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Assorted News and Nonsense07-14-10--From this point forward, we will post all new product announcements and additions on our Locus Design AudioEvo Group.. This will allow us to offer more timely updates than we have been via this page. Visit us now!  06-21-10--We have been very busy the past few weeks and have added many new products:
Much more to come! 06-03-10--Added the PurePower APS line of power regenerators to the line up. These are fantastic products!
05-25-10--Added SINE Cryo power conditioners, SINE Cryo Power Cables, and SINE Cryo power strips to the site today. Also added Acoustic Revice power strips/conditioners, Oyaide power strips, Furutech power strips/conditioners, and the New CryoParts power strips (very affordable) as well! In addtion, we will also be offering Chang Lightspeed , and the the Furutech Daytona. Look for a few big announcements over the next few days as well. We will have your power needs covered. We aim to be your one stop shopping for your AC power needs! 05-22-10--Added Blue Circle Audio power conditioners to the lineup! 05-20-10--We have decided to end our relationships with PS Audio and Styleaudio. Both are fine product lines, however, we are goiing in a different direction, watch as we change over the next six months! 05-07-10--As more and more people are moving to computer based music server systems, I have uploaded an easy to follow tutorial for Mac here! 03-29-10--Whipped up a custom mini to RCA cable for a customer today using the CryoParts custom carbon fiber for both the mini plug and the RCA's, may make it a regular offering if enough people request it. This particular cable is going to be used between a HRT Music Streamer and a pair of Audioengine A5's:     02-25-10--Coming soon:  12-28-09--Added the new CryoParts USB cable to the site today:  12-09-09--Whipped up a couple of custom cables for the Audioengine A5 speakers and S8 subwoofer for a very good friend and customer today, a set of mini plug to RCA interconnects wiht the CryoParts carbon fiber mini plug and RCA's:   And, a speaker cable made from the TWcu to go between the A5's:  
12-08-09--We are proud to announce that CryoParts, Locus Design, and Sonicweld have formed a strategic relationship with and we are all working closely with the producers of Amarra, Sonic Studio, providing reference USB cabling, digital cabling, analog cabling, and USB digital gear (the Diverter) for their reference system and product development. Of course, all of the Cryoparts cabling, Locus Design cabling, and all of the Sonicweld products are also fully recognized by Amarra as being suitable and fully compatible with their software. If you are using a Mac and iTunes, strongly consider investing in 12-08-09--Updates and assorted stuff. Lots of new stuff added: CryoParts Interconnects
09-03-09--Updates and assorted stuff. PS Audio Power Plant Premier on sale for $1699! Lots of new stuff added: HRT Music Streamer+ USB DAC
We just got our Audiodharma Cable Cooker back from getting upgraded to the latest and greatest version, which we then cryo treated using our CryoFreeze™ process. Se a couple pics below of the Audiodharma doing its thing to a Locus Design Nucleus USB Cable via custom adapters:   If you would like anything you order to be "cooked" on the Audiodharma, please e-mail us for lead times and pricing. 07-22-09--Lots of new stuff added: The Pop Pulse 1796 DAC
06-21-09--Lots of new stuff has been added to the website the past few weeks: The Sonicweld Diverter
We have also put some things on special: PS Audio Quintet for $349.95
05-12-09--Added the new custom made CryoParts RCA chassis mount and binding posts to stock today:   05-05-09--We will soon have the new Whiplash Audio headphone stands in stock, beautiful!   05-05-09-Added the Pop Pulse UII DAC to stock today.  3-02-09--We have agreed to distribute the "StyleAudio" products in North America. These are remarkable little USB DAC/Headphone Amplifiers that are #1 in their segment in Korea, where they are manufactured. Please visit The StyleAudio information pagefor more information. We will start by importing two models, the ultra high performance "Topaz":     ...and the very high performance/affordably priced "Emerald":      2-17-09--We will soon be offering the Whiplash Audio iPod docks for sale. I've had one in house now for over a month and it a great little device. These will work with 2G and 3G iPhones.     1-24-09--The Whiplash Audio Mini Millet Max has taken up residence on my bedside table. Here are a couple of quick pictures I snaped tonight. The MM is pictured below with the beautiful Whiplash Audio headphone stand, the fantastic Whilplash Audio iPod dock and three of my many sets of cans, re-cabled Beyer DT-990, re-cabled HD650 and my ED9's (soon to be re-cabled).    1-23-09--Below, please find a picture of the Tang Band based single driver I wrote about below. This model will be called the Whiplash Audio "Ion" and will sell for around $240-$250:  1-23-09--Am kicking around the idea of offering select cryo'd vacuum tubes for sale. I have access to:
