MUSIC to my ears !

Bringing things back to more "reasonable and appropriate" conversation who has experience with simple plain Jane Sarum speaker cable (as the Super version does not exist). I know Mark was very impressed with his demo

Frank F posted:

It must be soooo good that you only need to plug one end into the source and the other end in your ear and you have eliminated all the interfering electronics!!

My dealer, the local Naim and Chord distributor tried to get me interested with this game changer but my room would be naked without one Fraim stack and the NBLs. 

We are going on a World tour instead.

FF

I believe there's a world tour being planned that takes in  Southampton Road,  Salisbury, then Waterfoot, Eaglesham, Glasgow, then Millsway Centre, Amesbury, Wiltshire and ends in Gaddesby Lane, Rearsby near Leicester.   This would cover the important world destinations that are of interest right now.   (I acknowledge that others may have differing views, of course, but each to his or her own, eh?)

Chris Dolan posted:

wenger2015 posted:

Very bad news....its available in Poland and Denmark.... 

Although the exchange rate would have improved   so a good time to commit 

Wrong a good time to wait! Over the last few weeks the pound has dropped close to 10 percent, after a period when it was going up, and of course my dr upgrade was paid  too early. So the Music can wait until Brixit has been sorted 2030 or beyond.

Claus

glevethan posted:

Bringing things back to more "reasonable and appropriate" conversation who has experience with simple plain Jane Sarum speaker cable (as the Super version does not exist). I know Mark was very impressed with his demo

Yeah. Dave J brought his round a couple of years ago and I didn't want them to leave. Each track I played, I wanted the whole album.

They set me off on the dark side away from Naim cabling to Chord Sarum throughout, but it was the speaker cables that amazed me the most - wonderfully musical without any forced elements, losing none of the Naim rhythm and drive.

We hope to be moving house soon, and as I measured the Sarum to the centimetre (to cut cost), they might not stretch to new circumstances...at which point Mr. J might be asked round, because at that stage he's bound to have those pesky Music speaker cables.

Frank F posted:

It must be soooo good that you only need to plug one end into the source and the other end in your ear and you have eliminated all the interfering electronics!!

 

I think that's headphones, and plugged into a DAC that incorporates a headphone amp all those amps, speakers, interconnects and speaker cables disappear.

Just  think of the headphanes you could afford to buy ....though of course not very much left for them after allowing for the Music headphone cable.

rjstaines posted:

I just passed the 200 hour ‘burn in’ period with my Chord Music din-din, connecting my NDS to my 552.

I started a few years back with a Hi-Line then moved to a Super Lumia last year bringing, as you’d expect, a big improvement in overall sound quality.

But then, early this year, I tried out a Chord Sarum Super Array and kept it.  The sound stage opened wide (we’re not talking Grand Canyon wide,  just wider than I’d heard before).  And the detail that came through was even greater than I’d heard with the S/L, and that’s saying something.

And then, a few weeks ago I swapped the Sarum SA for a brand new Chord Music cable, courtesy of those nice chaps who play cymbols near Leicester (I trust that’s not advertising, Richard?).

I’m not prone to using phrases like ‘blown away’ to describe bits of copper wire, but, gosh, right out of the box these Music wires sounded good.  And having racked up 200+ continuous hours, last night I sat down to listen seriously.  I was blown away !

There is just more of everything.  Not a very useful description I agree, but that’s what there is.  There is a wider still sound stage (still not GC), there is more mid-range and bass in spades.  I’m hearing backing tracks I’ve never noticed before… it really is amazing.

So if anyone is contemplating spending the equivalent of a SuperUniti or an XPS on an interconnect, and is doubting their own sanity at such a purchase… doubt no more.  This Music cable is worth every penny of its £3,500 price tag, no matter what your disposable income level may be.

Roger

I am glad its £3,500.00, so its out of my reach might as well be £35,000.00.  Don't have to worry, or have frustrating HiFi lusts!

I am in Romi's corner, this cable KABBALAH is way beyond me. I still remember very clearly a conversation I had in 2000 with the owner of the Naim dealership in Chicago which was a convincing selling point beyond the superior sound of their gear. As a professional sound engineer teaching it in college and doing the vast majority of the NAIM label's recordings he was very proud of the fact that the standard cables (speakers, interconnect and power) supplied with the Naim gear were of an optimal design and superior to all other exotic wires.  Amazing how perceptions change.

Haim- With all due respect, that was in 2000. I know the dealer you mention and would agree that he is a no nonsense kind of guy with excellent credentials and fantastic ears, also a really nice guy . However, things change. The Chord cables are not snake oil, they sound better imo. The real question is if they are "worth" the high prices- that is another conversation altogether..

ATB,

Mark

rjstaines posted:

wenger2015 posted:

I'm seriously jealous.... Probably best if I don't audition.....but to all those that have taken the plunge..... Congratulations,  it seems in this case you get what you pay for..

