Read the instructions, you pillock!
Posted by: hungryhalibut on 28 January 2016
When I bought my SL speaker leads, they were exdem and came without any instructions. After a while I found that the sound was a lot better once I had run the spare wire in a straight line away from the speakers and then back again, rather than looping it under the rack.
When I bought my SL din to XLR it was on approval, and came in a Jiffy bag, again with no instructions. Now, while this cable gave a significant improvement, it was sitting on the floor, as my rack is low. Knowing that the hiline likes to dangle, I suspected the same would apply to the decoupled din to XLR. So I ordered some longer legs for my rack - just sufficient to let the interconnect dangle free.
At the same time, earlier today, I picked up the proper packaging for the cable. When I opened it to prove to Hilary that it really was an empty box and not another expensive wire, I found the instructions.
It says two things: don't coil your speaker cables, and let your interconnects dangle, as well as a couple of other tips. Anyway, it's all plugged back in and the difference is surprising, the music seems to swing and flow more and the sound is even more engaging than before. It just sounds wonderful.
I sometimes point out to others that reading the manual is a good idea, and I've now had a taste of my own medicine, with great results. I'm jolly glad I did: it's great to get a free improvement of such significance, and all for the price of two sets of longer legs.
Happy days.