|
|
|
Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Digital Cable Reviews Audio Cables Reviews - Christopher Korody - Christopher discovered my Chimera Labs Audio Cables when he contacted me about vintage tubes. He purchased a pair of Chimera Labs Advantage XLR Analog Balanced Interconnect Audio Cables. He got lucky and found a pair of my Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables on Audiogon. He discovered them a few minutes after they were posted and snapped them up. To my knowledge, out of the hundreds of pair sold, only 5 pairs of Chimera Labs Audio Cables have ever hit the used market". None of the Chimera Labs Advantage Speaker Audio Cables have ever been sold by the original owner. . . As for your Chimera Labs Audio Cables - they are definitely broken in. I cannot believe I would hear all that I am hearing without your Advantage Audio Cables in the mix. The overall change in the performance of the system is profound. BTW I realize that this is probably not the quote you were looking for. I think its real simple and it s what you say - The Chimera XLR Balanced Audio Cables get out of the way and let the music through. The audio cables are beautifully built, easy to handle and thoughtfully packaged. The music appears out of a deep inky blackness. Every detail is revealed as part of a musical whole. Now that I they are broken in, I cannot imagine ever wanting anything less." Audio Cables Reviews - Stephen Gardner - Over a two year period Stephen has purchased Chimera Labs Audio Cables for both his Stereo Audio System and his Home Theatre System. He purchased pairs of Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables, Chimera Labs Advantage Digital Interconnect Audio Cables and Chimera Labs Advantage Single Run Speaker Audio Cables. In total his Chimera Labs Audio Cables orders consisted of five pairs of Advantage RCA Interconnect audio cables and two pairs of Advantage Single Run Speaker Audio Cables and three pairs of Advantage RCA Digital Interconnect Video and Audio Cables for his Home Theater System.. . I can't tell you how much I have been enjoying the addition of more of your Chimera Labs Audio Cables into my audio system! The audio cables are working better than I imagined... The highs are nice and detailed, while they still manage to be smooth as silk. The bottom end is also full bodied with plenty of low-frequency extension. Most importantly; the mid range is very involving and is capable of providing me with the emotional connection to the music that I have been longing for. Thanks for continuing to offer such great audio cables at reasonable prices. I seriously can't thank you enough! Audio Cables Reviews - Dan Baschkopf - Dan purchased two pairs of the Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables. He was kind enough to let me know how pleased he was with the audio cables sound performance. He then purchased a Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Digital Audio Cable. My system is a Rega P9 table w/Expressimo mods and heavy weight Shelter 501 cartridge, Audiomat Arpege amp and Phono One head amp, Vecteur L-4 cd player, Audio Note one 1.x signature dac, Angstrom Pochetto speakers and sub & amp; Stage III concepts "Duke" bi-wire speaker cables. I'm just a person trying to build a system that sounds as close to real music as I can get (on a reasonable budget). I m a public school teacher who used to be a jazz/rock musician. I listen to classical, jazz, Latin, Brazilian, and rock music. Your Advantage RCA Interconnect audio cables are the ones that make each of these sound more like being there….By far the best audio cables I had ever heard (Tom Evans, van den Hul, …). I probably have a little over 70 hours on the Advantage RCA Digital Audio Cable now. It sounds wonderful. I was a little nervous when the cable went through a very forward” stage, but that became much more relaxed and musical without loss of charity. This included extended highs, very realistic mid-range and deep, tight bass with a realistic soundstage relative to the size of the ensemble. Your audio cable is an incredible improvement over my previous audio cable. It gets better each day those additional ambient queues make it seem more real. Audio Cables Reviews - Babis Kokkinakos - Babis and his audio friends live in Greece. The first type of Chimera Labs Audio Cables Babis purchased was a pair of the Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables. That got the ball rolling and started the intensive audio cable reviews detailed below. The next purchase was a Babis & amp; Friends Chimera Labs Cable Order...a good way to save shipping costs. In fact I do offer a discount on combined orders to Audio Groups and Audio Clubs. Babis purchased a pair of Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Digital Interconnect Audio Cables and a pair Chimera Labs Advantage Single Run Speaker Audio Cables. His friends purchased two pairs of Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cable. The third Babis & amp; Friends order included two pair of Chimera Labs Advantage Internal Speaker Audio Cables and a pair of Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Audio interconnects for Babis and three pairs of Chimera Labs Advantage Analog RCA Interconnect Audio Cables for his Friends. The fourth Babis & Friends order were for four more pairs of Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables. As for the sound performance of the Chimera Labs Audio Cables, let