Witch hat phantom vs chord epic twin vs naim nac a5

dears,

I think it is always useful to share opinions and get different points of view. let’s talk about speaker cables.
I had naim nac a5, I think it is a must have starting point, my system was made of a supernait 2, hicap dr, cd5i and naim nd5xs, sonus faber liuto tower.
I was looking for more detail, more transparency, after reading a lot in this forum I moved to Chord Epic twin. No regret: more detail, more medium presence, little bit less rythm but overall big improvement, nice PRAT.
System changed, now I have Naim NDS with non naim PS, Nac 282 w hicap dr, PMC twenty5 26.
Willing to change hifi positioning I bought almost new witch hat phantom, I found it quite neutral, less PRAT but more honest, detailed and frank. I miss a bit the sweetness and PRAT of the Epic, but I ask myself: was Epic correct or sweetened? Also Epic was a bit metallic, WH is not. Some new details are showing up sometimes, maybe WH has still to complete the burn in, guy who sold me told he had it on his system just for 1 week.
what was your experience?
one of my doubt is: is it better to appreciate PRAT and have the voice materialized in the middle of the room or go for a frank approach that gives you a real approach to the original sound?
thanks for sharing your opinions
Guido

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When I owned a pair of Phantoms, I found they needed at least a week with something pumping through them 24x7 to open up and lose their initial “thinness” after which time I found them actually very close to A5 in terms of presentation, certainly less “colour” than the Epic which preceded them. Stick with them, I think you’ll be rewarded.

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@Gruido71 agree with @Jonners here. I didn’t like mine for three weeks

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Not trying to sound difficult, but really how do any of us know what the original sound was or what the artist intended? Unless one of us was in the recording studio at the time of the recording that will always be a mystery.
I say just let your ears make the decision whatever cable that makes you enjoy the music the most is the best cable! Regardless of price or anyone else’s opinion!!

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A quick note, Gruido. I am also using in the interim the non-Naim PS on my NDS. I very much look forward to buying a 555PS in a few years (we have many expensive things going on at the mo), but I highly recommend also having a t-xps plus on your NDS in the meantime. Like the 555PS, it makes a heck of a difference. When I get the 555PS I’ll let you know the difference it makes.

Dave

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There’s countless “X vs Y vs Z” threads on the internet, I probably made some myself.

I doubt however their outcome is useful at all.
Just needed to say this as I have used all 3 cables OP asking for.
Would I be able to conclude ?
Nope.

thanks! this is increasing my expectations :wink:

seriously I might find myself in the same situation, I cannot decide wich one to keep and wich one to leave… let’s see in a while as I understood the burn in might take some time

fully agree. a cable should be neutral, not add and neither deduct, but it’s not like that. same goes for electronics. also listening to the music is something personal and nobody can complain if I choose a cable instead of another

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this year I moved from nd5xs to nds, keeping same PS I was using. it was a big jump! but really big! a XPS or a 555 even not DR are on the radar, but in a while :sweat_smile:

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I am fine with this statement, anyhow the research that many of us do is both in the direction of pleaseant music and frank reproduction of the original music, moreover I do enjoy a lot a good dynamic and stage reproduction. how was the original? for sure had higher volume than the one I can keep at home :smile:
the willing to search for faithful reproduction brought me to WH, as a matter of fact I was really satisfied of chord epic twin prat. anyhow if once burned in the WH will not satisfy me, I will get back to Epic. I don’t think will be an issue selling WH in case :smile:

“I don’t think will be an issue selling WH in case”

You’re right Gruido. When I moved house last year and needed a longer run of speaker cable, I sold my Phantoms on eBay and got a pretty good price due to demand and the legendary leadtime from WH. I replaced them with Chord Rumour X because I wanted a slimline profile in white and couldn’t justify the price of 2 x 5M runs of Phantom.

Yes, the NDS is an excellent bit of kit. Sounds amazing, especially for the price. I am also a careful audio spender.

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My journey has been:

Chord Epic Twin (15 years) → WH Phantom (2 years) → Kudos KS-1 (18 months now).

Each stage was a noticeable upgrade and I’m not planning any more speaker cable in the future.

Thanks for sharing possible further step in the cables. Do you know if kudos cables might sound fine even with non kudos speakers ? Is there anybody that tried the combination kudos cables-non kudos speakers?
Also nice to know that you found WH an improvement compared to Epic :grinning:

I have not heard or tried KS-1 with non-Kudos speakers so not sure.
Another thing you may like to consider is that WH will launch a new cable above Phantom, called Spectre, in early 2023 so may be worth hanging around for that?

Yes, I’m using it very successfully with PMC speakers. Best Hifi spend I’ve made in ages, effectively gave me a new system.

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thanks, did you maybe have the possibility to compare to nac a5, witch hat phantom and or chord epic twin or similar? thanks a lot

@GraemeH runs KS-1 with his ProAc Tablette 10 Sigs. Based on his findings I am contemplating the same for my upcoming second system.

Best
Gregg

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I also have pmc, I have twenty5 26, so you are increasing my interest on the ks1