Another Tellurium Q question

Amused, they really are terrific cables, you will not be disappointed... 

Ok, first impressions after the first couple of hours in the system: tremendous amount of details, fluid and "buttery" midrange, very tight and controlled bass, and a very high amount of clarity. Instrument separation is staggering, I can clearly pinpoint all the instruments in space as well as different layers (a very good test song for this is "Ain't nobody" by Chaka Khan). The soundstage is huge, however the vocals appear to be somewhat upfront compared to the temporary  Oehlbach cable before. And the most import thing of all: PRaT is back!

A very strange thing happened though. I always play "Us and them" by PF when testing new components or cables. For the first time ever these cables introduced popping and crackling noise during the chorus of a specific 24/96 flac file of the song that I have. This has never happened to me before! It only happens with this particular file. I have another file (same song) in DSD and it plays normally. What might be the reason for that? It sounds like excessive clipping of some sort... I don't have a clue...

Amused posted:

A very strange thing happened though. I always play "Us and them" by PF when testing new components or cables. For the first time ever these cables introduced popping and crackling noise during the chorus of a specific 24/96 flac file of the song that I have. This has never happened to me before! It only happens with this particular file. I have another file (same song) in DSD and it plays normally. What might be the reason for that? It sounds like excessive clipping of some sort... I don't have a clue...

I'd say for them first time ever, the cables are letting you hear just what's on that recording 

Makes sense, but it wasn't there with Chord, Audioquest and Oehlbach speaker cables, nor with my B&W headphones. If this is what the TQ UB cable can do, then I am even more amazed.

Ok, guys, currently listening to Riders on the storm, streaming from Tidal.

Is there a double backing vocal in the song? It sounds as if there is one all the time. What the hell is this???

Ahhh it was always there, they just didn't let you hear it. Keep listening and you'll hear what else they've been keeping from you! 

Amused posted:

Ok, guys, currently listening to Riders on the storm, streaming from Tidal.

Is there a double backing vocal in the song? It sounds as if there is one all the time. What the hell is this???

I swear it's magic!!! 

Amused posted:

Ok, guys, currently listening to Riders on the storm, streaming from Tidal.

Is there a double backing vocal in the song? It sounds as if there is one all the time. 

There is (not via Tidal here but a CD rip)

Finkfan posted:

Ahhh it was always there, they just didn't let you hear it. Keep listening and you'll hear what else they've been keeping from you! 

Yeah, apparently they wanted me to fork out more than 1.5k on speaker and interconnect cables just to hear the backing vocals

james n posted:

Amused posted:

Ok, guys, currently listening to Riders on the storm, streaming from Tidal.

Is there a double backing vocal in the song? It sounds as if there is one all the time. 

There is (not via Tidal here but a CD rip)

I swear I've never heard it before, and I've played the song like a million times in my life (mostly on some crappy equipment in the earlier stages).

Amused posted:

The key upgrades are yet to be installed - the TQ speaker cable first, and then the HCDR.

I think you should add the HiCap DR first and see how you like it. Cables should be the last componend in the system - a proverbial icing on the cake.

Been using TQ Black Diamond DIN-DIN for more than 2 years now (nDAC into SuperNait 2 with HC). 'Unfortunately' a fellow forum member loaned me another cable... which is what I'm using now.... and it's not SL

Yes it's surprising what you don't notice. Enjoy your new kit 

Just remember your cables normally need a little time to burn in...... They will get even better.. 

Adam Zielinski posted:

Amused posted:

The key upgrades are yet to be installed - the TQ speaker cable first, and then the HCDR.

I think you should add the HiCap DR first and see how you like it. Cables should be the last componend in the system - a proverbial icing on the cake.

Been using TQ Black Diamond DIN-DIN for more than 2 years now (nDAC into SuperNait 2 with HC). 'Unfortunately' a fellow forum member loaned me another cable... which is what I'm using now.... and it's not SL

Well, the TQ UB arrived first The HCDR will arrive tomorrow, but I will have to wait a little bit longer for a Snaic4 cable I bought second hand, it should arrive within a week.

Which cable is it? Don't keep us in the dark

Clearer audio? 

Finkfan posted:

Clearer audio? 

Indeed - Silver Line Optimus Reference something something something....

Seems to work well with my SL speaker cables.

I'm still a great fan of TQ interconnects - especially the Black Diamond range.

Amused, the benefits you describe are pretty much the same as the Hicap DR should do. I'm looking forward to your report here!

+ what a nice integrated amp is the SN1. Being alone it communicate the music and all its dynamics very well and by adding a PS and cables you get in serious Hifi territory. I never understood all the criticism it got when released. Maybe expectations of the reviewers were wrong.

Ardbeg10y posted:

Amused, the benefits you describe are pretty much the same as the Hicap DR should do. I'm looking forward to your report here!

Absolutely, I will report as soon as I get the Snaic4 to connect the HCDR.

Regarding the TQ UB, the cable has been playing non stop for the past 30 hours or so. The difference from yesterday is very noticeable, the mild harshness it demonstrated when first connected has almost gone away. As I said before, the ability of this cable to extract details is absolutely staggering! The sound coming out is holographic, it puts you right there with the musicians, as if you are in the front row seat on a live concert. The stereo separation is tremendous. As to the downsides, it lacks a bit of slam and energy, and the bass could be more powerful. But perhaps it's too early to comment on that as the cable needs proper burning in. However, it is extremely open and transparent, it gives a very black background and the clarity it produces is on a whole new level.

 Two upgrades coming next week: HCDR (eagerly anticipated) and a used Powerline. Now that should be interesting. 

Ardbeg10y posted:

+ what a nice integrated amp is the SN1. Being alone it communicate the music and all its dynamics very well and by adding a PS and cables you get in serious Hifi territory. I never understood all the criticism it got when released. Maybe expectations of the reviewers were wrong.

Couldn't agree more. In my system and to my ears it wiped the floor with a Simaudio Moon i3 (a very fine integrated in its own right). And I'm talking bare Supernait with a stock power cable connected to a "dirty" power outlet (shared and polluted by 10 devices).

Since I did some electric works in my room and installed a separate clean outlet with a double Furutech shucko (one for the SN, the other for the HCDR to come), the "grain" and "harshness" have disappeared and the bass exploded. A great cheap upgrade! It all comes down to clean power at the end. 

Ok, the HCDR is here and hooked up.

All I can say is this is biggest upgrade to my system of them all. The clarity produced by the HCDR is outstanding, as well as the dramatically lowered noise floor and the blackest of backgrounds. Absolutely fantastic! Everything that has been said about the SN1-HCDR combo being fantastic is absolutely true! The PRAT thing is phenomenal!

Someone asked me to describe which of the upgrades has a larger impact. The HCDR definitely! The TQ UB cables are just the icing on the cake, as TQ with a bare SN1 is very nice indeed, but TQ UB with a SN+HCDR combo is mind blowing!

So my conclusion is that the HCDR is the better upgrade than the TQ UB speaker and interconnect cables.

Good to hear Amused,that is exactly what I would of thought,box upgrades far outweigh cable upgrades in my experience. 

Yes, apparently it all comes down to clean power. The cables can't transform a good system plagued by dirty power and noise/jitter.

No quarter posted:

Good to hear Amused,that is exactly what I would of thought,box upgrades far outweigh cable upgrades in my experience. 

Depends on the box and the cable? 

wenger2015 posted:

No quarter posted:

Good to hear Amused,that is exactly what I would of thought,box upgrades far outweigh cable upgrades in my experience. 

Depends on the box and the cable? 

And would Amused have realised the upgrade potential of the HCDR without the TQ UB already in place?