I was thinking about starting out with a few select EAT and Genalex Gold Lions and stocking them, or offering them via special order. If this is of interest to any of you, please let me know via e-mail. A few pics:    1-23-09--Received the Whiplash Audio Mini Millet Max today (see pictures below). Am breaking it in now and will report results of listening soon. It is very well built and looks really cool, if you are in the market for a headphone amp under $750, give Craig at Whiplash a shout and order one before he runs out. 1-23-09--Here are some preliminary specifications for the two way speaker below, the Whiplash Audio Pluto:
The Whiplash Audio 'Pluto' is an efficient small speaker developed for desktop systems and bookshelf applications. Surprisingly effective in near field and far field applications with stunning imaging and clarity. It utilizes a non-uniform baffle design intended to defeat frequency coupling caused by baffle effect. The end result is a very smooth response and greatly improved imaging. The Whiplash 1-1/2 way design principle:
We will be offering these for sale soon. 01.20-09--Added the DuGood WDDC wireless USB to SPDIF adater to the website. Also added the new Pop Pulse t150 75WPC (into 4ohm) T-Amp to the site today. 01.20-09--Received the two way speakers that I wrote about below, breaking them in now--first impressions are VERY good. 01.20.09--Some preliminary specs on the single driver Fostex and Tang Band speakers we will soon be offering:
This all for approximate retail of $300/pr! More info to come. Here are some preliminary specs of the Tang Band based single driver speaker:
If all goes as planned, these will also retail for about $300. Both of the above speakers will be offered in a package deal by myself and Whiplash Audio with the Pop Pulse T-Amp, custom speaker cables and interconnects and the Pop Pulse USB DAC. A perfect setup for near field (ie. desk) listening! 01.16.09--Upon my request, my friends at Whiplash Audio have been busy developing three new desktop speakers ideal for near field (ie, on desk) listening. I will be offering two of the them; a single driver Fostex based speaker that will sell for a VERY reasonable price and the two way below. Keep checking the website for details, I hope to have these available for order soon.   01.16.09--Anyone who knows me, knows that I am crazy about headphones and have WAY too many amps and headphones... In any event, I thought I would share some of my newest toys: The Ultrasone ED9's:  The brand new Whiplash Audio Mini Millet Max:   And, the Trafomatic Experience Head One:  These new pieces will join my ever growing collection of headphone gear...maybe I should start a museum. 01.15.09--Just retrurned from exhibiting at CES 2009, it was nice to see old friends and make new acquaintances! I have posted pictures HERE, for anyone who would like to view them. Below, find some highlights that I found at the show The new Music Hall USB DAC and headphone amplifier pictured below will be available starting in March, this looks to be a killer piece. We will have them as soon as they are available, if you would liek to pre-order one at the very reasonable price of $595, please contact us.  Furutech is releasing (ETA March) four connectors using the same carbon fiber barrel technology that they have so successfully used in the FI-50 AC ends.  The PS Audio Perfect Wave transport and DAC is amazing, we will carry these as soon as they are available.  The Whiplash Audio headphone stands are the nicest I have ever seen! We will be carrying these soon!  The Whiplash Audio iPod dock and iPod stands are also crazy good! We will be offering these for sale soon.  The DEQX HDP3 is their newest, latest and greatest DEQX processor. We are seriously considering offering this to our customers, it is a great piece.  That's all for now. We have a lot of projects and new items scheduled to be released over the next few weeks, so stay tuned! 11.21.08--Another plug for the good folks at Whiplash Audio. I have been using a couple of their headphone amps, the very cool Lacewood iPod stand and a iPod dock for a few weeks now and I am very impressed with their products. Teaser--I have been working with Whiplash on some high value/great sounding desktop speakers to pair with the new T-Amp and they will soon be sending me three prototypes to choose from. Look for future updates on this very cool project. I expect these speakers with the T-Amp to be something special. 11.21.08--Worked out the final details this week on the Audioengine A2/Super Pro USB DAC/CryoParts Package System. I am running a fantastic introductory special, pick up a package today! This little system will be hard to beat for anywhere near the price. 11.21.08-Finalized the parts changes and modifications to the CitySpot CryoParts "Signauture" T-Amp today. This little amp, for $259 is a steal. Buy one now before I regain my senses and raise the price. 11.08.08--Received the CitySpot T-Amp in this week. This is a very impressive piece of gear for the price! It sounds really quite good when fed by AC, however, when it is fed by battery power, it is *amazing* for the price. I listened with two friends to the CryoParts *optimized* T-Amp on a large pair of Altec horns and we were all suitably impressed with the sound quality on AC power, but when we changed over to battery power, the difference was dramatic. This amp really is one of the best buys in audio today. I am going to run an introductory special, so buy one now at a reduced price. 11.03.08--We have received some goodies from our good friends at Whiplash Audio. They sent us a Pimeta headphone amplifier (very nice so far--still breaking in), a Millet Starving Student headphone amplifier, a really cool Handmade Lacewood iPod Stand, and a Qables iPhone Silvercab-Pro. The stuff is great! I am breaking in the amplifiers and cable now and will report back when they have some hours on them. So far, so good!    