Disappointed with Chord Cobra 3 into a UQ2

not something to be surprised about...

any cable, at any price, on any unit can disappoint anyone.

If any Chord cable is used the wrong way round it will not sound at its best so you are sure its correct? 

Wiltshireman posted:

If any Chord cable is used the wrong way round it will not sound at its best so you are sure its correct? 

And if it IS the right way round, try it the wrong way round.  As I recall Chord use "pseudo-balanced" wiring (twin core for signal and ground with the screen connected at one end) ... so it can work better the other way round.

It sounds silly perhaps, but perhaps I do have it the wrong way round. Quite why they couldn't print directional arrows rather than the rather more ambiguous "make sure the c in chord is closest to the source" I'm not sure. Regardless, it's worth a try reversing them. 

Thanks. 

You will find that the sound from new wires changes over time. See if it's better after a week. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

You will find that the sound from new wires changes over time. See if it's better after a week. 

I understand this - though because they're pre-owned I didn't think it would be a factor in this case. 

In which case they are unlikely to change much. It does sound odd, as the Cobra is supposedly very good. 

Maybe Cobra3 just reveal an issue with your source

If thats the fact one can hardly blame the cable

FWIW I have good results with the older Chord Crysalis and some Flashback cables, no new version out every 12-24 month, no silly Sarum prices either

I've used a Chord Cobra 3 on a Qute and had no issues, could it be a faulty cable or a source issue perhaps?

dayjay posted:

I've used a Chord Cobra 3 on a Qute and had no issues, could it be a faulty cable or a source issue perhaps?

I'm going to switch the cable around and see if it makes any difference, but I don't think it's a source issue. I mean it could be in the sense I've got the VTF tuned to the old (and very, very cheap) cable - so I should readjust the VTF of the turntable within the recommended range. Perhaps it is a bad cable. 

Chords cobra whilst still not cheap is for a system that might be in need of tuning in, I'm thinking a digital source that's a little bright would benefit more than a turntable here.

I've found Van Den Hul cables to be great for vinyl connections.  Their first' or second' RCA cables can be found s/h for good prices.

i have one UQ2, and still didn't go through the cable "X" route.

why? because i think the gain doesn't worth the spending.

have a 10€ /meter cable that is enough.

for bigger spending in cables , i think i would need a naim 500 series components.

My experience is that an expensive cable is always better than a cheap one but indeed there is point that a lesser system just can't show any more improvements but the Chord pecking order has always been obvious whenever I have experimented. As far as direction and Chord is concerned at a Chord dem last year at the Bristol show a cable was turned round to dem the difference of directionality and believe me it was very obvious that the right way round was the only way round. I would suggest getting together with a dealer and let him prove the importance of cables and if you still cannot hear that then you have just saved yourself a bundle of money and you can sit back and enjoy your system without worrying about the upgrades you still have to make which is where I am at the moment. 

Well - to clear this up, I definitely had the cables in the wrong direction, or to be precise - one cable wrong  - and now the resolution, missing brightness etc has returned

But at the same time curious about what's considered "too much" for the lowly uq2. 

I did ask on this forum for thought starters for cables but didn't get a single response (!) yet when I asked for opinion on speaker cable, as im running k20 - it was suggested that with that I'm not getting the best out of the uq2. 

The answer is to audition of course, but for now perhaps my question is whether the cobra vee 3 is considered to be over kill for the uq2. It sounds good to me at the moment. 

Good that you have worked around the problem. On a theoretical level ,putting more budget on cables than boxes is ok with me, although practical considerations will limit choices.

start spending Good money on cables - it's always good practice to buy into a brand and philosophy and keep all your various cables from the same family and level.

Hi Andy,

I agree with Tobyjug totally about keeping to one brand of cables and to your other comments if I had seen your original question i would have answered with my two penny worth but i must have missed it, sorry about that. As to the Cobra cables you are using I think you should look at Chord Cadenzas as a minimum and even perhaps Anthems but any further up the tree would probably be a step too far but only an audition would tell you if it is worth it for you. I would put Cobras as far better than Linn Blacks but not as good as their Silvers but Cadenzas are better than Silvers. Glad you have sorted out the problem, now do some serious listening and then go back to your old cable and then you will tell any improvements. I have always maintained than going back shows up more than going forward if that makes sense. Hope this helps.

Wow you do think a cadenza is overkill?

I've got a Chord Anthem reference on my tuner which is brilliant, the TQ Black is better though

I've tried a few cables with my RP3, UQ2 and NAP100 including the chord cobra 3. I just couldnt get on with the cobra. I now use the older Chord Chrysalis throughout, i seem to get the best balance using these. Everything seemed to fall into place and sound just right.

Yeah I'm wondering again. I mean now I've got the cobra correctly orientated I got some sparkle back - but it's not enough. I think I need to sell on, and hopefully audition more cables. 

The Chrysalis come up for sale every now and again for reasonable money, could be worth a try! the Cobra only lasted 48 hours in my system before I went back to the Chrysalis, although very detailed, it seemed to sound lazy compared to the chrysalis, also the whole sound-stage closed up slightly, it lost some space and depth.

I've actually gone back to the budget patch rca I started with! 

I would second the Chrysalis or (meanwhile) a Flashback

My two Cobra's sound a bit lazy at least the mk3 does, the earlier one (no mk?) a bit faster

Guess thats what people mostly want these days, laid back performance with unrealistic soundstage

Discontinuing Chrysalis was no good and they fetch good s/h prices

Lazy might be a good description actually. One things for sure, last night I had a dinner party so I fell back on Spotify for music, and it was a stark reminder of how sparkling my system should sound. The cobra has to go. 

I think I would give one of the flashback cables a try. I nearly went for one of them before I managed to get hold of another chrysalis. there sensibly priced too. you could always sell on if it didn't work out.