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

 

Here are my observations. I currently have QSA outlets, a Jitter, and now a complete loom of QSA-Lanedri power cables powering each of my most important components.

The efficacy of QSA treatment is predicated on a variety of factors including:

1) Level of treatment applied. With respect to outlets, fuses, and Jitters, as you go up the line (...Red, Red-Black, Silver, Gold), the level of treatment has been intensified and so the impact of treatment is greater. With respect to QSA-Lanedri cables, there are currently only 2 levels of treatment and that is Revelation and Infinity.

2) Mass of conductor. The larger the mass of conductor that QSA treatment is applied to, the greater the impact of treatment. You already know what treating a Power Jitter sounds like since you have one. The mass of conductor in that Jitter is roughly the same as in an outlet is my guess. The mass of conductor in a 10awg power cable is significantly greater and in a 6awg power cable is greater still. This is why even for a tiny device that draws 1-2 watts, powering it with a 6awg Spectra power cable can result in massive improvement. Should you ever hear the impact of an Ultimatum speaker cable, which is comprised of massive 4/0 (0000) AWG conductor, you will understand why QSA went to great lengths to use wire like this because the level of improvement is almost beyond words to describe.

3) Proximity to component. The closer a QSA-treated product is to a component, the greater the effect. This is why something like a fuse which has only a small amount of conductor can have such a significant impact since it sits at the heart of a component. Your Jitter is so much further upstream that it's impact should be less but because it has so much more conductor, the net impact is probably roughly the same (probably greater). Between an outlet and a Jitter, while they probably have roughly the same amount of conductive material, because the Jitter is closer to the component, it probably has an overall greater effect. I have both a QSA outlet and a Jitter and that is my assessment.

Adding QSA-treated items to your audio chain will have an additive impact. If you score the relative net impact of an outlet as a 3, as an example, then the relative impact of a Jitter might be a 3.5, a fuse somewhere between a 3-3.5, and a power cable a 10, then you can expect the overall impact to have a magnitude of all of those things added together. If you go Red, the magnitude of impact will be less than Red-Black which would be less than Silver. There is no penalty for mixing Red and Silver. Same thing with Revelation and Infinity. The impact will be additive and there seems to be no saturation effect or diminishing law of return. This tells you how damaging conductors are, that if you replace standard conductor with treated conductor, you are essentially stripping away some of the damage they are causing and the higher the level of treatment applied to the conductor, the more damage you are stripping away resulting in greater conductance (as evidenced by the improved dynamics), lower distortion (as evidenced by greater clarity and transparency) and whatever else QSA treatment may be accomplishing. Whether QSA treatment is filtering noise, I don't know, but noise floor seems considerably lower. Again, these are my conjectures. I have no measurements but these things are very easy to hear.

As you've now dipped your toes into QSA waters and have some understanding of what this treatment can offer in the form of something as tiny as a Jitter, the challenge now is how to get the most bang for your buck with your next QSA item. The benefits of a QSA outlet or in your case, a QSA Jitter that feeds your line conditioner is that these things benefit your system globally. With a QSA-Lanedri power cable, that cable benefits the component it is directly attached to but because it is closer proximity to that component and has considerably greater mass of conductor, as you might guess, the impact is greater. Much greater. If you use such a cable to directly power your Horizon, I'm willing to bet you will think Lampizator had come up with a version 2 of your DAC. Same with your Aries Cerat amps. The impact should not be subtle, especially with the Spectra line. If you use the QSA-Lanedri power cable to power your line conditioner, it will improve everything plugged into your line conditioner. If you value each of the components plugged into your line conditioner equally, this is a good way to go. If there is a component that you value above all else, it would make sense to perhaps apply the power cable to that component. Regardless, the impact of a QSA-Lanedri power cable, especially a Spectra, will be far greater than what you will get with a Jitter, outlet, or fuse.

Thank you so much for your detailed response. Having just learned of this thread last night, it is intriguing. The issue for me is that I just purchased a full loom of Hijiri Power Cords and Cables which were not cheap.
I am thinking maybe of trying the Ultimate Infinity Speaker cable. I have been pondering about buying new speakers but maybe the QSA cable will satisfy my need to find better sound.

