QSA LANEDRI Series

Hi Steven,
Very glad yo see that there is a QSA Forum on WBF.
Congratulations!

QSA : My take on their expensive products

Threre has been another WBF thread on QSA fuses for some weeks already, but I still want to share with WBF brothers my personal audition/comparison experience. Disclaimer : I am NOT in anyway in the music/hifi industry in Hong Kong. I am only an audiophile and consumer. All WBF brothers who...

www.whatsbestforum.com

I think I wrote the first QSA review on WBF, back in 2012.

QSA : My take on their expensive products

Threre has been another WBF thread on QSA fuses for some weeks already, but I still want to share with WBF brothers my personal audition/comparison experience. Disclaimer : I am NOT in anyway in the music/hifi industry in Hong Kong. I am only an audiophile and consumer. All WBF brothers who...

www.whatsbestforum.com

May I ask you two questions?

Firstly, I notice on you website that QSA-Lanedri cables are being launched.

HOME | QSA LANEDRI

www.qsa-lanedri.com

May you tell us more about them?
What metals are employed and what special features do they have?

Secondly, several frds of mine in Hong Kong have bought QSA JitterPower.


Again, please tell the WBF members more about these series of accessories.

Many thanks!

Cheers,
CK

 

I have now tried the Gamma Infinity DC extension cable connected to my switch in a media closet that feeds the whole house including my 2-channel system in another room. I plugged it in yesterday and listened to music for 10 hours and said, hmmmm, I am not really hearing a difference. TBH, I did not expect to hear a difference as I still don't understand how a switch in another room can impact SQ.

My usual listening session is me on my computer with the music going. If I pick my head up, it is because I hear something that is different. This afternoon, I started listening again. After a couple of minutes, I looked up. Something changed. Was it the recording? I tried a few other songs, and I continued to say I was hearing something different and better. The only thing I could think of that caught my attention was the DC extension cable.

I have much more experimenting to do. I have two Ultimatum Infinity power cords that I am going to try on my Aries Cerat Mono amps that currently have the Gamma Infinity Power cords. I am then going to move the Gamma Infinity power cords to my Aries Cerat Aurora crossovers. Doing this will mean that I move the Ultimatum Infinity PC from my Niagra 1200 power conditioner that is in the Media closet, which is where the switch is. So many experiments still left to do.

 

Alpha-Audio review of the Ultimatum Infinity power cable
"...We have really never heard so much impact after changing a power cable."

 

I have now tried the Gamma Infinity DC extension cable connected to my switch in a media closet that feeds the whole house including my 2-channel system in another room. I plugged it in yesterday and listened to music for 10 hours and said, hmmmm, I am not really hearing a difference. TBH, I did not expect to hear a difference as I still don't understand how a switch in another room can impact SQ.

My usual listening session is me on my computer with the music going. If I pick my head up, it is because I hear something that is different. This afternoon, I started listening again. After a couple of minutes, I looked up. Something changed. Was it the recording? I tried a few other songs, and I continued to say I was hearing something different and better. The only thing I could think of that caught my attention was the DC extension cable.

I have much more experimenting to do. I have two Ultimatum Infinity power cords that I am going to try on my Aries Cerat Mono amps that currently have the Gamma Infinity Power cords. I am then going to move the Gamma Infinity power cords to my Aries Cerat Aurora crossovers. Doing this will mean that I move the Ultimatum Infinity PC from my Niagra 1200 power conditioner that is in the Media closet, which is where the switch is. So many experiments still left to do.

Dude what are you doing with a Niagara 1200 and a high end power cord? Those 1200s are a budget product. Replace it with a PSM156 at least

 

Dude what are you doing with a Niagara 1200 and a high end power cord? Those 1200s are a budget product. Replace it with a PSM156 at least

Dude
I have an Inakustic 4500P for my Aries Cerat system. The Niagra is simply for my theater room, which is plenty good enough for watching movies and sports.

 

Hi all,

Long time lurker here, I’m usually on Audiophilestyle forum, but for this post, it feels that this thread is relevant...

I would like to add my 2 cents on my experience with the QSA Lanedri (QSAL) Gamma infinity (GI) power cable (PC).

So… everything started when a dear friend and highly prominent member of this forum came to my place to check out my system.

My system is kind of original because it has a very complex network, a DIY Stromtank and other tricks like many large Ultracapacitors. Source is Auralic stack (Aries streamer g2.2, Sirius upsampler g2.1, Leo clock gx.1 (latest board update), and Vega DAC/preamp g2.2).

So when my friend came, he decided to bring the QSAL GI PC. At that time, I was using a combination of Cardas Clear Beyond and Audio Note Isis (with Oyaide 079 connectors).