Visit Whiplash Audio today and tell Craig I said hi! 10.27.08--We received the new PS Audio Power Port Premier in today and will cryo them early next week. These look to be an amazing new receptacle, competetive with any of the very high end "Audio Grade" receptacles. One unique thing about these is that the contacts are milled from pure copper! This makes them part of a very select group (only two that I am aware of) that uses pure copper and not bronze or brass. Should have some listening impressions soon. 10.25.08--We have designed a new state of the art hook up wire, the CryoParts CFDCT-UPOCC Copper This wire will be very special. We hope to have it available by mid December. 08.02.08--We have been working on and have recently cemented two strategic partnerships that will be a win/win for both us and the two companies that we have entered into the agreements with. More details will follow next week, but here is a "sneak peek".  The first is ALO Audio. Ken Ball from ALO is well known in the "headphone world" as an innovator and provider of "top of class" cables, iPod docks and accessories, as well as many other items. His workmanship is impeccable and he is widely recognized as the premiere provider of headphone re-cabling and all other things "headphone". I know I am proud to work with Ken and provide cryo services on his products, of course, using our optimized and proprietary cryo profile. And, Ken comments "...in ALOs continued effort to make the finest audio cables possible, we are proud to have CryoParts cryo treating Audio Line Out products, including ALO's new proprietary wire as well as most typical parts used by ALO to produce my products." We look forward to a great working relationship with Ken for many years to come. And, go buy some one of his iPod docks right now!  The second is with PS Audio. Everyone knows PS Audio! They build a wide variety of power products, cables and components. We are excited to be the only dealer authorized by PS Audio to offer deep cryogenically trerated version of their products. We will have a few items available for purchase as early as next week, and we will continue to bring in more products as the year progresses. Look for PS Audio power filters, PS Audio Power Strips, PS Audio Power Ports, and PS Audio power cables to be available for purchase next week. And finally, the pricing for the "Optimized by CryoParts" Zhaolu D3 DAC has been set at an introductory rate of $499. You can can check it out here! 07.14.08--Dave Clark of Positive Feedback posted a mini-review of the PC Link II and the CryoParts USB Cable Check it out! 07.10.08--Finished up the final parts selections for the CryoParts optimized version of the Zhaolu D3. Here are a few pictures, I will build a web page soon. Pricing is being finalized.       07.02.08--A sneak preview of two new Locus Design USB cables. The Polestar will sell for $249 for 6ft length, however, I am going to run an introductory special of $199 for a 6ft. The Axis will sell for $549 for a 6ft cable, however, I am having an introductory special of $459. These are not a reworking of an existing USB cable, these are an entirely new designs, using my cryo'd wire and hand constructed by me. Check them out at the Locus Design USB Cable page, which has more details on these cables. In the meantime, if you would like to order one, please visit the link, or e-mail me.     06.21.08--A sneak preview of the upcoming CryoParts optimized Zhaolu D3. We are working through the last few parts selections and will soon have this available for purchase. We don't have a firm price set yet, however, if you would like to get on the waiting list, please e-mail us and let us know.  06.21.08--Finalized some modifications/optimizations of the Little Dot MKIV SE headphone amplifier today. I will be doing some final listening over the next couple of weeks before I post any final impressions, however, the first few hours of listening are very encouraging. In the first picture you can see a pile of the parts that I replaced/upgraded.   06.14.08--Finished up a fairly large re-termination of some Kimber Silver Streak for a customer today. I used both Cardas SLVR ends and my new Carbon Fiber ends. I really love the carbon fiber ends!   05.23.08--A quick pic of one of the Sonicweld/Locus Design interconnects that will soon be making their voyage to Dubai.  05.22.08--In response to a query on AudioCircle I posted a couple pictures of my recabled Beyerdynamic DT-990's, I figured I might as well post them here as well:   05.22.08--One of my overseas suppliers came through with my order of carbon fiber barreled RCA's. They are beautiful! I have been testing and evaluating these since late last year, and the finished product is a winner. I will be offering these in a no cryo'd version for a while, until I run my next cryo load. I love these connectors, and so will you!   