Get thee behind me Satan!
Yesterday afternoon, Easter Sunday, settled down in front of the TV with an episode of 'Midsomer Murders' and a bowl of crisps to munch on, an insistent voice starts murmuring in my ear - the 'What If .... ' monster is back on my shoulder.
"... You know that amp and DAC upstairs, What If they could sound better?"
"They sound great, now go away and leave me alone." I reply, mentally.
"Yes ... but they could sound better."
"No they couldn't, get lost!"
"What If you changed the interconnect?"
"To what? That XLR lead is sounding just fine."
"That's as maybe - but What If you already have something better."
"Oh yeah?"
"One name - DH Labs ....."
Oh shit - he's right! There is a better interconnect in the house and it is in use in the downstairs rig, DH Labs Air Matrix. Up to now the clearest, most 'organic' link I have heard. Two sets; running DAC -> preamp and pre -> power amps.
Okay, let's test this out, just for the sake of experimentation. So I took out the set from the Denafrips DAC and installed them on the Sabaj rig, these Air Matrix have RCA plugs so I could put them in parallel to the Mogami XLR and switch over via the microswitches on the back of the monoblocks. Not much switching was needed as, basically, one listen was enough to convince me.
The Air Matrix is an incredible cable, ultra-low capacitance, reasonably priced (in comparison to high-end esoterica) and a sonic ability to die for. Most notably the richly-detailed realistic effortlessness it imparts to the music.
Problem is that the RCA sockets on the power amps are already designated for the phono connection, with XLR connecting the DAC.
"What If there is an XLR version?".
'Oh **** off, you're going to cost me money!"
5 minutes later I have pulled up the Estonian webshop that I have used before: DH Labs Air Matrix 50cm XLR. In stock!
Ordered.
That should shut Mr. What If up for a while ....
" ...... What If there's a next time?"
Aaarrrgggghhh!