I did hear from QSAL from this forum and through friends but to say I was skeptical of the somewhat insane claims is an understatement. In fact, I completely ignored the product line, writing it off as some kind of uber expensive, grossly overhyped voodoo.

We tried the QSAL GI PC on the Vega and to be completely honest, I had a little hard time to understand what happened. At first, the sound had some similarities to the AN Isis/Oyaide combo (a combo I chose after decades in hifi) but with much more realism and naturalness. Then I started to notice lower noise floor, better bass control and a much higher emotional reaction and engagement. The sound just became much more captivating, and much more present in the room and realistic.

The biggest shock was in fact when we removed the QSAL GI PC. Immediately the sound became much harder and much more digital sounding, and looser, noisier, with poorer bass. Almost unlistenable.

“You don’t know what you don’t know…”

It sounded really great before… so I thought… but then the removal of the QSAL GI PC was an eye opener and a shocker to say the least…

My friend left with the cable and… you might know the feeling - you just can’t unhear what you heard...

So I decided after a LOT of hesitation and procrastination to bite the bullet and contact QSAL to buy the GI PC.

At the same time period, I was in the middle of a mega PC test. I wanted to find the best PC for the Vega g2.2 DAC/preamp, with PCs costing from 1K up to the ~5-6K range. I tried 17 PCs including Audioquest, Cardas (incl. Clear and Clear Beyond), Inakustik, Nordost, Shunyata, Audio Note, and also cross checking with multiple versions of cheaper cables such as Olflex (which was mentioned by hifi advice).

Secretly, I was hoping to match or beat the GI PC… after all there’s a 30 day return policy… so it was there at home, and easy to compare all along with everything I could throw at it.

But for source, it became crystal clear that there are 2 worlds now: 1) all the PCs in one “big pile”, and 2) the QSAL GI PC. The “traditional” world of PC all kind of sound in a same universe of sound that we’re somewhat familiar with. Yes the material, geometry, connectors, dielectric etc etc vary but the sound ultimately stays within a range of “known”.

The QSAL GI PC is kind of “alien”. It sounds like nothing else. Nothing else comes close because it just sounds completely novel. It’s almost like it’s made of a new super material that’s not what we are used to hear. It’s not OFC, it’s not OCC (like Neotech), not silver or silver plated copper like the AQ Dragon or the like…. It sounds like a “super material”. Also it’s very strong on the source (preamp, DAC, server etc) and it - literally - reshapes and revoices the whole system in a major way. That’s very important to understand this part.

So what’s the sound like? If I had to pick one word: natural. Another one? Emotional engagement.

The impact is really going from listening to a recording to “realism” and “presence”.

You do get all the hifi stuff, a lot of it actually - like detail, low noise floor, low distortion… etc. But unlike hifi sounding stuff, it’s not what stands out.

What’s remarkable and what stands out - very strongly - is that it really makes the system before QSAL sound broken… because it’s so much more natural that it can’t be explained easily in words.

It’s not like any other PC, it should be seen as a very strong “device” that reshapes the system, in a way that’s so impactful that I can’t think about a clear path to create the same sound. Other than a major DAC change BUT in fact even this just wouldn’t sound the same when it comes to naturalness because of the uniqueness of the QSAL technology. It’s like trying to create an EV with an ICE vehicle. It’s so different it just can’t be copied any other way than having access to that new tech.

It’s like you need to rethink hifi and forget about boxes for a moment… just focus on results… and IMHO then you can really appreciate the impact of QSAL.

So what if… what if all those claims were true? In my experience, I could not beat the GI PC (on source components) after testing 17 PCs in my last personal mega test going up to 5-6K.

So I bought the GI PC. And yes, I love it. And it’s worth every penny…

But then.. the virus and addiction started… stay tuned …

PS: Anas has a new internal burn in procedure so my GI PC is going through this as we speak. I’ll report back….

 

Congrats and a really great read! Look forward to reading the next installment after the new burn in is done and the GI PC comes back.

 

Dear Hificlips
As Anas has stated over and over again, each QSA-L will be additive in sound benefits. Congrats on #1. Looking forward to your thoughts on #2 and where you place it. I have 5 Ultimatum Infinity PC's. The results, along with my QSA-L Ultimatum Infinity speaker cables, are over-the-top good

 

Golly!! I can’t imagine. I - literally - can’t. Nobody can. You have to experience it. Only then you will understand that “something” which is new. It’s new, nobody heard it, nobody knows, until you hear it.

 

@Hificlips, thanks for sharing you system and thoughts on your QSA Landri journey. Going forward it’s going to be a fun experience! Hope I didn’t get you into trouble too much…

As @Willgolf says above it’s an additive process - with each addition of a QSAL cable the sound character you mentioned moves in the same direction you experienced. And like you say it’s hard to unhear the natural realism once experienced.

 

Look intetesting. But $4000 power cords are hard to swallow.

