Well, despite my intentions of waiting to compare the Venhaus Pulsars
with the Audience Au24, I've decided to write a few thoughts now,
because I found that my impressions this evening echo my impression of
a couple weeks ago with some minor alterations.
I have no basis on which to gauge "neutrality". I have only
my ears, and my experience with my system, and therefore I cannot
comment on which cable conveys the best neutrality or correctness. My
comments are restricted to what sounds "right" and pleasing to me.
The system consists of:VAC Phi 110/110, First Sound Presence Deluxe II
with Siemens 7308 c.1965, Empirical Audio modded EMC 1-UP SE, Von
Schweikert VR4 HSE loudspeakers, MAS Signature Hybrid speaker cables,
TG Audio 688 power cords on all components, 2 dedicated 20amp AC
lines with Porter Ports, Quantum Symphony Pro and Electroclear AC
conditioners.
The Pulsars throw a larger, and deeper soundstage. How much larger?
I'd say 5%-10%. It's a a small, yet noticeable difference. The Pulsar treble
is considerably smoother after Sean's burn-in (thank you Sean), yet not
as smooth as the Au24. As I mentioned above, I cannot say which is
"correct", and perhaps this is impossible anyway. The Au24
cables don't sound rolled-off to me, and when listening for clues like the
sound of a guitar pick on a steel string, or the sound of a nylon-tipped
drum stick on a drum head, the Au24 delivers...as does the Pulsar. Detail
retrieval is equal between the two brands.
The Pulsars go deeper, but they have a bit of boom or bloom in the
midbass compared to the Au24. The Au24 seems to me to have better
balance throughout the entire frequency range. The Au24 also
has the incredible focus I've written about before. Voices and
instruments are clearly defined in a way that I have only heard once
before with Empirical Audio Holophonic PC interconnects. This is not to
say instruments are not defined with the Pulsars, but the Pulsars lack the
last 5% of refinement in this area. Again, this is my impression, and you
may hear thing entirely differently in your own systems.
Which do I prefer? I can't say I'm willing to give either up at this point.
They each do things very well. In fact, the best sound in my system may
be a combination of the two. I listened briefly to the Pulsars from source
to pre, and the Au24 from pre to amp, and the sound was terrific.
There's no question that Chris VenHaus has a world class product in the
Puslar interconnect, and at an almost "too-good-to-be-true"
price.
