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Apples and Oranges… A comparison of Cat5 vs CC89259 (need some help and long)

205.191.64.113

Posted by Geno on May 10, 2001 at 15:50:31

I would like to start out by thanking everyone that posts here. Not only those that come up with the recipes, but those end users that build them and test them and report back their results and issues.

That being said….. I have a modest system. A Denon 3300 (apparently one of the few that doesn’t have problems), NHT VT1.2 speakers and a Toshiba DVD player that is used as a transport. All of the interconnects are 89259 or 1506A with Canare RCA’s depending on use. I was originally using entry-level Audioquest speaker cables (Type 4).

After studying all of the comments about the cat5 and the CC 89259, I decided to try the 27 pair single run of cat5. Mostly because Radio Shack had the Teflon cat5 and I would need to order the 89259. I was NOT prepared for the step change is sound quality. The bass was fuller, the high end was cleaner, life was good. And these were not broke in yet. After 100 hrs or so I sat down and did some serious listening. The only thing that I noticed was there was some high and mid roll off. Almost like a slight smearing of he sound when it peaked. Nothing that I couldn’t live with though. But what would the CC89259 be like. Here is the Apples and Oranges. I built a bi-wire set of the 89259. After reading about the performance of single runs vs bi-wire I had to try it. A 100ft easily makes 2 set and that is the minimum order length for the cable.

Again, another step change in sound quality. After the break in period I noticed some things. 1) The sound was louder at the same volume setting. 2) The amp seemed to run cooler. 3) The high/mid roll off was gone. 4) The bass seemed sharper but not as full. After listening for a while I started hearing things in sound that were not what I wanted. The highs were to sharp and in general too much. And the bass was not as deep as before. I believe that these cables were more transparent and I was hearing the imperfections in my system. This was now a tradeoff.

Ok so what about a bi-run of Cat5? A 9 pair to go with the 27 pair. All of the things I liked about the Cat 5 originally were there, plus there was no high and mid roll off so far. I only have about 25 hours on the 9 pair but I’m happy so far.

I believe that my system, and ears, may prefer the cat5 over the CC89259. So for you that may have experience at this, is this in the ballpark or is this too much apples and oranges?

I am also concerned that the heat that the amp is generating may not be healthy for the amp. The cooling fan is not kicked on and I can put my hand on the amp with out it being too uncomfortable. But it is much warmer than the 89259. Should the bi-set cause the amp to run warmer than the single cat5 run? At high power levels the amp is not oscillating, so that is not a concern. I can live with either set of wires. I think that I like the bi-Cat5 on my system more. What would be your opinion here?

As this is a discussion group your thought or comment would be welcome. Thanks you, for taking the time to share this and all of your other posts with me.

Geno

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