Re: Dave's IC's

[Nick B]

Thanks, Dave.
I appreciate the response and explanation. As to the Neotech sounding too warm, that may not be a problem as my systems have always been on the lean and edgy side. Although I strive for a neutral sound, I sure enjoyed the rich sound of the DD's. I didn't consider it colored, just more natural sounding like a club or orchestra setting.
I'll be curious what mdfoy's impressions are
Nick

[mdfoy]

Background
I purchased a pair of Dave I, and liked them so much I them swapped up to the Dave II.  When the tour was announced I welcomed the opportunity to audition the DD and the speaker cables.

Base configuration
Soundstring on source to pre, Dave II on pre to amp, Coz SC

System configuration 1 - Dave II on source to pre, Dave II on pre to amp, Coz SC

I replaced the Soundstring on the CD with the Dave II to get a feel of Dave II from source to amps.
This was very interesting, as stated in another post on the Dave’s IC signature; it is like fuzz is removed from the edges. The entire range of sound is tightened. There is a little less warmth with Dave II than with the Soundstring in play. Nice, but a noticeable change in character.  I will get back to this later.   

System configuration 2 - Dave III on source to pre, Dave II on pre to amp, Coz SC

The Dave III on the source brought back the body and soul.   There was no fuzz on the peach, but there was depth and weight added back into the mix in addition to inner detail.  On Sketches of Spain, Concierto de Aranjuez, the tambourine and maracas sound more real and fleshed out.  Cassandra Wilson, New Moon Daughter, Strange Fruit, the guitar had more bite and decay with the Dave III.  Where Dave II is nice, the Dave III, very nice in every way.  In my system the Dave I to Dave II is a nice jump forward. The Dave II to Dave III is like a jump forward and to the side.  It is a different presentation. 

System configuration 3 - Dave III on source to pre, Dave II on pre to amp, Dave SP on speakers

The difference in presentation for Dave’s SP than the Coz Cable SP was not that great. There was an additional stability to imaging, maybe a touch of extension in the upper range, but not an appreciable increase in SQ. But a little lean, maybe getting into the realm of too much of a good thing.  The Coz are bi-wire with bananas all around, the Dave’s spades on the amp, bananas (REALLY NICE) on the speaker, spades on the jumpers(rhodium on to, copper on the bottom). 

System configuration 4 – Dave II on source to pre, Dave III on pre to amp, Dave SC on speakers
This combination was interesting; there was small step back here.  The adage of best cable on the source range true here.  There was just less all around.  Image focus, clarity, dynamics, tone…. The Dave III couldn’t save the day here. 

System configuration 5 – Soundstring on source to pre, Dave III on pre to amp, Coz SC on speakers
Now this combination is the motts! The larger sound of the Soundstring, bigger images, bigger bass, more warmth, was controlled and tightened just right by the Dave III. In my system, this is the best of both worlds. The Dave III lowers the noise floor and cleans up the edges and just lets the music flow. There was a noticeable increase in dynamics and clarity with the reintroduction of the Coz.  I found that this configuration was the best all around.  I will need to test out 2 sets of Dave III to see if that goes into too much, or give me more!

System configuration 6 – Soundstring on source to pre, Dave II on pre to amp, Coz SC on speakers – Back to normal

I found it I good to return back to my reference for confirmation of the observations made during the evaluation. The inclusion of the Dave III in the pre-amp to amp position nailed it for me. This was confirmed by the wife in the other room, “What did you do? It sounded better before.” The Dave line of cables is very good indeed, and not just with the "for the price" qualifier.  The Dave III is definitely on my Christmas list, preferably 2 sets!

I thank Dave for the opportunity to participate in the tour.

