Bocchino sablon in da house!

Hello All,

Just dropping some pics of my new Bocchino terminated Sablon Audio cables before I install the four. I opted for the 'half way house' approach, ie. Bocchino IEC only whilst keeping the Oyaide P-004 plugs. This way I can at least afford some of the Bocchino flavour without going full King Sablon PC. In fact, anyone not using US plugs have this option to upgrade their cables this way. Did I say they were big? Well the Bocchino PLUG is twice the size of the IEC!

I have also added a King Sablon XLR IC to the mix and the XLRs are solid, beautifully made and by all accounts sound wonderful.

I'll let you know how I get on with them in a few weeks after burn in, which is said not to be as long as NCF plug burn in.

Blue58

 

Manage to snatch a good deal of sablon power cord with upgraded bocchino IEC in Singapore preowned market.

Now a happy user of 2 prince sablon and keep in view upgrade to king in the future.

 

Just had my Sablon spkrs cbls returned to me, upgraded w Bocchino spades. This also gave me a good opportunity to power down the system for several days. Reinstalled the upgraded spkrs cbls yesterday, and powered up my system overnight. Just a few impressions, I'm away on seminars duty for a few days nxt wk.

Not as night and day a difference as the Bocchino RCAs upgrades to my Reservas interconnects, but the differences are easy to hear. Primarily a further drop in smear and haziness. My system based on triodes and full range drivers has one major shortcoming in that mids thickness and euphonic coloration can predominate in less than ideal circumstances. The move to Sablon'ing out my whole system has been a major factor in getting way more neutrality, transparency and resolution. And the Bocchino spkrs cbls spades carry this on.

Current thoughts are of further tightening and resolving of basslines, greater clarity into mids, and more natural treble. Again, nothing highlighted except greater insight and communication. Thanks, Mark.

 

Glad you’re enjoying Marc and they should improve with some hours of burn in, given that they are brand new and pretty dense (@1.5 oz each). The platinum plated Oyaide spades I normally use are already pretty solid performers but the Bocchino are able to take sound quality to a higher level.

 

Mark, the spades certainly don't dissapoint visually. They could do some serious damage to any audiophile visiting who doesn't like my sound (that person has been duly warned!) Lol.

I was a little premature in saying the Bocchino spades are relatively subtle in their effects. That's still true, they do not change tonality or timbral accuracy in any major way. Vinyl plus triodes are kings of tone, esp thru my Zus, and tonal balance seems spot on, every recording is very different (imho a key determinant that tone is being preserved).

However these spades are augmenting previous Sablon/Bocchino attributes in opening up my sound. I'm getting really satisfying transparency in terms of clarity of sound, loss of smear and haze, and proper imaging and staging. My Zus will never do the pinpoint/depth thing like the ML panels I've liked. But I'm maintaining my triodes/Zu mids density and dynamic shove with whole levels more of revealed micro detail, broader and deeper soundstage, and a sophistication that eluded me just a year back. A big thumbs up.

Fwiw, Sablons have been a key determinant in augmenting and enhancing the key strengths of tone and density in my Nats/Zu sound. What going to the Elites and now critically the Bocchino upgrades has done is lock this sound down while opening up whole areas I didn't value before, but do now, and take my sound way into the territory I hear in systems at a much higher paygrade than mine (Blue58, you're in my crosshairs now).

 

Nice benefit of this change is a real boost to sound from my cdp. Tightening the bottom end and making basslines more articulate and energetic has really helped digital sound a lot more visceral and controlled. A big aim of mine has been to have both analog and digital in a great place, obviously not the same, but contrasting nicely, and no hint of inferiority going from lp to cd. Closer than ever on this after this change.

 

Last report of the day before I leave my system for a few days. I really salute Mark for a fantastic product. So many cables are astronomically priced, and I've trialled one or two in my system, as well as attending a cable shoot out recently of wire w jaw dropping prices.

None of these cables had the self effacing, open and neutral character the Sablons do. This is no definitive statement, no ABs in my system were made. It's purely based on my experience of different brands registering strong reactions in me.

Mark's Sablons really tick the boxes for all the things you'd want in a top sound, that I've listed before. The Bocchino connectors upgrades are a massive bonus to an already winning formula. 6 hours straight of pure listening joy has been the result, I am truly amazed by the openess each new Bocchino addition brings. These spkrs cables spades have been such a worthy addition.

