Just had the most amazing experience in audio I've ever had

[hometheaterdoc]

I'm normally a pretty even keeled kind of guy.  I've heard a LOT of audio gear over the years.  It takes a LOT to get me beyond comatose when it comes to a new audio experience..... no more....

System:

Oracle Audio CD1000 (soon to be CD2000 when I sell off the CD1000)
Tact Audio RCS2.0S (stock... can definitely be improved)
Butler Audio A-100 Monads (my babies hehe)
Usher Audio Be-20 (really should be priced higher than they are given their performance!)

I'm going to preface this by saying that I've been spending some time recently with John's new Statement One power cords from Black Sand Cable.... they are really stinkin' good power cords, btw.... I've really enjoyed the improvement over Silver Ref MKV cords I have used in the past.

I've been wanting to look at another cable line.  Usher Audio's US distributor has added JPS Labs to the lineup and I've heard from a couple Usher dealers that really like the way JPS works with Usher speakers.  So I worked out a little arrangement with Joe at JPS Labs and completely outfitted my system with his Aluminata line of cables.

I've added the following to the system this evening:

3 Aluminata power cords (one for each Monad monoblock and one for the Tact)
1 Digital AC power cord for the Oracle transport
1 single 1M XLR Aluminata digital interconnect
1 pair 1.5M single ended Aluminata interconnects
1 pair 8 foot Aluminata speaker cables

and then fired everything up and turned on a disc and hit repeat.  I had intended to let the system play for a while before sitting down to have a listen.  I never left the room.

In all my time in audio I have never, and I mean NEVER heard the kind of change these cables have just made to this system.  Anyone who is a cable non-believer needs to hear this system and then let me swap things back to my previous setup of cables (which was damn good in its own right).  It's not even close how much of a change there has been.

This system has gone into the stratosphere as far as performance goes.  I have never heard violins sound more real.  Detail like you can't begin to imagine.  These things are ruthless in their ability to portray and resolve every little pin drop on the recording.  Real, 3 dimensional presentation of... well.... EVERYTHING!  

I'm so floored, I don't think I have words.   I've never been so excited about listening to music before......

I know you can buy a really nice car for the MSRP price of the cables listed above.  I know it's the newness factor to a certain degree and I will definitely spend a LOT more time doing some comparisons.  I'm also anxious to pull the power cords out and compare them with the Black Sand Cable Statement One's (which worked wonders of their own in the old setup).  But for now, in nearly 20 years in this hobby, I've never had such a dramatic, real life musical experience from a stereo as I've had the past couple hours.... and to me, that's saying a lot....

[richidoo]

Sounds like quite an epiphany Shane! That's what is so much fun about this hobby. I look forward to hearing it.

Are Aluminata cables made with aluminum?
Rich

[hometheaterdoc]

Are Aluminata cables made with aluminum?

It's an aluminum alloy.  More info here:  http://www.jpslabs.com/alumiloy.shtml

Initial comparison thoughts on Statement One versus Aluminata on the Monads ONLY (remembering that I've still got all Aluminata in the rest of the system):

Statement One (with the Oyaide connectors, not Acrolink) is more lively, more midrange presence... it seems to have a bit more detail based on that more lively presentation, but I don't think that's the case. It's busier sounding, but has quicker pace and phenomenal attack... *really* good decay...

Aluminata is sooooooo smooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooth. It's more laid back by comparison to the Statements, warmer sounding. It is more expansive in its soundstage presentation in height, width, and depth. Definitely the biggest wall of sound I've ever experienced, but might be a bit overly exaggerated at the expense of razor sharp, pinpoint imaging. These cords just kind of lull you... you think it's dull sounding by comparison to the Statements until something attacking comes on and it startles the $hit out of you.  No lie, I jumped sideways in my seat a couple times.  JPS's claim that these cords are mini power conditioners because of their shielding seems true so far. They do clean up a big of grunge I notice with the Statements (which in turn do the same thing compared to other cords I've had here). The background is a bit blacker with the Aluminata than all the other cords, which in turn helps with dimensional soundstage presentation because things aren't hidden by that little tinge of grunge.

But that's my current power situation here (it's woefully awful to be honest). I've got an electrician friend coming over this afternoon to lay things out. I'm putting in a sub panel this week and gonna start pulling 18 dedicated lines to my audio and video rooms....some lines will be JPS Labs 10 gauge romex (I'm pretty much decided I'm picking up JPS at this point) and some will be standard 8 gauge romex from Home Depot... that will definitely change things and will help level the playing field on the grungy power line issue... I've currently got waaaaaaaaaaaay too much stuff on the same circuits with the audio gear.......