me say this; the initial surprise became enthusiasm. I could write pages. This audio cable design is not only extremely right from every sonic aspect but also has excellent musicality. It proved, through various comparisons, that it can compete easily with other far more expensive and widely known audio cables and audio speaker cables. These conclusions are not only mine. A friend, fanatical with silver, started to change his views. Now I know how all your satisfied customers feel. I am one of them. This reply is an effort to describe reviews, reactions and opinions concerning your excellent Advantage Audio cables. First month - I kept notes (the secret eye” ( the Bullseye Chart Chimera Labs uses to evaluate my designs ) is useful; every 10 hours of break-in. Each time I listened to only 3 musical tracks familiar to me, in order to recognize the changes. I must say here once again how critical your suggestion for a long break-in period for Chimera Labs Audio Cables is. Otherwise, conclusions wouldn t be right. However, my favorite and very expensive -a Symphonic Line Reference interconnect audio cable, very similar in character to Kimber KCAG interconnect audio cable- from the beginning couldn t stand the comparison!!After the seventh audition (70 hours) I noticed constant characteristics of the Advantage RCA Interconnect audio cables. From that moment on I listened to the tracks three times: 5 minutes, 1 hour and 2 hours after switching on my system, so that I could control the role of the source and amplifying. When this procedure was completed, I reviewed other audio interconnect audio cables constructed in various ways: solid core, multi-strands, isolated (shielded), not isolated etc- for comparison. These interconnect audio cables were DNM Reson MK II with Eichmann plugs, Analysis Plus Copper Oval In, QED 350, Kimber KCAG, Nordost Blue Heaven and DIY silver audio cables in various diameters and terminations.I followed the break-in period once again. The conclusions were as expected: the superiority of the Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cables was profound. Amazingly, in most cases the differences were easy to recognize. DNM: not so quiet, upper mids in front of other frequencies. Analysis: dry mids, edginess beyond normal and impressive rather than natural. QED: strident and often too fast. Fatiguing after a while. Kimber: quite good on average, but just average. Nordost: better than the others with good balance, but it sounded not so full-bodied and it had not extension at low frequencies.-Silver audio cables: charming but only for a while.After these comparisons (the reference was the Advantage RCA Interconnect audio cables, some views were clear to me: The Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Interconnect audio cable was much better than all the previous ones.-Most very good audio cables are flawed in some way that we overlook because of their other strong points. This didn t happen with the Chimera Labs Advantage audio cable.-The Chimera Labs audio cable superiority was not only from this or that sonic aspect (It was fine everywhere). For the first time I experienced natural nuances as a whole. Next months - Auditions with friends.Main persons: Dimitris , silver maniac (and tube also and horn speaker as well). Petros , the spirit of disagreement. Apostolos , he trusts the official” magazines and reviewers more than his ears. Several times the victim of this custom. I called them each one separately and then all together. They couldn t see which or what kind of audio cable I was switching on. These meetings were a lot of fun. Dimitris : He took the cable as an excellent hybrid as it delivered only the virtues of the silver and the good points of copper. Apostolos : I tried successfully to set him up. In a blind test he recognized the Advantage Audio Interconnect very easily among three audio cables (Nordost, Kimber and Harmonic) and he said that it clearly outperformed them. Then, he believed it was the new reference of his beloved reviewer. Petros : He was amazed but he didn t want to admit it. Yes, it s more vivid, neutral, natural, full-bodied, quiet, transparent, etc than my reference audio cable [Harmonic], but what with it?”! (Dimitris told me that our friend Petros is almost ready to place a quote for one pair of Chimera Labs Advantage Cables…) Recent auditions - We ve decided to keep the Advantage Audio Cables permanently and change the other components (amplifiers and speakers). These tests finally proved to be unanimously beyond any doubt the quality of the Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cable design. . .Little amps came to life and sounded more convincing while others seemed to be more powerful. Speakers with poor bass (Sonus Faber Grand Piano, Redheko 115 horn speaker) delivering more extension at low frequencies. For speakers with big bass the Advantage Audio Cable was revealing. As it liberates many details, these speakers would show how well they could retain that section of the range. An expensive KEF didn t do so well. The Audio Vector M3 Signature from Denmark and the old Technics SB-E100 (with woofer and 2 adjustable horns, 1 for mids, 1 for highs) gave best results.Of course during the sessions we discussed about many issues: Do the audio speaker cables make a bigger difference than the audio interconnects, are there good and bad tubes (especially output ones) or good and bad circuits, crossovers or not, wine or whisky, etc. I m