As a bonus, they also sent me a few of the new carbon fiber banana's to test. These are very cool as well. After I evalute them I will order a bunch of stock on these as well.   05.11.08--Been working on an order for an overseas cutomer. Thought I would throw up a couple of pictures of the Locus Design/Sonicweld cables. These cables are one of three different models of cables specifically designed to complement my reference audio sytem, the Sonicweld Audio System. As these are going to Dubai, the cables below are fitted with the UK male plugs made by Furutech, which are really a joy to work with and very well made.   04.28.08--Seen very busy dealing with family member medical problems, so haven't done a lot of new things lately. Thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes and positive thoughts our way the past few months. I am very appreciative of the support all of you have shown. Thank you all. I am trying to get caught back up and get things ordered in an restocked as soon as possible. I have committed to a very large run of CryoMax III and it should be finished within 6-8 weeks, so those of you that have been patiently waiting, we will soon have the cable back in stock. In addition, I have updated the page with a bunch of new items today, so please look around a bit to see if anything is of interest to you. I recently recieved the new Cardas plugs for the Sennheiser 580, 600 and 650 headphones. These plugs are GREAT! I will soon have them in stock. Below is a pic I snapped of them:  You DIY headphone cable guys, rejoice! These plugs make building Sennheiser replacement cables a snap! Also, an update on the new Furutech FI-50 connectors is due. In short, they are amazing. These, plugged into a Furutech FT-20A(R) receptacle, redefines power delivery, IMHO. Stunningly transparent, incredibly detailed and quiet. Wow! 03.15.07--We have had many family tragedies over the past few months, so we haven't updated this page in quite a while. So I thought I would updated everyone on what it going on. I really don't want to go into what tragedies have transpired, but suffice to say that it has caused me to re-think, re-evaluate and decide what is really important in life. So...this year, we are going to be making some changes to our business, our merchandise mix and the prodcuts we carry. As you may have noticed, we are out of stock on many items--this is intentional. After the dust settles, and I figure out which products are really generating profit, I intend to refine our merchandise mix, pricing and stock levels to reflect what these findings tell me. I will update this page as I come to conclusions and decisions. Rest assured, we are not going anywhere! I plan to continue to offer the best parts and best service around, but most liekly I won't have the depth and breadth of inventory that I curently offer. As a tease, Furutech confirmed yesterday that they are sending me the new FI-50 connectors for demo. I am very excited about these and will report back my listening results and impressions. I think that these connectors, plugged into the the FT-20A(R), may just be the cat's meow. We'll see... Here is a look at them:     10.28.07--Finished up a custom phono cable (DIN to RCA) for a customer today. It came out really well, see the picture below. We ordered a few extra Cardas DIN plugs and will cryo them with the next load and start offering them for sale shortly thereafter.  10.22.07--We have a few RMAF 2007 Demo Cables that we are letting go for VERY attractive prices. Check it out. We also added a few Power Strip Chassis to the site today. 10.19.07--Below are a few pictures of the CryoParts MMD parallel filter, the Locus Design AMD power center and the Locus Design Powerstrip. Enjoy!    We have some pictures of RMAF 2007 up as well. Enjoy. 10.10.07--We are about to head out for RMAF, if you are going to be visiting, please stop by room 461 to see us. But, first, a tease...:     How about a pure silver IEC inlet, male AC end and IEC plug? Or, if your taste runs to copper, how about a pure Furukawa copper version of each of those as well? How about if cryo was an integral part of the manufacturing process? IeGO is a new name we will be debuting at RMAF. Amazing stuff! Lots more information and pictures to come. 09.27.07--A bit of clarification is in order. Below, I mentioned that I was working with Gilbert from Blue Circle Audio on a power conditioner. While that project is still "ailve", it is on the backburner for now due to the AMD power conditoner that I am going to be offering from Locus Design. I think that the BC is a great product and is a real, well engineered/designed, value priced product. I may still decided to pursue the Blue Circle project in the future, however, the Locus AMD is demanding my full attention at this time. The AMD is NOT a Blue Circle product, it is a result of a collaboration between myself and one of my closest friends, who also happens to be a phenomenal engineer. For more info, visit the Locus Design News page. 09.27.07--Still been hard at work getting products ready for RMAF. Everything is coming along really well and looks to be on schedule, so I should be able to bring the following to RMAF: Locus Design products:
CryoParts products:
I also am going to bring three prototype power cables that I have quietly been working on. These cables are in early prototype stage, however, they are of interest for a few reasons:
