Graham Slee Spatia & Lautus I/C

[stevebrock]

After the initial euphoria I have been listening to these in my system the last few days....... reverted back to my Chord Cables... guess what?

The Chord sounds the same.....I am convinced now cables have very little influence on sound!

They were on loan so I had an open mind about wether they are worth the investment.

 

[CnoEvil]

After the initial euphoria I have been listening to these in my system the last few days....... reverted back to my Chord Cables... guess what?

The Chord sounds the same.....I am convinced now cables have very little influence on sound!

They were on loan so I had an open mind about wether they are worth the investment.

Well you gave it a shot, which is all one can ask.

I think it would be shame if this one experience put you off trying anything else ever again.......but I can understand if it did.

Anyway, thank you for sharing your experience.

 

[stevebrock]

Well I may try some Odyssey 2 and maybe a Chameleon

 

[CnoEvil]

Well I may try some Odyssey 2 and maybe a Chameleon

If you like what Chord does, you should see benefits as you climb higher up the range. There are no hard and fast rules in this game and certainly no universal solutions.

 

[stevebrock]

The Spatia impressed me straightaway..... a few days later - I am used to it and it just sounds like the Chord

Is it the placebo effect?

 

[BronC]

Leave the chords in for a few days and then swap to the Slees again? See if you notice any further changes? If you don't notice any difference again then send them back.

 

[CnoEvil]

Leave the chords in for a few days and then swap to the Slees again? See if you notice any further changes? If you don't then send them back. If you do keep experimenting?

Sound advice.

Often first impressions are the right ones, but this is not always the case. Can you get anyone else to give a second opinion - if they have good hearing and no expectations / built-in bias, it can be very helpful.

 

[stevebrock]

had a little play around, finding the bass on the Spatia a bit uncontrolled with Zero 7 & massive attack so put the Silverscreen back on but keeping the Lautus I/C on, the bass is a bit tighter and it sounds lovely!

Seems like the I/C has the most positive affect (in my system) - may be worth investigating Chords higher end I/Cs? and keeping the Silverscreen in situ!

Does anybody else think the I/Cs have more affect than speaker cable?

 

[CnoEvil]

Does anybody else think the I/Cs have more affect than speaker cable?

There are really no given rules on this one......if you found the I/Cs made more difference, then that is valid for you.

 

[ellisdj]

How does Adele sound now? With the Spatia?

I found when I first put the Cusat in my system the difference in sound made me realise my speakers were in the wrong place, I moved them further apart and out a bit. That opened up my soundstage and gave me depth - I couldn't tell that before with my previous I/C. I would think about that and experiment before making mind up

the other thing to check - have you got the Spatia the right way round? Blue label under outer sheath at the amp end - very important again

 

[stevebrock]

I didn't realise they were directional I will check them out later

 

[ellisdj]

Yeah - if you have them the wrong way round apparently it sounds like their out of phase, which will make the bass sound off and more I think

Check about 4 inchs back from the bananas you will see a blue tag under the outer braided sheath - that wants to be at the amp end.

Be interested to see how you have them wired up / your thoughts after?

 

[stevebrock]

Thanks got the Spatia back in - now this Is a loan cable I have not purchased it so I have no reason to praise it but sweet holy Jesus my system sounds just fantastic at this moment in time with the Spatia!

listening to judie tzuke on vinyl - she sounds like she is my lounge !!!

I can't believe having a cable the wrong way round made such a difference,I have the blue tags under the outer sheath at the amp end now!

 

[stevebrock]

So what are the physics behind the Spatia and the need for the correct orientation ?

I'm getting some RS3 soon does anybody know if you can biwire them? Think I read somewhere Rega don't believe in biwiring

 

[ellisdj]

I read your fdirst report Steve and though hmmmm - thats not right. Glad I thought of it

The Saptia is amazing isnt it..... dont forgot the Lautus / Cusat thats a sweeet interconnect for the money

I love the cables, they are proper!! - your speakers dont have biwing posts but if they did the Spatia Links add another dimension as well.

BTW The cusat / Lautus is an Amazing Dgital Coax lead as well - definately try it instead of your Mark Grant.

People say there is no difference with digital leads - they havent tried a cusat is all I can say.....