Music
Cassandra Wilson, Loverly
Lizz Wright, Salt
Michael Breaker, Nearness of You
Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain
Pat Metheny, Travels Live

My system
Amp Odyssey Khartago mono's ++
Pre Response Audio Bella-Max(Purity One prototype)
DAC NorthStar M192
Transport NorthStar M192
Speaker Salk HT1
Phono Heed Quasar, SAE 1000E
TT Thorens TD-125 MKII

IC Source to pre - Soundstring
IC Pre to amp - Dave II
IC Phono to pre - Clarity Cable - Harvest
SP Coz bi-wire

[Carlman]

Mike,
I think your review style is one of the best I've seen.  Succinct, clear/easy to follow, and honest.  I admire your organization.  Many thanks for sharing your findings.
-Carl

[DaveC]

I agree with Carl, thanks for the review Mike! 

[Nick B]

Hi Dave,
Just curious, does bpape have the cables?
Nick 

[DaveC]

Yes, I believe so but I still need to confirm delivery.

[mdfoy]

I have the cables as delivered to Bryan 10.31.2013

[DaveC]

Cool, thanks Mike.

I had the tracking just didn't check it... 

[bpape]

Sorry. Been swamped. I have the cables. Played with them a bit but been absolutely buried. I have a note out to the others in St. Louis who would be interested also.

Bryan

[DaveC]

No problem Bryan, take your time.

[DaveC]

Update:

After having several folks listen to the D3 interconnect cable I am going to offer it. It is the same as the D2/DD, but uses Neotech's new OCC silver/gold alloy wire with foamed PE dialectric as the signal wire.

This cable is going to offer similar performance to the DD cable but is significantly different in it's tone and presentation. It sounds more like a improved version of the D2, it is warm while still having the positive attributes of OPOCC silver. There are some areas where this wire is exceptional... Detail is amazing, more nuance than Duelund, just more information comes through than any other cable I've tried. Tonality is incredible, the most realistic I've heard... copper can sound warm but is slow and smeared compared to the silver/gold wire. And compared to straight silver there is a warmth and richness to the tone that just sounds right.

Now I think I truly have two cables that are both near as good as it gets yet quite different so they will be able to suit different systems and personal preferences.

Before I had in mind the D2 as the alternative to the DD but it's clear that most folks think the DD is quite a bit better, which isn't surprising given Duleund's 10x increase in cost vs the Neotech EC-UPOCC wire in the D2. The D3's silver/gold alloy wire is now the most expensive wire I know about, gauge-for-gauge it's DOUBLE the price of Duelund, but because of it's tone I found I can use the same aggregate gauge as the D2 and get the results I'm looking for, so I can offer the D3 for a modest price increase over the DD, about $50.

I think in general those who are using triodes, class A SS and have an overall warmer system will still prefer the DD, and those using pp and a/b amps with a overall brighter system will probably lean towards the D3.

mdfoy should be getting a box with the DD and D3 in it so he can make some comparisons, he or I will keep this thread updated.

[Nick B]

Hi Dave and thanks for the update. I'll be interested in mdfoy's upcoming evaluation as his previous one was quite interesting and thorough. The D3 combination of tonality and detail has me quite intrigued. I am working on my Buffalo dac and am saving up...skipping meals ... to save up for the DD's or D3. Great stuff, Dave

[mdfoy]

I have received the cables and will start listening!


Happy Holiday season to all!

[DaveC]

Sounds great Mike.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!


The signal wire in the D3 is Neotech's brand new 99% silver / 1% gold alloy wire produced using the Ohno continuous casting process. Yes, this alloy has been used before by Mundorf and other cable companies, but it has not been produced using the OCC process until now. OCC wire is sonically FAR superior to conventional wire and this makes the new Neotech wire the best and most expensive wire for audio use on the planet right now.

Here's the world's smallest $2500 spool of wire...  :green:   



And the D3 cable:

[mdfoy]

After participating in the Dave 2 and DD tour, I did some research on the Dueland wire and found out that there was a 2.0 version of the wire. I pinged Dave to get his opinion on the wire and Dave being Dave was way ahead of me and offered me the opportunity to check out the Duelund 2.0 and D3 cables. Below are my finding of these cables in my system. I had a mishap with my digital source and did the review of these cables on my vinyl source. Making lemonade out the these lemons, I got to check out the DD 2.0 and d3 exclusively in my system, switching tem on source to pre, and pre to amp. 

