I am hesitate to write some reviews because many of the people on this site are professionals in the field and are sometimes connected, one way or another, to many of the audio companies. For those reasons, and that civility, negative reviews or comparisons are actually hard to find.
As a consumer I root for all companies to put out good products, I am happy to pass on what worked for me and what didn’t. That is the case here.
For the last several years I have used Transparent Audio interconnects and speaker wire. They replaced my Straight Wire when I rearranged my room and lost my SW dealer. I have dealt with TA directly, calling and asking questions and they have been very helpful.
Primarily I used balanced cables of their MM variety where I could: Pre-amp to amps; CD player and FM Tuner in. Since there is only one balanced input on the 707, I have used that for the SACD player mostly, but also for the FM tuner.
When I got the Krell Cipher, I connected that with Krell Cast Cables, primarily because I was able to keep my Tuner connected by the single balanced cable. But I also hooked up a second, 5.1 input to the Cipher using Transparent cable for the left and right and Maestro cable for all others. The people from Krell have been so helpful and supportive and I thought if they encouraged this, it was worth a shot. Surprising, for me, there is NO WAY one can sue the Cast outputs on the Cipher for the left and right of the 5.1 sound, you MUST use single ended cables. You can’t even use the balanced outs.
I then installed the Krell Cast cables to my left, right and center speaker.
In my opinion, without a doubt, the original configuration using Transparent balanced was better. The bass was clearer and not boomy, the details of the high end were clearer and more pronounced and the upper midrange was smoother.
In fact, I had EQed my system so that I could clearly hear and understand the center channel, which carries most of the dialogue. When using the Cast, I actually had trouble understanding the center channel and made it louder because the bass was so prevalent the center was drowned out.
Again, this hobby is fun for me, not my profession. I had the Cast cables on for 80 or so hours of use, perhaps a reviewer would have given them more time. NOT being the professional, I was NOT enjoying them so I switched back.
I did run the Cipher with Krell cast and single ended transparent. The bass was instantly and noticeable better with the Transparent. The upper mid-range almost sounded distorted with the Krell, but there is a caveat.
The Cipher, after about 30 hours of use, failed and refused to turn or give me back my Bill Evans SACD. So I cannot give you a complete review of that component, but I have run everything else I had through the Cast and the results were consistent.
As a consumer I root for all companies to put out good products, I am happy to pass on what worked for me and what didn’t. That is the case here.
For the last several years I have used Transparent Audio interconnects and speaker wire. They replaced my Straight Wire when I rearranged my room and lost my SW dealer. I have dealt with TA directly, calling and asking questions and they have been very helpful.
Primarily I used balanced cables of their MM variety where I could: Pre-amp to amps; CD player and FM Tuner in. Since there is only one balanced input on the 707, I have used that for the SACD player mostly, but also for the FM tuner.
When I got the Krell Cipher, I connected that with Krell Cast Cables, primarily because I was able to keep my Tuner connected by the single balanced cable. But I also hooked up a second, 5.1 input to the Cipher using Transparent cable for the left and right and Maestro cable for all others. The people from Krell have been so helpful and supportive and I thought if they encouraged this, it was worth a shot. Surprising, for me, there is NO WAY one can sue the Cast outputs on the Cipher for the left and right of the 5.1 sound, you MUST use single ended cables. You can’t even use the balanced outs.
I then installed the Krell Cast cables to my left, right and center speaker.
In my opinion, without a doubt, the original configuration using Transparent balanced was better. The bass was clearer and not boomy, the details of the high end were clearer and more pronounced and the upper midrange was smoother.
In fact, I had EQed my system so that I could clearly hear and understand the center channel, which carries most of the dialogue. When using the Cast, I actually had trouble understanding the center channel and made it louder because the bass was so prevalent the center was drowned out.
Again, this hobby is fun for me, not my profession. I had the Cast cables on for 80 or so hours of use, perhaps a reviewer would have given them more time. NOT being the professional, I was NOT enjoying them so I switched back.
I did run the Cipher with Krell cast and single ended transparent. The bass was instantly and noticeable better with the Transparent. The upper mid-range almost sounded distorted with the Krell, but there is a caveat.
The Cipher, after about 30 hours of use, failed and refused to turn or give me back my Bill Evans SACD. So I cannot give you a complete review of that component, but I have run everything else I had through the Cast and the results were consistent.
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