Transparent Audio Cable

[John49]

Originally Posted by thesaint519

... And I can't imagine how much I have to spend in order to improve it.

Looks like a job for.................Stillpoints!

[ALFA]

I have MSB Analog DAC which prefers RCA.
my cable is TA REF MM2 Balanced . sounds good.
i wonder whether i should change to RCA and if so to get TA REF Gen V or TA REF XL gen V.
prices are very steep so i must be careful?

[HTSteve]

I had a similar situation. A sub that only took RCA, but the cable was balanced.

Transparent makes an XLR to RCA adaptor. Worked perfectly for me.


hope this helps.

[prepress]

A question, though perhaps obscure. Transparent offers their Series 5 cables now. Has anyone compared the Plus with the previous MusicLink Plus? Or either one to Kimber Hero?

[rob]

Good question. I don't see any comparisons between Transparent mm 2 and Generation 5 at the lower levels.

[prepress]

I took my one pair of Transparent MusicLink Plus off the pre/power connection, between a C2300 and MC501s, and put them on my Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD blu-ray player; I put a pair of AQ King Cobras on the pre/power connection. What I heard with my usual reference DVDs was amazing, as close to my previous (solid-state) preamp's sound I've yet gotten as far as low-end response. Transparent advertises this IC (now simply "Plus") as having more impact in the low frequencies than regular MusicLink "due to heavier solid OFHC conductors and more substantial gold plated connectors and more effective network design." The difference was quite noticeable vs. the Kimber Hero, but that was with the MLP as the pre/power connection. The rest of the presentation was the same as with the Hero.

Now I'm wondering about going all Transparent Plus for my ICs, but it would be costly. With tax, $2095.84 MSRP for a full loom of Plus. More, if I use the 2300 as a line stage and include a phono preamp. The regular MusicLink is less, $200 for a 1m pair, the Plus is $400. That's a bit steep for just a test. A 2m pair is $530. A full loom of MusicLink is only $1143.19 (minus phono). If I go Transparent Plus, I'd better be sure that's what I want, because it means foregoing a preamp change as I'm considering.

[jfrech]

prepress,

I've been through many sets of Transparent cables and upgrades through the years. I know most would find this next statement as odd or not true. However in the case of Transparent, I am finding the better cables/full loom approach betters any component upgrade. Now that won't always be true...but you seem to be already experiencing some of the Transparent benefits. I do not think you're going wrong with your full loom approach. In fact, I think that's a excellent choice.

Speakers: Rockport Altair 2
Preamp: Robert Koda K10 Amp: Ayre MX-R
Cables: Transparent Opus MM2 Spkr, Opus Gen 5 & Magnum Opus Interconnect
Power Shunyata Triton v2/Typhon/DPC-6 v2, Anaconda Zitron cords (x7), Sigma HC (x1), Sigma Analog (x2)
Digital dCS Vivaldi DAC, Transport & Clock w/ Transparent Reference XL Digital cables
Phono: Grand Prix Monaco TT, Spiral Groove Centroid, Jan Allaerts MC2 Finish & Lyra Atlas, Nagra VPS/VFS/MPS
Racks: Grand Prix Audio Silverstone F1 (x2)

[prepress]

Originally Posted by jfrech

prepress,

I've been through many sets of Transparent cables and upgrades through the years. I know most would find this next statement as odd or not true. However in the case of Transparent, I am finding the better cables/full loom approach betters any component upgrade. Now that won't always be true...but you seem to be already experiencing some of the Transparent benefits. I do not think you're going wrong with your full loom approach. In fact, I think that's a excellent choice.

Speakers: Rockport Altair 2
Preamp: Robert Koda K10 Amp: Ayre MX-R
Cables: Transparent Opus MM2 Spkr, Opus Gen 5 & Magnum Opus Interconnect
Power Shunyata Triton v2/Typhon/DPC-6 v2, Anaconda Zitron cords (x7), Sigma HC (x1), Sigma Analog (x2)
Digital dCS Vivaldi DAC, Transport & Clock w/ Transparent Reference XL Digital cables
Phono: Grand Prix Monaco TT, Spiral Groove Centroid, Jan Allaerts MC2 Finish & Lyra Atlas, Nagra VPS/VFS/MPS
Racks: Grand Prix Audio Silverstone F1 (x2)

The Transparent didn't solve all my issues, but it did solve an important one, that of low frequency response. The Kimber Hero bettered the AQ King Cobra used previously, and now the MLP bettered the Kimber. None, however, changed the basic presentation of the 2300 or the tubes in it, whichever the issue is. I still don't hear things I heard with the previous preamp, though I hear things with the 2300 I didn't hear before at the same time. Most likely, I'll revisit the ICs once I resolve the preamp. I could be trying to resolve a tube vs. solid-state issue with tweaks.

Update:
It turns out the issue was with the DVD. My BD player is set to output two channel, and in the DVD's menu I was choosing Dolby Digital 2.0 for audio. But my Pioneer 09 is set to downmix DTS to two channel also, so I set the DVD's audio at DTS 5.0 and that did the trick. The sound was louder and fuller, the hall acoustics came back and even some of the detail I've complained was missing was at least more audible; I'd have to put the previous preamp back into the system to determine the degree of difference, but that's too much trouble. I don't know why this was happening or how the settings in the player got off, but it's ok now.

I sent Transparent an e-mail asking what the differences are between Plus and MusicLink ICs beyond the info on their site. We'll see what happens. Meantime, I could move the MLP pair around and see how it affects other sources. Or, I may just put things back the way they were to see if I am okay with the sound, having tried the Transparent experiment with one source.

[dubselect]

Don't you know which connectors does Transparent use for their PowerLink MM cables? I am interested in Euro version. They look like Wattgate 360i/320i. But they may also be 390i/350i without "Wattgate" stickers.

[SOA]

Originally Posted by dubselect

Don't you know which connectors does Transparent use for their PowerLink MM cables? I am interested in Euro version. They look like Wattgate 360i/320i. But they may also be 390i/350i without "Wattgate" stickers.

They use 360i/320i/320i HC (20A)