 

Hi Tang, I haven't had any competitor cable in my system since I auditioned and bought my first Sablon QGC pwr cord 5 years ago. I'm now on my third loom of Sablon cables if we consider the Bocchino mods as a run in their own right.

I've been able to compare the Bocchino modded Elite pwr cord (Prince Sablon, mod at connector end, not the actual plug) to it's standard Elite counterpart, and the Bocchino modded Panatella RCA interconnect to it's standard Panatella counterpart.

The Bocchino Prince Sablon power cord in the preamp is an amazing jump in quality, dropping that noise floor lets thru an amazing amount of extra goodness, primarily in the areas of texture and image solidity. There is greater heft w proportionate increase in speed. So, bass lines, and the body in cellos, violins, drums, is made more apparent, but w timing fully intact. When I have the funds in 12 months, I'll return to Bocchino out my 7 other Elite power cords.

The Bocchino Panatella interconnect is even more dramatic, esp on my Straingauge cart energiser (phono equivalent) to preamp. Now we're talking a leap in air, shimmer, filigree detail, delicacy, timbral accuracy.

What's fascinating about the Sablon wire, especially as you go to the Bocchino effort, is that the tonal/timbral balance feels absolutely right. Instruments sound absolutely spot on. Put it this way, my Zus were never class leading when putting on jazz w twin horns, or classical w massed strings, and so I kinda stuck to my fave genres of prog and fusion. Now there is so much startling clarity on instrumental signature, that I'm being wowed by how authentic and compelling my jazz and classical lps sound, and am buying more and more. Throw in the extra air, microdynamics, shimmer and neutrality, and I'm transforming the fortunes of my Zus into all-round great spkrs.

So Tang, long description, but yes, the Bocchinos are truly revolutionizing my sound, not subtle in any way. Maybe in yr case the Kuros base tonal balance doesn't benefit from the change, maybe yr AS/Lamm/Cessaro system is in no need of further change.

Hi Spirit, I've had Sablon cabling for years. Really like what Mark does. Right now I'm auditioning the King Sablon on my Lampi TRP and his Bocchino terminated RCA interconnect. But, I see you are a Zu Definition Mk4 owner. I also have these and they were some of the first made. My question is.... Have you ever played with various PC cables on the Def's? I've never even thought about it but given the Sablon PC's performance I was wondering if anyone has ever tried these on the speakers. I currently just us some original Zu Mother PC's that I had when I got my speakers.

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit. If you want to take offline, let me know. Thx for your consideration.
Cheers
Ed

 

Hi Spirit, I've had Sablon cabling for years. Really like what Mark does. Right now I'm auditioning the King Sablon on my Lampi TRP and his Bocchino terminated RCA interconnect. But, I see you are a Zu Definition Mk4 owner. I also have these and they were some of the first made. My question is.... Have you ever played with various PC cables on the Def's? I've never even thought about it but given the Sablon PC's performance I was wondering if anyone has ever tried these on the speakers. I currently just us some original Zu Mother PC's that I had when I got my speakers.

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit. If you want to take offline, let me know. Thx for your consideration.
Cheers
Ed

Hi Ed_K, Apologies for jumping in before Marc has a chance to respond but I know his Zus rather well and my Duo also have powered bass drivers.

I recently upgraded my Sablon power cords to Prince Sablon, using the Platinum Bocchino plug, on the Duo bass modules and it was a definite step up in sound quality. I’ve recommended to Marc to upgrade to Platinum rather Silver as they are a touch cooler, quieter and I believe a perfect match for bass duties. All my other Prince Sablon are Silver btw.

I‘m always surprised, even though I’ve heard it before, how improving the bass also has a knock on effect further up the frequency range. Vocals tend to gain in presence and ambience is more noticeable.

Definitely look to changing the stock cables to a Sablon Reserva at least.

I‘m sure Marc will chime in with his tales of sub adjustment but I think he’s finally cracked it.

cheers
blue58

 

Ha Ed, I'm sure Mark won't mind Lol. As a Defs 4 man, you are the epitome of taste, speaking totally unbiasedly.

I got the Defs in 2013, and used Zu Event at the time. My prev pwr cords were nothing too special, and the Events were nice. Obviously, on sub amps there is less of an easy comparison to be made, since mine come in below 41Hz, and I don't get much meaningful info below 30Hz.

So the Events were a moderate uptick in control.

I then discovered Sablon, and first Zu pwr cords were the QGC followed by the newer Reserva, soon to be Bocchino'd. Initially w UK plug adaptors, and then US plugs au naturel.