While silver is/has been used for the conductors in power cables by a few companies, I am only one of two people on the market that is using solid silver for the ends, the other custom makes his own in his machine shop and does not offer them for sale to others. So, essentially, I am using the only ends available on the market that are made from PCOCC solid silver; cryogencially treated, imported, verified, assayed silver from Norway. The third cable is a copper based cable, with the ends and conductors being manufactured from ultra pure PCOCC Furukawa copper; verified, assayed, cryogenically treated ultra pure beautiful red copper. I have been working very closely with the manufacturer of the ends (a very large OEM, who contract manufactures for, and supplies many of the highest of the high end connector companies) and I may exclusively offer these ends (on a limited basis) to other manufacturers and DIY'ers to use on their cables. If this sounds interesting, come by and take a look at the ends and we can chat at RMAF. I will have samples that you can look at, fondle and ogle. After RMAF, I will post pictures on the website of the ends for all to see. FYI--I still believe in, wholeheartedly recommend, and use Oyaide and Furutech ends--and will continue to do so, however, these are a nice alternative in voicing a cable. 09.14.07--I haven't updated this page in a while as I have been hard at work with RMAF preparations. My goal is to introduce 3 new aluminum power strips, with optional filtering, at the show. So, I have been spending a great deal of time negotiating with suppliers and machine shops to make this happen. In addition to offering the finished product, I hope to be able to offer the chassis to the DIY community so that you can build your own power strip using these beefy chassis. More to come. I have also been spending an incredible amount of time working on the Locus Design power conditioner. This unit is a no holds barred assault on AC gremlins, and will employ a remarkable new concept in power filtration. I hope to have two prototype units up and running by RMAF. And, finally, we have added some new stuff to the site, some new connectors that I am importing directly from Taiwan, ERS cloth, a $100 DAC and a few other items here and there. Check them out! 09.02.07--Received a nice little mini review of the Vampire/CryoParts cable in the new issue of Dagago. 08.29.07--Worked on the details for the new power conditioner collaboration. The talks are going really well, so things look good. This power conditioner will use the manufacturer's existing core technolgy and will be built by the manufacturer in the same chassis he is currently using. However, the CryoParts "special edition" co-branded version will use your choice of Furutech or Oyaide receptacles, a new IEC inlet that I am developing that is made from solid silver and the inner conductors of CryoMax III will be used as the internal wiring. I am also developing a power cord espcially for this unit, designed to perfectly match and enhance it's performance. A few details still need to be finalized (including pricing), so as soon as these are all ironed out, I will formally announce the project, build a web-page and start taking orders. If your interest is piqued enough already to order, please shoot me an e-mail and I be happy to take your order! Finalizing design for a new banana plug. This plug will be a great alternative to the banana's on the market. Approved prototype today today that used a brass body, berryllium contacts/springs and direct silver plating. If all goes as planned, these should be available for purchase within 8 weeks, or so. I also plan to offer these to other manufacturers and distributors around the world. Also did some more work on the chassis for the upcoming power strip. The aluminum chassis is a go and will be in production soon. I should be receiving a prototype soon and I will update this page with pictures and details. 08.28.07--Been working on sourcing an enclosure for a power strip. I plan to make this chassis available for DIY purposes as well as use it for a new power strip/extension box that I am developing. This will be a very heavy duty solid aluminum chassis, built to a very high standard. As a bonus, they should be fairly inexpensive. Also have been working with a manufacturer/friend on the possibility of coming out with with a special CryoParts "special edition" of his amazing power conditioner. If this collaboration works out, this will be a killer product. Stay tuned! 08.27.07--Made an adjustment to the Cabaletta interconnect today. After much consideration, I have deleted the damping material from the core braid and started using Teflon air tubes. All Cabaletta from this point on will use this new braid as the core. 08.22.07--Got pricing on the Oyaide WPZ-2 dual gang aluminum/cabon fiber recepetacle mounting system, and it's less than I expected, only $260! You can order one Here! 08.19.07--Below are a few pictures of some cables we built for a customer in Australia. We used the gold plated Furutech FI series Australian male AC connector and the FI-11(G) IEC. The FI Australian connector from Furutech is an incredibly nice connector and a joy to work with. If you live outside the US and would like us to build you a cable with the correct ends for your country, please don't hesitate to contact us.    