New Signature Tuned Array

[kmlav]

today I picked up my new Chord Signature Tuned Array interconnect. It was with some excitement that I got it home and firstly started out listening to some of my favorite music on the old cables then i made the change and I have to say that these cables are awesome and probably the best single upgrade I have ever made. I dont know how it can be possible for my system to sound so much better with just changing a cable but frankly I dont care as there is no doubting how good these cables are.





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[stevebrock]

Good man! Glad your enjoying it!

BTW how much wss it?

 

[kmlav]

Good man! Glad your enjoying it!

BTW how much wss it?

Hmm well yes they were not cheap

 

[stevebrock]

tbh I have kept it quiet - I got a Rega Elicit R yesterday!

I can't stop grinning!

Its flipping ace!

 

[CnoEvil]

Well, there you go.

Welcome to the Darkside my friend....and there's no going back!

 

[mitch65]

tbh I have kept it quiet - I got a Rega Elicit R yesterday!

I can't stop grinning!

Its flipping ace!

He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy! :rofl:

 

[BenLaw]

Good man! Glad your enjoying it!

BTW how much wss it?

Hmm well yes they were not cheap

Like north of £700? Not cheap indeed. Did you demo and what are they replacing?

 

[chebby]

I couldn't help noticing the little foil triangle stuck on your new interconnect. Is that a Peter Belt thing? (Like the little foil triangles he made to be stuck on CDs.)

What are they for?

 

[fr0g]

Anticipation, waiting, receiving, plugging in, gazing... is a great upgrade, until you realise they sound exactly the same :

In some ways, I wish I'd never realised that the spoon wasn't actually there, because the steak, oh the steak, it tastes so darn good. But it isn't...

 

[Folkman]

kmlav , i can fully understand your incredulity.

I had a pair on home dem and am amazed at the sounds i was getting.

Dem pairs gone back and now waiting patiently for my own pair.

All the silver triangles are just directional arrows !

Cost £765 and a bargain .

Oh , and its spelt .. ARAY

 

[kmlav]

They replaced chord chameleon VEE3 which are good cables but nothing close to the signature cables.

When I got my second x-power and ran each Channel in mono I thought that made a huge improvement but these have made an equaly large improvement and at around 30% cheaper than the second power amp they are a bargain.

 

[kmlav]

I couldn't help noticing the little foil triangle stuck on your new interconnect. Is that a Peter Belt thing? (Like the little foil triangles he made to be stuck on CDs.)

What are they for?

According to chord all cables have a optimal direction , source > amplification , amp > speakers.

 

[chebby]

I couldn't help noticing the little foil triangle stuck on your new interconnect. Is that a Peter Belt thing? (Like the little foil triangles he made to be stuck on CDs.)

What are they for?

According to chord all cables have a optimal direction , source > amplification , amp > speakers.

Do they say why can't it be optimal for both directions?

 

[Deliriumbassist]

IIRC from my visit to Chord, Nigel Finn said that they don't know exactly why directionality occurs, but they cut off a run of each roll of cable made and listen to it in both directions, and base the directionality off of the listening tests.

 

[chebby]

IIRC from my visit to Chord, Nigel Finn said that they don't know exactly why directionality occurs, but they cut off a run of each roll of cable made and listen to it in both directions, and base the directionality off of the listening tests.

But the current goes in both directions equally as it alternates (AC) along with the frequency of the signal.

The signal doesn't 'flow' in one direction rather it is 'pulled' and 'pushed' rapidly backward and forward at up to tens of thousands of times per second depending on the frequencies in the music.

 

[Deliriumbassist]

Don't shoot the messenger, man! Just relaying Chord's take on directionality.

Saying that, I'd also imagine it'd hve to do with the shielding on some cables, where the ground isn't connected on one end.

 

[BigH]

Must be the wooden box it came in

 

[CnoEvil]

Rather than spend your Sunday arguing about it:

1. If you are a worrier, put the arrows in the right direction.

2. If you are a rebel, put them in the wrong direction.

3. If you want to find out for yourself, then try it.

Simples.

Now go back to drinking coffee and reading the paper.

:cheers:

 

[Frank Harvey]

I was given a personal demo of quite a few of Chord's Tuned Array cables at the Bristol Show earlier this year. I have to say I was pretty impressed! Although I wasn't familiar with the electronics being used, I did feel that the Spendor D7s that were used sounded better than the ones in the Spendor room.

 

[chebby]

Rather than spend your Sunday arguing about it:

1. If you are a worrier, put the arrows in the right direction.

2. If you are a rebel, put them in the wrong direction.

3. If you want to find out for yourself, then try it.

Simples.

Now go back to drinking coffee and reading the paper.

:cheers:

I'd just like an explanation and Chord can't / won't provide an adequate one on their info page. So is this just a believe / don't believe thing? (I have to believe because you have to believe.)

Do I have to accept that an alternating signal is really just a 'stream' flowing in only one direction (DC) and a cable can be made to favour that direction? And it doesn't matter that - if all that were true - my speaker cones would be stuck either poking out or poking in (rather than going backwards and forwards) whilst their coil insulation melted?

So it's back to square one. How can a cable carrying an AC signal have a 'right' or 'better' direction?

 

[ifor]

Chebby, you have to accept that not everything is know to science yet. Chord are not alone in selling directional cables and admitting that they don't fully understand the science behind it.

As Cno says, you have to try it for yourself. I may one day, but for now I just use them the way round recommended by the manufacturer.

 

[p_m_brown]

Who gives a toss about science behind it? The OP is posting his thoughts about a cable and the marked improvements to his system. Why not try it if you are interested?

@Fr0g Not really very sporting to tell The OP who is clearly an objective guy, that his investment is totally pointless. Have you bothered to actually test these cables out yourself or are you making more ridiculous assumptions?

 

[chebby]

I have no particular issue with the OP's new cable.

It's the 'fairy dust' behind cable directionality (in cables carrying an AC signal) that I need explained.

'Science' has known how to make an amplified signal vibrate a speaker for the best part of a century (or more), so I don't buy your 'science doesn't know everything' cop-out in this case.

And yes, I have reversed the direction of many a cable in the past. (Some well reviewed ones over the years in some good systems.) It didn't make a jot of difference.

 

[CnoEvil]

I'd just like an explanation and Chord can't / won't provide an adequate one on their info page. So is this just a believe / don't believe thing? (I have to believe because you have to believe.)

Do I have to accept that an alternating signal is really just a 'stream' flowing in only one direction (DC) and a cable can be made to favour that direction? And it doesn't matter that - if all that were true - my speaker cones would be stuck either poking out or poking in (rather than going backwards and forwards) whilst their coil insulation melted?

So it's back to square one. How can a cable carrying an AC signal have a 'right' or 'better' direction?

Maybe it shoud be filled under B*ll*cks.

Maybe it exists but isn't fully understood. To quote Audioquest, "while cable directionality isn't fully understood, it is clear that the molecular structure of drawn metal is not symmetrical, providing a physical explanation for the existance of directionality".

SteveR750 (metallurgist) gave you a possible explanation here (post 6): http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/cable-burn-in-sceptic-convinced

I personally don't know, as life is too short to experiment (and bending is difficult for me atm) - I put the arrows in the direction that is advised, and then forget about it.

 

[kmlav]

Im with cnoevil on this one, just plug them in as advised sit back and enjoy. Let someone who makes these things for a living worry about the technical details.

I spent a load more money on a car recently and much as I have a basic grasp of how the internal combustion engine works I have no idea of how all the other technical marvels on a modern car work and for me its not important for me to understand it I just enjoy it for what it is.