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’ve ordered the Infinity Lan for audio but am also really interested to study it’s effect on the color-calibrated monitor I use for my photography editing (in Photoshop).

Beyond color and resolution, I’m most interested to see if there’s a positive effect on the multitude of very subtle gradations of gray between pure white and pure black. This can be seen on a gray scale chart.

And then I want to see it’s effect on the subtle gradations of color and tone of images in nature — from tree bark to stone to water, etc….

The biggest lesson I learned in printing photographs of nature is that while editing the images on the monitor, or through proof prints, was to always look out the window or walk outside to re-callibrate my eye/brain to what is real. The problem this overcomes is the tendency of our visual perception to settle into a “new normal.” This new normal can result in over-saturated, over sharp, contrasty and VIVID images that have strayed from the subtle reality of the natural world. This is what you typically see on the TV displays in Best Buy, for instance. They do it to get your attention and to evoke the WOW response.

I think the above can relate to how we perceive audio. The equivalent in audio to the above described re-calibration to the visual natural involve a lot more effort ( than looking out the window) —such as going to hear live acoustic music or to listen to someone’s natural sounding system.

Please share your findings. We would be interested to hear them (good and bad). In my system, the improvement with both video and audio are dramatic. Be aware, however, during the burn-in period, you will see fluctuations, some that may initially be unpleasant. Also, as these cables offer you a "new normal", you might indeed find yourself surprised by what might seem like an exaggerated brightness, contrast level, color saturation, and vividness that may require another calibration but the end result should be superior to what you had before.

 

I ordered LAN infinity so will test it on both Audio and Oled tv. I trust your ears.
I hope you are right so I can get more of them.
I found that a good LAN cable can be much more important than power cable in my system.
What DAC cable you treated with QSA ?
is it the same Taiko will provide with switch and net card ?
I will be interested in treating my DAC cable with QSA.

We treated this 7m DAC and are waiting to test it. This cable was discussed with Emile and he said it was a suitable cable for use with his switch and NIC.

 

Thanks MB.
I am in the UK and I cannot recall ever seeing a UK or Eu power cable not fitted with a fuse, or a Japanese component.
Many years ago I used some Nordost power cables and to the best of my recollections they were all fitted with fuses.
Our mains supply is 230 volts as opposed to the 110 volts in the USA which might have a bearing on the position, but it rather suggests that fitting a fuse to power cables is required in the UK and the EU possibly in other countries

I could be wrong but as far as I was aware, EU power cables don't contain a fuse. Same thing with power cords in Japan (and other Asian countries). It was my understanding that only the UK power cords have fuses.

 

@Barry2013 I think many audio folks outside the US think we are on 120 volts here, because the gear you see for "our" market is 120.

Actually, there is a 220 volt supply to the home (would be hard to find a home without 220, I think), but only major appliances would run a 220v line for operation. Most devices do run on 120 v current, and the outlets at the wall are 120.

So, 220 volts from the street, down the outside wall, and to the panel, and the electricians split up the lines to distribute the load to both phases. So big appliances pull a load from each phase...for 220.

 

I could be wrong but as far as I was aware, EU power cables don't contain a fuse. Same thing with power cords in Japan (and other Asian countries). It was my understanding that only the UK power cords have fuses.

Thank you again.
You may well be right, but that foreign made power cables exported to the UK, and probably the EU, are required to conform to UK electrical safety regulations through our customs regulations.
QSA would be well advised to check this out to avoid any potential failure to meet UK/EU regulations.

 

Thank you again.
You may well be right, but that foreign made power cables exported to the UK, and probably the EU, are required to conform to UK electrical safety regulations through our customs regulations.
QSA would be well advised to check this out to avoid any potential failure to meet UK/EU regulations.

Yes, agree totally.

 

@Barry2013 I think many audio folks outside the US think we are on 120 volts here, because the gear you see for "our" market is 120.

Actually, there is a 220 volt supply to the home (would be hard to find a home without 220, I think), but only major appliances would run a 220v line for operation. Most devices do run on 120 v current, and the outlets at the wall are 120.

So, 220 volts from the street, down the outside wall, and to the panel, and the electricians split up the lines to distribute the load to both phases. So big appliances pull a load from each phase...for 220.

Thank you again MB.
I am now clearer on the situation in the US.

 

Thank you again MB.
I am now clearer on the situation in the US.

I suspect they put a QSA 13amp fuse in! Another reason for QSA cables!

