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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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Adding an 820S outboard power supply allows an existing Simaudio Evolution system to "tell more of the [musical] story." In all honesty, a relatively small percentage of audiophiles writes to me about sports. Most never played with or against girls, so they find my experiences interesting, enlightening, and educational. These experiences go beyond sports themselves. They were social, of which music played an outsized role.When my junior year (1987-88) of high school began, academics got tougher, and my guy friends did not come out as often to play sports. Those remaining got desperate. Without numbers, we would not be able to play baseball/softball and football. So some, like my friend Gilbert, held his nose, and invited his little sister, Helen.
Our friend Gilbert was one of the few who was, um, overweight. So we affectionately called him a Bubba, and made him absorb the opponents' physical onslaughts. So it came as a surprise, that Helen was a stick figure. We could see why Gilbert was apprehensive; while Helen could not throw a ball as far or hard, she possessed much more speed, skill, dexterity, stamina, and smarts.
The audiophiles above understand that, in order to differentiate two teams, you often go "shirts versus skins." That is, one team wears shirts, while the other does not. But that can be a challenge, when you have girls. Helen constantly gave Gilbert a bad time about this. She'd poke his body, and state that it was perfectly acceptable, for him to "let it all hang out." Yet, despite being flat-chested, Helen was not allowed to go topless. So when her team went "skins," she had to find a light-colored tank top.
During that Fall 1987 semester, I did not yet have a subscription to Stereophile. I actually picked up this copy of the October 1987 issue from Ultimate Sound, then located in the basement of the Sherman Clay Building, in downtown San Francisco. My classmates knew that the Sherman Clay music store sold pianos on the ground floor. But downstairs was where the kids in orchestra went to purchase sheet music. Adjacent to the sheet music was, behind a sliding glass door, Ultimate Sound.In those days, an electronic component cost around $400. So when we saw the $1500 list price of the Sony CDP-705ESD, which we lusted after, we went through sticker shock. Well, that would prepare us for the $8000 list price of the Simaudio 820S, an outboard power supply . The October 1987 Stereophile does not cover any products with outboard supplies. Anyway, Def Leppard's "Hysteria" brought us, including all the new girls, together. Helen would just shrug, and advise the others, girl and boy, to bring along one white shirt, and one dark-colored shirt.
In 1987-88, Ultimate Sound may not have carried any 3-pin XLR line-level cables. We wish it weren't true, but 5-pin XLR cables do sound/perform differently. The Simaudio 820S is influenced by these, and will let you know what each sounds like. Because we do have the appropriate adapters for our audiodharma Cable Cooker, we are indeed able to treat 5-pin XLR cables. Here, we daisy chain (a) Simaudio's OEM cable, and (b) Revelation Audio Labs' Passage.
Black shirt/white shirt. Here, we have Simaudio's OEM cable and a Canare L-4E6S with 5-pin XLRs. This "Digital DC power" connection is used on CD players, DACs, and preamps (not phonostages). The Simaudio OEM cable forms a nice baseline. If you were to whip out your sonic checklist, it would score "good" on most parameters. Thus, Def Leppard's "Hysteria" spells out, in bullet points, the above happenings from 1987-88.Armed with the Canare L-4E6S, the 820S allows the connected component(s) to project more 3D images, though with slightly fuzzy image outlines. Yet, the images are not run together, and there is good distance and transparency between those images. This also allows for more of the "breath" surrounding each instrument. Listening to "Hysteria" brings you back to when we took a break, and were sitting on the bleachers or sideline. You see each friend, and you can feel the awkwardness end, and the togetherness solidify. Some of my friends even started to like each other.
Uh-oh, the RAL Passage evinces a different vibe. It is kind of like a poor man's Pranawire Nataraja interconnect. The sound itself becomes quieter, with a seamlessness and continuity, from left to right. The images do not wander. But they aren't, tonally and shape-wise, differentiated enough. While the music isn't slow it isn't punchy, raucous, and cutting. Electric guitar sounds somewhat tempered. Drums click, but don't POP. But nothing jumps out of its place. There's nothing rattling or jangling. If you are a rock fan, who prefers to have this music more sonically palatable and tolerable, check out the RAL Passage. I know plenty of audiophiles of this persuasion.Putting on "Hysteria" is like being comfortable in the present. It's like modern-day Gilbert, tired of getting rammed, bulldozed, and smacked around, dismissively waving his arm: "I'm too old for this s---." So he gladly retires to his fold-up chair, and watches other players hitting each other.
Regardless of 5-pin XLR cable, removing the 820S leaves a Simaudio Evolution system smaller, looser, grayer, weaker. Def Leppard's "Hysteria" becomes just another processed (especially with Rick Allen's custom electronic drum kit) pop music recording, and you lose the history, color, personality, emotion, and ultimately, meaning and enjoyment. The system can't tell as much of the story. It's like showing up at the park, and not having enough friends to play softball or football. So you have to ask strangers if they want to play. Moreover, each person only brought one shirt, so with the mish-mash of colors, everyone gets confused, as to which players are on which side.
-Lummy The Loch Monster
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Topic - Simaudio 820S, Part 22 - Luminator 23:06:07 09/19/20 (1)
- RE: Simaudio 820S, Part 22 - fantja 17:58:06 09/23/20 (0)
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