Sublime Sound

[Al M.]

The interesting thing about those TubeTraps, in retrospect, was that I think they were affecting a specific frequency band and absorbing reflections and sucking out the life of the music. This seemed to cause a less even perception of the lower frequencies in my room. Once identified, I realized it sound more realistic without them. I think I had prefered their effect before because I focused in on a particular part of the sound. In typical fashion, I was breaking down the music into "bits and pieces." Stepping back, I now realize that their removal results in a more even low frequency and a more natural sound. The room also looks much nicer.

This is a solution that works specifically for your particular room, Peter, and that's great. In my room the advantages of the TubeTraps far outweigh any disadvantages:

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/asc-tube-traps-effect-of-their-absence.20189/

Once more, there is no point about being dogmatic either way about the need or lack thereof for such or similar room treatments, and how that affects "natural sound". It will simply depend on the room. Whatever works, works.

 

[PeterA]

This is a solution that works specifically for your particular room, Peter, and that's great. In my room the advantages of the TubeTraps far outweigh any disadvantages:

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/asc-tube-traps-effect-of-their-absence.20189/

Once more, there is no point about being dogmatic either way about the need or lack thereof for such or similar room treatments, and how that affects "natural sound". It will simply depend on the room. Whatever works, works.

That is a nice thread you started about ASC products. I agree Al. I am not trying to be dogmatic. Just trying to describe my experience with TubeTraps in my system in my system thread so as to get the thread back on topic. Little to no mention by me here in this thread of your system.

Others have had similar experiences to me with TubeTraps. In fact the guy who sold them to me never replaced them with anything else. The point I was trying to make is that they affect the sound. Some people like it, some don't. I used to like it, now I don't. I had to hear and understand the effect in my own room and for myself. Others seem to agree that the sound of my system is better without them.

Surely you think they affect the sound of what you hear in your room. And I would agree with that. I just can not remember now what you system sounded like without all of the ASC products. I don't expect you to further experiment with them, but if you decide to do so, or simply remove a few, please invite me over for the listening trials. I would be fascinated. If Ian experiments with his TubeTraps further, I would love to hear the before and after in his room too. What matters is what the owner likes.

 

[Al M.]

That is a nice thread you started about ASC products.

Thanks, Peter.

Others have had similar experiences to me with TubeTraps. In fact the guy who sold them to me never replaced them with anything else. The point I was trying to make is that they affect the sound. Some people like it, some don't. I used to like it, now I don't. I had to hear and understand the effect in my own room and for myself. Others seem to agree that the sound of my system is better without them.

I am one of those who agree that the sound of your system, in your particular room, is probably better without them. I would still like to hear a direct comparison in your current system configuration (which is not going to happen), but who am I to argue when your system now sounds the best I have heard it?

 

[PeterA]

I missed this annual tradition of cannon blasts celebration this past Independence Day. Sailors take their signals rather seriously and once a year, the boys come out to play. The large one at the end goes off every evening at sunset except Sundays. We stand and in silence observe the Club Burgee and Ensign being lowered and then resume our business.

My Magico speakers can not quite get that sense of impact and low frequency dynamic. Alas, it does not sound quite natural. LOL. Sadly, the video does not quite capture it either, but the imagination surely tries to fill in the rest.

A sailing friend once blasted his cannon in his living room. Once the dust settled, the guests recovered, and we observed there were no broken windows, he announced that "Dinner is served.".

 

[bonzo75]

What were the preamps in Ian's system that you tried? He had the CH phono, Dart pre, and Cat amps?

 

[PeterA]

What were the preamps in Ian's system that you tried? He had the CH phono, Dart pre, and Cat amps?

I'd prefer you PM him to discuss in a place other than this thread. I only brought it up to illustrate my observations that set up matters a lot and the big picture can make smaller component comparisons seem less important.

We can also have some minor disagreements about preference for one cartridge over another, or for different preamps, but the overall system sound, something I think is much more important to satisfaction, we agreed on.

 

[PeterA]

Alice in Wonderland crawled from the natural down to the artificial. Grace told me to go ask her, and I walked up and out in the opposite direction, breaking free of those chains.

The other Alice, the one who does not live here anymore, is my metaphor for my old, "hifi" sound. She left the house when I got rid of stuff.


Alice lived in large tubes in the corners of my room,
I clapped at her once, but there was no bloom.
Her rack was too damped, I added a steel plate,
I deflated her air, and pointed her feet straight,
Her braids on the floor were too colored, that’s all.
And her song had grown dull,
but I found van den Hul.

 

[Lagonda]

Alice in Wonderland crawled from the natural down to the artificial. Grace told me to go ask her, and I walked up and out in the opposite direction, breaking free of those chains.

The other Alice, the one who does not live here anymore, is my metaphor for my old, "hifi" sound. She left the house when I got rid of stuff.


Alice lived in large tubes in the corners of my room,
I clapped at her once, but there was no bloom.
Her rack was too damped, I added a steel plate,
I deflated her air, and pointed her feet straight,
Her braids on the floor were too colored, that’s all.
And her song had grown dull,
but I found van den Hul.