 

I have watched with fascination as positive, one might even say ecstatic, reports trickled in about QSA products over the last year or so. Now that Lanedri is up and running, I took the plunge. It might be useful for others to know what I have heard in the first 48 hours. I plan on doing a much more comprehensive report in February -- I leave for a 12-day holiday tomorrow and I want to get everything more fully burned in and do more detailed comparisons. But here are some very early first impressions, on a listening session by listening session basis.

I first inserted a Gamma Revelation power cord between the wall and my Shunyata Everest conditioner. This replaced a Shunyata Sigma v2 XC power cord. After only five hours of digital music, I listened and heard a very closed in, dynamically constricted sound. Really no emotional engagement at all.

I then inserted three more QSA cables: 1) a Gamma Revelation power cord on the Sean Jacobs DC4 ARC6 power supply that powers my Chord DAVE (replacing a Shunyata Alpha v2 NR); 2) a Gamma Revelation power cord on my Crayon CFA 1.2 integrated amp (replacing a Shunyata Alpha v2 NR); and 3) Gamma Infinity speaker cables between the Crayon amp and my Devore Gibbon X speakers (replacing Daedalus/WyWires speaker cables). The following listening sessions ensued:

2 hours after inserting the three QSA cables discussed above (and about 17 hours after the initial power cord was inserted): positive signs of clarity and purity but again no significant emotional connection;

8-10 hours after everything in: better emotional connection but still not compelling; wanting more density and body;

22 hours: first goosebumps; well-recorded music really shines; has it now surpassed my old cabling?

30 hours: oh yes, it has definitely surpassed the old; beauty and refinement now very apparent; bass has tensile strength; complaints about body, density, weight starting to fall by the wayside

48 hours: Up until now, all listening had been with digital and with my Taiko Extreme powered by an untreated Sablon Prince power cord.

I now switched to vinyl. My analog setup is a TW Acustic Raven One turntable with TW Acustic 10.5 tonearm and Myajima Shilable cart feeding a Crayon phono stage. The phono stage is powered by a Paul Hynes SR5-DR48 custom power supply. Previously, I had used either a Shunyata Alpha v2 NR or older but high quality Audience power cord on the Paul Hynes power supply. I replaced these with the Gamma Revelation power cord that I had been using to power my Sean Jacobs power supply.

This was a WOW listening session. I listened to the following albums: Coleman Hawkins & His Confreres; Rickie Lee Jones (debut); Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; and Cecile McLorin Salvant’s The Window. I have never heard these albums sound better. This is the type of change I might expect going to a much better, much more expensive phono stage (the Crayon is not very well known, but it is no slouch). I could go on with lots of descriptors but I'd rather leave that to a more comprehensive review -- right now I need to pack for my holiday even though I really want to listen to more vinyl!

 

I suspect they put a QSA 13amp fuse in! Another reason for QSA cables!

Thanks Lloyd.
Yes they do seem to be something special from the reports we have had from early adopters.
Assuming they do have to fit a fuse for UK use I wonder if they provide an option to specify a higher grade QSA fuse at an extra cost.
I, and I am sure, other potential UK buyers would find it helpful if QSA were to address these points through this thread

 

I imagine anything is possible. Airt is the importer of QSA, and Landeri clearly have their own relationship with QSA (as well as with Sablon Audio)...so between these I imagine you are fully covered!

 

Thanks Lloyd.
Yes they do seem to be something special from the reports we have had from early adopters.
Assuming they do have to fit a fuse for UK use I wonder if they provide an option to specify a higher grade QSA fuse at an extra cost.
I, and I am sure, other potential UK buyers would find it helpful if QSA were to address these points through this thread

QSA-Lanedri represent's QSA's line of cables that have received QSA treatment and is a subset of QSA. It represents an exclusive partnership between QSA (based in Hong Kong) and Anas Lanedri (based in Belgium). As such, you cannot order QSA-Lanedri cables directly from QSA nor can you order any of QSA's other products like fuses, outlets, and mini circuit breakers from QSA-Lanedri. I hope this provides some clarity. In a sense, the two entities operate independently.

I was involved with the R&D of virtually the entire cable line (headphone cables excluded) for QSA-Lanedri and I can assure you that nothing about the QSA-Lanedri line of cables involves fuses. With this line of cables, QSA's proprietary treatment was applied to the cables themselves (from tip to tip) and while I am incapable of describing to you what this treatment entails, it reportedly involves a permanent alteration of the conductor at a quantum level. If people are describing a transformative experience with a QSA-Lanedri cable, it has absolutely zero to do with a fuse.

