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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Months ago, a new-to-me audiophile, whom I'll call Duane (not his real name), was following my review series, over on General Asylum, of the Simaudio Evolution 820S ($8000) outboard power supply. One of my own audio acquaintances has the 610LP ($7500) phonostage. This guy relayed his experiences of adding an 820S to his 610LP.
Duane possessed the more modest, but still kind of expensive Simaudio 310LP ($1900) phonostage. The 610LP was out of the question, but my review of the 820S inspired him to find a used 320S phonostage. The 320S was discontinued in 2016, and we think its retail price was $1400. The first thing Duane said was that, having seen my Simaudio gear in silver, and having picked up the used 320S in silver, he regrets that his 310LP has a black faceplate. While I have seen multiple 310LP units, I've not actually used one.
Duane then said that he had to open the 310LP, and move two jumpers. This allows the 310LP to be powered by the 320S. Lo and behold, the connection between 310LP and 320S is a 4-pin XLR cable. Duane had seen my coverage of 4-pin XLR cables right here on Cable Asylum. That's how he decided to reach out to me.
Via USPS, Duane's OEM 4-pin XLR cable took 8 long days, to go from Ohio to the Bay Area. During this time, Duane was not able to use the 320S, so he went back to the 310LP using line AC. He said that, sonically, this was disappointing. There were no other changes; he merely went back to the 310LP using AC (via a Shunyata powercord which would otherwise have gone on the 320S). "You lose a bit of everything," he wrote.
His OEM Simaudio 4-pin XLR cable went on my audiodharma Cable Cooker for 4 days. The return to Ohio took 6 calendar days.
My friend with the 610LP says that it is a model of accuracy. But when he adds an 820S, and Cooks the 4-pin XLR cable, the 610LP becomes even more quiet, self-effacing, dynamic, effortless, and flat-out (sonically) invisible. He says you become unflinchingly confident, when you switch cartridges, arms, turntables, and phono cables. You hear more precisely, what each gain and resistance setting does.
Duane said that, with his 4-pin XLR cable Cooked and in place for a couple weeks (the 310LP/320S should stay powered-up all the time), he observes similar changes. With less grain and tension, the 310LP/320S become more accurate, focused, and stable.
Individually, we are kind of disappointed, that 4-pin XLR cables do sound or perform differently. We were hoping that they'd all sound the same, so that we could just go with the cheapest one, and be done with them. That said, the usual audiophile cable manufacturers do not seem to have caught on to the 4-pin XLR, so for now, this product type is not pricey.
-Lummy The Loch Monster
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Topic - Follow-up on 4-pin XLR cables - Luminator 17:18:20 09/21/20 (0)
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