You are hilarious Peter, the Highfi poet

 

[PeterA]

I have been using some of ddk's Ching Cheng power cords on my front end gear for the last six or so months. They work well, have a nice tight fit, never come loose, and sounded better than the other cords to which I directly compared them. Over the years, I have tried about five audiophile power cords, plus the stock cords that came with the gear. Some of these were quite expensive.

Each of my Pass Labs mono block amplifiers is connected fairly directly to a dedicated 20 amp circuit on the panel via JPS Labs In Wall cable going through a hole in the floor and terminated by a Furutech IEC connector. This bypasses all outlets. I have been using this DIY power cord for 15 or so years.

Last night I decided to hook up my last two Ching Cheng power cords to my amps to see if the system would sound any different. I was not expecting much. One amp is near a standard house outlet, but I had to use a cheap extension cord to get the other amp's power cord to reach an outlet.

I heard cleaner high frequencies, a more balanced frequency response, and a more natural bass. Wooden string instruments sounded more hollow. It was a nice little improvement until I can get my electrician here to install four dedicated circuits and industrial grade isolated ground duplex receptacles. He plans to use 10 gauge stranded wire in metal casing.

This morning I brought in a much thicker extension cord with two plugs in the end. I hooked up the two amps on this one extension cord plugged into an open dedicated outlet which I had never used before. I was not prepared for what I heard. There was greater bass extension, more clarity, and much better dynamics. Overall, the sound was just more natural with nothing calling attention to itself. And this is having both amps on one circuit via an extension cord. This improvement was across genres and I heard nothing negative with these cords.

It seems people have had very different impressions of the Ching Cheng power cords in their systems. They are incredibly inexpensive, but very effective in some systems. To me, they sound very neutral, not adding any obvious colorations. The music just comes through. I hear no "hyped" sound or artifacts as I have with so many other power cords. I am now wondering why I did not notice the colorations of my previous JPS Labs cable and Furutech IEC connector which I had assumed would be pretty neutral being such a direct connection to the panel. This proved not to be the case.

These Ching Cheng power cords are another positive addition to my growing list of recent experiments. More gratitude to ddk for making this suggestion to me.

 

[BlueFox]

A few years ago I realized power was the foundation for music.

 

[tima]

I have been using some of ddk's Ching Cheng power cords on my front end gear for the last six or so months. They work well, have a nice tight fit, never come loose, and sounded better than the other cords to which I directly compared them. Over the years, I have tried about five audiophile power cords, plus the stock cords that came with the gear. Some of these were quite expensive.

Each of my Pass Labs mono block amplifiers is connected fairly directly to a dedicated 20 amp circuit on the panel via JPS Labs In Wall cable going through a hole in the floor and terminated by a Furutech IEC connector. This bypasses all outlets. I have been using this DIY power cord for 15 or so years.

Last night I decided to hook up my last two Ching Cheng power cords to my amps to see if the system would sound any different. I was not expecting much. One amp is near a standard house outlet, but I had to use a cheap extension cord to get the other amp's power cord to reach an outlet.

I heard cleaner high frequencies, a more balanced frequency response, and a more natural bass. Wooden string instruments sounded more hollow. It was a nice little improvement until I can get my electrician here to install four dedicated circuits and industrial grade isolated ground duplex receptacles. He plans to use 10 gauge stranded wire in metal casing.

This morning I brought in a much thicker extension cord with two plugs in the end. I hooked up the two amps on this one extension cord plugged into an open dedicated outlet which I had never used before. I was not prepared for what I heard. There was greater bass extension, more clarity, and much better dynamics. Overall, the sound was just more natural with nothing calling attention to itself. And this is having both amps on one circuit via an extension cord. This improvement was across genres and I heard nothing negative with these cords.

It seems people have had very different impressions of the Ching Cheng power cords in their systems. They are incredibly inexpensive, but very effective in some systems. To me, they sound very neutral, not adding any obvious colorations. The music just comes through. I hear no "hyped" sound or artifacts as I have with so many other power cords. I am now wondering why I did not notice the colorations of my previous JPS Labs cable and Furutech IEC connector which I had assumed would be pretty neutral being such a direct connection to the panel. This proved not to be the case.

These Ching Cheng power cords are another positive addition to my growing list of recent experiments. More gratitude to ddk for making this suggestion to me.

A tip I received from David wrt extension cords: put a Hubbel quad receptacle on the end of a Ching-Cheng. He sent me one and I made one. Excellent.

https://www.grainger.com/product/HUBBELL-WIRING-DEVICE-KELLEMS-15-6C561
https://www.grainger.com/product/HUBBELL-WIRING-DEVICE-KELLEMS-Adapter-Box-6C590

Another hat tip to ddk! Thanks.

 

[Lagonda]

I have been using some of ddk's Ching Cheng power cords on my front end gear for the last six or so months. They work well, have a nice tight fit, never come loose, and sounded better than the other cords to which I directly compared them. Over the years, I have tried about five audiophile power cords, plus the stock cords that came with the gear. Some of these were quite expensive.

