I too have a love/hate relationship with audiophile cables, fuses etc. I hate that they add so significantly to the cost of the system, yet I can hear when they make a difference, and in many cases, as profound a difference as a component upgrade. Such is the case with these QSA-Lanedri cables.
I had already heard the impact of QSA fuses, having tried the Silver fuse in both my Extreme server as well as my amp. In many ways, the QSA-Lanedri cables are a much easier sell than fuses. First, I find their impact to be even larger than the fuses, and with the current promotional prices Anas is offering, the cables are a much better value. Plus, unlike their existing fuses, most audiophiles already have cables of appreciable value in place, so the real question when considering these cables is: do they outperform your current cable(s), and what is the price delta?
During the course of R&D, Anas was kind enough to allow me to evaluate Gamma Revelation power, XLR, and LAN cables, as well as a Gamma Infinity power cable. As others have already reported on this thread, these Gamma cables deliver a startling improvement. At its foundation is a deeper, more prodigious, and more articulate bass. Building on that, I hear increased transparency, better dynamics, and greater resolution, but mostly with these cables in place, my system has never sounded as natural and effortless. Removing these cables after evaluation has been quite a wrenching experience.
So where did I try these cables, and to what was I comparing them?
Taiko Extreme Server
My Extreme is powered by a Sablon Prince cable that I have loved since I installed it. I first tried a Gamma Revelation cable, and found to my surprise that it sounded notably better, especially in the area of transparency and resolution. However, there were elements of the more expensive Prince that were missing, most importantly a viscerality and muscle that is the Prince's forte. When I tried the Gamma Infinity, the Extreme really showcased what the Infinity adds over the Revelation. I would agree with
@romaz's description, that the Infinity adds density and refinement. Instruments sounded more dimensional and real. Still, I continued to crave the Prince's physicality, and so this is a component where a Spectra cable should fit well. I have sent my Prince to Anas for treatment, and I am hoping it will return to me transmogrified to a Spectra Revelation.
Vinnie Rossi L2i SE amp with L2 DAC
My L2i SE has been running with a Cardas Clear Beyond cable, one that I had been very happy with for over a year. But here, the improvement with the Gamma Revelation was astonishing, and there really is no going back. And just like on the Extreme, the additional benefit from the Gamma Infinity over the Revelation was equally large.
Gamma Revelation LAN cable from SOtM switch to Extreme
Those of you who've followed my network tuning adventures on the Audiophile Style "novel" thread know that over the last few years, I've tried pretty much every network tweak out there, and had reached a point (thankfully) where the Extreme's hardware and OS tunings had rendered the effect of the network chain to be fairly small. I really did not expect the Gamma Revelation LAN (ethernet) cable to have much effect, but this is one situation where I feel "gobsmacked" is an appropriate term for my experience. The cable being displaced was no slouch, the Sablon 2020 Ethernet cable, which I had preferred over a bunch of other cables I'd auditioned a while back.
The biggest surprise for me was not the improvement I heard, which was along the same lines as the power cables, but rather the
magnitude of the improvement. I would say the effect of this LAN cable was at least the equal of the Gamma power cables on the Extreme and the L2i SE. This was actually unsettling, as I've come to expect relatively minor improvements with upstream changes ever since the last round of OS improvements Emile made about a year ago.
With the addition of this LAN cable, with the Gamma power cables already in place, I experienced what so many others here have talked about: the additive effects of the QSA treatments in the system. I can honestly say that with this set of cables in place, my system is almost unrecognizable from its former state. All the clichés about not being able to end listening sessions late at night apply, as this is exactly what has been happening!
One final note. These cables sound great from the get go, but do take 10-20 days to really open up. The LAN cable, in particular. was more of a roller coaster, injecting a hint of brightness from time to time during its burn in. Now, after about 2 weeks of continuous operation, there isn't even a hint of that brightness, and all is good.
In conclusion, the QSA-Lanedri cables (with the promotional pricing) significantly outperformed my existing cables of approximately similar value. Should funds allow, the additional investment in the Infinity's is well worth it, and the increase in SQ is very substantial.
These cables are really something, and worth a close, a very close, look!
www.whatsbestforum.com
www.qsa-lanedri.com
