Hi @ryder , makes sense to me. I only hope that mine is good enough? Let’s see where this goes.
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Wow! Very nice 
First observation.
So, music playing now. Unfortunately (long story) I cannot play loud at the moment and nothing exuberant neither as it would disturb my partner. The timing is incredible! Like I said, long story. Hopefully I can in 2-3 days.
One thing I did notice when powering everything up for the first time, it was exceedingly quiet. Dead quiet and has remained this way.
I have been playing on repeat a few Pat Metheny albums as they are quite gentle, One Quiet Night and MoonDial.
I have to say that they sound wonderful. I only have the preamplifier volume level on ‘5’, that’s low. His baritone guitar sounds lovely. All the details are there that you would expect and it all sounds really natural.
Early days of course and much more material and genres to try.
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So, today is the first day that I decided to start listening in a serious manner. The system has been up and running for approximately 40 hours so far.
Here goes:
Livingston Taylor - Ink - 96kHz 24Bit
Gorgeous bass, nice natural timber to all instruments, acoustic guitar detail is all there as expected and there is a gorgeous tone to everything.
Background instruments are all clearly placed in their respective positions. There seems to be a correctness about it. Harmonica section is really lovely and sounds very natural but still with bite.
Diana Krall - Quite Nights - 96kHz 24Bit
Once again, a lovely tone to the instruments, very airy piano, piano keys sound very natural and there is a delicacy to them as well.
Not sure if this is my imagination but there seems to be a more ‘3-D ness’ about everything, placement of instruments, all in all a very enjoyable listen.
Oscar Peterson Trio - We Get Requests - CD
Information overload in a good way, three instruments, three artists, the sound/music they are making is incredible. The CD mastering is ridiculously good. Tone once again of the piano, bass and drums in this case, simply wow. The reverb on the bass is absolutely fantastic and just seems correct.
Boz Scaggs - Dig - CD
It’s like the bass reverb hangs in the air slightly less, like the muddiness in a way has gone. I didn’t realise there was any there before. So this pop album is easier to listen to when everything is clearer, his voice and guitar is just lovely. Seems easier to hear the overall orchestration of the album.
Eva Cassidy - Eva By Heart - CD
As noted above, the bass seems cleaner so everything else is easier to hear and listen to. Boy, once she hits those high notes, not a grain of sibilance at all, just a big smile on my face whilst I’m listening to this album. Detail is vast for all the instruments playing however, in a good way.
Pat Metheny - One Quiet Night - CD
Wow, it’s incredible. His baritone guitar had real bite and you hear every slip, squeak and scratch that’s going on. Is timing better? I’m not really sure.
The last three albums were played quite loud and I wanted to go louder still. Just all very natural sounding and it was difficult to drag myself away from the sofa.
Dire Straits - On Every Street - CD
Guitars have real bite. Detail is incredible and the hi-hats have pinpoint accuracy and placement, cymbals when they are there are so clear. The tone of everything, his voice it’s all a pleasure to listen to. It’s like a level of dirt/distortion has been removed. There is an increased level of accuracy in detail and it’s somehow easier to listen to all this extra information. Especially so when bass notes are present.
I wasn’t aware that there was or is any distortion currently in my set up. I have not moved speaker position at all and of course the hardware is unchanged.
Regarding ‘on every street’, that’s the best I have ever heard that played back home on my system. This album gets played a hell of a lot in this house.
Sorry for my ramblings above and the lack of ‘HiFi’ terms.
I think I’ll go classical tomorrow, cello and violin pieces.
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Better late than never. Going to see if I like their sound signature compared to my Spendor D7.2
I have them for a weeks trial.
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Well, I thought this audition malarkey would be fun. It hasn’t been as it’s a lot of effort to strip down rack and rebuild again with different configurations and then make sure you are in a relaxed state to listen correctly.
The Siltech loom brought some good things, however my main issue was that things were sounding bright and actually my ears were starting to hurt after one hour listening. That’s never happened in my current system for the last five years.
I really couldn’t understand as Siltech is supposed to be smoth, etc… well, not my experience.
I also realise my room would benefit from some room treatments, and I have contacted GIK for advice. It’s my living room though, I want it to look calm and comfortable, this is important to me so let’s see where that goes.
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So, with all that frustration, I earlier thought let’s gat back to base and see where this bright sound is coming from. Has my hearing changed 
So, rack stripped again, 
Siltech loom removed and my original cables back in. Oh, Spendor D7.2 back in too. Guess what?
Bingo! The sound signature I love is back. So it’s not my ears. I will listen tomorrow after a good nights sleep 
to make sure all is well. Then maybe, put the Sonus Faber back in. This time with my original cables. 
Bloody hard work this auditioning lark. 
I thought it was supposed to be fun.
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Hi FR, can you tell me what difference it made adding your acoustic panels?
Thanks in advance 
Differences : much better controlled bass, tight and clean.
Softer, nicer sound, more analog. Sound is less in your face and no bright high frequencies anymore.
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How much time did you give for the Siltech cables to run in?
My entire analog front end uses Siltech cables. When I first got them they were a bit on the bright side, but now they are rather darker and very smooth sounding. At the point I replace my 252/300 with balanced gear I plan to stick with Siltech for a complete loom.
Approximately 2 weeks in the system. At least 12 hours each day current passing through them.
There is a tone which I do not like, it was actually hurting my ears in the end.
I will listen tomorrow with system back to original cables and speakers to confirm the unwanted tone has gone.
My room could do with some acoustic treatment too. I’m going to look into that.
Some people say they can a hear and don’t like the sound of silver cable. Keith Herron tells me he can hear the difference and prefers the sound of copper. I’m not so sure I can hear a difference but I accept it might be a thing. In any case, my tonearms are also wired with silver litz so I guess it’s just as well my phono cable and phono-stage IC cables are silver too.
My Siltech’s have acquired a darker sound over time (in a good way) and resolve details quite well.
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I can tell you it’s tedious hard work after having recently gone through the process of stripping down the rack and rebuilding it again just to install some isolation footers below the rack. My rack is even more complicated to assemble as it’s not plonk-n-play like most racks as I need to use a spirit level to install the individual platforms.
Anyway, as suggested earlier, please allow run-in and try not to do quick swaps. Listen to the Siltech cables for few days, then swap to the original cables though it appears that the differences can be easily distinguished in your system. In my system the sound difference between interconnects is not exactly night and day so quick swaps don’t really work. To make things worse, the Acrolink Mexcel interconnects which I have are stiff cables and require 4 to 5 days to stabilise and sound good after they are bent to a different shape or curvature to fit another component.
Good luck in making the Siltech work!
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As noted above, they have been in for approximately 2 weeks with current running through them.
I’m not sure I could make that kind of investment and hope they will get better.
Maybe I don’t like silver. Maybe they will get better. Maybe the room needs treatment. That’s a lot a maybes.
I just want to enjoy listening to my music and get emotion from it at the end of the day.
Hard work indeed. The effort we all go to to get the best reproduction possible. Well done 
Why does your rack need to be disassembled? I have a SolidSteel rack . Only time I’d ever need to disassemble it is if I was moving
Because I can’t get to the back of the equipment easily for removing and re-inserting the cables, etc….
Did you really have to ask that question?
So, playing Pat Metheny - One Quiet Night and I can confirm a gorgeous timbre and lush tones to his acoustic guitar 
with no awkward ’tone’ that bothers me.
Simply beautiful music.
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Why can’t you get easily at the back of your rack ?
To be taken as a joke, following this discussion.