Each of my Pass Labs mono block amplifiers is connected fairly directly to a dedicated 20 amp circuit on the panel via JPS Labs In Wall cable going through a hole in the floor and terminated by a Furutech IEC connector. This bypasses all outlets. I have been using this DIY power cord for 15 or so years.

Last night I decided to hook up my last two Ching Cheng power cords to my amps to see if the system would sound any different. I was not expecting much. One amp is near a standard house outlet, but I had to use a cheap extension cord to get the other amp's power cord to reach an outlet.

I heard cleaner high frequencies, a more balanced frequency response, and a more natural bass. Wooden string instruments sounded more hollow. It was a nice little improvement until I can get my electrician here to install four dedicated circuits and industrial grade isolated ground duplex receptacles. He plans to use 10 gauge stranded wire in metal casing.

This morning I brought in a much thicker extension cord with two plugs in the end. I hooked up the two amps on this one extension cord plugged into an open dedicated outlet which I had never used before. I was not prepared for what I heard. There was greater bass extension, more clarity, and much better dynamics. Overall, the sound was just more natural with nothing calling attention to itself. And this is having both amps on one circuit via an extension cord. This improvement was across genres and I heard nothing negative with these cords.

It seems people have had very different impressions of the Ching Cheng power cords in their systems. They are incredibly inexpensive, but very effective in some systems. To me, they sound very neutral, not adding any obvious colorations. The music just comes through. I hear no "hyped" sound or artifacts as I have with so many other power cords. I am now wondering why I did not notice the colorations of my previous JPS Labs cable and Furutech IEC connector which I had assumed would be pretty neutral being such a direct connection to the panel. This proved not to be the case.

These Ching Cheng power cords are another positive addition to my growing list of recent experiments. More gratitude to ddk for making this suggestion to me.

And some people actually claim WE have joined a cult by using ddk’s Ching Cheng cords Peter, and maybe we have, the cult of the neutral and cheap I am using four of them on my MBL monos, they take two each, into 2 dedicated lines. I am perfectly happy, and will be getting more soon. Thank you David !

 

[MadFloyd]

A tip I received from David wrt extension cords: put a Hubbel quad receptacle on the end of a Ching-Cheng. He sent me one and I made one. Excellent.

https://www.grainger.com/product/HUBBELL-WIRING-DEVICE-KELLEMS-15-6C561
https://www.grainger.com/product/HUBBELL-WIRING-DEVICE-KELLEMS-Adapter-Box-6C590

Another hat tip to ddk! Thanks.

I’m looking at the two links and trying to understand what the box is for?

Does this require removing one end and soldering the Ching-Cheng to the receptacle?

 

[Tango]

And some people actually claim WE have joined a cult by using ddk’s Ching Cheng cords Peter, and maybe we have, the cult of the neutral and cheap I am using four of them on my MBL monos, they take two each, into 2 dedicated lines. I am perfectly happy, and will be getting more soon. Thank you David !

I use them. I don't like talking about them. They hurt my feeling.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Dont worry most cults rely on secrecy.
David the cheap cable cult leader
lol.
If one visits my system page you can see a cheap cable cooker somewhere

 

[ddk]

I’m looking at the two links and trying to understand what the box is for?

Does this require removing one end and soldering the Ching-Cheng to the receptacle?

You don’t need to solder just cut and strip one end, it’s an easy way to make quality power strips if needed.

david

 

[MadFloyd]

You don’t need to solder just cut and strip one end, it’s an easy way to make quality power strips if needed.

david

Thank you, David.

 

[PeterA]

A tip I received from David wrt extension cords: put a Hubbel quad receptacle on the end of a Ching-Cheng. He sent me one and I made one. Excellent.

https://www.grainger.com/product/HUBBELL-WIRING-DEVICE-KELLEMS-15-6C561
https://www.grainger.com/product/HUBBELL-WIRING-DEVICE-KELLEMS-Adapter-Box-6C590

Another hat tip to ddk! Thanks.

David, would this be a better solution than two duplex receptacles on two separate circuits if mounted on the wall to one circuit? So this four outlet box mounted at the baseboard for front end gear behind the rack instead of two separate outlets? One ground path for all four components. It sounds like a simpler solution as long as you are not mixing digital and analog.

 

[ddk]

David, would this be a better solution than two duplex receptacles on two separate circuits if mounted on the wall to one circuit? So this four outlet box mounted at the baseboard for front end gear behind the rack instead of two separate outlets? One ground path for all four components. It sounds like a simpler solution as long as you are not mixing digital and analog.

This is an extension cord, dedicated breakers are better when you can.

david

 

[marty]

David, would this be a better solution than two duplex receptacles on two separate circuits if mounted on the wall to one circuit? So this four outlet box mounted at the baseboard for front end gear behind the rack instead of two separate outlets? One ground path for all four components. It sounds like a simpler solution as long as you are not mixing digital and analog.

The Hubbell Quad/Ching-Cheng is a clever solution to a nagging problem. Leave it to David. Not the prettiest perhaps but when the lights are out, do you really care about the prettiest? (I know what you're thinking but I ain't goin' there....)