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I finally have had some time to seriously listen to the VH Audio Pulsars with both the WBT NextGen Silver RCAs and the Eichmannn Silver Bullets. I have used both pair with my CD player connnected to the preamp with another pair of Silver NextGen terminated Pulsars from Pre to amp.The bottom line in my system is that I clearly prefer the NextGen (NG from here on out). The Eichmann Silver bullets(ESB for short) on the Pulsar is very nice as well. The ESBs kind of reminds me a very good silver cable like the Jaden Signatures I used to own. The ESB cable is defined and ever so slightly warm in my system. Percussion and bass are full and rich in a good way without being bloated. Mids are smooth with no rough edges or irregularities in response. Focus is good with instruments clearly delineated. Depth is also good and highs are extended and smooth. The whole picture is laid out on a black velvet background with very little apparent noise. Images emerge from this black background with good localization and with a solid integrated stage. One minor quirk is on vocal pieces where the singer is increasing in volume as the notes change, the image seems to spread out slightly from a localized area to cover more of the soundstage. Bloom if you will.
I would think that the ESB Pulsars would be fantastic for any system tending toward brightness or one that is a bit peaky in the upper registers or mids. Smooth is the order of the day with some slight veiling but no grain or glare.
The NG terminated Pulsars in my system are clearly several steps above the ESBs. And they are the best sounding ICs I have heard in my system as it exists today. Bass is clearly more defined with much better realism on all percussion compared to the ESB. Claps and stick sounds are more real with the NG. Dynamics seem ever so slightly better as well. In fact, the overall gain seems a bit more with the NG when switching back and forth between the two outputs on the CD and the two inputs on the preamp. Mids are more defined and slightly more forward with the NG. The window on female vocalists is more clear and breathy sounds on reed instruments and voice more apparent. This is all without any apparent peakiness or exageration. Smooth recordings or components remain that way. Edgey stuff is reporduced with the edge. The vocal dynamics issue I mentioned with the ESBs is not here. Focus remains stable with an increase in volume coming frmon the sam sources area. The soundstage overall is much less like a flat velter black plane and more like sounds emerging from space without a plane as a reference point. In other words violins and backing volcals are not so wide individually and seem more individual. This also contrubtes to no perception of adde warmth like the ESB. I think the lower mids and upper bass in the ESB is an area that creates more energy in my system. The NG sounds more clean and free of this addition in my system. BTW- Before anyone asks, I have not tried or heard the copper bullets or copper WBT NextGens with any IC.
We are talking minor differences, but they are quite audible in my system. All in all I like them both with the nod in my environment going to the NG. Obvioussly, this is only my opinion and others may disagree. I hope this helps those who have an interest in these RCAs to get a feel for what the differences may be in a given system. I also have to say the Pulsars are very nice cables and certainly capable of highlighting differences in RCAs. As Duster and Todd Krieger have pointed out, the RCAs may be the most important component of the IC. To these ears it certainly has a meaningful role to play in the overall presentation.
Thanks to all who have enlightened and educated me over the years.
Cheers
system- Modded Jolida 100 CD with VH OIMP Caps, Pulsars with NG, DeHavilland UltraVerve with super low noise NOS octals, Pulsars with NG, Bel Canto Evo 4 in differential mode, VH Audio Star Quad wire, Sonoran Plateau Jumpers, SP Technolgies Timepiece speakers, Herbies ebony ball and cups under pre and amp, tenderfeet under CD.
Follow Ups:
> > One minor quirk is on vocal pieces where the singer is increasing in volume as the notes change, the image seems to spread out > > slightly from a localized area to cover more of the soundstage. Bloom if you will.This does not sound good or correct! there seems to be some added distortion created by the ESB vs. the NG 'cuz the images should not expand when the volume increases. This certainly not bloom!! Bloom does not mean an expansion of images as I understand it. If you have heard any of the Audio Research SP-series preamps from the late 1970s(like the SP-6A) then you might understand what bloom sounds like in the midrange: the midrange is euphonic (beyond reality, to me). It certainly does not expand in soundstage size with increasing volume.