May I ask what color Outlet and Jitter you are using.

 

Has anyone A/B compared the Ultimate Series Speaker Cables between the Revelation Line and the Infinity line? It sounds like the infinity line is magical. However, I am not in the financial capacity at this time to necessarily go all in. How much difference is there? I just learned about this thread yesterday so I am late to the party and if possible would like to take advantage of the intro pricing. I need a day or two to brace my wife for the cost.

I have the Ultimatum speaker cables now with Revelation treatment. They're the finest speaker cables I've ever heard for my Wilson Alexia Series 2 speakers by a big margin and so no complaints. If this is what you end up buying, QSA-Lanedri guarantees that you will love them or just return them. I have the Ultimatum speaker cables with Infinity treatment on their way to me now. I should have them by next week and so I can't tell you how they compare yet but I have been able to compare Revelation vs Infinity with respect to power cords and interconnects. Infinity treatment in general sounds more lifelike with respect to density and weight and it's something you appreciate even at low volumes. What is important is these improvements do not come at the expense of speed or air which is what often happens. For example, I have never heard a piano track sound more realistic with respect to weight before I inserted my Spectra Infinity power cables to my monoblocks and yet the clarity and definition between notes is amazing. I expect that level of realism will climb another level once the Ultimatum Infinity speaker cables arrive. Of all the QSA-Lanedri cables I currently own, the Ultimatum speaker cables are the most impactful.

 

Thank you so much for your detailed response. Having just learned of this thread last night, it is intriguing. The issue for me is that I just purchased a full loom of Hijiri Power Cords and Cables which were not cheap.
I am thinking maybe of trying the Ultimate Infinity Speaker cable. I have been pondering about buying new speakers but maybe the QSA cable will satisfy my need to find better sound.

May I ask what color Outlet and Jitter you are using.

I have 2 Silver outlets and 1 Silver Jitter.

 

I have QSA red and red-black fuses in all my gear except a Hynes 5v LPS (see sig). What is the difference between the Revelation and Infinity lines? What gauge are their power cords? I currently use a full loom of WyWires Diamonds, plus a PAD Neptune coax. If I don’t like Sablon, or at least the Reseerva power cords of several years ago, which I returned, am I likely to appreciate the QSA Revelation or Infinity? A well controlled live sound can be appealing — I’ve had it recently with Reflektor 6N23P Silver Shields in a VAC preamp — but I find it uninvolving on most recordings. I prefer a little warmth.

 

I have QSA red and red-black fuses in all my gear except a Hynes 5v LPS (see sig). What is the difference between the Revelation and Infinity lines? What gauge are their power cords? I currently use a full loom of WyWires Diamonds, plus a PAD Neptune coax. If I don’t like Sablon, or at least the Reseerva power cords of several years ago, which I returned, am I likely to appreciate the QSA Revelation or Infinity? A well controlled live sound can be appealing — I’ve had it recently with Reflektor 6N23P Silver Shields in a VAC preamp — but I find it uninvolving on most recordings. I prefer a little warmth.

If your system sounds tonally cold and you're looking for cables to fix it by adding warmth, the QSA-Lanedri cables are probably not for you. If your system is already sounding satisfyingly warm but you're looking for cables that will add even more warmth, again, it's probably best to look elsewhere because these cables are not designed to alter the tonal balance of your system. But to be fair, I doubt Alex Sventitsky will admit to designing his WyWyres to sound warm. Same thing with Jim Aud and his PAD cables. Most manufacturers will generally strive to produce equipment that is transparent and gets out of the way and that, imo, is the signature of QSA-Lanedri cables. Of course, transparency is a relative term and imo, QSA-Lanedri cables take it to a whole other level.

As for a "well controlled live sound" being uninvolving on most recordings, the fault here should be blamed on the quality of the recordings you're listening to if your system is doing its job and getting out of the way. I've never been to the symphony and wished I was at home listening to my hifi instead because the live performance I was hearing was uninvolving or because the concert hall lacked warmth. Real is real and if what you're after is an idealized Photoshopped version that sounds "better" than the real thing, then you're on you're own because it is unlikely that any manufacturer will be able to guess what it is you're after.