I also built a couple of Beast power cables using the FI-11(Ag) IEC instead of the FI-11(Cu) connector. I will snap a couple of pictures tomorrow before I ship them out to the customer and start offering them as an option on the CryoParts Power Cable page soon. 08.14.07--The "Noise Hounds" from Blue Cirlce are actually pretty remarkable for the price. I didn't expect much when I first received them as they are just a small, lightweight, unassuming looking blue bos with a cheap AC cord attached. But, the more I use them, the more I like them! In my video system, they really made a large difference in the "blackness" of the background noise that has always been there, and they even improved the picture on my HDTV a bit. Cool. I started with two of the "Hounds", however, I am soon going to three to see if that improves it even further. I am doing a great deal of experimentation and listening on my audio systems and headphone systems now, I will report back on the results I am going to order a bunch of these and will soon have these for sale, they retail for $130/each, however as an introductory special I am going to offer them for $120 each, with free USPS Priority Mail shipping to any US address. I will build a page soon and add a link here. 08.10.07--Received the Blue Circle BC-86MKIII "Noisehound's" (or perhaps "Music Pillow's" as they are called on the actual units) in today for evaluation. I have exchanged a great deal of e-mail with Gilbert from Blue Circle Audio over the past week and he seems to be driven by a passion for good music and sound, and comes up with very unique solutions to vexing problems. I will update this page in a few days after the "Hound's" have settled into the system and I get a handle on what they do. Retail price on these guys is $130/each. I snapped a couple of pictures:   07.28.07--Posted some photos and information from the Dallas Head Fi meet. 07.27.07--Have been doing a lot of listening to the ne Furutech FP-106 and FP-120 connectors. I LOVE them. They are some of the finest connectors I have ever had the pleasure of using. The FP-106 uses screw down terminations and requires no solder--fantastic! The FP-120 requires soldering, but it fits up to 12.3mm--fantastic. I will be adding these soon to the RCA Cable Ends page. The picture below is of the FP-106 on my new Locus Design cable:  I will be attending a Head Fi meet tomorrow, so I should have some pictures up by the end of the weekend. Should be some cool setups at the meet. 07.25.07--Finally Oyaide is coming out with dual gang version of the WPC-Z carbon fiber/aluminum receptacle mounting system. No pricing yet, but get your orders in now!  07.24.07--Been doing a lot of listening to the Senn's with the new cable. I can really enjoy the Senn's now, whereas before I was just never able to get into the sound of them. Very cool. Will see what others think of the cable this weekend at the Head Fi meet. Added a new power cable to the mix today. This one is the CryoMax III with the Marinco 8215T and IEC320/15. A great sounding, inexpensive cable for those that don't want to (or can't) spend more on a PC. Added some ads on AudiogoN today centered around the prototype cables I made developing Arioso and Cabaletta. Also added an ad with a free offer for the Accura SR-660's:   Here's the ad. Please request the "deals" when ordering. 07.22.07--Made another Sennheiser cable. This one is a winner. Using my cotton insulted copper and cotton insulated silver, then wrapped in a cotton tube, this cable is very, very transparent. It removes almost all of the "veiling" I hear on the Senn's, opens up the midrange a great deal, and allows the bass to flow more naturally than the stock cable. The only concern about this cable is that since it uses solid core wire is that it can twist up if the person using it is not careful. It's hard to break it as I agressively strain relief it, but it does require a little extra TLC to not let it get all twisted up. I may put this one into production if I can get the Senn ends situation worked out. Found a cache of "Accura SR-660" headphones yesterday. This is an open back can with a gigantic driver (54mm) that actually sound pretty good, in fact perhaps the best sound under $75. I am going to keep a few pair to mess around with, but I may sell a few pair as well. If you are interested, I'll offer them for $25 shipped to any US address. Please e-mail me to inquire. 07.20.07--Been doing a lot of listening and tweaking of my various headphone setups and developing the Sennheiser cable. IMHO, the Senn 600 series is really limited by the stock cable, even if the 600 is used with a cryo'd stock 650 cable. A cotton insualted silver wire based cable on these headphones really opens up the upper midrange and goes a long way toward removing the midrange anomalies of these cans. Hopefully we can work out how to either terminate the stock ends reliably to a butchered stock cable (and without splicing...), or Cardas will come out with their ends soon. The tweaks/mods I did to the Zhaolu 2.5C are really paying off now. The Mundorf caps are really burning in nicely, those coupled with all the other mods done earlier have really taken this inexpensive DAC/headamp combo to another level. Stock, the Zhaolu with the upgraded headamp is a good, inexpensive and fine sounding headphone setup. However, if one is willing to research, play around a bit with parts, wield a solder iron and void their warranty, this little unassuming piece of gear can be taken to a whole new level. I always find it fun to take a "budget" piece of gear and tweak the living daylights out it to get it to play witht eh big boys. The Shanling combo is sounding better every day. This inexpensive ($1K or so) setup it hard to beat for a LOT more money, IMHO. Clear, detailed, great bass, all in all Shanling has done