Author Topic: Review: Gregg Straley Reality Cables IC (Read 8861 times)

Nick Culbreth · « **on:** November 12, 2005, 12:49:18 AM »

Cable Reviewed: Gregg Straley’s Reality Cables Interconnect

Setup: APL Hifi DV-563a > Reality Cables IC > Singlepower MPX3 > Cardas headphone cable > Sennheiser HD-650

Music Used for Review:

Diana Krall - Girl in the Other Room (SACD) - Stop This World

Chris Thile - All That Wonder Are Not Lost (CD) - Big Sam Thompson

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (SACD) - Call Me on Your Way Back Home

Yo-Yo Ma - Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet (SACD) – Legend of Herlen

Led Zeppelin – How the West Was Won (DVD-A) – Black Dog

Build Quality/Impressions:

Before I put the cable in my system I took some time to inspect the workmanship of the cable and was pleased with the workmanship and overall design. The Vampire RCA connectors provided a snug fit and the solder joints were clean and secure. The cable itself was a little on the stiff side but it was still manageable.

Before shipping all of Gregg Straley’s interconnects are cryotreated and then burnt in on his machine for a few days which greatly reduces the need for burn in. I noticed only a very slight improvement in sound quality after 100 hours of burn in, I’m not sure it was due to the cables changing or just that my ears had become more acclimated to them.

Sound:

The first thing I noticed when listening to the cables was the spacious soundstage, which had excellent width and depth. On Chris Thile’s Big Sam Thompson each instrument was clearly defined in space and there was a definite three dimensional feel to the music.

The highs with the Reality IC were lifelike and detailed without being bright or fatiguing which is particularly important to me when listening to headphones. The high end had great extension and a definite sparkle which I really liked.

My favorite aspect of the cables was the wonderfully smooth yet detailed midrange, which was most evident when listening to vocals. When listening to Ryan Adam’s Call Me on Your Way Back Home I was impressed by the way the Reality ICs were able to reproduce the tiny inflections in Adams’ voice and capture the emotion of the song. To my ears these cables had the most enjoyable midrange I’ve ever heard in my system.

Another impressive aspect about the Reality ICs was the incredibly tight and deep bass which was most evident when listening to Yo-Yo Ma’s Legend of Herlen. The bass lacked some of the impact of other cables I’ve heard, namely the VH Audio Pulsar, but it was always very tidy and never bloated. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of overpowering bass because I feel it takes away from the rest of the sound, to my ears the Reality ICs had the perfect balance.

As a whole I have really enjoyed listening to the Reality ICs in my system and I’d highly recommend them to anyone looking for detailed cable that still has a sense of warmth. I’m planning to do a shootout with a number of interconnects in the same general price range and I’ll share some more thoughts afterwards.

Nick Culbreth · « **Reply #1 on:** November 12, 2005, 12:52:02 AM »

I should mention Gregg sells two versions of his interconnects, one designed for use with solid state equipment and another for use with for tubes. My reviewed is for the tube version.

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #2 on:** November 12, 2005, 08:11:46 AM »

are the tube cables white?

I've got the red SS ones. I sent them to Lil' Kim to play with.
any comments there Michael?

you should hear what the speaker cables do for "opening up your system"

reality cable is the most fitting name, because that is how they sound. real.

Lil Kim Jong-Il · « **Reply #3 on:** November 12, 2005, 08:24:41 AM »

Quote from: Nick's Picks on November 12, 2005, 08:11:46 AM

I've got the red SS ones. I sent them to Lil' Kim to play with.
any comments there Michael?

This weekend I'm going to try them. I put them in place of the pulsars that I'm sending to Nick Culbreth. BTW, Nick, those are going out in today's mail.

Lil Kim Jong-Il · « **Reply #4 on:** November 12, 2005, 05:24:52 PM »

OK, not a full test but initial impressions after two hours of listening to assorted 16-bit commercial material and a live disc - panic, los lonely boys, and a 4060->DSD ambient recording.

Comparison was done between the Denon 2900 to PV14L
z-squared toplines on the mix-down ports
reality cables hanging off the LF,RF ports
PV-14 to premier 11a is z-squared toplines

This configuration lets me switch between two inputs on the preamp to compare cables. Much easier than the pre-amp to amp comparison for which I must power down the tubes.

Initially the two cables were indistinguishable. The sound stage was wide and deep for each. There was no obvious difference in frequency range - both seemed to be fairly wide range considering where the tubes top out. I still have a bass problem in my room, so not a great test environment in that respect.

After about an hour, the system was warm and the sound stage was at it's biggest and most airy. Now there was a difference to be heard but it was subtle. The two things I noticed were:

1) The z-squared cable had a deeper image. The reality cable image seemed to be a bit compressed from front to back. It wasn't a huge difference but the z-squared image seemed to go all the way to the back wall and the reality cable image seemed to stop about a foot or so shy of that and did not extend out as far in front of the plane of the speakers. The width of the image was about 18" each side of the speakers for both cables.

2) The reality cable had a different feel in the higher frequencies. I don't really know what to say here except that the cymbals seemed to have more presense and sounded maybe a bit more authentic. This wasn't brightness on the part of the reality cables (trust me I know brightness), it was just a subtle appealing characteristic of the reality cables.

So it was pretty much a wash. I want to swap ports just to see if my impression follows the cable. In the past, I tested the ports and they were identical, but the toplines have been attached for a while and maybe that makes a difference. There was also some very subtle difference in the instrument placement that I would not characterize as smear so I want to verify again that the perceived difference follows the cables and not the port.

Also, I'm going to try the reality cables in the preamp to amp path and I'll report on that.