The fact that you have QSA fuses in almost all of your gear would suggest that you like what QSA treatment offers (and it's not warmth). QSA treatment on a power cord sounds very much like your QSA fuse but amped up to a far greater level. While the impact of a QSA fuse and QSA-Lanedri power cord are additive, the QSA-Lanedri power cord is just in a different league for the reasons already mentioned in a prior post. Also, as previously mentioned, Revelation vs Infinity with a QSA-Lanedri cable is like Red vs Red-Black with your QSA fuses. They represent different levels of treatment, they have nothing to do with wire gauge. If you can appreciate that there is a significant sonic gap between your Red and Red-Black fuse, then you have some understanding already how Revelation and Infinity are different.

Lastly, as I mentioned in my opening series of posts: "The magic that you will hear with the QSA-Lanedri line of cables has very little to do with the cables themselves. The cable is merely a vehicle for what is most important and that is the QSA treatment process. The cables that are being offered were chosen because they have properties that lend themselves to optimally manifesting the QSA process." If QSA-Lanedri has chosen a specific cable for inclusion in its line, it has nothing to do with how it sounded before treatment but how that cable is transformed after treatment.

 

Hi Blackmorec,

Our position is not to discuss the QSA technology as any discussion at whatever level will lead to more questions.

The QSA technology is an enabler for achieving the ultimate goal of improving audio and video quality to unprecedented level that were never achieved at any price and the QSA Lanedri brand is created to share the joy of this audio and video experiences with the world.

We intend that this forum is all about sharing those QSA Lanedri experiences allowing all of us to learn and for whomever interested to be part of this QSA Lanedri journey.

So I’m guessing that if it cant be talked about, there’s nothing covered by patents? Is that correct?

 

another

If your system sounds tonally cold and you're looking for cables to fix it by adding warmth, the QSA-Lanedri cables are probably not for you. If your system is already sounding satisfyingly warm but you're looking for cables that will add even more warmth, again, it's probably best to look elsewhere because these cables are not designed to alter the tonal balance of your system. But to be fair, I doubt Alex Sventitsky will admit to designing his WyWyres to sound warm. Same thing with Jim Aud and his PAD cables. Most manufacturers will generally strive to produce equipment that is transparent and gets out of the way and that, imo, is the signature of QSA-Lanedri cables. Of course, transparency is a relative term and imo, QSA-Lanedri cables take it to a whole other level.

As for a "well controlled live sound" being uninvolving on most recordings, the fault here should be blamed on the quality of the recordings you're listening to if your system is doing its job and getting out of the way. I've never been to the symphony and wished I was at home listening to my hifi instead because the live performance I was hearing was uninvolving or because the concert hall lacked warmth. Real is real and if what you're after is an idealized Photoshopped version that sounds "better" than the real thing, then you're on you're own because it is unlikely that any manufacturer will be able to guess what it is you're after.

The fact that you have QSA fuses in almost all of your gear would suggest that you like what QSA treatment offers (and it's not warmth). QSA treatment on a power cord sounds very much like your QSA fuse but amped up to a far greater level. While the impact of a QSA fuse and QSA-Lanedri power cord are additive, the QSA-Lanedri power cord is just in a different league for the reasons already mentioned in a prior post. Also, as previously mentioned, Revelation vs Infinity with a QSA-Lanedri cable is like Red vs Red-Black with your QSA fuses. They represent different levels of treatment, they have nothing to do with wire gauge. If you can appreciate that there is a significant sonic gap between your Red and Red-Black fuse, then you have some understanding already how Revelation and Infinity are different.

Lastly, as I mentioned in my opening series of posts: "The magic that you will hear with the QSA-Lanedri line of cables has very little to do with the cables themselves. The cable is merely a vehicle for what is most important and that is the QSA treatment process. The cables that are being offered were chosen because they have properties that lend themselves to optimally manifesting the QSA process." If QSA-Lanedri has chosen a specific cable for inclusion in its line, it has nothing to do with how it sounded before treatment but how that cable is transformed after treatment.

