System edited: The sonic improvements that the Stillpoints Ultra 5 footers provide is very addicting. I have now put a set under my Allnic H3000 phono stage and the external power supply for the Allnic phono stage. In both cases, the Ultra 5's replaced a set of the Ultra SS footers. The Ultra SS are very good and make a nive sonic improvement. The Ultra 5's go much further with increased resolution, blacker background, expanded soundstage and an even more relaxed and liquid sound. I have also put the extra Ultra SS's under the external crossover for the Rockport Arrakis speakers and the Absolare power Purifer. Again, in both cases, a further improvement.

babybear March 11, 2013 12:58

System edited: I have added 3 of the Stillpoints Ultra 5 footers under my Absolare Passion Signature preamp replacing a set of 3 of the Stillpoints Ultra SS footers. As good as the Ultra SS were under the preamp, the Ultra 5's are that much better. I moved the Ultra SS footers under the outboard power supply of the Allnic H3000 phono stage and as expected, there was a very nice improvement in sound quality by doing this. I am now planning to try some of the Ultra 5's under the main body of the Allnic H3000 phono stage (already using the Ultra SS's) once they arrive.

babybear February 24, 2013 21:51

Thanks, Arnie. Yes, Zanden provide all umbilical cables for the connections between PSU and main DAC or Transport (4-box) and also the i2s cable. I know they created a new i2s cable...and there is generally a debate about which people prefer...and a few who say both are good and about the same. I will let you know how it goes later this week. thanks again.

lloydelee21 February 20, 2013 08:41

Hi Lloyd,

The best way to connect the MSB transport and dac together is via the MSB Pro I2s connection so I have only ever used that connection type. MSB implements I2s over an ethernet cable. What surprised me was how significant the improvement was when I switched from the MSB ethernet cable to the the AudioQuest Diamond ethernet cable. It was a very, very large improvement - as large as any cable or power cord improvement that I have ever heard in my system.

Is the Zanden I2s cable a custom cable that they provide?

babybear February 20, 2013 01:31

Hey Arnie,

How much did the i2s link improve the quality of your sound? Just curious as i will be looking at this interface later this week.

lloydelee21 February 19, 2013 22:54

System edited: I've made a couple of changes. I am now using the Audio Quest Diamond Ethernet cable to connect the MSB Signature Transport to the MSB Diamond DAC via the Pro I2s input. After auditioning this cable and comparing it to the optional MSB Ethernet cable, the performance improvement was so significant that I couldn't go back to the previous ethernet cable. Now that I have heard the performance improvement from this cable, I will when I have a chance look to audition other ethernet cables (like the Stealth).

babybear February 19, 2013 14:12

Thanks Nate,

I will give the Stealth ethernet cable a try. The level of improvement brought by the Audioquest Diamond Ethernet cable was very significant and surprising to me, so if the Stealth can improve that further, its worth hearing.

Arnie

babybear February 10, 2013 13:25

Hello Arnie,
Audioquest Diamond Ethernet is good but Stealth is better. Don't buy any if you didn't try Stealth.

Thanks,
Nate

natty February 09, 2013 13:46

Hi Lloyd,

Thanks for the info about Martin Collom's review. I will check it out. I am still amazed about how much improvement the Audioquest Diamond ethernet cable provided.

babybear February 07, 2013 19:25

Hey Arnie,

Nice discovery it seems. Martin Colloms wrote a review in Hifi Critic on various USB cables i think...not ethernet...but he included Audioquest and several others (at least 7-8)...quite an interesting read. As usual, Martin is not afraid to call it like he sees it and his ranking is not at all correlated to price. If you can, i dont know if its worth checking out for you given that you are looking at ethernet cables...perhaps you can email him if you're interested?

lloydelee21 February 07, 2013 08:31

Hi Nate,

I had a chance to try the Audioquest Diamond Ethernet cable between my MSB Signature Transport and Diamond Dac tonight. You were certainly right that the ethernet cable from MSB is not good enough. The Audioquest Diamond Ethernet cable was a very, very significant step up in sonics across the board - much more resolving, greater dynamic contrasts, harmonically richer with deeper and more powerful and resolved bass. None of these improvements were subtle at all. I was quite surprised by the level of improvement.

Arnie

babybear February 07, 2013 04:45

Hi Pradeep,

You are very welcome.

And that is great to hear and again, congratulations on getting the Rockport Aviors!!. Its wonderful that you are enjoying them so much already and paired with the new Rel G1 subs it must wonderful sound!

Arnie

babybear January 21, 2013 15:16

Hi Arnie
I have a week on the Rovkport Aviors and the sound is truly amazing coupled with a pair of REL G1 subs. Am using a Conrad Johnson CT 5 pre and the 80 wpc CJ LP 70 S which is configured for a 8 ohm load. This is the best sound I have ever experienced in my 40 plus years in this hobby.Thanks to you and fellow Agoners for nudging me towards the Aviors. Will post more incl pics on my systems page.
Pradeep

sunnyboy1956 January 21, 2013 11:39

Thanks for the link Nate,

I will check out that Stealth ethernet I2s cable.