 

[ellisdj]

I dont know - they dont clain anything either. Very non snake oil based company - simple range, no outer world claims based on BS.

If you read through the Slee forum Graham just says it was a case of listening and discovering. The brains behind the cables is Jon Cadman - he once made some cable for Graham to use testing somehting he was having problems getting right it kind of went from there, Cant remember full story. But Jons background is in cabling for the BBC - miles of of the stuff for broadcast quality playback. Lovely bloke had a few good chats with him.

They just listen to a test track and indicate the correct direction from there - its mental how it makes such a difference but it does. Its the same with the jumpers as well - they make a whopping difference as well, as does Diamond Wiring on my speakers

I have another great tip for you - the Cusat makes an amazing Digital Coax Interconnect - its 75ohms so works perfectly. Def try it instead of your Mark Grant - People say there is no difference in digital cables but these are worth trying !!

I will apologise now to you for recommending the cable - think you will be spending a few quid now, hard to go back when you have heard much better.

I will also accept a big thank you from you for helping improve your audio experience from your you much lived Hi Fi.

Have you listened to Adele yet ?????

 

[ellisdj]

No To Biwirng on the RS3 - but itsd a Yes on the top range RS10 - says a lot #

Not end of world saves you £50 on links

 

[stevebrock]

Well listening to War of the Worlds now on vinyl, never heard it as it as good as this bearing in mind I have a budget RP1 turntable - it's gonna be a long night! - I wonder how the Odyssey 2 sounds compared to the Spatia

Re: my mark grant coaxial - it's a 75ohm cable with canare connectors!

Going through my vinyl at the minute but will get to my Adele - 21 soon, I have it on cd and vinyl do will give the cd a spin first

 

[ellisdj]

Canare is the manufactuer - it the Mark Grant uses RCA's then try the Lautus in its place.

If not maybe ask if you can borrow a cable to try as a digital with the correct connector on. They make the cables with Din connector for an extra £4.50.

I think wait to see if you want them first if you have to ask for another cable. Sure they wont mind making one for you to test - really friendly company like that.

 

[ellisdj]

The honest truth - I had only just bought biwire so 2 sets of Odyssey 2 about 4 months ago and the matching odyssey 4 centre cost me about £350 all in, maybe bit more.

4 months later heard the Spatia and the Odyssey is gone without a second blink. I have never heard a cable make such a difference.

The Odyssey doesnt touch it, all beit still a good cable. Its detail / sound is harsh and messy by comparison not smooth and layered properly..

You wont get that in the room sound either its muddled and fuzzy by comparisom and I was testing on very good kit (see sig) with some acoustic treatment as well so i was hearing the cable not the room.

Not taking away from the Odyssey its good stuff - but its not a pacth on the spatia. I have owned the Epic as well, and heard it what Hi Fi where it was awesome, it didnt sound like that in my home, as my acosutics were bad then and it was off a receiever - depsite it being the best receiver of the year LX83. Even after hearing that I still think the spatia will be better, especially if you dont have a properly treated listenign room - the Epic gets harsh in that environment.

 

[stevebrock]

Yes my mark grant digi coax had canare RCA connectors on

 

[ellisdj]

Yes my mark grant digi coax had canare RCA connectors on

In that case when you have a chance test the lautus out as a digital. The Cusat is really good the Luatus will be the same

I will be interested to hear your thoughts on that as well and what you think of Adele - especially rumour has it.

Not telling you what to do - but its easy to test everything you thought sounded good before, I always try and test what didnt sound good before and lots of different genre of music. True test of a bit of kit then.

Please keep posting as its interesting to me and good for anyone who reads this after - I am going to bed

 

[stevebrock]

Will do gonna try a few CDs now

 

[stevebrock]

Will do gonna try a few CDs now

 

[stevebrock]

Well when I first tried the Spatia it was obviously connected wrong and a lot of my bassy music sounded... Well too bassy.... With the Spatia connected correctly the bass has really tightened up, zero 7 and morcheeba sounding really good now!

Money thing I have noticed now with the rega DAC is how close it sounds to analogue, it really is a smooth rich non fatiguing sound - I love it - these cables seem to be really showing what my Rega set up can do!