Which R10 should be recabled with a balanced cable?

[Elephas]

I currently have two R10's which sound a bit different from each other. I'm trying to decide which one to send to SinglePower for a balanced recable. Mikhail told me he has recabled several R10's before, while I've never read about any other companies who have done so. Actually, there isn't much info about balanced R10's at all. I intend to keep one stock so I can compare it with the balanced recabled one.

One has less bass but a better midrange and larger soundstage. Which one should be recabled, the one with less bass or the one with more bass?

No poll option, or am I stupid again?

[philodox]

The one with the less bass and better soundstage sounds like the better candidate, but it is a personal preference really.

[Nanoha]

No poll option, or am I stupid again?

Instead of clicking on "New Topic", click on "New Poll" to start a thread with a poll.

Good luck on the R10 recabling. (I personally can't say anything of course.)

[aerius]

The one which sounds better to you, whichever pair that happens to be.

[Elephas]

I currently have two R10's which sound a bit different from each other. I'm trying to decide which one to send to SinglePower for a balanced recable. Mikhail told me he has recabled several R10's before, while I've never read about any other companies who have done so. Actually, there isn't much info about balanced R10's at all. I intend to keep one stock so I can compare it with the balanced recabled one.

One has less bass but a better midrange and larger soundstage. Which one should be recabled, the one with less bass or the one with more bass?

[Elephas]

OK, I started another thread with a poll. Is it dangerous to start duplicate threads here?

Would everyone please move over to the new thread and post again?

Hey, the poll options are pretty cool.

Poll thread http://www.head-case.org/index.php/topic,1935.0.html

[n_maher]

I'd go with whichever one sounds better to you single-ended. You can always go back if you don't like the changes that balanced drive makes, right?

[Nanoha]

Most likely yes. If he likes the original cable, it should even be possible to reattach it. But of course, that does mean ruining an expensive piece of equipment.

But I'm betting the recable will at least be somewhat of an upgrade.

[Dusty Chalk]

The one which sounds better to you, whichever pair that happens to be.

I agree with this, so I chose the "whichever" option.

You have a R10 with bass?

[grawk]

I agree with this, so I chose the "whichever" option.

You have a R10 with bass?

It's like a politician with integrity. You know, not REAL integrity, only compared to other politicians.

[Elephas]

Hey, the two threads have been merged, what efficiency!

True, even the R10 with more bass doesn't have a lot of bass impact. I would prefer a bit more, which means the R10 with less bass can seem really lacking in bass. It can be especially jarring when switching from the HD650, L3000 or O2.

[deepak]

What sort of cable does SinglePower use?

[postjack]

What sort of cable does SinglePower use?

headphone cable.

[Nanoha]

headphone cable.

What sort of headphone cable does SinglePower use?

[deepak]

headphone cable.

Ah but their R10 cable looks a lot like their interconnect cable...so is it just "headphone cable" or something more?

[postjack]

What sort of headphone cable does SinglePower use?

ah I don't know I was just being a smartass. :'(

[Dusty Chalk]

ah I don't know I was just being a dumbass. :'(

Fixed.

[Elephas]

I don't know what kind of headphone cable SinglePower uses, I assume it is some kind of oxygen-free copper. I'll ask.

Other options might be Enigma Audio or maybe Apuresound? I've had excellent results with an Enigma Audio Oracle cable on the W5000, which is more detailed than the stock W5000. I believe both Enigma and Apuresound have recabled the L3000 and many other headphones, but not the R10.

I have three more Oracle XLR cables on order, one of which could be installed on the R10 by a local audio shop. The thing is, they don't have any experience recabling the R10.

The R10 stock cable is very nice. Cloth-covered, non-microphonic, very lightweight and ultra-flexible. It's the best-handling headphone cable I've used.

[Icarium]

Singlepower headphone cables are high purity silver. As are their interconnects. I don't know anything more about their construction. They are not cheap cables. I haven't heard their Qualia cable... but I do have some XLR interconnects on loan from Mikhail that sound pretty nice. I need to do a shoot out with [AK]Zips up and coming flagship interconnect line and Oritek X-2s.

[Iron_Dreamer]

Singlepower headphone cables are high purity silver. As are their interconnects. I don't know anything more about their construction. They are not cheap cables.

But is Singlepower ANYTHING cheap?

[bhd812]

i would do the r10 with more bass, given the perception you gain more separation by going balanced so...

if i would do a balanced r10 i would use the stock cable, keep it as stock as possible so the only true change is getting true balanced sound..another after market cable might not sound good to you and you won't know tell it done.

[mulveling]

My instinctive inclination would be to do the one I like more - that is, the one with more bass, however my audio instincts are often very, very wrong

I've recently heard from a trusted friend - Mikhail claims the light-bass version is actually the best one to drive with a high-end balanced amp, as it apparently pulls ahead of the other R10 version in such a configuration. I'm not sure if this applies only to Mikhail's high-end XLR amps, or whether the amp needs to be specially voiced by Mikhail for this purpose. However I'm more inclined to trust this advice than my defective audio instinct

[Elephas]

Wow, some unexpected good advice here! And I thought head-case was mainly for joking around.

I'm going to use the balanced R10 with a SinglePower Supra XLR.

I've been looking into other recabling options besides SinglePower. Enigma Audio has recabled one R10 before. Another option is Jena Labs (very expensive!), which has recabled an R10 for a member at head-fi.

One reason I'm leaning towards the less-bass unit has nothing to do with sound. I ordered replacement earpads for the more-bass unit and installed them already. Those glued-on pads would have to be taken off for the recabling.

The less-bass unit still has its old pads on, and I've ordered replacement pads and a new headband assembly (damn expensive!) for it. So whoever recables the less-bass unit can take off the old pads, throw them away, recable and put on the new pads.

[deepak]

IIRC Jena is high quality copper wire. I would go this route and recable the L3000 with silver - (evil smiley)

[Icarium]

I'd really give Mikhail a call. While his prices are expensive, he does know his shit. He mentioned he has one of Hirsch's pristine R10s for sale as well if anyone is interested. It's pristine though and priced accordingly vs the cheaper Yahoo Japan crapshoot route.