Witch hat cables

Aceone posted:

Thanks for your replys I think iam going to give them a try 

Same here, in fact I ordered a set of Phantom cables (3.5 m) last night. Always a bit of a gamble when you can't audition before buying but they have received consistently good reviews and the price is very reasonable. I recently went from Audiovector Zero Compression Avantgarde cables to NACA5 (posted in this thread: https://forums.naimaudio.com/t...ature-speaker-cables) and while on balance I prefer NACA5 in terms of musical enjoyment I do think there's improvement to be had. Hopefully, the Phantom cables will accomplish that.

Keep us posted on how you get on with them.

Will do.

JimDog posted:

I realize that low end cables sound worse than high end cables. And that all cables will have different effects on the signals passing through them. But I wonder whether many people outside the factory have compared high end cables in a true blind test. That would involve the person being tested not knowing which cable is in to start with and also not witnessing the switchover process or speaking to the person switching the cables over before doing the test. Otherwise there is enormous pressure of 1. social conformity 2. expectation bias 3. cognitive dissonance 4. experimenter effect.

A blind trial is very difficult to achieve for long enough to get past different and a doubleblind even more so, listener fatigue will also set in very early if you manage to actually set one up. Swapping the blinding for a decent ammount of time (weeks) followed by a revertion to the original usually gives a pretty good idea. The time allows for acclimatisation to any differences that my sound impressive but prove irrelevant to enjoying the music in the long run. The reversion can come as a relief or "how did I ever put up with this" and if neither than you can probably save your money.

Yes, that makes perfect sense. If one can arrange to borrow/trial kit in that way.

thanks

Jim

Huge - I have a Cat 5 bog standard 2m ethernet cable running (quite tightly) from my Plusnet router into my 272. Should I change it to a cat 6 or something else? Your test is very suprising and a fascinating result. What do you think made the difference to ick that one (cheapest) cable out? Is it better shielded from interference? Does it have a greater cross-section (presumably not)? Or is it a mystery? I guess we can rule that the idea that actually all 4 cables were equal in terms of audible SQ but your expecation was greater for the other 3 cables, so the obviously worst cable vastly exceeded your much lower expecation because it was not worse at all?

PSAN or ACE - any news to share?

JimDog posted:

PSAN or ACE - any news to share?

Not yet. Cables are delayed until end Oct/early Nov (as WitchHat are awaiting a new cable reel from their supplier). Once I've received them and listened for a bit I'll provide some initial feedback.

Also patiently waiting for Phantom cables (8m), to hear with PMC Twenty5 26. Just hope WichHat’s next reel of cable meets quality assurance standards.

I'm also waiting for the Phantom cable order placed 6-7 weeks ago and told end of this month.

Do report back about the Phantom when the time comes.

My A5 is a bit shabby and is obviously a PITA to fiddle with. So I might be tempted to try Phantom at some point. But if it loses any mid-to-lower-mid body or accentuates anything higher up the frequency spectrum, it wouldn’t be worth bothering.

presumably there is a lot of opinion out there already on various forums about how each cable sounds...

but would be especially useful to hear from those with Naim systems too...

I'll report back, currently using NACA5 that's been with me for 20+ years so it will be interesting to see what the Phantom brings.

Witch Hat are also supplying specially made Phantom link leads to replace the Proac Tab 10 binding post links.

Changed my A5 for phantom. Much better presentation. Not as harsh as a5. Fuller sound easier to manipulate.  Also changed din to xlrs on 300. Brilliant. 

Buy with confidence

Today my Phantom speaker cables arrived, from the first note they have trounced my 20 year old NACA5 in every direction!!!

More to come on this later from one happy chappy 

Mine were shipped today. But I thought they ar black, not (baby)blue? 

In normal light they appear to be grey probably the flash has altered the colour somehow

Thanks hifiman, grey would be ok

I've just ordered a run of Phantom as a hopeful replacement for my 14 year old Chord Epic, plus a BNC-DIN interconnect in place of a Shawline on a Rega Aria Phono Stage. I'm hoping for great things, not sure how this greatness will manifest itself but I'm on tenterhooks.

Eagerly awaiting my set of Phantom cables - should ship any day now.

You are all in for a treat and it's well worth the wait.

I placed my order for 8m Phantom cables, at the beginning of October. Mine arrived yesterday, due to the quality assurance problem with previous Phantom cable reel, if that helps anyone on timescales to delivery. Obviously, when back log has cleared, delivery times will return to normal.

Man with no Naim posted:

I placed my order for 8m Phantom cables, at the beginning of October. Mine arrived yesterday, due to the quality assurance problem with previous Phantom cable reel, if that helps anyone on timescales to delivery. Obviously, when back log has cleared, delivery times will return to normal.

That's strange, I placed my order on 23rd Sept and still haven't received mine. Off to write to WitchHat now ...

I found chord speaker cables to be a good performer and are well constructed (i've tried several up to their signature range) however they are heavy on the bass and could occasionally sound a little dark.  They are also expensive depending on which model you choose.  I eventually opted for the Naim Nac A5 and have not looked back.  In my experience I found it to produce the most clean and crisp 'Naim' sound, it has a certain snap and finesse, the type that makes you sit up in your chair when listening.  Naim have spent many years and invested a lot of knowledge in designing this cable to work with their systems, it seems a simple choice to make to follow their recommendations. 

Lewis posted:

I found chord speaker cables to be a good performer and are well constructed (i've tried several up to their signature range) however they are heavy on the bass and could occasionally sound a little dark.  They are also expensive depending on which model you choose.  I eventually opted for the Naim Nac A5 and have not looked back.  In my experience I found it to produce the most clean and crisp 'Naim' sound, it has a certain snap and finesse, the type that makes you sit up in your chair when listening.  Naim have spent many years and invested a lot of knowledge in designing this cable to work with their systems, it seems a simple choice to make to follow their recommendations. 

I've have used NACA5 for the past 20 years with various Naim setups but the Phantom speaker cable is on another level. Witch Hat do a sale return why not try the Phantom for yourself.

I’m not saying it’s not better, but you have only had them a day or two. The only way to really know if it’s genuinely better is after a few months. I thought a different cable was better once, and after a few months found I was listening to far less music. I put the A5 back and enjoyment was restored. I’m a little wary when people say something is better in every way, as it’s just an easy get out.