Hello Folks.
The photo above as of this morning serves to illustrate the link cables fitted to my Facts and the original link plate below is the original silver plated link plate, which came with the speakers from PMC. The black link cables were made after a trial of different iterations of said cables from ‘Dynamique’, which is a cables only UK company. My previous listening room was highly reflective/ lively, but after a house move and having now fully completed my listening room acoustically, I was at times still wondering why a top end emphasis reared its ugly face at say volume levels from 9 o’clock upwards depending on individual recordings output level. We are probably all familiar with it when say voicing male or female starts becoming a bit ‘ shouty’ and leading edge on drums/guitars say almost become overemphasised.
I have always been a system- tinker and with the weather today, I felt the time was right to try these old link cables again, well there was nothing to loose really.
My first trial track was Anna Lee from Buddy Guys ‘ Blues singer’ album, and another 10 tracks from other genres followed. This was a clear reminder why I had them made up at a cost of £400,- from memory, but most startling to me why on earth hadn’t I tried these before here until today, DOH…
The best analogy I can think of is that it transformed the whole presentation into a more coherent and musical experience, where there is no emphasis anywhere and everything simply flows in a more meaningful way. The top end ‘compression like’ traits have gone allowing me to hear a more open sound stage, assuming because the audio part of my little brain is no longer getting disturbed by the previous occasional ‘ hardening’ of notes.
I also played Matt Baxter ( full of leading edge blues guitar playing) where I found his upper voice registers had smoothened out and again rhythm was easier to follow with a much less ‘Hifi- like’ emphasis on the leading edge of his guitar riffs. Again I can now play that album louder with no objections from the room to make the in-room musical event more believable and by no means dull in comparison.
I thought I’d share this here as my experience, and I would not necessarily think that the potential improvement will only apply to PMC speakers at all. If your experience mirrors mine maybe you could knock some links up yourself with your speaker cable of choice and see…
In my case it has rendered a surprising uplift, so it might be worth having a play with it, just sayin’…
ATB Peter
Hi Peter,
Like you I made links for my PMC’s and more recently for my three way ATCs. As I am using NAC A5 speaker cables so I made the links out of off cuts of this too. I recall a well known hifi pundit extolling the virtues of such actions, especially on the ATCs.
My thoughts are that the NAC A5 is a pain to form. I am also not convinced that the sound is any different to the supplied links.
Hi Roog, did you have a particular little gremlin in your replay, you weren’t happy with tough and maybe the Naca5 just didn’t have the right signature to resolve it? ATB Peter
Cables, and jumpers, are really as important as any other part in the system rig.
I find it difficult to understand those guys who have invested a fortune in their systems to end with speaker cables that do not do them the least justice or allow them to optimize them; how they must think that the signal is transmitted between the black boxes, and from there to the speakers…? But well, for me it’s just as incomprehensible as fans who invest a fortune in dreamy high-end electronics and then use quality light-years speakers. Anyway, there everyone with their decisions and their money…
… But as with all these things, I’d better give it a week to see if ‘different’ pans out into better after all! ATB Peter
Hi Peter, no not especially, its just a comment from MC of Critic which suggested that it was a worthwhile thing to do. So I did it. :0)
NAC A5 is a pain to form into short loops because it is stiff to bend, a bit of gentle warming did help.
Equally why would a reputable speaker manufacturer design and test an expensive speaker using links which are no good, thus ruining their hard work ‘for an A’peth of tar’? That would be silly.
In fact if they voiced it with their supplied links (which I suspect they do) and ‘the users new links’ did make a difference arguably that might not be how the designer intended or tested their speaker to sound?
Well, I don’t know; it also goes into the possible that they are designed and tested to the fullest of their capabilities, using and taking advantage of all the connection terminals…
Hi Roog, of course what you are saying makes perfect sense. I wonder if I’m simply sometimes asking an SPL in my 21 Sqmetres room, which is not sustainable particularly considering its 3.5 metres width . Maybe there is a natural threshold, where the replay simply starts to sound strained. It won’t be long till Thomas comes out and suggests, it has something to do with my untreated ceiling! ATB Peter
Ah well Peter, we are at the real nub of the issue, as i have mentioned before on this forum my Acoustic engineering colleagues are enthralled by the discussions they overhear between my HiFi colleague and I, with all this talk of tweaking, black boxes, wires, ported and non ported speakers, etc, and yet to their amazement neither of us have attempted to deal with the big issues presented by our respective room acoustic properties.
That is address the big issues before worrying about the little ones. I too am guilty as charged.
Well, at least a bit of tinkering came in handy today, where the weather didn’t seem to allow the garden to distract a forever inquisitive soul! My very understanding wife has not out of irritation queried, how I can spend so much time mocking about with the old stereo, and arguably at the age of 62 maybe I need to grow up. ATB Peter
Don’t grow up … It’s over rated.
Dave
FWIIW, my speakers (and bearing im mind that I needed 16 Van Damme 4 mm square Cu jumpers for the pair, wired with 4 mm square Cu speaker cable to the power amps) did sound different, but not ‘right’ with the jumpers. Linking plates restored, now using TQ Silver II speaker cable and happy not to repeat the experiment.
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