I'm not gonna claim a night and day difference, how could I re the frequency band 30-40Hz? But certainly some greater agility was noticed at the time w QGC over Zu Event, and greater texture and earthiness of deep bass w the Reservas, esp getting rid of the UK plug adaptors.

Story gets more interesting. Now I'm in the new room w much better bass characteristics, less nodes/slap echo, more linear full stop...and getting my whole system to sing recently, the impvts in subs bass via the Reservas is much more marked.

Subs output feels way more controlled, I've been able to take output down 3 notches for more agility and less smear into mids, but w no lack of heft or warmth. I recently tried a couple of pwr cords to my subs (albeit w UK plug adaptors again), and things felt a little bloaty lower down.

I'm actually on a bit of a mission now to really push SQ on, and my next Bocchinos pwr cords will be to the subs and tube monos, leaving the sources last of all.

So, to conclude, Sablons to subs not as dramatic an uptick as to preamp. But in the grand scheme of things, w my system way more impressive than a while back, the synergistic effects of the Sablons are undeniable, positives in having the subs sorted w Sablon a facinating extra piece of the jigsaw puzzle. And I'm 100% confident Bocchinos can only boost things further.

 

Hi Ed_K, Apologies for jumping in before Marc has a chance to respond but I know his Zus rather well and my Duo also have powered bass drivers.

I recently upgraded my Sablon power cords to Prince Sablon, using the Platinum Bocchino plug, on the Duo bass modules and it was a definite step up in sound quality. I’ve recommended to Marc to upgrade to Platinum rather Silver as they are a touch cooler, quieter and I believe a perfect match for bass duties. All my other Prince Sablon are Silver btw.

I‘m always surprised, even though I’ve heard it before, how improving the bass also has a knock on effect further up the frequency range. Vocals tend to gain in presence and ambience is more noticeable.

Definitely look to changing the stock cables to a Sablon Reserva at least.

I‘m sure Marc will chime in with his tales of sub adjustment but I think he’s finally cracked it.

cheers
blue58

Thx for your input, much appreciated. Fortunately, I have a friend here (US) that has some of the Elite cables and i'll be trying them next week. It's funny how you would think that these subamp cables wouldn't make a difference but other folks comment about the noticeable improvements heard. I can definitely agree with your comments on bass effecting the higher frequencies. This can be proven out immediately with the the Zu's when you starting messing with Cut-in freq. , gain and PEQ frequency. I've spent many an hour in finding the correct balance of these to get the detail and presence right on vocals, guitar, etc. And not just the speakers but the room itself is key. About 6 years ago I did a dedicated room and this helped tremendously, even though I couldn't build the perfect ratios for walls, ceiling, flooring, etc.

Cheers
Ed

 

Ha Ed, I'm sure Mark won't mind Lol. As a Defs 4 man, you are the epitome of taste, speaking totally unbiasedly.

I got the Defs in 2013, and used Zu Event at the time. My prev pwr cords were nothing too special, and the Events were nice. Obviously, on sub amps there is less of an easy comparison to be made, since mine come in below 41Hz, and I don't get much meaningful info below 30Hz.

So the Events were a moderate uptick in control.

I then discovered Sablon, and first Zu pwr cords were the QGC followed by the newer Reserva, soon to be Bocchino'd. Initially w UK plug adaptors, and then US plugs au naturel.

I'm not gonna claim a night and day difference, how could I re the frequency band 30-40Hz? But certainly some greater agility was noticed at the time w QGC over Zu Event, and greater texture and earthiness of deep bass w the Reservas, esp getting rid of the UK plug adaptors.

Story gets more interesting. Now I'm in the new room w much better bass characteristics, less nodes/slap echo, more linear full stop...and getting my whole system to sing recently, the impvts in subs bass via the Reservas is much more marked.

Subs output feels way more controlled, I've been able to take output down 3 notches for more agility and less smear into mids, but w no lack of heft or warmth. I recently tried a couple of pwr cords to my subs (albeit w UK plug adaptors again), and things felt a little bloaty lower down.

I'm actually on a bit of a mission now to really push SQ on, and my next Bocchinos pwr cords will be to the subs and tube monos, leaving the sources last of all.

So, to conclude, Sablons to subs not as dramatic an uptick as to preamp. But in the grand scheme of things, w my system way more impressive than a while back, the synergistic effects of the Sablons are undeniable, positives in having the subs sorted w Sablon a facinating extra piece of the jigsaw puzzle. And I'm 100% confident Bocchinos can only boost things further.

