I have been living with four of Paul Kaplan’s GS (Gob-Smacked) Mk2 Power Cords for about a year now with fantastic results with them feeding my Eastern Electric EL156 mono-blocks ,Avant preamp and DAC Plus.
Over the years I’ve tried many a different IC and speaker cable and as luck would have it, an opportunity came along to audition the Kaplan GS MK2 IC’s and speaker cables recently.
In a post awhile back at Audio Circle somebody was looking for an inexpensive speaker cable and I had mentioned that I was using the Decware speaker cables which I believe go for about $200 for an 8 foot pair. Relatively inexpensive stranded copper with silver coating .To my dismay, a well-respected member disagreed with my pontification that this speaker cable would have a slight glare or grainy edge to it. I told him that this was not the case. I owe him an apology, he was correct but I just hadn’t noticed it until by a weird circumstance that I could only use one GS Mk2 speaker cable to my left speaker as the right speaker length was just to short to reach. So I figured while I wait for the correct length I would at least burn in one of the cables until the longer set arrived as I would forward this pair to a guy in Colorado.
So I’m listening with two different speaker cables and the right speaker sounds a bit grainy compared to the smooth sound from the left speaker that has the GS MK2 hooked to it. During the course of this short crazy experiment, I needed something to do while waiting the arrival of a longer pair, we have all done goofy things to try at one time or another. Fast forward a day.
My two pair of GS MK2 IC’s show-up and immediately I in-stall them. Took about an hour to hear substantial little things hidden in my familiar recordings. Played some Melody Gardot and her pronunciation of words sung had me whispering to myself OMG. They were always annunciated before but nowhere near that beauty that was now just a tad right of center stage, mesmerizing!
Played just about all my Favorites stored on my Squeezebox while anticipating the next day arrival of the GS speaker cables.
They have arrived!
Two weeks have passed so any type of burn in /break in has been completed although they sounded great within the first couple of hours.
I committed myself to just play songs I have been listening to over the past few years that have been some of my favorites. And some new one’s thrown into the mix.
With all these different recordings as most are very well recorded otherwise why would they be saved to favorites. These cables just made me never want to leave my listening chair. I was reluctant to even take a potty break being afraid I would miss something. Anybody have a catheter I could borrow?
They have a wonderful presence about them without having a tinge of aggressiveness. Think silky smooth while extension reaching into the depths of all that is in the deepest layering of the bottom end. With a tautness that is quick. Some cables give you the speed but lack the weight that these speaker cables carry.
I wouldn’t want to separate the low’s, mid’s or top end into categories as they are all presented in such a wonderful cohesive presentation. A beautiful organic mid-range that is the best I have ever heard my system portray. Intoxicatingly seductive like the finest wine or Scotch you have ever enjoyed.
Shimmering extension of the upper frequency that is a joy to listen to. When the instrument calls for attention these cables don’t smooth it over but give you what the musician is playing with a call to step up to the table and indulge yourself in a second helping. Just delightful!
In my system I always liked the JPS3 IC’s going from my Eastern Electric DAC PLUS into my preamplifier. While I was waiting for another set to arrive I took the GSMK2 IC’s out for a simple experiment. When I put the JPS’s back on the DAC I was like “what the heck just happened”? The experiment lasted a few hours and back went the GS MK2’s on the DAC. Ah Nirvana!
As with all cables and components, system synergy and what you want your system to do is all subjective but in my system and for my taste, the combination of having an all Kaplan Cable’s connections inter-twining between my components has been a revelation that has brought my pleasure of listening to a level that has reached the top of the summit. Thank you Mr. Paul Kaplan
Musical Favorites:
Chet Baker’s Unsung Swan Song by David Wilcox from KBCO ,Studio C, Volume1
Body and Soul, Opus3 15th Anniversary Sampler(AS)
House of the Rising Sun Cyndee Peters-Eric Bibb, Opus 3,AS
Suite No2 in C Minor, Peder Riis, Opus3,AS
And Mile To Go..Before He Sleeps, Mark Isham, Pure Mark Isham
42nd Street, Diana Krall, Steppin Out
Pussycat Moan, Katie Webster, Two –Fisted Mama
Alone Together, Chet Baker, Playboy Jazz After Dark, Vol2( Disc1)
So Many Roads, Joe Bonamassa, Live From Nowhere In Particular
Famous Blue Raincoat, Leonard Cohen, Best of Leonard Cohen
Between The Bars, Elliot Smith
Legacy, Phil Keaggy, Acoustic Sketches
The Way It Goes, Gillian Welch, The Harrow and the Harvest
Waiting Phase1 & 2, Porcupine Tree, Coma Dive, recorded Live in Rome
Sadeness Part 1 (Violent US Remix) Enigma Platinum Collection
Lost Eight (Instrumental) Enigma, PC
Faith, The Cure, Rarieties-1980-1981
Plan To Marry, Lucinda Williams, Little Honey
Istanbul 1:26am, Orient Expressions.
No Substitute, John Lee Hooker, The Healer
Working Class hero, Green Day, Promo, Amended Album version
Eliminate The Night, Joan Osborne, Breakfast In Bed
Etcetera Whatever, Over The Rhine, Good Dog Bad Dog, the Home Recordings
I Will Not Eat The Darkness, Over The Rhine, GDBD, the Home Recordings
Taste Of Honey, Patricia Barber
Let It Rain, Patricia Barber, Modern Cool
Night Crossing, John Doan, Candlelight Moments, Moonlight Reflections.
System:
Four Kaplan Cable Power cords GS MK2 (Gob Smacked)
Kaplan Cable GS Mk2 Interconnects from DAC to Pre, Pre to amps.
Kaplan GS MK2 Speaker Cables (15 foot pair)
Speaker; Custom made.
Four TAD 1601A’s , 2 per cabinet
JBL 2470 Martinelli wood horns for the midrange
JBL 2404 tweeter horns
Extensive upgraded crossover network
Eastern Electric M156 mono-blocks
Eastern Electric M88
Eastern Electric Avant Preamp
Eastern Electric DAC PLUS
Squeezebox Touch modded by Bolder Cable with Bolder power supply
Macbook Pro
BPT Signature Plus power conditioner
Acoustic panels throughout the room