Nick, do you have any problem with me treating the connectors on the reality cables? I have progold and silclear. The z-squared cables were treated with silclear some time ago. I was thinking of cleaning and treating both to see if that removed the differences. And on a side note, thanks again for the dyes. Amy wore hers (the long sleeve shirt) out today and she said that a lot of people turned to get a better look. Very nice ;-).

Nick Culbreth · « **Reply #5 on:** November 12, 2005, 05:39:00 PM »

Quote from: Nick's Picks on November 12, 2005, 08:11:46 AM

are the tube cables white?

I've got the red SS ones. I sent them to Lil' Kim to play with.
any comments there Michael?

you should hear what the speaker cables do for "opening up your system"

reality cable is the most fitting name, because that is how they sound. real.

Mine are the pinkish/red color, I thought that the latest version of the SS cables were yellow and the tube ones were red. After listening to the Gregg's interconnects I'm very interested in auditioning a set of speaker cables as well.

I agree that Reality cables is an appropriate name for them, they're the most reaslistic cable that I've heard in my system though I've used DIY cables up until this point. I'm planning to do a shootout with the Reality ICs, two different VH Audio Pulsars and Blue Truth ICs, I'm very interested to see how the Reality ICs stack up to cables which are in the same price range.

Nick's Picks · « **Reply #6 on:** November 13, 2005, 08:03:29 AM »

Michael..
sure..do whatever you'd like to/with those.

and..people were just looking at her ass.

scervin · « **Reply #7 on:** January 05, 2007, 09:01:17 PM »

So whatever happened with the Reality Cable / VH Pulsar review???

I'm getting a second pair of Pulsars at the end of the month, but I'm also considering the Reality Cable and Anti-Cable IC's.

SC

Nick Culbreth · « **Reply #8 on:** January 06, 2007, 05:34:06 PM »

Quote from: scervin on January 05, 2007, 09:01:17 PM

So whatever happened with the Reality Cable / VH Pulsar review???

I'm getting a second pair of Pulsars at the end of the month, but I'm also considering the Reality Cable and Anti-Cable IC's.

SC

Ask and you shall receive.

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,55116.0.html

scervin · « **Reply #9 on:** January 07, 2007, 08:22:23 AM »

Appreciate it Nick. Did the AC's have the coiled wire as well? I thought his new design was shielded? I have quite the cable dilema right now. Long innterconnects or long speaker cable (30') There is so much info on both! I'm told I'll have no issue pushing the 30' with a low capacitance wire with the new tube pre. I'd like to have the amps near the speakers and not behind the walls. Anti Cable speaker wire is on my list. Local guy is going to try them and see if they can better his $1000 Analysis Plus Silver Ovals. If they do I will be getting them for sure since he has a good $15K in front of the wire.

Thanks Again!

SC

scb · « **Reply #10 on:** March 10, 2008, 10:54:03 PM »

did you ever check out the "anti cables?"

nickgregory · « **Reply #11 on:** March 11, 2008, 08:44:47 AM »

Quote from: scott brown on March 10, 2008, 10:54:03 PM

did you ever check out the "anti cables?"

I have them...I use them to biamp my vr2s and run my LCr-15...love them....I have never had another cable in this system so I dont have a basis for comparison unfortunately, but I am pleased with what I dont hear. In previous systems/configs, I have used silver based cables and the result has been very harsh at the upper frequencies, which always got me back to copper based cables...as the sound was always more balanced, with smooth/non harsh at the top end and defined bass...the anticables are very similar to that sound

Cables are stiff as hell though...

scb · « **Reply #12 on:** March 11, 2008, 10:25:55 AM »

well they can't be stiffer than my current cables for my front speakers.

thanks, I think i'll give them a try with my center channel

nickgregory · « **Reply #13 on:** March 11, 2008, 10:35:38 AM »

Quote from: scott brown on March 11, 2008, 10:25:55 AM

well they can't be stiffer than my current cables for my front speakers.

Yeah they can

they are like coat hangers...that stiff

scb · « **Reply #14 on:** March 11, 2008, 10:46:03 AM »

but nick, these are on my fronts at the moment:

yes, it's a bit overboard, but i got a killer deal so why not?

nickgregory · « **Reply #15 on:** March 11, 2008, 10:56:05 AM »

oh I know...but trust me...when you take the anticable and "form them" it is very similar to a hanger material

scb · « **Reply #16 on:** March 11, 2008, 11:05:05 AM »

i wonder how the interconnects would be...they seem a bit on the expensive side

nickgregory · « **Reply #17 on:** March 11, 2008, 11:46:59 AM »

Quote from: scott brown on March 11, 2008, 11:05:05 AM

i wonder how the interconnects would be...they seem a bit on the expensive side

I have heard some good reports but never tried them.

scb · « **Reply #18 on:** March 19, 2008, 11:29:34 AM »

you're right, these cables are a pain in the ass. they're like a coat hangers. I don't like that

nickgregory · « **Reply #19 on:** March 19, 2008, 11:31:03 AM »

Quote from: scott brown on March 19, 2008, 11:29:34 AM

you're right, these cables are a pain in the ass. they're like a coat hangers. I don't like that

here is what I did...intertwine them so you have a pair coiled together, wrap them around a wine bottle and only "straighten" out the ends that are connecting into the amp and speaker....I actually like them because by virtue of the coil, it keeps them up off the ground and seperated from other cables (power, etc).

som · « **Reply #20 on:** March 19, 2008, 05:49:12 PM »

I wound mine together as well. I like them for the opposite reason Nick stated....my cables have to go in front of my fireplace, and there's a groove that I can kind of push them in to in order to keep them out of site. The thiness and stiffness help them to stay "in the groove" (literally!). The complete opposite of how cables are *supposed* to be treated, I know, but one can't fight against WAF considerations....