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Teo Game-Changer IC's - get on the bus!

I wrote an extremely long review of 4 cables auditioned in my system recently. I pontificated for way too long and it was more an outlet for me to tell a story that cables do matter and how much each design can make your system sound. The last cable through was the Teo GC IC purchased here and it truly was a game-changer in how it shifts our paradigm about what wire gives us as "truth" and what this slurry of Ga-In-Sn can do better (IMO). Not a technical review but an emotional roller coaster through 4 different topologies:

Ribbons
Graphene
Multi-strand
Liquid

I'm happy to re-broadcast that here but it is very long (6+ MSWord pages long). I'll point to it for now and take your advice.

Bottom line is the GC cable is truly stunning in what it can do and for us mere mortals who cannot spend thousands on cabling, I believe it can elevate anyone's system to new heights.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=148932.0

Pete
bugredmachine

Showing 10 responses by steakster

steakster
720 posts
 
@randy-11 Have you auditioned any of the cables in the Teo Audio line? If not, why are you bashing a product that you’ve never heard? Do people denigrate your work in online discussion forums?

From previous threads, you enjoy being one of the first responders to be a cable denier.  Have you ever auditioned high quality cables?   From this thread that you started, you mention that you haven’t changed the tubes in your 10 year old tube preamp. You didn’t even know what was meant by ’tubes wearing down’. How is it that you have over 1500 posts and you don’t even know what you’re talking about?
steakster
720 posts
 
Yes
and tarass - you have good advice for teo and his shill boys
With a response like that, is it possible that randy-11 escaped from this Coen brothers’ movie?
steakster
720 posts
 
I have a newly tuber ARC pre-amp
Congratulations!!!   It’ll probably sound great when you put a good power cord on it.   And interconnects, too!    Teo Audio has some really nice ones.
steakster
720 posts
 
randy-11 ". . . I have a newly tuber ARC pre-amp"
In this tuber preamp, do the HF’s get waxy? Do the LF’s get starchy? Is the midrange mashed? Perhaps, ARC customer service could join in. Did they modify an existing model just for randy? Or will this be a new production model? They could name it after Geoff’s suggestion: The Spudnik R-11.
steakster
720 posts
 
Operator error. After some more listening with the GC’s as a digital cable, even though the tone/timber was really nice, the dynamics were too diminished for my taste. As Emily Litella would say: ’Never mind.'   :-)
steakster
720 posts
 
Snopro +1 Similar results. The Teo GC’s have been in my system for over 200 hours – between my DAC and preamp. The GC’s were swapped with my WyWires Gold IC’s - which are excellent in their own right. Comparing the two, the WyWires Gold seem to be more ‘accurate’. The GC’s, more ‘romantic’. With the GC’s, vocals and instruments are nominally richer and rounder – more ‘organic’. Tone/timber is very nice – kind of saturated. The trade-off is that the dynamics are slightly diminished – less crisp. Percussion doesn’t stop on a dime – and leave 9 cents change. Much depends on the type of music being listened to.

Using female RCA barrel connectors, I’ve connected both IC’s in series. This blend offers the best of both – with slightly less of each’s character. It has the speed & articulation of the WyWires Gold and the rich flavor of the Teo GC’s. So far, so good. Without the GC’s in my system, on certain recordings, female vocalists were slightly grainy on their high notes. With the combo IC’s, their high notes are smooth and sweet. Yet, the bite of the percussion remained. Curiously, the sound changes depending which IC is positioned first in the combo series. These observations are with my tube preamp and Class A SS amp, If I were to substitute in my Class A tube monoblocks, I’d probably just use the WyWires Golds by themselves.

I definitely recommend trying them. Can’t go wrong with Teo’s generous return policy. Synergy is different for each system. Tommylion - I have Audio Note Lexus speaker cables - but, really can’t compare them to IC’s.




steakster
720 posts
 
Update: I decided to try the GC’s as a digital cable. After letting them settle in again, I compared them to my ’allegedly’ true 75 ohm digital cable. No contest. The GC’s were superior. With their rich imprint at the source, my system still benefits downstream from the speed and articulation of the WyWires Gold in the analog realm. Win:Win. Since my GC’s are .7m long, I connected them in series with a female RCA barrel connector to form a 1.4m long cable. Sounds like a keeper.
steakster
720 posts
 
When a singers voice hurts my ears and makes me want to leave the room I know the IC or whatever gear or cables is not the right fit.
@kclone Same situation. It took a while to sleuth out the issue. In my system, cleaning up the power delivery, isolating the digital source and finding the ’right’ power cord solved the stridency issue. This fix allowed me to better hear what various IC’s had to offer. From my experience, quality IC’s can reveal issues originating elsewhere in the system.
steakster
720 posts
 
*sigh*     I give up . . .
Please do.
steakster
720 posts
 
“You’re either on the bus or off the bus.” Ken Kesey
― Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
@aniwolfe   I wonder if the OP had this book in mind when he started this thread.   Deadheads would understand. :-)
Sorta reminds me of the Seinfeld episode "No Soup For You"
@ozzy Perfect!
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