TQ Black diamond interconnect din

Nope, but I have been a great fan of TQ Black Diamond DIN for close to 2 years now. 

Compared it to HiLine twice - and HiLine always went back. 

Just go for it - it is a fantastic piece of wire. 

To better it you'd have to move to a SuperLumima territory. 

The wires may be better, but spending ever more on them while the system sits on a ropey old rack is not a sensible way to go. Come to think of it, dedicRed mains will do more for a lot less. You should get the fundamentals right before icing the cake further. 

Adam Zielinski posted:

Nope, but I have been a great fan of TQ Black Diamond DIN for close to 2 years now. 

Compared it to HiLine twice - and HiLine always went back. 

Just go for it - it is a fantastic piece of wire. 

To better it you'd have to move to a SuperLumima territory. 

Maybe I ought to have a home dem of the SuperLumima , although the only time I have had opportunity to hear SL was at the Bristol show earlier in the year,  and I was somewhat underwhelmed but maybe I was expecting to much.....that said, the room acoustics at Bristol were not ideal and so may have had an effect. Having just contributed to the retirement fund of an estate agent and solicitors I was looking for a more cost effective upgrade , the SL route is more new box territory ...

Hungryhalibut posted:

The wires may be better, but spending ever more on them while the system sits on a ropey old rack is not a sensible way to go. Come to think of it, dedicRed mains will do more for a lot less. You should get the fundamentals right before icing the cake further. 

dedicated mains has already been organised ( thanks to my superb son in law...he was personally hand picked by me  

I do like to have my cake and eat it, although these days it has to be glutten free 

wenger2015 posted:

Maybe I ought to have a home dem of the SuperLumima , although the only time I have had opportunity to hear SL was at the Bristol show earlier in the year,  and I was somewhat underwhelmed but maybe I was expecting to much.....

Don't test it unless you are really prepared to buy it.
It is a seriously good cable. I had a completely new one from my dealer on loan, put in in place of an old Hi-Line. Within 5 seconds of hearing the SuperLumina I knew it's never going back...

So I ended up wiht TQ Black Diamond in one system and a SuperLumina in the other one.... ouch...

Adam Zielinski posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Maybe I ought to have a home dem of the SuperLumima , although the only time I have had opportunity to hear SL was at the Bristol show earlier in the year,  and I was somewhat underwhelmed but maybe I was expecting to much.....

Don't test it unless you are really prepared to buy it.
It is a seriously good cable. I had a completely new one from my dealer on loan, put in in place of an old Hi-Line. Within 5 seconds of hearing the SuperLumina I knew it's never going back...

So I ended up wiht TQ Black Diamond in one system and a SuperLumina in the other one.... ouch...

 

Adam, I will certainly heed the warning,  although I've always liked to live dangerously 

Ahhh I do love what the TQ black diamond does! It just sounds so right.

Hungryhalibut posted:

The wires may be better, but spending ever more on them while the system sits on a ropey old rack is not a sensible way to go. Come to think of it, dedicRed mains will do more for a lot less. You should get the fundamentals right before icing the cake further. 

I would make sure the cables are decent before even considering racks. Cables have much bigger impact in my experience. I have no experience on dedicated mains so no comment there, though power cables and power distributors do have clear impact on sound quality. 

I use TQ Black DIN-DIN between my Naim DAC and SN2 and it truly is a great interconnect. I come from ARSound Lunar, which I thought was one of the best but that was before auditioning TQ Black. TQ blew the Lunar away in every aspect. It opened the sound with deeper insight to the music. The usual cliche of "more of everything" but that's how it goes. Would love to hear Black Diamond but the price for a new one is just too steep. You rarely find them used and there must be a reason to that. 

Patu posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

The wires may be better, but spending ever more on them while the system sits on a ropey old rack is not a sensible way to go. Come to think of it, dedicRed mains will do more for a lot less. You should get the fundamentals right before icing the cake further. 

I would make sure the cables are decent before even considering racks. Cables have much bigger impact in my experience. I have no experience on dedicated mains so no comment there, though power cables and power distributors do have clear impact on sound quality. 

I use TQ Black DIN-DIN between my Naim DAC and SN2 and it truly is a great interconnect. I come from ARSound Lunar, which I thought was one of the best but that was before auditioning TQ Black. TQ blew the Lunar away in every aspect. It opened the sound with deeper insight to the music. The usual cliche of "more of everything" but that's how it goes. Would love to hear Black Diamond but the price for a new one is just too steep. You rarely find them used and there must be a reason to that. 