afraid I m getting tired, so I think it s time to sum up. Initially, each one of my friends supported his own equipment. In the end they defended their views about what the perfect sound should be. However, after a while all of them truly admitted that the Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cable is an extraordinary audio cable and honors the music exceptionally. Want to jump to a different cable type review? Audio Cables Reviews - Andrew Cox - Andrew bought some vintage tubes from me. He was very pleased with the tubes I recommended. He spent some time reading the reviews and technical information on the Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cables and the parts; CCC Wire, CC Solder OFC Plugs & Jacks used in the construction of all the Chimera Labs Audio Products. Andrew ordered a pair of Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables, a pair of special Chimera Labs Advantage XLR to RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables, a Chimera Labs Advantage XLR to BNC Advantage Digital Interconnect Audio Cable, a pair of Chimera Labs Advantage Single Run Speaker Audio Cables and two pairs of Chimera Labs Advantage Internal Speaker Audio Cables. He also purchased CCC wire, OFC Copper Chassis Jacks and CC solder so his Tech could upgrade the sound performance of his Audio Equipment. Peter is using Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cables everywhere in his audio system. I haven't yet reported to you regarding the Chimera Labs Advantage Speaker audio cables, Advantage Interconnects audio cables and Advantage Internal Speaker Audio Cables. Mostly that s because I've been listening to music. I think that is probably the simplest thing to be said about the Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cables. They have encouraged me to listen to Music again. I'll describe my system first and then report on my experience with the Chimera Labs audio cables. I would not describe myself as an audiophile in that my experience of equipment is very limited. I have some gear that I enjoy listening too and my object is to improve the system I have so that it sounds its best. Source - Redbook CD, CEC TL5100 Transport (Audios Super clock II & PS), Cambridge Audio Dalmatic 2 (LC Audio Zap filter Mk2 Analog stage & PS and Audios Voltage Regulators). Most of the modifications to the audio equipment required break in and the Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cables and Chimer Labs CCC wires were no exception. I tried to speed the process by lowering the volume on the preamp and playing overnight but break-in seems to require program material at ordinary listening volume. The initial sound of the Chimera Labs Audio Cables before break in is "clattery". Increased detail is apparent but fatiguing. Bass extension is lacking. I would advise against listening analytically to the cables at least for the first five hours or so. After about 30 hours everything had mostly settled down but I felt that the sound was still subtly changing up to about 50 hours.As compared to my previous interconnect audio cables and speaker audio cables (Van den Hul), the Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cables increased bass extension and speed, increased high end detail (each cymbal has its own distinctive sound), decreased sibilance and improved transient response. There is more air and presence in the Audio System. The soundstage may be more focused but I can't say that for sure. Speed and transparency are the two words that spring to mind.Probably the best way to describe the effect of the Chimera Labs Audio Cables is how it has changed my listening habits and intentions for further improvement to the system.Firstly I now listen to music most nights for an hour or so. I have no fatigue and enjoy the sound. I have also noticed that I enjoy listening to the audio system at a low volume setting much more than I used to. Previously if someone turned the system down from my usual listening level I would generally turn it off rather than experience the compression and loss of detail associated with a lower volume. Now I can continue listening at a lower volume and still enjoy the sound.Secondly I have abandoned any thoughts of buying a sub-woofer. The bass is faster and deeper than it used to be. This may not be entirely due to the Chimera Labs Speaker Audio Cables because the speaker renovations occurred at the same time and the new surrounds may have a lot to do with it. Still I think the "cleaning up" of the audio signal path by the Chimera Labs audio cables generally has improved the efficiency of the speakers. I have yet to install the chassis plugs and internal hook up wire but find it difficult to stop listening long enough to send the system off to the technicians. Maybe during the next holidays.I also intend to get a power filter (there is a well regarded local brand called Ear Science) and perhaps fit better power cords to the power amps. For the moment, however, and after many years of tweaking - I'm content. Audio Cables Reviews - Adrian Lucy - Adrian read some Chimera Labs Audio Cable reviews on the web. He initially purchased two pairs of Chimera Labs Advantage Interconnect Audio Cables, a pair of Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables and a pair of Chimera Labs Advantage XLR Analog Balanced Interconnect Audio Cables. Adrian s father reviewed the Chimera Labs Audio Cables in his audio system and had Adrian include his audio