Sakura Systems OTA Cable Kit


Has anyone tried this "minimalist" cable kit? After receiving a recommendation from someone with similar musical values to myself, and whose ears I trust, I could not resist ordering one. I will report on how they sound in a few weeks, but am interested in others' opinions too.

For those that have not heard about them look at www.sakurasystems.com for an interesting read. The cable sounds as if it is very close to the specification of the conductors in Belden Cat5. So I may have spent around 100 times what the kit is worth. We shall see.

If you have not heard this cable, please don't bother posting your opinions of how it MUST sound here. Nor am I that interested in hearing how stupid I must be to order this kit - it's my money and you are free to make different decisions with yours. Sorry for this condition, but I am bored with those that have nothing positive to offer on this site, and post their opinions based on deductive logic rather than actual experience.
redkiwi
I'm sold now. I will be brief.

The sound is vibrant (perhaps forward) in that instead of images flattened behind the speakers, the room is now full of music. None of this is accompanied by any nasty sounds except those obviously present in the recording.

I can hear every tiny detail of transients like cymbals, bells, rim-shots etc. The speed is stunning and the timing is so coherent top to bottom that the music just takes over from the sound. What a treat to be not fretting about the sound of the system and just boogying to the music.

Incredibly, these feeble looking cables make it sound like I have 1300w monos, not 130w monos. The music just breathes, shimmers and shakes.

No congestion, some vestiges only of unwanted warmth (still diminishing as the cables continue to burn in). Otherwise incredibly neutral. Several CDs that were just too aggressive to listen to are now wonderously rich sounding. Some CDs that were muted and a bit lifeless are now brought to life.

I know unqualified raves are not well received here. So I will leave it at this. If you get hung up on the difference between price and the intrinsic value of the materials (as many here seem to do with cables) then forget these cables. If you are mad enough, like me, to lay out USD600 for cables on a chance - then I reckon the odds are high that you will not regret it, provided you have the patience to let them burn-in. If you don't believe in burn-in you will throw these cables away in the first week - just remember to throw them in my direction. If you think these cables cannot be great because they cost ONLY USD600, then you should think again. If you want to spend less than USD600 then work something out with a friend, because the kit gives you 50m of conductor (or 12.5m of stereo pair) and 12 RCA connectors, and you can buy extra connectors and/or cable. I'm stupid enough to be considering buying a second kit so I will have plenty to be able to make cables up in the future as my system changes. My Coincident, Cardas, Wireworld and Siltech cables are not going back in the system.
I received my speaker cable and 2 pairs of IC that Dekay (thanks David) made up for me. I am going to burn them in and will compare them to my FIM Gold and the Coincident Total Reference speaker cable. I can't see these speaker cables when they are hooked up to the speakers. Where did they go? I am so used to those big ugly hoses sitting on the carpet. Am I skeptical? Yes I am. What if this stuff sounds better than my big bad expensive hoses? Will my audio buddies kick me out of the club for using this stuff that I can't see without my glasses? I'm holding you resonsible Caterham1700. If this doesnt work out I am going to sic Cornfedboy on you. I will give comparisons in a couple weeks. I like your batting average Caterham1700. So far your batting 1000.
Redkiwi, I am jealous. It cost me 50 times more in cables to get the "vibrant" sound you describe ("room full of music"). Just for the scoreboard: exactly how many hours break-in did the OTAs need before you were sold?
Hi Slawney. Your 50 times more expensive cables may well be considerably better because I am damn sure I haven't heard anything at that price. That must be round about New Zealand's GDP??

Actually, since my last post the sound went a bit flat for a day or so and is now 90% back to its best and seeming to improve by the minute. I got them about 21 May - and I listen about three hours a day, and my wife plays the system around two hours a day. In addition I have run the interconnects over night at high volume with a burn-in disc a few times. Not so with the speaker cables due to the need to sleep.

So the ICs are probably the equivalent of 200 hours, and the speaker cables only 100 hours. So when I look at it like that the cables are probably going to change some more for a while. Maybe I am being somewhat premature here. But the brilliant rendition of transients has been almost always present with these cables - and when they are not off on a tonal detour, the wonderful microdynamics result in the vibrant room-filling sound you and I have referred to.