I should start by
declaring my neutrality in the "cables can/can't make a difference"
debate. But with the year long search
for a new HP amp now satisfactorily concluded under budget, I fancied taking a
punt on the Lautus USB cable.
My only previous
excursion into the world of after market cables that cost more than a
self-imposed limit of £30 to £40 was a £120 Cardas headphone cable for a pair of HD650s around 12 years
ago. I can't say I heard any difference
in SQ so I was a little sceptical about my chances of hearing any differences
to the sound signature of my system. Could
a length of cable 'clean up' the signal path, reducing the amount of gunge in
the sound reaching my ears? The
following are my impressions, which may or may not be down to the placebo
effect.
Right
from the off, what I was hearing sounded different to the stock cable, which
came as a bit of a surprise. The next
step was to get to grips with how I felt about these perceived changes. The most immediate thing that struck me was
in the treble area, which got the alarm bells ringing a bit because of my
tinnitus. Thankfully, several weeks
have now passed and these fears have been largely unfounded.If
I were to compare the stock cable to the Lautus, I'd probably describe the
sound with the stock in place as being slightly dull and ponderous. With the Lautus, on the other hand, there's
a bit more space and air, with a lightness of touch and a hint of treble
sweetness.
The above was
written a few weeks ago and I decided to hold back a bit to allow myself some
more time with the Lautus before running another comparison with the stock
cable, just in case I was suffering from a case of 'new toy syndrome' at the time of
writing. Well, I'm happy to report
everything I wrote a few weeks ago still stands and I'd like to add a few
adjectives, being clarity, crispness and delicacy. The
interesting thing is the differences in sound quality are fairly subtle in
relative terms, but they make a fairly significant difference to the listening
experience I am now enjoying.
In
conclusion, I really like what this cable is doing, whether it be to the signal
path between PC and DAC or ears and brain matters not.
|