Perhaps bloom is not the correct word. To me, bloom means expand outward like a flower blooming in slow motion. Nonetheless, I will listen more and try to quantify using other terms.Audio jargon is a moving target for me, just when I think I know what some writers are trying to convey and I adopt a word, it perhaps does not fit.
If all was black and white with no shades of gray it would be so easy, wouldn't it. Let me try ot refine when I get a chance to listen some more after my biz trip this week.
And I have never heard an AR preamp I liked for what it is worth.
Stay tuned :) Audio is so much fun!
Your description reminds me of what a compressor/limiter often produces. Does your description also happen when listening to many different recordings? It just might be that the recording engineer used a compressor/limiter on the vocal track(s) you are pointing out and the Silver Bullet's convey this in a more obvious way than the NextGen does. If so, the connector just might be either presenting a more acurate rendering of it, or making it more obvious to the ear via an enhancement factor. I suspect the latter. my 2 cents
> > To me, bloom means expand outward like a flower blooming in slow motion.I figured that's what your definition was! A bloooming flower occupies more space than a non-blooming flower & I noticed that your soundstage expanded w/ volume. To me that implied that the images are not fixed in the soundstage & that there is signal-level dependent distortion. A bad thing!
From whatever I have heard & read, bloom is NOT an expansion in the soundstage! That's all I wanted to point out.
[Most of us are out during Audio Jargon 201! :-) It's a moving target with far too many adjectives to describe sound as we cannot be phy present w/ the listener writing his account. Anyway, I've tried my best to read up on the words' definitions esp. if I chose to use it/them so that I do not use it/them in ignorance. That might a good policy to adopt?]Well, we are having an audio discussion & I'm NOT attacking you personally. So, please do not get that idea.
Look forward to your further comments once you have had more chance to A/B the ESB & NG.
Ooh are the ARC fans gonna love you!
Actually I knew that would be harsh......sorry all! Just a bit of tongue in cheek.
Indeed!
I've suffered such a fate so I know 1st-hand!! LOL!on a more serious note (mostly to Bixby): some of the SP series preamps from the late 1970s & early 1980s are very, very good indeed esp. when they are modified to get rid of the aging parts + parts upgraded in the power supply & in the interstage coupling caps. They really can hold their own against today's $2000-$3000 preamps. They do have the signature ARC midrange bloom. If synergized with the correct amp, the overall system can be very enjoyable.
If you can listen to them again with a more open mind.
(BTW, i'm not an ARC fan either but I do try to give credit where credit is due & these SP series modified preamps are good!)
Bloom in the midrange does not always indicate euphonics, sometimes it simply refers to having an increase in body as compared a thinner sound, or dryness.
indeed!
to tell you the truth I was trying very hard to find words to describe "bloom" & I was pretty sure that I missed something in my defn. I know bloom when I hear it but it was hard to desrcibe late last night!
Right: bloom does also indicate more body vs. a dry sound in addition to euphonics.
...I asked a few days ago.
I've heard (and use) the Pulsar terminated with copper Bullet Plugs and copper NextGens, but not the silver version of either. Your experience is the reverse. I can only wonder then... while I expect the presentation of the silver versions of both to offer *definite* improvements; is the essential sonic signature of the two low mass type connectors still present as compared to the copper versions? I have come to believe that copper vs. silver has a substantial impact on how a connector performs, but does the "essential sonic signature* of these two low mass type rca connectors have more to do with the design than the materials? Meaning; that which can be identified as sounding *similar* between the copper and silver versions of each product (I don't mean the Bullet Plug and Nextgen as compared to each other).Unless I read a comparison review, I will always wonder if the silver versions of the two connectors would have sold me on their use for general purpose line-level interconnects instead of my choice of a more conventional high-performance rca such as the Xhadow rca (and lesser cost Furutech FP-126 rca) which I'm enthusisatic about. The Pulsar is so versitile when it comes to connector choices... Thank you again for your post :-)
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