Base configuration - set the baseline
Clarity Harvest II on source to pre, D2 on pre to amp, Coz SC

The Harvest II is a nice cable, it does nothing wrong, but cymbals can get a little more tinny than brassy. One of its strongest points is being very quiet due to the damping in the connectors. A nice cable, and we know about the D2, low noise floor, great tone, good detail.

System configuration 1 - DD.2 on source to pre, D2 on pre to amp, Coz SC

The DD allows all of the detail on the record come through and has very good coherence, and very clean. This is a configuration that I had on the a previous except the DD is now the DD.2. An example, Travels, Are you going with me, the level of articulation on the DD.2 exceeds the Harvest in all frequencies. This cut gets very busy, and all notes are clear and present with the DD.2. They get a little messy in the Harvest. mind you, this is only revealed after a listen with the DD.2. Sonic memory is fleeting, but I believe the DD.2 may be a little cleaner than the DD. This was revealed in the next configuration. 

System configuration 2 - DD.2 on source to pre, D3 on pre to amp, Coz SC

This combination made me stop using my cables, and just switch position of the DD.2 and D3. It was made abundantly clear that the D2 was not up to par with the D3. The level of detail and flow from the DD.2 was allowed to flow unabated by the D2. There was detail, depth and weight exposed that was not there with the D2.  Sketches of Spain, Solea, this is one of my favorite pieces of all time, at the crescendo, just a beautiful thing. The level of clarity allowed to be displayed by the D3 made the D2 appear broken. I won't say that the D3 smokes or any other colorful words to describe the difference between the two cables, but will just say that I am buying the D3.

System configuration 3 - D3 on source to pre, DD.2 on pre to amp, Coz SC

It is clear the that the presentations of the DD.2 and D3 are different. The level of detail provided by the DD.2 is pretty even with the D3, but the tonal weight of the cables is different. Herbie Hancock, River, Tea leaf Prophecy, Jonie Mitchell's voice had a warmth that the DD.2 did not, and the piano lower register had more weight. The bass on Cassandra Wilson, Blue Moon Daughter, Strange fruit was just more profound. These differences were not terrible or indicating a weakness, but different. The difference in presentation was further clarified to me when in the next configuration.

System configuration 4 - D3 source to pre, D2 on pre to amp, Coz SC

I brought the D2 back in the mix to check a thought I had on the differences between the DD.2 and D3. Everything in configuration 2 was right on, but the weight and tone was heavier with the D3 than with the DD.2. The same level of detail, body, tone, space, dynamics, space, noise floor, but more solid.  The DD.2 would be a Vanessa Williams the singer, the D3 would be is Serena Williams, the tennis player, big, strong agile, and a brother likes a thick chick!

All said, in my system the DD.2 and D3 are both very nice cables and have a quality that is easily heard. Both improve upon the D2. How large an improvement is up to you and your system.  In my system, the D3 provided a level of enjoyment that is hard to resist.  My system was configured for clarity and accuracy. Choices were made to balance a touch warmer than neutral amp, with touch cleaner tube preamp, speakers are dead accurate.  The D3 most clearly enhanced the sound. I am going for in my system.  I need to figure out how I am going to get at least 2 pair. 

Once again, I thank Dave for the opportunity to participate in the tour.

Music
Pat Metheny, Travels Live
Miles Davis/Gil Evans, Sketches of Spain
Herbie Hancock, River
Steely Dan, Greatest Hits
Cassandra Wilson, Blue Moon Daughter

My system
Amp Odyssey Khartago mono's ++
Pre Response Audio Bella-Max(Purity One prototype)
Speaker Salk HT1
Phono Heed Quasar
TT Thorens TD-125 MKII, Audiomods Series 5 tone arm, SAE 1000E

IC Pre to amp - Dave II
IC Phono to pre - Clarity Cable - Harvest
SP Coz bi-wire

Happy holidays to all!