phantomtofu
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2025
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Optional Context:
I'm relatively new to hifi, and for the last year and a half I've been rocking a Wiim Amp with a pair of Starke V62 speakers (they were on clearance when I was looking to upgrade from a damaged soundbar). My very non-scientific take of the setup is that I got a great deal on decent affordable speakers, and they're held back a little by the amp. The V62s are practical for my household, as they have metal grilles that protect against our energetic cat (the source of the soundbar's damage).
This weekend I went to a few places to hear nicer systems - I wanted to get an idea of what I like to research future upgrades. I went to RBH and heard their SVTR/AX (and others). Very impressive in many ways, but not necessarily more enjoyable than my current setup. Took my wife to Best Buy to hear the KEF Blade 1 Meta and it was the first time she ever enjoyed listening to Pink Floyd. At a local dealer we listened to some Wilsons, Dynaudio, and B&W. Surprisingly, my wife was more into them than I was, and suggested the Wilsons aren't as visually ugly after hearing them.
(skip to here if impatient)
The dealer started to talk about cables, pointing at some complex monstrosities behind the higher-end systems. I reply that I'm skeptical of the difference in cables, and they offered to let me borrow their entry-level "good" cables. They're These 10 AWG cables from Transparent, and my existing cables are Crutchfield's standard 14 AWG cables. I gave it a shot.
As I've lurked this site (and others) for a while, I'm somewhat familiar with the pitfalls of A/B testing an "upgrade" component subjectively. I played 5 songs, alternating which cables were used first. I couldn't identify any significant difference. But my wife who has more sensitive hearing and was in the room (way off-axis, playing PC games and unaware of which cables were used at a given time) commented a few times and consistently preferred the Transparent cables.
The last song I played was one that for some reason has caused a scratchy/resonant sound from one of my speakers. The "what if you do-ooh" at 4:03 in Running Away From You by Sara K. No other song/content causes this. I swapped back and forth several times - the offending sound was gone with the Transparent cables, and persisted with the Crutchfields (swapped channels, too). I'm at a loss how this is the case. Any ideas?
I'm relatively new to hifi, and for the last year and a half I've been rocking a Wiim Amp with a pair of Starke V62 speakers (they were on clearance when I was looking to upgrade from a damaged soundbar). My very non-scientific take of the setup is that I got a great deal on decent affordable speakers, and they're held back a little by the amp. The V62s are practical for my household, as they have metal grilles that protect against our energetic cat (the source of the soundbar's damage).
This weekend I went to a few places to hear nicer systems - I wanted to get an idea of what I like to research future upgrades. I went to RBH and heard their SVTR/AX (and others). Very impressive in many ways, but not necessarily more enjoyable than my current setup. Took my wife to Best Buy to hear the KEF Blade 1 Meta and it was the first time she ever enjoyed listening to Pink Floyd. At a local dealer we listened to some Wilsons, Dynaudio, and B&W. Surprisingly, my wife was more into them than I was, and suggested the Wilsons aren't as visually ugly after hearing them.
(skip to here if impatient)
The dealer started to talk about cables, pointing at some complex monstrosities behind the higher-end systems. I reply that I'm skeptical of the difference in cables, and they offered to let me borrow their entry-level "good" cables. They're These 10 AWG cables from Transparent, and my existing cables are Crutchfield's standard 14 AWG cables. I gave it a shot.
As I've lurked this site (and others) for a while, I'm somewhat familiar with the pitfalls of A/B testing an "upgrade" component subjectively. I played 5 songs, alternating which cables were used first. I couldn't identify any significant difference. But my wife who has more sensitive hearing and was in the room (way off-axis, playing PC games and unaware of which cables were used at a given time) commented a few times and consistently preferred the Transparent cables.
The last song I played was one that for some reason has caused a scratchy/resonant sound from one of my speakers. The "what if you do-ooh" at 4:03 in Running Away From You by Sara K. No other song/content causes this. I swapped back and forth several times - the offending sound was gone with the Transparent cables, and persisted with the Crutchfields (swapped channels, too). I'm at a loss how this is the case. Any ideas?