Does the QSA treatment reach the entire conductor on the cable (the exposed plug + the copper under the insulation and sheathing) or just the exposed metal of the plug? I’m not asking for details on the process — just would like to understand why the cables have a much larger impact than a treated jitter plug (for instance). Thanks

 

Does the QSA treatment reach the entire conductor on the cable (the exposed plug + the copper under the insulation and sheathing) or just the exposed metal of the plug? I’m not asking for details on the process — just would like to understand why the cables have a much larger impact than a treated jitter plug (for instance). Thanks

One of the reasons of the higher QSA treatment impacts on the cables is the amount of metal.

 

romaz, I think your reply to me goes well gone beyond your knowledge base (in some important respects). WyWires Platinum cables were recommended to me by a well known dealer because they have some warmth, specifically because they were better in all other respects than the PS Audio power cables I’d been using, which like all the latter’s gear is voiced on the warm side. Alex agreed. His Diamond line is intentionally less so, but still on that side, as a reviewer noted. Jim Aud at PAD specifically recommended the Neptune line vs. his others for precisely that reason and reviewers have noted the same. Mark Coles of Sablon used to go warm — see the reviews of his Corona line — then decided to go for the “neutral” market, which is where I intersected him. I don’t know, but assume he’s still there.

Concert halls and auditoriums are designed to be on the warm side, which is why you wouldn’t ordinarily feel they sounded cold, that is, unless an artist overrides it, which I can recall in one case that happened since I've been paying attention. Live acoustic music is also slightly on the warm side, or people would notice and head elsewhere.

The all too common notion that a cable is just letting the sound of the other gear through is just plain lack of thinking things through. All, and I mean all, gear is voiced by the developer, i.e., it has an intentionally designed or decided upon frequency curve. Plus, there’s a chain of voicing on any recording from the studio through the gear we use that is at each step far beyond the beyond the knowledge of the vast majority of us listeners. Finally, different cables have different electrical properties that interact with different system components in different ways. That’s why people talk about system synergy.

Each of our hearing and our experiences with music is different, which is in good part, money aside, why we have different preferences in gear, at least to the extent that we ultimately listen to ourselves and not others. I, like you, seek gear that allows instruments to sound as close as possible to the real thing tonally. But that’s very difficult and, I suspect, impossible to achieve in a reproduction system. What, for example, makes a piano or a drum kit sound real requires a developer’s decision about the frequency curve (or distribution) that may not work for other instruments. For the same reason, a “live” sound has a frequency distribution that emphasizes, or boosts, some frequencies over others (upper), just as a warm sound does (lower). The developer’s art is finding the best possible frequency balance — not truly neutral, which is flat — depending on the market(s) they are aiming at and price point. Unless the developer is talking, we can only know by the results.

My goal in picking gear is first to be able to listen to the music, to be unconsciously enveloped by it, for time to pass unnoticed, with the audiophile characteristics, secondary, a welcome add on. As I mentioned, in that regard I find a “live” sound emotionally uninvolving on most recordings, unless, perhaps, the recording happened to be voiced on the warm side (synergy). In reading a discussion thread like this, what I’m paying attention to is how different tastes describe what they’re hearing. That helps me decide what gear is worth auditioning or risking a purchase on.

 

Does the QSA treatment reach the entire conductor on the cable (the exposed plug + the copper under the insulation and sheathing) or just the exposed metal of the plug?

I essentially asked the same question in Post #6 with regards to finished cable , didn't get an answer , nor did you

 

Does the QSA treatment reach the entire conductor on the cable (the exposed plug + the copper under the insulation and sheathing) or just the exposed metal of the plug? I’m not asking for details on the process — just would like to understand why the cables have a much larger impact than a treated jitter plug (for instance). Thanks

While romaz was speculating, I find his point plausible. That is, the closer to the component, the greater the effect.

 

romaz, I think your reply has gone well gone beyond your knowledge base (in some important respects). WyWires Platinum cables were recommended to me by a well known dealer because they have some warmth, specifically because they were better in all respects than the PS Audio power cables I’d been using, which like all the latter’s gear is voiced on the warm side. Alex agreed. His Diamond line is intentionally less so, but still on that side, as a reviewer noted. Jim Aud at PAD specifically recommended the Neptune line vs. his others for precisely that reason and reviewers have noted the same. Mark Coles of Sablon used to go warm — see the reviews of his Corona line — then decided to go for the “neutral” market, which is where I intersected him. I don’t know, but assume he’s still there.