cable requirements in the following audio cable orders. Adrian ordered Advantage RCA Analog Audio Interconnects, Advantage RCA Digital Audio Interconnects for his Home Theater System, Advantage XLR Analog Audio Interconnects, Advantage XLR Digital Audio Interconnects, Modified OFC Copper Connectors, Modified OFC Binding Posts, CCC Wire and CC solder. Adrian Litz braided his own internal audio speaker cables and external audio speaker cables. Audio Equipment in my system - Transport: theta data2, DAC: Theta pro basic 3a, (I also use a Theta TLC with the upgraded power supply between transport and DAC) Amp: Krell kav300i, Speakers: Definitive technology BP2002. HiFi Cables consist of Nordost/Townsend, Kimber on the mains with a dedicated spur. I use Townsend seismic sinks to support both equipment and speakers, with Nordost titanium pulsar points under everything. I ll start by saying I began my experience with the Chimera Labs Advantage XLR HiFi Interconnects by being highly skeptical indeed. Could the Advantage HiFi cables really be as good as claimed on the web site? Were they really equal to audio cables of ten to twenty times the price? The money back guarantee convinced me to take a chance... On the audio cables arrival in the U.K. I was hit with the charges for import and taxes so the cost went up some, but I said to myself that if what Dennis says is even half true it ll be worth it. Now I ve spent some years going to the shows and borrowing hifi audio cables at my favorite hifi shop from the likes of Transparent, Nordost, Audioquest etc. So I d like to think I know what you can generally get for your money. So down I sit in front of my system, I've got my skeptics hat firmly on and off I go...Without even being burnt in it is instantly apparent that I m dealing with a hifi cable quite exceptional for my money s worth. Granted I was doing a side by side comparison with the single ended Townsend hifi cable I had previously been using so it wasn t quite a level playing field. I would have expected even a moderately decent XLR hifi interconnect to be an improvement. However I did check out other cables in my price range, the best of which was probably Transparent's new balanced super hifi cable at just under 1000 (sorry, don t know what that is in dollars). To be blunt, the Advantage XLR hifi interconnects blew the transparent right out of the water. The strengths: The music became more forward and open whilst at the same time silky smooth. Resolution was clearly substantially improved. Timing and separation were miles better; in fact to be honest I can t think of any area where it wasn t a big improvement. The weaknesses: Despite being skeptical before my audition I'm forced to agree with everyone else. There simply aren't any. Is it as good as other hifi cables on the market for 10 times the price you ask? Well it cost me a little extra on the import duty as I said but yes, I think it quite possibly is. If anyone s in the market for a sub $3000 hifi interconnects the Chimera Labs Advantage is definitely the bench mark by which to judge and that s praise indeed for a hifi cable in the $300 area. But there s more to this story... I wanted to know how the Chimera Labs XLR interconnects would fare as a digital connection so I borrowed an Audiolab 8000cd with an XLR digital output (my Theta only has single end out). To my utter amazement, as a direct connection between transport and DAC it made my TLC hooked up with Transparent PDL hifi cables sound like garbage, and that s about $1500 of high level kit!! Needless to say I now have an order pending for more Chimera Labs cables to use in the digital domain. These get my unreserved recommendation, they really are superb. Audio Cables Reviews - Myron Olson - Myron has been a customer for a long time. He lives in Dallas and has bought a lot of audio tubes, and uses a Chimera Labs Ace Amplifier in his audio system He also owns a rare Jensen stereo audio speaker which I consider one of the best high efficiency speakers ever made. Over the years Myron has purchased Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Analog Interconnect Audio Cables, Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Digital Interconnect Cables for his Home Theater System, Chimera Labs Advantage Internal Speaker Audio Cables for his Jensen and finally a Chimera Labs Advantage Single Run Speaker Audio Cables to replace the braided speaker cables I made for him using Western Electric wire. Myron is very busy and I was pleasantly surprised that he had time to send me a review and also post one on the Chimera Labs Advantage Audio Cable reviews on audioreview.com Chimera Labs Advantage RCA interconnect audio cables are, well, the most accurate audio cables I've never heard!! Incredible dynamics and musicality. Effortless. Stunningly quiet. I never realized how noisy my other audio cables were until I had these. Ideal for tube gear. Very revealing. Nothing is hyped. No false air or imaging. Just dead on accuracy. Reveals everything for what it is. Bad recordings/equipment cannot hide. Good recordings/equipment are true audio experiences. I can't imagine anything better at any price. At less than $300 for a meter pair, the Chimera Labs Advantage RCA Interconnect audio cables are simply unapproachable performance wise. Strengths: Dynamics, accuracy, stunningly quiet. Weaknesses: None, at any price. Similar Products Used: Purist, Tara, Audioquest, Vampire, Nordost, MIT, Accrotec.
|
||||||||
|