Great input, interesting that you are able to take down the gain 3 steps. What number is that on your Zu's and what cut-in freq do you normally use, everyday basis so to speak. And thx for your response!

 

Ed, we can carry this on by PM.
In my old space, I never got it right, often settling on 60Hz and 7.5/10 level
PEQ gain/freq etc never seemed to do anything.
This was in a harsh and reflective 27x29x13 room.
Here, 18x48x9, descending eaves, warmth and clarity in equal measure, I got down to 41Hz 8/10 level
Now level down to 5/10
And the uptick is just so
And I know that the Reserva pwr cords may not have seemed to help dramatically at the time, but now are critical in my sub bass being fast and realistically start/stop, but full warmth/texture
As the AB to lesser cords has shown
A real suprise and totally welcome late development

 

Morning surprise from delivery man this morning.

Going to burn in the king with Frycorder2 for the next few days.

Replace hurricane with the prince and finally I get back the quietness, natural mid and voice, dynamic which I missed for the past week (send back to Mark to repair the damaged sleeve).

Kudos to Mark!

 

I am a little late to the Sablon party but better late than never.

2 days ago I received Mark's demo box with a pair of RCA (Bocchino) interconnects and a Prince Sablon. I first started with the RCAs on my Lampi DAC. What I noticed immediately was more meat in the lower frequencies. The difference wasn’t just heavier bass but also more detail during even the more delicate bass lines. I thought the mid-range was similar as were the highs but each were a tad more focused than before.

I then replaced the power cord (Audioquest Hurricane) on my Doshi Audio pre-amp with the Prince Sablon. I think this change was even more significant than the interconnect change. Better focus and more distinction among the instruments. I was able to hear some subtle details that I did not in the past.

More and more I am coming to realize that power cords may be more significant than signal interconnects. The music has more energy with the Prince. Maybe people call this attack; I don’t know.

Now I have to figure out my plan for selectively replacing some power cords and interconnects...

 

I am a little late to the Sablon party but better late than never.

2 days ago I received Mark's demo box with a pair of RCA (Bocchino) interconnects and a Prince Sablon. I first started with the RCAs on my Lampi DAC. What I noticed immediately was more meat in the lower frequencies. The difference wasn’t just heavier bass but also more detail during even the more delicate bass lines. I thought the mid-range was similar as were the highs but each were a tad more focused than before.

I then replaced the power cord (Audioquest Hurricane) on my Doshi Audio pre-amp with the Prince Sablon. I think this change was even more significant than the interconnect change. Better focus and more distinction among the instruments. I was able to hear some subtle details that I did not in the past.

More and more I am coming to realize that power cords may be more significant than signal interconnects. The music has more energy with the Prince. Maybe people call this attack; I don’t know.

Now I have to figure out my plan for selectively replacing some power cords and interconnects...

"Better late than never"
My findings on sablon power cable is same as yours. And I have replaced one of my hurricane7 HC. IMO significant improvement. I still have one more hurricane, awaiting the time when fund permits to replace....

 

"Better late than never"
My findings on sablon power cable is same as yours. And I have replaced one of my hurricane7 HC. IMO significant improvement. I still have one more hurricane, awaiting the time when fund permits to replace....

The Hurricanes were a very big step up in my system so it is significant that the Prince improved on top of that.

My first replacement will be the pre-amp. Next the amps.

 

I am trying to decide between the King and Prince. Can anyone who has compared these 2 share their listening experiences? I have been using a Prince for the past 3 days and it is great. Question is, do I want to get a King. Cost is really the only consideration since I can fit the gigantic plug in my setup.

 

I am trying to decide between the King and Prince. Can anyone who has compared these 2 share their listening experiences? I have been using a Prince for the past 3 days and it is great. Question is, do I want to get a King. Cost is really the only consideration since I can fit the gigantic plug in my setup.

I have both prince and king. To me and in my system, King has greater transparency and dynamics. I feel both are controlled on the high and the king is more natural on the vocal. As previously mentioned, sablon Bocchino sounds like “controlled firework”

 

The Pranawire distributor looks impressive! Hope they design one with more outlets as well (than 3).

You can see a photo of the first prototype in Joe’s blog, https://www.lotusgroupusa.com/blog. It has only two outlets but, according to the description, it’s a monster. Also, I thought I had a pretty good idea of the difference in size between the Bocchino outlet and a standard one, as shown in the photo, but I was shocked to see the actual difference between the Bocchino Mariner 10 IEC and a standard one.[/QUOTE]