picked up when I was a teacher - chewed pens that don't work, .... confiscated beanie babies, yoyos etc, and this rubber which I have placed ...
pardon ?
Peter
quote:
* can I group interconnects from difference components together (e.g. with, say, an Ikea cable-tidy) or should I keep them apart?
* does having a cable rest against the rack or another cable or bit of equipment really matter?
* if an interconnect has to pass over a power cable, do I assume that right-angles are the best solution?
Welcome back, TC.
I made a website since you've been gone which addresses these questions in an authorative and pedantic fashion
cheers
Regarding cones, I far to many of my own, (normally from visiting hi fi shows and having to leave with Something!)
Knowing me though I was probably trying to blag them off you or something.
quote:
How about using Blu-tak to form the bridge? Small, discreet, and absorbs vibration. A small ball placed between two wires that are at right angles to each other
The blu-tack would then be touching both wires.
With the rubber, and by this I am using Britspeak - ERASER , the mains lead is not touched at all - which is how it likes it.
Rubber is also non....
Garyi
I know that we have had this conversation before, but interconnects are a different issue in non-Naim or only part-Naim systems.
In an all-Naim system, you really are better off using the Naim freebies.
Top Cat has no Naim, myself and Alex use Naim CD players, and amps by somebody else.
In such systems, the choice of interconnet has a different significance.
Nordost Red Dawn and Blue Heaven are very good, but not in a Naim system.
My Chord Anthems make a big diference in my system, but when I used them in place of Naim i/cs in an all-Naim system, they made no difference whatsoever.
It's always a nice day for it Have a good one!
Steve.