Arnie

babybear January 20, 2013 19:11

Dear Arnie,
Wow..Echole is also on my target.
The ethernet cable from MSB is not good enough and I would like you to try the Stealth I2S cable. Please go to pricing page. http://stealthaudiocables.com/pricing/index.htm
Do you have any opinion on VAC statement and Ypsilon?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Nate

natty January 20, 2013 04:38

Hi Nate,

You're very welcome indeed.
I have only done one recent comparison of a Stealth cable to an Echole cable. It was a Stealth AES/EBU digital IC compared to an Echole AES/EBU digital cable (we had 2 of each) and were using them for digital connections in a full 4 box DCS Scarlatti digital front end. There were several people involved in the comparison and each of the people preferred the sound of the system when the Echole digital cables were used. Easiest way to describe the difference was that the sound was fuller and more organic with no loss of resolution so I guess it would be up to you to decide. If you can audition the Echole Signature cables when you try the Absolare electronics that would be the best way.

Nate, I am using the MSB optional Ethernet cable to connect my Signature Transport to the Pro I2s connection on the Diamond DAC IV (so not the stock cable). I looked on the Stealth web site but I couldn't find any reference to an I2s cable or an ethernet cable. Do you have a link for this?

Thanks,
Arnie

babybear January 19, 2013 22:32

Hello Gentlemen,
Thank you very much Charles1dad, Arnie and Jwm. I will try Absolare soon.
I'm using Stealth cables top models, do I need to change to Echole?
Arnie : What is the I2S cable you are using? If you are using stock I2S cable, I would like you to try Stealth. It is a big difference.
Thanks,
Nate

natty January 19, 2013 14:10

I also agree with Charles. The Absolare room was the best sound I ever heard and this was at CES. I am very picky and hate most speakers. The sound they got was breathtaking. Watch out everyone these guys are going places.

jwm January 19, 2013 02:23

Babybear,
1Think the power was good as they were using the Bybee power conditioner. The room was very large and I' m really amazed at how well that system filled that huge space with beautiful sound. That 50 watt Absolare amp is just something very special. In a home environment the amp will likely drive all but the most difficult loads very well.I can believe you will be most pleased.
Regards,

charles1dad January 18, 2013 23:32

Hi Nate,

First, you have a really wonderful system - it must sound great!

I do have some experience with the ARC Ref 40. I used to own an ARC Ref 3 preamp with ARC Ref 210 amps and I have a listened to the ARC Ref 40 multiple times on a friend's system. The ARC Ref 40 is a great preamp. I have also heard the Nola Baby Grand speakers driven by all ARC Ref electronics - and it sounded wonderful. I have not heard the Plinius amps that you have but I have heard good things about Plinius.

But having said that, I would agree with Charles in that the Absolare Passion Preamp and Passion mono block amplifiers will be quite a step up in my opinion in the sonics of your system. I obviously have first hand experience with the Passion preamp and it is far and away the best preamp that I have heard in my system - it is very neutral and transparent and has an open and effortlessness in its sound that just draws you into more and more listening. Combined with the Absolare Passion amplifiers, you should be able to achieve similiar sonics to what you heard at CES (taking into account of course the difference sonic signature of the speakers). I suspect, you would probably actually do better than what you heard at CES because your room acoustics and electrical power are probably better than what you typically have at CES.

Hope that helps and happy to answer any other questions.

Arnie

babybear January 18, 2013 17:32

Natty,my 2 cents worth,this is a strong move in the right direction.No knock meant on your current components at all but the Absolare was the best sounding electronics in the entire show IMO. I heard numerous systems with much more expensive preamps and amplifiers that were less convincing.
Regards,

charles1dad January 18, 2013 17:10

Hello Arnie,
I attended CES this year and listened to Absolare system. It is really good sound which I've never heard at CES in the past 6-7 years.
I'm using MSB Diamond DAC plus + Galaxy Clock + Diamond power base, Signature Data CD + Signature Transport power base and ARC Ref.40 Pre amp. + Plinius SA Ref. Monoblock to drive Nola BabyGrand Ref.II.
Do you have any experience on ARC Ref.40? I'm very interested in Absolare Signature Pre. and Power amp. Balanced model. What do you think?
Thanks,
Nate

natty January 18, 2013 02:31

Hi Jeff and Charles,

Its great that you both were able to attend CES and had the opportunity to hear the Absolare/Echole room. Thanks for letting me know your listening impressions of what you heard as well. And I completely agree, the folks from Absolare and Echole are wonderful to speak with - they have great knowledge and also tremendous enthusiasm for what they do. As does Steve Dobbins (whose turntable was being used).

Charles, thanks so much and you are right. My system does give me great pleasure when I listen to it. The Absolare Passion preamp that I just added brought the sonics up another notch - adding a level of realism and especially so on well recorded "live" LP's. And with the active version of the Rockport Arrakis speakers - I am certainly done with ever changing speakers (besides the speakers would be far too difficult to ever get down the stairs from my music room)!

Thanks again,
Arnie

babybear January 13, 2013 16:02

Sorry, meant supreme not sumpreme.

charles1dad January 12, 2013 23:09

Baby bear,
I certainly agree with jeff, this was the best sound I heard at the show.We heard some very fine systems at this year`s CES.The system make up was Rockport Altair,MSB digital,Echole cabling and an excellent turn table.I`ll tell the Absolare amplifier(PSET 845 tubes) and their Passion linestage are simply FANSTASTIC! WOW! What a sublime system.The music was the most realistic presentation I`ve heard a system do.

Babybear,given the makeup of your system it must bring you endless musical pleasure(you should be very proud).We spent over 3 hours in that room(split over two seperate visits) and got to know the very nice(and very knowledgeable) Absolare people well(they loved our jazz CDs and requested we play additional selections for them again the following day).This was such a fun experience, they explained quite a bit about Absolare and the superb Rockport.I wish them all the sucess,sumpreme quality like this should`nt fail.
Regards,

charles1dad January 12, 2013 23:06