Transparent Audio: Gen 6 Announcement

[Karen Sumner]

Thank you PK for looping us in. Audio Element in Pasadena is one of our very best dealers. You are in excellent hands.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Audio Element in Pasadena is one of our very best dealers. You are in excellent hands.

HUGE +1!

I adore Brian! He is one of the very best anywhere, ever!

 

[dandylinpsst]

Hi Karen, Do you agree that we can replace the AC Plugs(like Furutech NCF ac plugs or Oyaide) of Opus powercord by ourselves?
The quality of the original ac plugs of opus does not seem to be very good!
I would like to hear your views?
Thanks!

 

[Karen Sumner]

Hi Karen, Do you agree that we can replace the AC Plugs(like Furutech NCF ac plugs or Oyaide) of Opus powercord by ourselves?
The quality of the original ac plugs of opus does not seem to be very good!
I would like to hear your views?
Thanks!

Hi, Dandylinpsst -

Actually the quality of our AC plugs on all of our power cords, including OPUS, is very good, and we have had them (and all other connectors we use) custom fabricated to our specifications for reliability, connection integrity, and sound quality. I don't recommend that you change the AC plugs yourself because OPUS Power Cords are measured and calibrated with the connectors attached. In other words, the termination is part of the design, and strip lengths and the relative positions of the conductors with respect to each other is a part of the specifications for this product.

If you would like to experiment with another brand of AC plug such as Furutech or Oyaide, we would be happy to do this for you although we have not yet determined an advantage to this approach. We would make sure that the new connectors are terminated properly and attached according to our specifications. If you are interested in going this route, we can arrange this change for you if you supply the connectors you would like to use. We would charge you for labor and any materials we needed to supply. Let me know if you would like to experiment with this idea.

Thanks for reaching out and asking the question. If there is anything else we can help you with, please let me know.

 

[abeidrov]

I’ve just received Gen 6 Reference speaker cables and a pair of Reference XLRs. What is the recommended break in time for the Transparent cables (I am sorry, if this question has been asked earlier)?

Thank you in advance,
Aziz

 

[Karen Sumner]

Hi, Aziz -

First of all, congratulations on your recent ownership of a Transparent Gen 6 REFERENCE system. There have been many discussions on this forum about cable break in, and there are quite a few members out there who believe they are experts on the matter; however, the so-called expert advice varies widely leaving much room for confusion. I had a rather flippant reply to one of the last threads on the subject: “Eventually, I guess one can get used to anything.”

I think that break-in is a concept that has 3 parts. The first is the amount of time it takes for all the parts in a component to be electrically exercised enough for it to perform as it was intended. The second part is a bit more complex because it has more to do with psychoacoustic phenomena than it has to do with electrons freely being able to go where they need to go at the desired speed and timing. Whenever anyone puts a new component in a system or hooks up a system throughout with a different brand or model of a cable, it can create a pretty dramatic change in how the entire system performs. The listener could perceive this difference upon initial listening as good or bad, but only long-term listening reveals whether the difference is truly a benefit to the overall musicality of a system. Dramatic differences may even require speaker placement adjustments to get the right balance in the listener’s environment which also takes time. Beyond the long-term listening phase, one’s perspective and ears tend to adjust to the new normal. The time all this takes varies from listener to listener and system to system. I think that manufacturers’ recommendations are typically generous enough to accommodate this whole process.

If one has a relatively firm perspective of what is the desirable musical standard, the “getting used to it part” is relatively inconsequential because well-designed components and cables do not dramatically change their tonal character with extended break-in time. In other words, if you hook up a new component or cable, and it sounds tonally lean out of the box, it may flesh out a bit in time, but more break-in is not going to transform this component or cable into a source of rich musical experience. To be sure, adequate break-in time can help many components and cables fully blossom in terms of low frequency resolution, dynamic capability, and space.

Vacuum tubes and power supply capacitors can have electrical break-in times in the hundreds of hours. I have not found in my experience that the same should be said about cables. Transparent’s stock answer to your question is 100 hours, but this takes long-term listening and some listener adjustment into account. From a purely electrical perspective, the capacitance that runs the entire length of all types of cables is fully charged and ready to go in 10 hours or less, and everything should be totally settled in within a day. If you are already tuned into Transparent’s musical standard, you do not need to recalibrate your ears, and your system should be ready to enjoy within a day. After break in, your cables will be ready to go for your next listening session by the time your amp and preamp are fully warmed up.