Interconnects - original or not (split from Playground)

[Defender]

My original Linn silvers:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/86lix8ucbpnf3 ... 6.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/71pteihumlp6i ... 1.jpg?dl=0


.........

hi Beck how are you sure that yours are factory ones?
It looks to me also part of the screen is cut away on yours so my assessment doesn’t seem to hold water.
The screen seem to be always soldered on the left side. Maybe that can help too.
How can I attach a picture want to show some nice examples :)

[beck]

I never said that I know for sure they are factory ones.

I have showed them on this forum before and at the time Lejonklou commented that they could most likely be factory made.

That is all.

[Defender]

it sounded like that as you said „original silvers“
I just want to x-check if it is an indicator of the factory made ones that the ground/screen is not cut off partly

that could also be the reason why you preferred your blacks over the silvers

[beck]

it sounded like that as you said „original silvers“
I just want to x-check if it is an indicator of the factory made ones that the ground/screen is not cut off partly

Yes, more pictures are needed.

“Original” referred to not being second or third generation silvers.

[Defender]

it sounded like that as you said „original silvers“
I just want to x-check if it is an indicator of the factory made ones that the ground/screen is not cut off partly

Yes, more pictures are needed.

“Original” referred to not being second or third generation silvers.

I see ... just updated my post above.
I will check the Silver MKII I have. Its unlikely they have been made by a dealer.
I was badly surprised about my Linn Blacks as I was sure they are factory made ones.

[WheresMyNaim]

it sounded like that as you said „original silvers“
I just want to x-check if it is an indicator of the factory made ones that the ground/screen is not cut off partly

Yes, more pictures are needed.

“Original” referred to not being second or third generation silvers.

I see ... just updated my post above.
I will check the Silver MKII I have. Its unlikely they have been made by a dealer.
I was badly surprised about my Linn Blacks as I was sure they are factory made ones.

Silvers.jpg

1st generation silvers. I know they're factory made since I collected them from the factory. But I'm a shade non-plussed at the question of Linn dealership made or factory made. If they're well enough assembled from the same components does it matter? Owning several sets of blacks & silvers collected from the factory I conclude there were variations in quality. Perhaps like the variance seen in the Supra USB cables.

Anyone assuming Linn was a world leader in quality control needs to burst that bubble. I returned 2 sub-standard Linn products. I wager I'm not alone.

IMHO, Oscar's "fake" blacks are probably dealership built.

[Spannko]

I agree. Let’s not put Linns hand soldering up on a pedestal. I sold my active Kabers because they didn’t sound great. When converting to passive, one of the internal wires had a dry joint and came off in my hand. When soldered up and installed into the purchasers 1970’s receiver they sounded quite pleasant!

[OscarH]

Seems I’ve inadvertently opened a can of worms. Well worth opening though.

[A is non-original Black, B is original Black.]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lk8ky9qh2v7i ... t1OPa?dl=0

To at least cover all options here’s the [comparison] of the original Black (C) vs. QED (D).

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r76g7i5q1rjb ... QSnfa?dl=0

Oscar,
I would agree you've opened several cans of worms here. I also agree it was well worth opening on several levels.

What are you hearing at home, in your system? Original Black>QED>Fake Black? That makes no sense from your clips as they portray X>Y, Y>Z, yet Z>X; which is illogical.

More worms:
I was away the entire Summer from this Forum. While catching up on the "Playground" thread I was disappointed to find every clip deleted! The latest one was only five days old!! In my opinion, the clips should remain active at least one month. I also noticed there was contention about some clips sounding the opposite online as they do in person.

Fredrik gave some hints a while back relating to how to record clips. One was turn off all other apps and put the phone in airplane mode. I would suggest restarting the phone as well for each clip. Taking the time to listen to one's own clips to confirm before linking is also a good idea. I would suggest we find the common denominator of issues and have a "sticky" thread about it.

I also listened to several dozen different comparisons of your recent two tracks on this thread. I had many findings. Listening on Dropbox, the music always sounded better when using separate tabs for each song compared to both in the same tab. Safari browser sounds better than Mozilla which sounds better than Google Chrome. Downloading on the computer and using a separate player always sounded better than any browser using the Dropbox player. QuickTime Player sounds better than VLC.

All these comparisons were done on my Mac mini into Naim/Isobarik system.

I bring all this up and spent the time because I have no doubt in my mind your Clip A sounds better than B, regardless of player or browser used. It also has substantially more bass, which you weren't hearing in person and doesn't show up in Clip C vs. D.

I also think other comparisons needed is Dropbox vs. Apple iCloud vs. Google vs. etc. Is the issue the camera/phone or the uploading? It would be interesting to upload to various sites, then download and compare. I will try it unless someone else beats me to it.

Ron The Mon

Ron, you're quite right that my clips to some degree said X>Y, Y>Z, Z>X; which indeed should not be possible in a straight up better/worse comparison.

Then again, although we all make every effort to make single parameter changes, changing e.g. interconnects does involve some degree of touching/moving equipment and so for any "A-B" there will be some other smaller changes as part of the package. Maybe I, by accident, did something very beneficial when recording the QEDs?

I'm currently using the "fake blacks" (although with the increased number of samples presented in this thread they don't appear all that unique as it seems many many interconnects are a little sloppy whether finished by a dealer or a new guy at Linn) and will make a new comparison when they've had some time in the system.

I recorded all the clips with the iPhone in flight mode, but did not investigate different methods for upload and playback.