Concert halls and auditoriums are designed to be on the warm side, which is why you wouldn’t feel they sounded cold, that is, unless an artist overrides it, which I can recall in one case that happened since I've been paying attention. Live acoustic music is also slightly on the warm side, or people would notice and head elsewhere.

The all too common notion that a cable is just letting the sound of the other gear through is just plain lack of thinking things through. All, and I mean all, gear is voiced by the developer, i.e., it has an intentionally designed or decided upon frequency curve. Plus, there’s a chain of voicing on any recording from the studio through the gear that is at each step far beyond the beyond the knowledge of the vast majority of us listeners. Finally, different cables have different electrical properties that interact with different system components in different ways. That’s why people talk about system synergy.

Each of our hearing and our experiences with music is different, which is in good part, money aside, why we have different preferences in gear, at least to the extent that we ultimately listen to ourselves and not others. I, like you, seek gear that allows instruments to sound as close as possible to the real thing tonally. But that’s very difficult and, I suspect, impossible to achieve in a reproduction system. What, for example, makes a piano or a drum kit sound real requires a developer’s decision about the frequency curve (or distribution) that may not work for other instruments. For the same reason, a “live” sound has a frequency distribution that emphasizes, or boosts, some frequencies over others (upper), just as a warm sound does (lower). The developer’s art is finding the best possible frequency balance — not truly neutral, which is flat — depending on the market they are aiming at and price point. Unless the developer is talking, we can only know by the results.

My goal in picking gear is to be able to listen to the music, to be unconsciously enveloped by it, with the “sound” (audiophile characteristics) secondary. As I mentioned, in that regard I find a “live” sound emotionally uninvolving on most recordings, unless, perhaps, the recording happened to be voiced on the warm side (synergy). In reading a discussion thread like this, what I’m paying attention to is how different tastes describe what they’re hearing. That helps me decide what gear is worth auditioning or risking a purchase on.

Hi highstream,

We are providing the 30 days money back guarantee to help everyone who is interested to live the experience we are having with the QSA Lanedri cables. If one is not WoW'd by the experience then we pay the full money back.

Many thanks to all of you who have shared their impressions in this forum describing how transformative are the QSA Lanedri to their listening sessions but the the fact is that no words can give justice to those moments with the music and one got to live it to grasp the impact.

I totally understand the frustration of not having any visibility on the QSA technology and what is behind all those impacts but everything vanishes once one starts living the experience with the QSA Lanedri cables. This unique music experience is the mission statement of the QSA Lanedri brand and it is what is gathering us all on this QSA Lanedri forum.

We are increasing the expectation to sky-high but we are totally confident with our results.

 

I would like to thank everyone who is making this first public sale round a very successful one. Shipment of the orders is planned to start next week.

Many of the buyers of this first public round requested to have an extension of the launch discount offer to have the time to experiment with the QSA Lanedri cables they bought before deciding on adopting more cables. We will extend the launch discount offer until the end of March as we want everyone to have the time to experience with the cables they bought and we will be looking forward to all the impressions.

 

romaz, I think your reply to me goes well gone beyond your knowledge base (in some important respects). WyWires Platinum cables were recommended to me by a well known dealer because they have some warmth, specifically because they were better in all other respects than the PS Audio power cables I’d been using, which like all the latter’s gear is voiced on the warm side. Alex agreed. His Diamond line is intentionally less so, but still on that side, as a reviewer noted. Jim Aud at PAD specifically recommended the Neptune line vs. his others for precisely that reason and reviewers have noted the same. Mark Coles of Sablon used to go warm — see the reviews of his Corona line — then decided to go for the “neutral” market, which is where I intersected him. I don’t know, but assume he’s still there.

Fair enough, @highstream. My apologies if my response touched a nerve. If you're looking for cables that shift tonal balance by adding warmth to the sound, as I stated in my response, these cables are not designed to alter the tonal balance of one's system. No offense but if these cables added warmth beyond what my recording, my system, and my room already produces, I would have no interest in them. I am already happy with the tonal balance of my system where I am not interested in having it altered. And so perhaps these cables will not do what you are seeking, that they will not "add" warmth to your system and yet somehow you have amassed a collection of QSA fuses that imo are not warm sounding.