If your power cables house a fuse, there's obviously an opportunity there to add a QSA fuse with expected improvements but QSA-Lanedri have not thus far treated any cables that house a fuse. As I said, to my understanding, outside of the U.K., I am unaware of any other country that has this requirement and since none of our test group is based in the U.K., we have yet to test such a cable. If you are dead set on a QSA-treated power cable made specifically for the UK power grid with UK-style wall plugs that integrate a requisite fuse, at this time I believe you will be limited to the Spectra series and specifically the Sablon Prince which has had QSA treatment applied to it. To your good fortune, this power cord is manufactured in England and Mark Coles, the manufacturer should be able to provide you with a proper cable that meets your country's requirements. Moreover, a treated Sablon Prince is an incredible sounding power cable and is thus far the finest power cable I have personally experienced although I have yet to hear a treated Sablon King or the Ultimatum prototype which should surpass the performance of the Prince. Should you go this route, you are welcome to experiment with fuses in the power cord and we would welcome having you share your experience but you would have to obtain a QSA fuse on your own. QSA fuses cannot be ordered through QSA-Lanedri.

 

1. The QSA LANEDRI GAMMA Series: based on our R&D, we selected the Iconoclast and the Blue Jeans Cables as the base products for this Series.

Welcome to WBF!

What was it about the Iconoclast cables that you found physically or sonically attractive as the base for your process?

Which model of the Iconoclast interconnects are you using? How did you choose this model over the other one?

 

QSA-Lanedri represent's QSA's line of cables that have received QSA treatment and is a subset of QSA. It represents an exclusive partnership between QSA (based in Hong Kong) and Anas Lanedri (based in Belgium). As such, you cannot order QSA-Lanedri cables directly from QSA nor can you order any of QSA's other products like fuses, outlets, and mini circuit breakers from QSA-Lanedri. I hope this provides some clarity. In a sense, the two entities operate independently.

I was involved with the R&D of virtually the entire cable line (headphone cables excluded) for QSA-Lanedri and I can assure you that nothing about the QSA-Lanedri line of cables involves fuses. With this line of cables, QSA's proprietary treatment was applied to the cables themselves (from tip to tip) and while I am incapable of describing to you what this treatment entails, it reportedly involves a permanent alteration of the conductor at a quantum level. If people are describing a transformative experience with a QSA-Lanedri cable, it has absolutely zero to do with a fuse.

If your power cables house a fuse, there's obviously an opportunity there to add a QSA fuse with expected improvements but QSA-Lanedri have not thus far treated any cables that house a fuse. As I said, to my understanding, outside of the U.K., I am unaware of any other country that has this requirement and since none of our test group is based in the U.K., we have yet to test such a cable. If you are dead set on a QSA-treated power cable made specifically for the UK power grid with UK-style wall plugs that integrate a requisite fuse, at this time I believe you will be limited to the Spectra series and specifically the Sablon Prince which has had QSA treatment applied to it. To your good fortune, this power cord is manufactured in England and Mark Coles, the manufacturer should be able to provide you with a proper cable that meets your country's requirements. Moreover, a treated Sablon Prince is an incredible sounding power cable and is thus far the finest power cable I have personally experienced although I have yet to hear a treated Sablon King or the Ultimatum prototype which should surpass the performance of the Prince. Should you go this route, you are welcome to experiment with fuses in the power cord and we would welcome having you share your experience but you would have to obtain a QSA fuse on your own. QSA fuses cannot be ordered through QSA-Lanedri.

Super clear! Thank you.

 

Romaz thank you very much for such a helpful reply.
Yes Mark at Sablon looks the best bet for a UK compatible Lanedri power cable and I can source a QSA fuse here in the UK to add to those I already have in my system
He may if he sees this thread be able to advise us more fully, but I can always send him a PM if he is currently otherwise engaged.
Thank you again

 

Welcome to WBF!

What was it about the Iconoclast cables that you found physically or sonically attractive as the base for your process?

Which model of the Iconoclast interconnects are you using? How did you choose this model over the other one?

