AudioQuest CV-4, Part 9

Posted by Luminator (A) on October 31, 2020 at 17:03:40

In 1996, my girlfriend ACS and I bought a Thiel CS.5, which took home the "prize" for worst connector placement. The binding post was arrayed horizontally, along the floor. However Thiel plugged the hole which normally would have accepted bananas. Thus, you had to use spades, and bend the cable's leads.

ACS observed a friend julienning vegetables. ACS then suggested that we send back our biwire AudioQuest Indigo, to re-terminate them into a shotgun stereo pair, with spades at the speaker end.

We also tried spade-equipped Kimber 4TC, MIT Terminator T2, Wireworld Atlantis, and XLO Ultra 6. Sigh, each sounded different. We'd have friends and family over, and without changing anything else, would swap speaker cables. Our guests could not agree on which model sounded "best."

We no longer have the Thiel CS.5, AQ Indigo, Kimber 4TC, MIT Terminator T2, and Wireworld Atlantis. But we do have the more modern AQ CV-4, plus the XLO Ultra 6.

At the time, our friend Steve, who was at UC Davis (not too far from MIT, which were located in the Sierra foothills), boiled down his choice of girlfriends to two. He really liked the sweet Helena, who was from San Francisco, but was attending UC Irvine. She liked to hit the beaches of L.A. and Orange Counties, including San Clemente, where AQ were headquartered. Steve wistfully said, "Every time I'm with her, it's effortless. You don't have to say anything. We have this understanding. There's a complete lack of tension, stress, and strife. We just melt into one. Everything is so easy. I can see spending the rest of my easy life with her."

Sharon was from what, in 1997, became The 626 , the San Gabriel Valley. Like ACS, Sharon [in the photo above, Steve and his brother were sitting on the bench] attended UC Berkeley, and was talkative, forward, and aggressive. Since this was years before 9/11, UC operated an intercampus shuttle. On weekday mornings, it'd leave UC Davis, and go to UC Berkeley. In the late afternoon, the shuttle would return to Davis. Sharon could take the Friday shuttle, to see Steve in Davis.

At the time, we all loved Oleta Adams' cover of Brenda Russell's "We Will Meet Again," that classic tale of hoping to get back together with an ex. Assuming you are using a high-quality system, the XLO Ultra 6 can't resolve low-level details. So you are left with a slick, fast, and solid wall of sound. It has width and height but not the full measure of soundstage depth. Notes start quickly, and decay just a smidge slower than startup. The sound is organized like one of Sharon's presentations. Though the music is glossy and relatively powerful, there are losses in breath, distance between images, and ultimate anchoring.

Steve used to say that, with Sharon, "There was never a dull moment. She was full of energy and verve. She called out my numerous weaknesses. But at times, that could also bring out the best in me." Personality-wise, the XLO Ultra 6 is closer to Sharon.

Keeping the rest of the system constant, but only swapping speaker cables, the AQ CV-4 has a different character. The soundstage is more "spherical." The middle has width and depth, but the soundstage narrows at the top and bottom." Image outlines aren't as sharp. While the CV-4 does resolve more instrumental texture, it is coated in a grayish grain. The music moves just fine, neither slow nor zippy. The CV-4 avoids extremes, gross errors, and dynamite. While Stereotypical Audiophiles complain about a malaise of mediocrity, this is a "friendly" personality. Just as Helena never made Steve feel self-conscious, at the beach or anywhere else, the CV-4 can lead to listening sessions, where everyone dispenses with pretension. People can get into the music, even if they are not as emotionally deep, into "We Will Meet Again."

The AQ CV-4 does not try to do too much, and thus, does not over-extend itself. It does have a nice sense of sonic sanity and balance. Though not as crisp, vervent, tight, see-through, and commanding as you'd like, the CV-4 does make for enjoyable sessions with 2 or 3 of your friends, who are sitting at random spots throughout the room.

-Lummy The Loch Monster

We Will Meet Again (Open in New Window)

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Topic - AudioQuest CV-4, Part 9 - Luminator 17:03:40 10/31/20 (3)

RE: AudioQuest CV-4, Part 9 - fantja 01:05:57 11/10/20 (2)

Common complaint about early-90s Thiels - Luminator 11:14:15 11/10/20 (1)

RE: Common complaint about early-90s Thiels - fantja 23:01:57 11/13/20 (0)

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