My rule too, Wenger....  if my credit card can't aford it, I prefer not to audition it.    In fact I'm entering a period of a self-imposed 10 mile exclusion zone around my local dealer in Chester;   thing is, though, I live about 120 miles from Leicester so that's outside the exclusion zone   

Just been rechecking your profile,  you have a superb system,  I can well imagine the Chord music cables are the icing on the cake.....you have obviously had a visit or 3 to Leicester 

varyat posted:

Haim- With all due respect, that was in 2000. I know the dealer you mention and would agree that he is a no nonsense kind of guy with excellent credentials and fantastic ears, also a really nice guy . However, things change. The Chord cables are not snake oil, they sound better imo. The real question is if they are "worth" the high prices- that is another conversation altogether..

ATB,

Mark

Fair Question that the OP can easily answer.

@ Roger, is this space age Taylon technology, equivalent to an Black Box upgrade?

Allante93!

varyat posted:

Haim- With all due respect, that was in 2000. I know the dealer you mention and would agree that he is a no nonsense kind of guy with excellent credentials and fantastic ears, also a really nice guy . However, things change. The Chord cables are not snake oil, they sound better imo. The real question is if they are "worth" the high prices- that is another conversation altogether..

ATB,

Mark

I agree with Mark's analysis. I have also had experience with LONG time Naim dealers who say the same. I think certain people/dealers tend to live in the past and continue to tread the path which has worked for them many moons ago. They stagnate and do not keep up with current developments and innovations - and frequently toe the party  line (sheep?) and do not remain open to what other companies are doing. 

Allante93 posted:

varyat posted:

Haim- With all due respect, that was in 2000. I know the dealer you mention and would agree that he is a no nonsense kind of guy with excellent credentials and fantastic ears, also a really nice guy . However, things change. The Chord cables are not snake oil, they sound better imo. The real question is if they are "worth" the high prices- that is another conversation altogether..

ATB,

Mark

Fair Question that the OP can easily answer.

@ Roger, is this space age Taylon technology, equivalent to an Black Box upgrade?

Allante93!

As you say Alante, fair question !   But a difficult one to answer because everyone will have their own idea about what is gained from a box upgrade...

However, allow me to say this:

I remember vividly the day I swapped my NAC252 for a NAC552 - it was a jaw dropping moment in time when I played the first track on the 552.

I shall remember too this weekend, the day I sat down to listen to my Music interconnect... this too was a jaw dropping experience from the first track.  And it hasn't stopped... I'm working my way through thousands of tracks, just listening to things I hadn't noticed before.

So, although I never thought I'd find myself saying this,  my answer to your question would be a definate 'yes'.    Scary what a bit of plastic and copper wire can do isn't it?

Roger

I'm still staggered by the improvement you get by changing a Powerline for a Chord Sarum Super ARAY power cable - and trying to change back was painful. Please don't tell me there is a ChordMusic power cable too. 

varyat posted:

Haim- With all due respect, that was in 2000. I know the dealer you mention and would agree that he is a no nonsense kind of guy with excellent credentials and fantastic ears, also a really nice guy . However, things change. The Chord cables are not snake oil, they sound better imo. The real question is if they are "worth" the high prices- that is another conversation altogether..

ATB,

Mark

You are right, Mark. It is 2016 and now Naim has joined the crowd in offering fancy cables and wires a la carte. Ken used to bring his sound engineering night class to the store, playing a large variety of recordings, including his own master-tapes, through different set-ups. I wish I could have attended one of his classes. I graduated from the same college where he was teaching but I majored in photography. This is probably why I am listening to my music through a Nait 3 and not a 500 amp.

Regards,

Haim

Chris Dolan posted:

I'm still staggered by the improvement you get by changing a Powerline for a Chord Sarum Super ARAY power cable - and trying to change back was painful. Please don't tell me there is a ChordMusic power cable too. 

I believe there is an advanced prototype somewhere.....

Gary Shaw posted:

glevethan posted:

Bringing things back to more "reasonable and appropriate" conversation who has experience with simple plain Jane Sarum speaker cable (as the Super version does not exist). I know Mark was very impressed with his demo

Yeah. Dave J brought his round a couple of years ago and I didn't want them to leave. Each track I played, I wanted the whole album.

They set me off on the dark side away from Naim cabling to Chord Sarum throughout, but it was the speaker cables that amazed me the most - wonderfully musical without any forced elements, losing none of the Naim rhythm and drive.

We hope to be moving house soon, and as I measured the Sarum to the centimetre (to cut cost), they might not stretch to new circumstances...at which point Mr. J might be asked round, because at that stage he's bound to have those pesky Music speaker cables.

Ah yes, I remember it well. I still have the scars on my knuckles from trying to get to the back of the 500 to plug them in....

I remember too when we first heard them, it was a staggering demonstration. Everything played was wonderful and I lusted after the damned things.  Mine are 3.6 meters (again, to the last cm, you don't want to be paying for more than you need) and it now looks very likely that there will be a pair of Musics of exactly the same length making their way over soon. 

