It made a studio recording sound like it was live at Carnegie Hall (to quote Rich)...
Not "sounded like Carnegie Hall," but had the feeling of an important venue, with excitement and specialness feeling happening, like seeing dizzy's trumpet resting on the stand before the show, you know what you're in for. I really liked the newest Kaplan Rhodium or whatever it is called. The reason that I liked it was that it lights up the midrange in a magical way that enhances the enjoyment of the music very strongly, as if instead of listening to a studio recording, you were at a historic concert at Carnegie Hall with the excitement and anticipation of great music in the air. The ARC preamp does this too, and feastrex drivers, something very few components can do. It made the music seem bigger than reality. The colors are richer, but a little too vivid sometimes. Soprano sax on the intro of this song was "Amperexed" with the Kaplan. Very beautiful, but less easy to tell it was a soprano, a notoriously difficult tone to reproduce accurately. The singers boobs were bigger, her hair darker, a little taller and sassier. I liked this chick. I think this wire will be very popular.
Black Sands Statement 1 was more refined and tonally accurate than the Kaplan, but not as emotionally stimulating which for Carl and Richard was a good thing. The music stands on it's own, with a light gloss applied, pretty, clean, sensuous, but still serious and extended. I think Richard noticed the Kaplan seemed a little less authoritative in the bass than Statement One, but I didn't concentrate on that so I didn't notice. I was captivated by the singer's voice. The Statement 1 more equally highlighted the transient sounds. The singer was more natural sounding, less puffed up, normal boobs on an swimmer's build, and she was more serious about her singing than on seducing me.
All these wires are extended and neutral enough to be serious players. Only the older Kaplan copper was not really in the same league. But the surprise at the low price end was the bright red BSA chrome. Clear and clean, no editorializing, no bigger boobs or powdered nose, but the music was alive and touchable. What a nice surprise. Silver was a notch more refined, on it's way toward Statement 1, all having very similar competent sound, with varying degrees of suave. Most of us in the NC clique own some Black Sands PCs because they are neutral but "friendly" sounding. (I know, Iknow... "friendly..." but you know what I mean when you start comparing the sounds of others that are less friendly, more horny or more IRS... it's crazy these stupid audio descriptors.) Always good value and service from BSA makes any of his PCs an easy choice.
For me I still like the JPS buttoned down authoritative precision. It is a house sound, but it is the sound of deliberate nothingness. You can feel it as a difference from other wire, but when you try to listen for it all you hear is "more." If you think about the JPS house sound in contrast to less controlled and more natural "flavors of copper" wires it is a little bit of a letdown. Why can't be as exciting as Kaplan? or as approachable and friendly sounding at Black Sand? Why is less more? Why is more better? Shit, am I really talking about power cords? I guess I'm in the right place at AN...
I think Kaptivator is similar to Aluminata without the thick aluminum particulate shield. And just like with the SC3 speaker cables similar to Aluminata without the particulate shield, I usually prefer the unshielded version to the Aluminata which puffs up the bass each time I've heard it (except as ICs.) Aluminata SC and PC is rich and warm, which will appeal to many, but I rather have the lithe bass detail than the comforting warmth. But Richard and Carl liked a lot about it.
JPS Kaptivator was my favorite of all. It fleshed out the singers bosom almost as well as Kaplan, but also gave her vulnerability, nerves, and tangible tonal detail and microdynamics that made her seem very real. I could fly into the music easiest with the Kaptivator. In last night's system, though, in direct comparison to the smoother sounding BSA and Kaplan, the Kaptivator sometimes seemed to put
too much into the speakers. The added information was difficult to keep up with and created anxiety in comparison to the easy to swallow flavors of the others. If I wasn't already in heat for this girl because of the Kaplan experience I would not have enjoyed looking in her navel as much with the JPS. I think this was not fault of the Kaptivator, but of two other issues. The speakers aren't fully baked yet and didn't handle the extreme dynamic detail of Kaptivator with grace, and tempo of swappage was too fast to really get adjusted to each wire and absorb the more subtle aspects. Both circumstances were unavoidable, the night is only so long and comparing speakers was the main goal, leaving a shorter time for PCs. The speaker crossovers are expecting more subtle tweaks, this is only the first draft. Maybe the JPS Power AC+ would have been just right for those speakers and my mood at that moment in time, JPS clarity without the intensity of Kaptivator.
I think the treble on the Selah C8 is still a tad hot, but it was expected that there will be some fine tuning after parts burn in and Carl has some ear time with them. So in last night's context the new BSA Statement 1 and new Kaplan Rhodium had the best synergy. For my own system I would probably
want to choose Kaptivator, but I might have the same issues and find a more relaxed wire better suited. Only extended listening can say for sure. These quick swaps are fun and give a basic DNA, but a lot goes undiscovered in fast swaps on one song.
Thanks to Paul and John for sending the wires down our way. What a blast it was to compare them all together on a such a revealling system.
Rich