a great job on these two products. The Goldring cans are really burning in nicely; much more open and smooth than just few days ago. The DR-150 is giving the Senn HD600 a serious run for it's money. On certain source material, the DR-150 even comes close to my beloved Beyerdynamic DT-990's. That's quite a feat for a $150 pair of cans. Very nice. 07.18.07--Did a lot of listening the past few days to the Shanling gear and the Goldring headphones. First off, the Shanling gear is better than it has any right to at the price. Open, detailed, airy, great bass...it's all there. Very nice and smooth as well, not spitty and hard like some inexpensive headphone amplifiers can be. In short, I like this stuff a great deal. The Goldrings are still breaking in, however, what I am hearing now is very promising. The first 100 hours are behind us and that's good! They sounded sonewhat veiled and harsh the first few hours, but really started to open up and smooth out nicely the past 25 hours, or so. In listening last night, the DR-150's are showing themselves to be a real contender, not suffering that much in comparison to Senn 600's and Beyer 990's. A hundred hours more of break in, these could really be a serious threat to $500 cans. At $150, they are a steal. I have worked on the Senn 600 cable a bit more, but I am still not happy with the connection situation. Hopefully Cardas will have their ends done soon! 07.14.07--I'm going to stop putting items on this page in categories and make it more of a "blog" style, posting things by date instead of under a heading common to all postings below it. As we work on many projects at that same time, the blog style should allow us to cover information and news as it becomes available or relevant, instead of by common theme. Headphone Stuff07.13.07--Worked on a replacement Sennheiser headphone cable today. Have a very promising design that sounds really great with the HD580, HD600 and HD650 cans, but we are ot going to release it until Cardas releases their Sennheiser cable ends as tearing down and utlizing the stock connectors that come on a stock cable is just a kludge, no matter how you look at it. Hopefully Cardas will release these soon. I'll take some pictures of the prototype cable this weekend and post them. Did some listening to the Shanling PH3000 and PCD 3000A over the past couple of days. These are very nice pieces! The headhone amp is really nice and open, very smooth and clean with tons of detail. We will soon be stocking these, in the meantime, we would be happy to special order them for you. 07.08.07--Still in headphone mode, I agreed today to take on Shanling as they have a really trick mini-cd player and matching headphone amplifier. I arranged for the importer to send me one of each to bring to the Dallas Head-Fi Meet. 07.07.07--As many of you know, as well as loving conventional speakers, especially my reference Sonicweld's I am big into headphones as well. In light of this, I have recently agreed to bring in the Goldring headphones, the Creek headphone amplifiers as well as the Zhaolu gear. All of these lines are stunning performers for the price. The Zhalou 2.5c has already garnered a reputation as a pretty serious contender in the low price DAC arena. Outfitted with the upgraded headphone amp, this is a VERY nice sounding rig and is highly recommended for those of you on a tight budget. The upgraded headamp will drive virtually any headphone on the market, and sound nice doing it! This DAC is also very mod friendly, for thoise of you who don't mind voiding your warranty... On July 28th, there is an upcoming HeadFi meet in Dallas that I will endeavor to attend. If I am able to make it, I will bring along a Zhaolu, some Goldring cans and some Creek gear so that those of you who are local can take a listen. In headphone mode today, I also worked on a couple of items for headphone systems today. A new cotton/silver mini-to-mini cable and a phone to mini adaptor.   AudiogoN Special Interconnect07.04.07--Snapped a couple of photo's of the actual cable up for auction on AudiogoN.:   07.03.07--Developed a new interconnect over the last few days especially to sell on AudiogoN. This cable is quite a change from the projects we have been working on over the past few months. This cable was specifically designed to meet a price point--LOW! This cable is NOT going to be a regular offering from CryoParts; this is an experiment. If it goes well, I may continue to do this every so often...but we'll see. What prompted this project is that I have a bunch of MIL-SPEC, shielded, two wire braid, Teflon insulated, silver plated copper cable in stock. You know the stuff...it's sold all over eBay. Yes, that same stuff that many small cable "manufacturers" use to "manufacture" cables sold on AudiogoN, and many other places. So...I have this roll of cryo'd cable, a bunch of cryo'd Cardas connectors (the SLVR), and some slow selling Techflex colors laying around, so I figure why don't I build a 4ft pair of interconnects using these parts to see how they sound? Well, they came out not half bad. In light of the price, they are actually pretty detailed and quiet. For some of you, these very well could be the last interconnects you need buy. Like I mentioned above, I will NOT be offering this cable on a regular basis, so if you are interested, please go to AudiogoN and bid on the auction. Or, watch my listings on AudiogoN for future offerings.