Ron, I will attempt to answer this since I was responsible for introducing Iconoclast and Blue Jeans Cable to the QSA-Lanedri line. Since Iconoclast and BJC are based in the U.S. and Anas is based in Belgium, he had no prior experience with either company. There are several reasons I found them to be attractive and I will offer a brief summary of a few of these reasons. Anas can add to this if he wishes.

1. As we did our R&D, we realized that QSA's treatment works optimally with lower purity wire. As we applied treatment to the exotic cables of various manufacturers, we could improve those cables but it seemed that when treatment was applied to inexpensive lower purity wire, the impact of treatment was much more significant. Very few cable manufacturers offer a line with high purity wire and another line with low purity wire while keeping all the other design elements constant (such as geometry, air-dielectric, shielding, etc). It turns out that Iconoclast does and so their cables were an ideal platform for testing and indeed, we found that by applying treatment to their cables with lower purity 3N ETP copper, we could get better results than by treating the same cable that used the much more expensive ultrapure OCC copper. And so this is quite ironic and why this path is unique -- while other manufacturers go out of their way to seek the highest purity (and most expensive) conductors possible, we are intentionally seeking out the wire that is at the bottom of the barrel. While it's obvious the BOM for our starting materials is low, as I stated before these cables serve merely as vehicles for what we believe is most important and that is the QSA treatment that is applied.

2. The larger the mass of conductor, the greater the impact of QSA's treatment. Using analog interconnects as an example, while the performance of analog interconnects are not predicated on large mass conductors like speaker cables and power cords, the design principles of Iconoclast's 4x4 XLR interconnect happened to incorporate a larger mass of conductor than usual. Combined with their use of an air-dielectric (which we found to be sonically important especially with interconnects) and the ability to order these interconnects with low purity copper, we felt this to be an ideal interconnect candidate for treatment and indeed, once treated, it surpassed the sonic performance of another manufacturer's $30k set of interconnects. Prior to treatment, this was not the case. It really is a Cinderella story.

3. To those who aren't aware, Iconoclast Cable and Blue Jeans Cable are separate companies but they are related. The people at Blue Jeans Cable do all the assembly for Iconoclast's cables and both have ties with Belden, a giant company, and so they have access to various Belden resources which give them the ability, for example, to offer measurements using sophisticated and expensive measuring equipment that most small companies wouldn't have access to. This puts them in a position to offer no-nonsense products based on solid engineering and this has always impressed me. Iconoclast, for example, provides you with the L, C, and R measurements for each and every interconnect and speaker cable that they sell you. Who else does this? BJC is famous for providing you with bandwidth measurements for each LAN cable that you buy from them to verify that they meet spec. They also offer important small touches like the ability to ultrasonically weld their connectors onto their speaker cables without needing to resort to solder. Just as importantly, my experience with their workmanship has also been excellent and they really seem to stand behind everything they sell.

There is more to the story but these are examples of why certain manufacturers and certain cables were incorporated into the line. The cables in the QSA-Lanedri line really are unique as there is nothing in the industry like them.

 

There is a group of audiophiles who prefer integrated components. I have friends who have moved from the Chord Dave to a Vinnie Rossie DAC-Pre-Power all-in-one, with the idea that the signal path is shorter, and you're not bottlenecked by a weaker DAC analog stage. I have no experience with such integrateds, and the closest I've come is owning pre-power integrated components. The Pass Lab XA-25 I owned, for example, was extremely difficult to pair, being very transparent, and was capable of sounding both thin or full depending on the upstream. The INT-25 was much more balanced, musical, and wholly enjoyable, and I later bought one after selling the XA-25 for this reason. At current, the only integrated component I own is an Ear Yoshino V12, which, if I'm being honest, I bought as much for its looks as for its sound. Now that Tim de Paravicini, founder of EAR Yoshino, has passed away (in 2020), I have all the more reason to keep this as the last flagship integrated he ever built.

This weekend, I endeavoured to try the Gamma Infinity on the Ear V12 because as an integrated, I could simply move the preamp Gamma Infinity to the Ear V12 and so have my entire analog front-end powered by QSA Lanedri. In the past, I had not used this integrated as much because while it had great tone, it seemed to lack just a bit on micro-detail compared to the other amps that I owned. With the QSA Lanedri, findings were interesting. The sound was beautiful, layered, with a focus on refined air and decay. It was also suitably full and organic. The separation is top-notch. Interestingly, it does all this without sounding slow or smeared- which more decay sometimes has the effect of doing.