Concert halls and auditoriums are designed to be on the warm side, which is why you wouldn’t ordinarily feel they sounded cold, that is, unless an artist overrides it, which I can recall in one case that happened since I've been paying attention. Live acoustic music is also slightly on the warm side, or people would notice and head elsewhere.

Warmth is a relative term and one person's warm is possibly another person's "too bright" or "too dark." My idea of "neutral" may ultimately be what you equate to as "warm." Who knows?. To my ears, Davies Hall is tonally colder sounding than Carnegie Hall. My local venue is warmer sounding than either of these halls and yet all of these venues are very popularly attended. Like I said, I've never been to a live performance thinking "I wish the sound was warmer."

The all too common notion that a cable is just letting the sound of the other gear through is just plain lack of thinking things through. All, and I mean all, gear is voiced by the developer, i.e., it has an intentionally designed or decided upon frequency curve.

I don't mean to be argumentative but I had a small hand in the development of these cables and Anas and I never sought to intentionally voice these cables in one direction or another based upon a frequency curve. We actually targeted transparency and we looked for cables that we felt had the necessary properties to allow QSA's treatment to be optimally manifested.

My goal in picking gear is first to be able to listen to the music, to be unconsciously enveloped by it, for time to pass unnoticed, with the audiophile characteristics, secondary, a welcome add on.

This is well said. I think this is each of our goals.

As I mentioned, in that regard I find a “live” sound emotionally uninvolving on most recordings, unless, perhaps, the recording happened to be voiced on the warm side (synergy). In reading a discussion thread like this, what I’m paying attention to is how different tastes describe what they’re hearing. That helps me decide what gear is worth auditioning or risking a purchase on.

If I understand correctly, this suggests that you prefer recordings that have been intentionally voiced to sound warm. What happens to these "warm" recordings if you make your system sound even warmer with cables? Do they not sound too warm then? That is the audiophile's dilemma. We each seek to tune our systems so that the music we listen to the most has the tonal balance that we like but no matter how locked in our systems are, there will always be recordings that will not sound right. In my genuine attempt to offer guidance, if you're looking for cables that are specifically voiced to sound warm, I think you might be disappointed with these cables. Ultimately, you have the advantage of knowing the tonal qualities of a QSA fuse. I would say that a QSA-Lanedri cable is voiced the same way.

 

I essentially asked the same question in Post #6 with regards to finished cable , didn't get an answer , nor did you

Apologies, @facten, but your and Will's question was answered in my post #92. I know, so much has already been said in this growing thread that it's hard to keep up. Here is what I said back then:

"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."

 

Apologies, @facten, but your and Will's question was answered in my post #92. I know, so much has already been said in this growing thread that it's hard to keep up. Here is what I said back then:

"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."

Thanks @romaz, if I am interpreting the above description correctly, it sounds like all conductive metal: plug — copper cable — to IEC is treated. Put another way, it not just the exposed (to air) metal but also all metal conductor within the dielectric as well. Please correct me if I’m wrong as I don’t want to spread mis information!

 

Fair enough, @highstream. My apologies if my response touched a nerve. If you're looking for cables that shift tonal balance by adding warmth to the sound, as I stated in my response, these cables are not designed to alter the tonal balance of one's system. No offense but if these cables added warmth beyond what my recording, my system, and my room already produces, I would have no interest in them. I am already happy with the tonal balance of my system where I am not interested in having it altered. And so perhaps these cables will not do what you are seeking, that they will not "add" warmth to your system and yet somehow you have amassed a collection of QSA fuses that imo are not warm sounding.



Warmth is a relative term and one person's warm is possibly another person's "too bright" or "too dark." My idea of "neutral" may ultimately be what you equate to as "warm." Who knows?. To my ears, Davies Hall is tonally colder sounding than Carnegie Hall. My local venue is warmer sounding than either of these halls and yet all of these venues are very popularly attended. Like I said, I've never been to a live performance thinking "I wish the sound was warmer."



