Along with setting up a Chromecast Audio dongle (amazing on YouTube but I have yet to find a way to stream local music files although a very kind friend has given me some pointers), I thought I'd give the supplied set of SSPmk2's a try.
First, I thought they'd be unwieldy as the TIS can be, but they're not bad at all. I actually thought that under the black woven jacket, there may be only two conductors inside, but no, there are four
The effect of four conductors, two for positive and two for return is, I believe, to halve the capacitance, at least I think that's how it works from an already low value on the SSC, which I normally use in my workroom stereo.So, how do they sound? Well, of course cables all supposedly sound the same, but some sound more the same than others, if you see what I mean
To start with, the SC really is a 'get-you-going' level cable, giving a basically clean but perhaps slightly too straight-laced a presentation. I like this, but once the SSC is brought into the equation, the SC is soon discarded I think, as the bass is fleshed out more and the scale of the presentation is improved in my opinion. On AOS, the Klotz MC5000 with posher plugs has found many friends and I agree that it's very good indeed, with a slightly more 'organic' kind of presentation that suits more 'straight-laced' solid state gear in my experience (I use MC5000 in the living room system). Going to the TIS combines the best of both and it's damned hard to live without if your playback system allows it to work at its best. So, what's the SSPmk2 like in comparison FFS? Right from the outset, it seemed to be a little better than my SSC's in terms of 'air' and 'atmosphere' reproduction. Bass is slightly more powerful I thought and 'tuneful' with it and this goes right up through the range, the midrange clear and open and with treble regions removing the last vestige of 'starkness' that the SC has just a touch of in comparison. The TIS may still have the edge overall, but it's still double the price of SSPmk2 and this latter is so good, I'm thinking that for most of us, it's possibly all you'll need in all honesty.
The 'Oh Gawd' bit means I'm going to have to get myself a set somehow. My workroom system is a bit convoluted, with a DAC with TIS into a P20 coming first, variably driving the headphone amp and the 'Direct' sockets taking line level (SSPmk2 goes here) out to the P50, which drives various power amps to taste, usually SSC to an NVA A70 dual-mono spec power amp. The difference with the SSPmk2 isn't huge as such in my lash-up, but like the TIS, it'll be much missed when it's finally removed from the system as its ability to delve more easily to the back of a recorded mix is important to me.
Anyway, come next week this cable will be available for loan and I'm keen to see if I'm correct here, or just imagining things?
- are any of them capable of any original thought, of course not but as long as Marco endorses it it must be the best - and Brains toddles along to do his bidding.
But not quite the type of box I prefer to dally with