Switching back to the AET Evidence, the sound sounds almost immediately devoid of vitamins- I hear the vocals, the mids, and only very light music surrounding it. Gone is the organic tone of the QSA Lanedri. The difference is so stark it is not merely one of a change in the emotional involvement; it seems to almost be losing music in the process. However the AET does bring something else to the party- due to the complete lack of decay and airy detail, every microdetail in the main harmonic can be heard in a spotlessly clean way- like a quiet raw studio recording with no autotune. Poorly recorded pop music on the AET also sounds almost like 'better quality radio'- which reminds me of why I loved it in the first place. There is a junk-food like quality to good music that you hear over the radio; you know it's bad, but you can't resist it nonetheless. In contrast, the Gamma Infinity makes even clipped pop music sound lightly refined and more subtle, like brushing your teeth in the morning.

99% of my music is poorly record pop music in Redbook. The last 1% consists of the rare occasion when this lousy pop gets released in 96/24. I listen to nothing higher quality than that. My music tends to sound harsh and clipped; bandwidth-limited, and all of my audiophile choices have gone into making this specifically sound good. For example, early on I found huge gains in network improvements- adding 2 Melco switch's made the treble more listenable, and I was able to swap everything out for the most ruthlessly revealing components without fatigue, yet letting me hear much deeper into the music. Similarly, pre-processing my music with PGGB 256 has been a godsend, allowing me to make my pop music sound refined, calibrated, and bringing out the missing micro-detail.

The QSA Lanedri has a similar type of impact. It sounds like it has a lower noise floor. This allows the music to retain a higher signal to noise ratio, and lets the precious limited signal from my choice of music shine through better. Some of my friends tell me that the Gamma Lan cable has an even bigger influence on the sound than the power cord; and given my experience in the past on how quieter networks can totally transform my system, I'm not surprised. BTW, in my experience, plenty of other components have a lower noise floor- they just unfortunately tend to chop off some of the long-tail of micro-signal together with that noise. These low-noise components tend to sound dark and 'musical', and I can't stress enough how much I hate them. So far I'm hearing none of that from the Gamma Infinity.

Swapping back to my AET however shows one thing- with the QSA Lanedri, the better SnR ratio will let so much more music come through that you may have to reevaluate the way you enjoy your music. In my case, my mind is processing so much more decay and air that I'm hearing the main sounds differently as well.

 

I could be wrong but as far as I was aware, EU power cables don't contain a fuse. Same thing with power cords in Japan (and other Asian countries). It was my understanding that only the UK power cords have fuses.

I confirm.
There are no fuses here in power cables.
There might be specific requirements of use in UK as they have different regulatins.

 

There has been a lot of feedback from people on relative impact of adding more and more QSA products in the chain. I have found -- unfortunately for my wallet -- that they really do "stack" and the results are not diminishing returns but the opposite. Now I understand what @QSA-LANEDRI has been saying to some of us for some time.

Because I had 2 20A Gamma Infinity cables, as a test I stacked each into a power conditioner like so:

Outlet > 20A Gamma Infinity > Sound Applications PGI 120 > 20A Gamma Infinity > Inakustik 4500 Power Conditioner > 15A Gamma Infinity cables into Extreme and Koda Preamp. The impact of stacking the two cables and conditioners was not small. I have listened to both of these conditioners and they are both really good but the difference between them is much much smaller for me compared to the difference of chaining the QSA cables.

Yesterday, I also tried a pair of Benchmark AHB2 monos over my PureAudio Duo Stereo Amp. I have 2 QSA Silver fuses inside the PureAudio as it is dual mono. The Benchmarks have 2 fuses per amp so I would need 4 fuses to QSA them or 2 power cables...which I'm not sure is the best use of funds given this phenomenon. Now, people love the Benchmarks but the PureAudio (with the QSA fuses) is just so much better and it is exactly better in that QSA sound way. The impact of pulling it in or out of my system NOW with those other QSA products in the chain was much greater than before I had the Lanedri cables. Like @jelt2359 said, the difference was one sounded like real music and the other didn't. That was not the difference level before. I don't understand what is really going on here but I think they support the the cumulative effects of QSA stacking.

 

The impact of pulling it in or out of my system NOW with those other QSA products in the chain was much greater than before I had the Lanedri cables. Like @jelt2359 said, the difference was one sounded like real music and the other didn't. That was not the difference level before. I don't understand what is really going on here but I think they support the the cumulative effects of QSA stacking.

Interesting findings!