 

Another QSA Lanedri (QSAL) cable I want to report on is i2s/HDMI.

Currently, I use an Auralic stack, which is connected with “Lightning link” proprietary connection - this uses an HDMI cable.

Surprised after the QSAL power cable experiment, I exchanged a few emails with Anas and he ultimately agreed to loan me a QSA Lanedri (QSAL) HDMI gamma infinity (GI) cable - along with a few others as well that I might report on at a later time.

So this time around I want to be very clear that, as opposed to the QSAL GI power cable (PC) which I bought and decided to keep (in fact I treasure it), the QSAL HDMI is a loan. In addition, as of now, I did NOT buy the QSAL HDMI cable. Lastly, I receive no financial compensation from QSAL (or QSA). I also want to be clear that this is my honest opinion based on my testing. YMMV.

First, I have been on the quest for the best HDMI cable for i2s and the Auralic stack for years. No different than the PCs. I tried so many I can’t count or remember but it includes: AQ Diamond, AQ Dragon, Ricable, Supra, a number of HDMI optical cables, Belden, TONS of Amazon ones I can’t even recall, a custom made Duelund one (that I imported from Singapore if I recall), one made of pure silver, another one made from Cardas wire (forget the name right at this time).

Among all those, I ended up preferring the AQ Dragon.

So I put the QSAL HDMI cable and at first again it’s hard to really understand the difference because you don’t get any obvious hifi “wiz-bang” type of effect compared to the AQ Dragon.

The first thing that struck me, compared to the Dragon, is voices. They came across as more dense, more human and natural. More real and emotional. Also I noticed the guitar sounds were tonally more accurate. Things sounded just more real and believable.

Because of that, I feel like the “unconscious” workload on the brain decreases and there’s more natural emotional engagement. Less mental stress. It’s just more pleasing, because it’s more natural, and more realistic, with very good presence.

I let the QSAL GI HDMI sit and burn in, enjoyed the music and frankly forgot it and got used to it.

But then for testing I decided to remove it.

At first it was like - OK the sound didn’t collapse or anything. The AQ Dragon can keep up (I mean… this cable is widely considered as one of the best HDMI cable on the market).

But within a few songs, something was off. Tone, timbre, organic sound, naturalness…. Those were clearly impacted, and negatively.

So much so that my wife was like “something is wrong”. QSAL strikes again…. Things once again were much less listenable…. digital… grating… abrasive - but in comparison, head to head only. You would never have known.

So I had to put the QSAL HDMI back… and the “Music” simply came back. No way I feel like going back to the Dragon.

My advice? If you want the best HDMI cable and can afford it, based on my testing, I recommend to test AQ Dragon vs. QSAL. Those are the best 2 I could find. At that level, take your time, and may the best win…

In my system, the QSAL is clearly the more organic, natural and emotionally engaging of the 2. IMHO. YMMV.

 

It's been 3 weeks since Anas sent me the QSA Landri USB cable and it has been in my system since. I think I have just under 200 hours of use on them now and so they have mostly settled in. My previous cable was my long time favourite Pink Faun Ultra USB which itself surpassed the Habst Ultra III USB. Physically I found the cable look understated, a relatively thin wire with s simple outer black wrap. Only a third the girth of my Pink Faun or Habst. Conductors and power not individually wrap or separated at all. Just a simple, black braided, flexible cable with only the QSA Landri print on the heat shrink suggesting something special within.

But cutting to the chase, it is good sounding. Very good sounding in fact and has exceeded my Pink Faun Ultra cable, something I didn't think was possible. At the current time, the sound is really gorgeous. I use vocals as the main guide since other musical instruments can sound different depending on the instrument and recording locations. But vocals either sound like a real person or not for me. In this case I found the vocal emotional engagement to be very high from the details and amazing 3D imaging. Subtle breathing techniques and full enunciation of the singer of many tracks was so detailed. I heard more 3D effect from slightly more forward at the centre and slightly further back around the sides giving a rounded effect of the singer. This USB cable has these characteristics more than I have ever heard in any USB cable.

I also found imaging and placement of sounds so clear with correct amount of tightness to the bass and heft making it full bodied but not slow. Complex arrangements unravelled in this way is such a joy to listen to. Effortless.

Any drawbacks I found? Perhaps less able to portray the weight of the air and murmur of a live recording, a warmer thicker sounding cable might have an advantage if one is looking for this.

For this USB cable, I recommend to listen to it only after a full burn. My listening notes going back to the earlier stages of the burn shows the sound changes quite a bit and might be easily written off as a thin, harder sounding cable than it really is. Soundstage isn't as open and full sized orchestral music isn't as impressive as it actually is.

But once the cable settles, you'll know. The QSAL house sound of engagement and natural musicality is so obvious. A great wire Anas, bravo and thanks!