I don't disagree with you, for me the jury is still out when it comes to the impact a rack would make, although many experienced members of the forum are quite adamant the effect is considerable...and im sure they could well be right, unfortunately it's not the sort of thing you can easily demo.

As for the TQ black diamond I can't help but be impressed, an exceptional cable in every way ...

Does anybody know whether a Silver Diamond Din - Din will come along ?

sbilotta posted:

Does anybody know whether a Silver Diamond Din - Din will come along ?

That would be intersting... Most likely competing directly with SuperLumina though....

You can email TQ and Geoff will let you know. But I think it would be unlikely. Unless enough Naim owners put pressure on him! 

Pity...

Adam Zielinski posted:

sbilotta posted:

Does anybody know whether a Silver Diamond Din - Din will come along ?

That would be intersting... Most likely competing directly with SuperLumina though....

Adam, That suggests quite strongly that SL is better then TQ Black diamond?  Having both your in a good position to compare.. 

and you are correct; Geoff says that the market is just too small to justify the resources to develop  a Silver Diamond DIN

Anybody tried Silver Diamond speaker cables with Naim ?

wenger2015 posted:

Adam, That suggests quite strongly that SL is better then TQ Black diamond?  Having both your in a good position to compare.. 

Indeed.

To my ears TQ Black Diamond's closest rival is Naim's own Hi-Line.  They are also priced similarly.
The differences in presentation are very subtle. They are very open and neutral-sounding cables.
I felt though as if Hi-Line was compressing the high frequencies, where the harmonics of instruments reside (so form 2.5 KH to 5 kHz) in a manner I could not live with.

SuperLumina is different - it's just 'not there' any longer. A very transparent presentation - moving from Hi-Line to SuperLumina felt as if a veil was lifted (comparison was done on NDS into 252).  Gone was the compression I described above, and more importantly lower end also opened up in a more natural, controlled manner.

Adam Zielinski posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Adam, That suggests quite strongly that SL is better then TQ Black diamond?  Having both your in a good position to compare.. 

Indeed.

To my ears TQ Black Diamond's closest rival is Naim's own Hi-Line.  They are also priced similarly.
The differences in presentation are very subtle. They are very open and neutral-sounding cables.
I felt though as if Hi-Line was compressing the high frequencies, where the harmonics of instruments reside (so form 2.5 KH to 5 kHz) in a manner I could not live with.

SuperLumina is different - it's just 'not there' any longer. A very transparent presentation - moving from Hi-Line to SuperLumina felt as if a veil was lifted (comparison was done on NDS into 252).  Gone was the compression I described above, and more importantly lower end also opened up in a more natural, controlled manner.

A Very useful insight Adam, and in view of your firsthand experience, I think it best if I  demo both cables.... happy days!!!

I've just moved from HiLine to Black Diamond interconnect, eventually fed up with the endless cable dressing the HiLine requires and by its autodestructive airplug. It's one thing for the rings to separate merely from the weight of the cable, but when the silver and black section of the airplug fell apart with absolutely no human intervention, leaving little bare wires to hold the cable's weight, I realised this was the one Naim product I've bought in 35 years that pisses me off. My Black Diamond isn't run in yet – the upper frequency refinement and detail were evidently superior from the start, but it has yet to produce the bass to equal the HiLine. I await developments! 

It takes a hell of a long time for the Black Diamonds to burn in!! But when it does....heaven!!

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a used one half price. The guy selling it needed the money quick as he'd walked into his dealers and walked out with.......a superlumina. 

SuperLimina is quite special - to quote from Master Joda 'Afraid you will, yes!'

Has anyone been mad enough to try the Black Diamond USB cable? My streamer is now envying my DAC's interconnect...

Wilko posted:

Has anyone been mad enough to try the Black Diamond USB cable? My streamer is now envying my DAC's interconnect...

There is a limit to my madness. Although my domestic CEO thinks differently especially now that she has heard the second 555PS is coming...

I'd like to hear it up against the similarly priced TQ silver diamonds though. I think that would be a fairer comparison than the, half the cost, black diamond. I know din is better and it's the best TQ do so that's where I'll be sticking for a long time. 

[@mention:1566878604005881] if [@mention:46901102204501295] is about he may have. He's a big fan of the Black diamonds!! 

Adam Zielinski posted:

SuperLimina is quite special - to quote from Master Joda 'Afraid you will, yes!'

Eh? Yoda would not say that. He may say 'afraid, you will be' though.