Gary Shaw posted:

glevethan posted:

Bringing things back to more "reasonable and appropriate" conversation who has experience with simple plain Jane Sarum speaker cable (as the Super version does not exist). I know Mark was very impressed with his demo

Yeah. Dave J brought his round a couple of years ago and I didn't want them to leave. Each track I played, I wanted the whole album.

They set me off on the dark side away from Naim cabling to Chord Sarum throughout, but it was the speaker cables that amazed me the most - wonderfully musical without any forced elements, losing none of the Naim rhythm and drive.

We hope to be moving house soon, and as I measured the Sarum to the centimetre (to cut cost), they might not stretch to new circumstances...at which point Mr. J might be asked round, because at that stage he's bound to have those pesky Music speaker cables.

"But it was the Speaker cable that amazed me the most"

Gary, which series, etc...

Allante93!

Standard Sarum  - there are no funky versions of the speaker cable. Though it wouldn't surprise me if they developed some

Gary Shaw posted:

Standard Sarum  - there are no funky versions of the speaker cable. Though it wouldn't surprise me if they developed some

According to Dave J above it is already developed- its called MUSIC!

Dave - please report on your Music speaker cableadventures

Gary Shaw posted:

Standard Sarum  - there are no funky versions of the speaker cable. Though it wouldn't surprise me if they developed some

Just Google it, should have known:

Length speaker cable :

single metre

1.5 metre pair (+£1100.00)

2 metre pair (+£1650.00)

3 metre pair (+£2750.00)

4 metre pair (+£3850.00)

5 metre pair (+£4950.00)

Base Price £550.00

Images look well put together, kinda SL looking.

 Just goes to show, not always, but usually there is a relationship between price and quality!

Allante93!

glevethan posted:

Gary Shaw posted:

Standard Sarum  - there are no funky versions of the speaker cable. Though it wouldn't surprise me if they developed some

According to Dave J above it is already developed- its called MUSIC!

Dave - please report on your Music speaker cableadventures

I would also be interested on any reports on the Music speaker cable , as its that new [and only some Chord dealers are Music agents]  they may not have any demo stock yet.

Are those prices for standard Sarum speaker cable?  

I have written about my cable experiences before but can't help myself redo it when I saw this thread...

I'm a die hard Naimiac and not really interested in other brands but needed to look elsewhere to maximise the sound without going Statement. Well, I won't say never ever but for now...

Sarum (especially PL and DIN-XLR) won The Big Cable Shoot Down a couple of years ago, Sarum Super was an evolution from Tuned Array, but not more. What striked me quite recently is how different the different Sarum cables sound. IC and Speaker cable do have quite different voicing. And the same could be said between DIN-XLR and Sarum Ethernet cable. 

MUSIC knocked me first time I heard it. It was so much better and above Sarum that it was laughable. I'm now using MUSIC IC, XLR-DIN and Speaker cable in my Melco, NDS, 500, Kudos Titan 808 system. 

The qualitys are all there but "the-presence-in-room" now added is what I have aimed for the last 25 years, together with the classic PRAT. I couldn't be more pleased and no matter what MUSIC cable you would choose, they add exactly the same qualities, and adding more of them just gives more of it, building on each other. 

The 52 was a game changer a long time ago. CDS also. 552 without a doubt. Maybe Fraim would be in that category for different reasons? DBL for sure. Chord MUSIC? Definitely! It changes what can ultimately be achieved and how/in what order to upgrade.

//Jonas

Jonas Olofsson posted:

I have written about my cable experiences before but can't help myself redo it when I saw this thread...

I'm a die hard Naimiac and not really interested in other brands but needed to look elsewhere to maximise the sound without going Statement. Well, I won't say never ever but for now...

Sarum (especially PL and DIN-XLR) won The Big Cable Shoot Down a couple of years ago, Sarum Super was an evolution from Tuned Array, but not more. What striked me quite recently is how different the different Sarum cables sound. IC and Speaker cable do have quite different voicing. And the same could be said between DIN-XLR and Sarum Ethernet cable. 

MUSIC knocked me first time I heard it. It was so much better and above Sarum that it was laughable. I'm now using MUSIC IC, XLR-DIN and Speaker cable in my Melco, NDS, 500, Kudos Titan 808 system. 

The qualitys are all there but "the-presence-in-room" now added is what I have aimed for the last 25 years, together with the classic PRAT. I couldn't be more pleased and no matter what MUSIC cable you would choose, they add exactly the same qualities, and adding more of them just gives more of it, building on each other. 

The 52 was a game changer a long time ago. CDS also. 552 without a doubt. Maybe Fraim would be in that category for different reasons? DBL for sure. Chord MUSIC? Definitely! It changes what can ultimately be achieved and how/in what order to upgrade.

//Jonas

 

 

JONAS, PLEASE CLEARIFY!

Speaker Cable:

Chord Signiture

Chord Sarum

Chord Music

Is there now Chord Music Speaker Cable?????

Allanate93! 

Never mind, just Googled it, Thanks anyhow! 

http://www.chord.co.uk/product...er-cable/chordmusic/