I don't mean to be argumentative but I had a small hand in the development of these cables and Anas and I never sought to intentionally voice these cables in one direction or another based upon a frequency curve. We actually targeted transparency and we looked for cables that we felt had the necessary properties to allow QSA's treatment to be optimally manifested.



This is well said. I think this is each of our goals.



If I understand correctly, this suggests that you prefer recordings that have been intentionally voiced to sound warm. What happens to these "warm" recordings if you make your system sound even warmer with cables? Do they not sound too warm then? That is the audiophile's dilemma. We each seek to tune our systems so that the music we listen to the most has the tonal balance that we like but no matter how locked in our systems are, there will always be recordings that will not sound right. In my genuine attempt to offer guidance, if you're looking for cables that are specifically voiced to sound warm, I think you might be disappointed with these cables. Ultimately, you have the advantage of knowing the tonal qualities of a QSA fuse. I would say that a QSA-Lanedri cable is voiced the same way.

I’ve found without fail that any gear developed with a primary focus on transparency enhances the upper registers, primarily the upper midrange, and is thus not warm to any degree (why I returned the Sablons; Mark had suggested I change the inlets to instead). That’s the catch-22 in the tonal game. Unfortunately, I’ve never found a “neutral” component that didn’t overwhelm everything else. No, I don’t necessarily favor warm recordings; it’s the system I’m aiming at. But your bias keeps trying to put that in my mouth. Without sitting down together, I can’t for sure know your tonal tastes. It’s just that I’ve never come across anyone who favored a “live” sound and counterposed it to one that has warmth and emotional involvement (but not syrupy) that shared mine. One of the cable developers who participates on WBF noted that as one’s system improves, there’s a tendency to need less warmth for satisfaction. That’s been my experience too. Still, there’s a line. Somehow my body invariably lets me know sooner or (not much) later when it’s been crossed.

 

Thanks @romaz, if I am interpreting the above description correctly, it sounds like all conductive metal: plug — copper cable — to IEC is treated. Put another way, it not just the exposed (to air) metal but also all metal conductor within the dielectric as well. Please correct me if I’m wrong as I don’t want to spread mis information!

That's correct, Will. From the plug to the IEC to the conductor in between. That is why things like the giant Bocchinos used by Sablon make such a big difference.

 

That's correct, Will. From the plug to the IEC to the conductor in between. That is why things like the giant Bocchinos used by Sablon make such a big difference.

Thank you for the clarification above. I missed your original response contained in Post 92; the main principle involved with the cables wasn't inclined to provide the simple response you gave so yours went right by me. Anyway, thank you; and I thank you also for your other insights that you have provided in your detailed responses to others.

 

I’ve found without fail that any gear developed with a primary focus on transparency enhances the upper registers, primarily the upper midrange, and is thus not warm to any degree (why I returned the Sablons; Mark had suggested I change the inlets to instead). That’s the catch-22 in the tonal game. Unfortunately, I’ve never found a “neutral” component that didn’t overwhelm everything else. No, I don’t necessarily favor warm recordings; it’s the system I’m aiming at. But your bias keeps trying to put that in my mouth. Without sitting down together, I can’t for sure know your tonal tastes. It’s just that I’ve never come across anyone who favored a “live” sound and counterposed it to one that has warmth and emotional involvement (but not syrupy) that shared mine. One of the cable developers who participates on WBF noted that as one’s system improves, there’s a tendency to need less warmth for satisfaction. That’s been my experience too. Still, there’s a line. Somehow my body invariably lets me know sooner or (not much) later when it’s been crossed.

That's why I said "warmth" is relative depending on what your reference is and that it's possible my interpretation of "neutral" may be identical to your interpretation of "warmth." I am very much anti-syrupy and slow, rolled off, and mid-bass hump is where my mind goes when someone says they're looking to add warmth. This is certainly how some define warmth. I find that people who look for this are usually not so much in love with this sound but rather they're looking to mask harshness and once that harshness and fatigue are gone, they're very much pro-transparency and so my views are in alignment with the cable developer that you reference. As for this line that you describe, yes, I very much believe we each define this line differently and that we each know it when we reach it. It seems like the only way you will know if a QSA-Lanedri cable is right for you is for you to audition one.