pjdami
06-15-2003, 12:28 AM
Okay. So the past couple of months or so I had been toying around with different types of interconnects, mostly in the $60 and below range. So I finally stumble across the Signal Cable Analog 2 and its the best by far of what I have in the house, $30 monsters, $30 Radio Shack Fusions, $20 Acoustic Research, and $60 Aurelle Dynamics.
Then I see that Mantis has a sale for Transparent ICs. I couldn't resist..I had to satisfy my curiousity and give them a spin. So I order one pair and they arrive perfectly a few days later. My main objective is to find some ICs that help to minimize the liveliness / sibilance in my acoustic environment with all the ceramic tile I have in my living room.
Well, I hook them up between my Rotel cd player and my Rotel RSX 1055 receiver with my LSi 9's and my PSW 350 sub crossed over at 80 hz. Within two songs I knew something was up; I emailed Dan and told him I was writing a check for the other pair he had. I thought this was going to take a couple of days for me to make up my mind ... but I was convinced otherwise.
So let's get to the good stuff. SC analog 2 versus Transparent. Well first of all the SC cost $52 whereas the Transparent cost $200 brand new. So perhaps this isn't really a fair comparison but I think folks may want to know what I'm hearing here.
The SC are a fine pair of interconnects...no doubt about that. Like I said, they were the best sounding I had until the Transparents arrived.
For music to demo, I got tired of going back and forth with the interconnects with all types of music so I stuck with some Jazz music which has great female vocals, piano, drums, and bass guitar. Patricia Barber's Nightclub cd track #5 "you don't know me". Quite fitting since I didn't know the Transparents very well. This particular cd also sounded kind of "noisy" to me before the Transparents so I thought it would be interesting to see how it sounded.
Basically, Transparent is a good name for this wire. The music sounds "transparent". I know that is corny and stuff but its like the music comes out of this black abyss. The background noise is reduced compared to the SC. The vocals are extraordinarily clear without a hint of graininess. The SC are also a tad bit brighter sounding than the Transparents. Not harsh by any means ... just a tad bid brighter. This was one of the concerns I had with Transparent before I heard them; I had read a lot of reviews that they "roll-off" the highs too much. Well, not so the case to my ears. Very distinct, pinpoint highs with "crispness". The SC image very well and lay out the instruments well too. I'm talking about the hi-hats and cymbals on this particular track. but the Transparents seem to slice the soundstage by double the number. Left, left-left-center, left-center, center, right-center, etc. You get my idea. When I close my eyes and lean back in my Lazy-boy chair I can hear the piano strings just dance across the soundstage. Hi-hats same thing...PINPOINT imaging. Bass strings also were a little fuller sounding and tighter to me too. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. You have to pay close attention to hear it but it is there. There is also something going on with the difference in the "decay" of sound between the two. I prefer the decay on the Transparents due to the ambience it produces. Hard for me to put into words on this one.
Anyhow, thanks for reading this review; also thanks to Mantis for the great deal on the interconnects. I'd be happy with the SC too; but I was glad to get the Transparent at just twice the cost. Otherwise I'd be running the SC and be happy as well.
Paul
Then I see that Mantis has a sale for Transparent ICs. I couldn't resist..I had to satisfy my curiousity and give them a spin. So I order one pair and they arrive perfectly a few days later. My main objective is to find some ICs that help to minimize the liveliness / sibilance in my acoustic environment with all the ceramic tile I have in my living room.
Well, I hook them up between my Rotel cd player and my Rotel RSX 1055 receiver with my LSi 9's and my PSW 350 sub crossed over at 80 hz. Within two songs I knew something was up; I emailed Dan and told him I was writing a check for the other pair he had. I thought this was going to take a couple of days for me to make up my mind ... but I was convinced otherwise.
So let's get to the good stuff. SC analog 2 versus Transparent. Well first of all the SC cost $52 whereas the Transparent cost $200 brand new. So perhaps this isn't really a fair comparison but I think folks may want to know what I'm hearing here.
The SC are a fine pair of interconnects...no doubt about that. Like I said, they were the best sounding I had until the Transparents arrived.
For music to demo, I got tired of going back and forth with the interconnects with all types of music so I stuck with some Jazz music which has great female vocals, piano, drums, and bass guitar. Patricia Barber's Nightclub cd track #5 "you don't know me". Quite fitting since I didn't know the Transparents very well. This particular cd also sounded kind of "noisy" to me before the Transparents so I thought it would be interesting to see how it sounded.
Basically, Transparent is a good name for this wire. The music sounds "transparent". I know that is corny and stuff but its like the music comes out of this black abyss. The background noise is reduced compared to the SC. The vocals are extraordinarily clear without a hint of graininess. The SC are also a tad bit brighter sounding than the Transparents. Not harsh by any means ... just a tad bid brighter. This was one of the concerns I had with Transparent before I heard them; I had read a lot of reviews that they "roll-off" the highs too much. Well, not so the case to my ears. Very distinct, pinpoint highs with "crispness". The SC image very well and lay out the instruments well too. I'm talking about the hi-hats and cymbals on this particular track. but the Transparents seem to slice the soundstage by double the number. Left, left-left-center, left-center, center, right-center, etc. You get my idea. When I close my eyes and lean back in my Lazy-boy chair I can hear the piano strings just dance across the soundstage. Hi-hats same thing...PINPOINT imaging. Bass strings also were a little fuller sounding and tighter to me too. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. You have to pay close attention to hear it but it is there. There is also something going on with the difference in the "decay" of sound between the two. I prefer the decay on the Transparents due to the ambience it produces. Hard for me to put into words on this one.
Anyhow, thanks for reading this review; also thanks to Mantis for the great deal on the interconnects. I'd be happy with the SC too; but I was glad to get the Transparent at just twice the cost. Otherwise I'd be running the SC and be happy as well.
Paul