Rooster tales

Cock is nothing ever good, especially to Chinese. We all know what cocky means, nevertheless, cock eyes (jealousy), cock ear (tone-deaf), cock brain (stupidity), cock (bad); these adjectives convey negativity. Except death chicken (too good a deal to pass up), we all are sucker for good deals.

Good sound is not accidental, absolutely not. It will drop from the sky. You need work on it. Bingo is rare, is only wishful thinking. The essential KPI of your sound, without a doubt, is your set up skills. Better electronics and better speakers will up the sonic performance, they will not beat a difficult room.

Friends don't understand me, what's up with this guy and his tuning. It seems like forever. Evolution takes place in small steps. Well, I'm a poor audiophile. Tweaking is poor man's audioing. I can understand big boys splashing huge cash going straight to the top because they have no time and money to waste. Their time is better spent with something else, tweaking is unproductive for them. Besides, they "buy" the dealer/s' expertise and experience, setting a system in their home when buying a high end system. Other eager dealers who want make some sales will have to prove their merchandise worth in their system. Zero risks. Stay if it work. Home-trial at the average audiophile home only happens in a dream. We don't have that luxury of home-trial unless you're a close friend of a dealer or some kind.

So, what am I busy with? Resonance optimization; it doesn't cost much money. Trying anything I can lay my hands on, I work on the principal that different materials have different resonance modes and difference materials curb resonance better, starts with two materials. The combo might seem infinite; wood, marble, carbon fiber and metal so far have been my experimentation objects. Once you work on it, you get the hang of it. Never work on it, spare me the talk.

As the time of my blogging, I'm can't say I totally happy with my highs. No matter how I try, it still fall short of life likeness. Somehow, somewhere, it must have diminished along the link. My sights set at my PCOCC speaker multi-strand cables, blame my crave for PCOCC. Don't get me wrong, PCOCC has its merits, it's addictive midrange and tonal density is exemplary. Relative narrow bandwidth is the deal breaker, strictly for me. I think different geometry may have resulted different outcome but this is something I can't thump my chest to confirm. I'm a sucker for ultra wide bandwidth.

Given that my speakers are bi-wirable, my choice is rather straight forward. Factory terminated speaker cable with  bi-wiring option would fit my bill. Somehow, there aren't many choices out there. Incidentally, I bumped into Oehlbach Bi Tech 4. Of course, XXL would be ideal, I got caught in flagship sentiments. Knowing German, they don't mess around much. Constructed from 4 cables, a pair silver coated cables for the highs and a pair of thicker gauge copper cables for bass. It makes perrfect sense because different drivers require different cabling. Taking no chances, I had Bi Tech 4 checked for polarity before hooking up. Who can't afford to have his speakers blown up; now that my speakers are discontinued, they become even more precious. I have grown loving my speakers.

Bi Tech 4 works for me. Firstly, the highs receive the extension, improved spatial and separation while the bass gets the boost, punchy. Luscious mids is considerably diminished; many audiophiles are sworn by the audiophile liquid thingy. I want the skeletal voices, reject excessive warmth. Give me microdynamic, I'd happy to give up liquidity. Realism to me is as if broken drumsticks transient and sharp tonal contrast; you get what I mean.

Bi Tech 4 is a godsend to me. The luscious mids are euphonic; an add-on, not what I want. Next, I re-look into my system link, changing resonance parameters. All of a sudden, the bulb in my head lighted ...., I started swapping power cords and discovered a black swan; Reality Red Cord, the cheapest cord in my collection that gets the job; replacing the mighty ESP Reference Mk I. Red Cord is an unshielded 12 AWG Litz cable; an off the shelf product. Thanks to a review by a headphone fi from Hong Kong.

Prime for immediacy, high tonal contrast, lively and accuracy, people tell me that my sound inclination is not "mainstream" and many will not appreciate it. That's OK, I'm here to please me. A boring and euphonic presentation is definitely not for me. A Christmas prize if you will; with speaker cables and a power cord, I have removed a hurdle on Christmas day, shifting gear up in my dynamic department. Dynamic in my own definition, the ability to handle off-road conditions, to reproduce the sharp rise in music reproduction that gives music the richness. Albeit some rawness, I don't really mind for music doesn't wait. Smile is written on my face. I feel so blessed.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and a good year ahead.