Right now, the edge goes to the Aluminata........ they're 3X the price, though.....

I think it should be a testament to how incredibly good John's Black Sand Cable cords are that I, as an A/V retailer, am buying cords from a direct retailer to put in my demo systems rather than use cords from a manufacturer I can be a dealer for.... and he's a pretty good guy to boot

[Carlman]

I'm super happy you had a 'moment of awe' and found something that really brought you into the music.  Please keep it burning in... and report back in a couple of weeks... things do change... usually for the better... but you never know... I'd like to see how these things settle in over time.

I think once you get into these upper-echelons of designs, it's going to be a matter of what works in that situation... and to the listener.  What Shane likes to hear and what I like to hear are a little different.  I wish I could afford the BE-10 or 20's but I just can't at the moment.  But if I compared a pair of Piega C8 Limited (15,k retail) to the similarly priced BE-20's I bet it would be a similar kind of review/comparison as the S1/Aluminata.... Just different.  

An aside about JPS;  I will say I think Black Sand has a much nicer website than JPS.  Maybe I'm biased, though.    I never understood how companies selling multi-thousand dollar cords couldn't pay a pro photographer for a day to shoot some good shots... or invest in a good site.  Oh well, what do I know?  

[richidoo]

Thanks for the link. Looks interesting. Great idea on the sub panel. Looking fwd to hear your impressions of that.

[Nick B]

I understand exactly what you're talking about with JPS. I got into serious audio in the late 80's. Had  VAC 90 and Modjeski RM 9 amps, Rowland preamp, Shahinian Diapason speakers, Basis Ovation TT, etc. But the sound wasn't right...way too much sibilance and harshness. I was using well known braided, unshieled silver speaker cables and IC's. I got to know the manufacturer who lived near Los Angeles. He shielded the cables per my request and removed the cover and simply wrapped the silver braid wire by (what looked like) a 1/2 to 3/4" wide aluminum foil material. That had zero effect on the harsh sound. This went on for a few years and then I heard about Joe at JPS. We spoke and he sent me 1 or 2 IC's. What an amazing difference! Most of the harshness was gone. That shielded aluminum wire was incredible! I bought 2 pair, but not the speaker wire. Later, I found a JPS clone speaker wire through Audiomart and lived happily with those wires for many years. I sold them to an AC'er about 6 months ago. I'd love to try the all JPS wire setup you described, but I could never explain those kind of prices to my wife.  

[mdconnelly]

I, too, have been a JPS fan for many years having tried Joe's speaker cables (SC+ biwire), ICs (SC+ and SC2) and his digital power cord.

I am still using the JPS speaker wire and a pair of the SC2 ICs with good results.   Joe is also a great guy to deal with and his products are excellent (albeit, a bit on the pricey side - particularly the Aluminata series).  

Be that as it may... Shane, I'm quite envious of your all-JPSed setup!

[Hantra]

So JPS sells their own 10 gauge power wire?  I am in the new house and need to run a few dedicated lines.  Traditionally I have gone with 10 gauge stranded THHN.  I thought about cryoing some this time.  What's the skinny on the JPS stuff?  And what's the price like?

[richidoo]

$2/inch retail  :

But it is in a pretty red jacket... Looks very impressive. Flexible stranded so easy to run. Probably sounds niiiiice.. I know nothing more.

[mdconnelly]

Hantra,

FWIW, I used a 50' role of Virtual Dynamics BX cable to run a dedicated 20amp circuit at about $5/foot.   Sounds great but, of course, I didn't attempt to compare it with anything other than a non-dedicated outlet. 

[hometheaterdoc]

B,

It's stupid expensive  ;D..... MSRP is $24 a foot.  It's a really nice cable, but it hurt the pocket big time to order some for myself.  I needed 112 feet of it for three outlets. 

I'm running 8AWG Home Depot romex for the other outlets.  It'll be interesting to compare as I'm pulling the HD romex to the same places as the JPS stuff (one dedicated JPS outlet and one HD Romex outlet side by side).  I think I'm going to have a get together once all the work is done and I'm a little less swamped and we can compare to see how much of a difference the JPS stuff makes.


Website info on the JPS romex as well as quoted below:  http://www.jpslabs.com/powercord.shtml

Power AC In-Wall cable ™

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[rollo]

I'll second the Romex. A great cable for Power ditribution. Buy some and try its cheap enough. You will be very surprised with the results. Excellent for extension cords to your separate circuits as well.

  rollo