Ok some initial impressions of Hidiamond XLR 3.
I also had the High Fidelity CT-1U for about 900 hours before getting HD.
Last 6 months ICs I used by order: HiDiamond 8 RCA > JPS SC3 XLR > Gabriel Gold reflection V2 RCA > High Fidelity CT-1 > CT-1U > Hidiamond 9 RCA > Hidiamond XLR3
My DAC is exactly same as a member Hifial here (exaSound e20 mkIII .082ps clock)
amps: emotiva XPA-1 monoblocks
speakers: Magnepan 3.6R with custom crossover + 2 REL subs in stereo config.
XLR3's sound is very natural and smooth yet very resolving. Probably second most resolving cable I've had so far. First is still the CT-1U.
Harmonically very rich and cable strikes good balance between analytical vs musicality. Mids are quite dense and lush. I can't stop listening to any of the music with a vocal in it.
Sound-stage is very good. Width and depth portrayed very convincingly without hollow spots at 10 and 2oclock position, height pretty good too. Timbre is spot on.
(I played violin, viola and piano for 20 years)
There is one test track I use extensively to check the transient speed.. HiDiamond is slightly slower than High Fidelity CT-1U in this regard. However CT-1U was slightly leaner sounding in my system.
Overall I really like the HD XLR 3! HiDiamond and High Fidelity are both great cable companies. I must've went through at least 20 different IC manufacturers before and they are among the very best.
I also had the High Fidelity CT-1U for about 900 hours before getting HD.
Last 6 months ICs I used by order: HiDiamond 8 RCA > JPS SC3 XLR > Gabriel Gold reflection V2 RCA > High Fidelity CT-1 > CT-1U > Hidiamond 9 RCA > Hidiamond XLR3
My DAC is exactly same as a member Hifial here (exaSound e20 mkIII .082ps clock)
amps: emotiva XPA-1 monoblocks
speakers: Magnepan 3.6R with custom crossover + 2 REL subs in stereo config.
XLR3's sound is very natural and smooth yet very resolving. Probably second most resolving cable I've had so far. First is still the CT-1U.
Harmonically very rich and cable strikes good balance between analytical vs musicality. Mids are quite dense and lush. I can't stop listening to any of the music with a vocal in it.
Sound-stage is very good. Width and depth portrayed very convincingly without hollow spots at 10 and 2oclock position, height pretty good too. Timbre is spot on.
(I played violin, viola and piano for 20 years)
There is one test track I use extensively to check the transient speed.. HiDiamond is slightly slower than High Fidelity CT-1U in this regard. However CT-1U was slightly leaner sounding in my system.
Overall I really like the HD XLR 3! HiDiamond and High Fidelity are both great cable companies. I must've went through at least 20 different IC manufacturers before and they are among the very best.