New InterconnectsFirst a few words about the following interconnects. Although these are a new project, the idea has been rolling around in my head for about 5 years. As I've designed and perfected other cables and added to my knowledge of what works and what doesn't, I have kept an updated version of the interconnect project in the back of my mind. Until now, either the time hasn't been right, or I couldn't find anyone to produce the wire or the involved helix braid to my spec's, or there was no extra money, or...a million other reasons. Finally, a bunch of things aligned (how often does that happen? Ha!) that allowed me to produce my vision. What follows is a synopsis of the process of producing the cables and bringing them to market. I hope you enjoy it. 06.30.07--We finalized the design of our new Bravura interconnect today. This is CryoParts' best cable. It is a true state of the art cable, worthy of being compared to the best and serving duty in the finest of systems. We are proud to introduce this reference quality interconnect, only surpassed in performance by our Locus Design interconnect, which is MUCH more expensive. This cable starts with a proprietary braid of our finest diamond die drawn, dead soft annealed, teflon insulated silver wire and a very effective damping material. The "core" of this cable is especially inert, very well damped, and does not suffer from the microphonics that plague many other braided cables. Over this braid we add many additional layers of cutting edge shielding and damping materials, including; carbon fiber, carbon infused nylon, a special teflon braid, nylon, copper, polyolefin, etc... All of the various layers, the materials from which they are made, how and in which order they are applied/used and how they interact with each other was carefully thought out, modeled, prototyped and tested to ensure that they all act together to produce a cable with an incredibly low noise floor and very resistant to external influence, both electrical and mechanical. After mulling over various options, we chose the Oyaide RCA ends as they exhibit a purity of sound on this cable that is almost magic. And as a bonus, they are a very well built end, utilizing a pure silver center pin, but still very durable with an incredibly high level of fit and finish. So, if you are looking for a reference quality cable, that is still reasonably priced, please check them out on our CryoParts Interconnect Page. Here are a few pictures:      06.28.07--We finalized the design of the new copper/silver interconnect today. Please see pictures below.     06.27.07--We finalized the design of the new copper interconnect today. We snapped a few photos which you can see below.     These are now available for order, if you would like a pair, please visit the Interconnect Page. All we need now is a catchy name for the cable! If you have any ideas, please pass them along. If I choose your idea for the name, there is a HUGE discount in your future! 06.25.07--We spent a good deal of time listening this weekend to two of the prototype cables and we are very happy with the performance. Now that we have finalized the design of our ultra high end Locus Design cable, we will now devote the bulk of our time to finalizing the three CryoParts designs. Look for lots of updates over the next few days! 06.22.07--We have been doing a good amount of listening and have decided to change the ends used on the all copper interconnect to Cardas ends in lieu of the Vampire's. On this particular cable, the Cardas is slightly more open sounding and sounds a bit more natural. Just another example of how important synergy is to bulding a great interconnect. We originally considered the Cardas as one of the finalists, and upon further reflection, it is the correct choice. On the silver/copper version, the Xhadow stays! It matches that cable exceptionally well. We are also moving along on the all silver version, we are still in the listening to different connectors to see which model sounds the best. We have whittled the field down to three, but more listening is in order before we decide. We also subjected to the cables to a very aggressive RF enviroment today and the shielding works exceptionally well, no strange noises heard, just dead quiet--as it should be! 06.20.07--We have been working on prototypes of our new interconnects most of the day today (and part of yesterday). We have (finally!) settled on the termination method and ends for two of them, the all copper version and the copper/silver version. First off, the all copper version. These are made from a special braid of our CryoParts copper with Teflon wire and a very effective damping material. We then add various layers of cutting edge damping and shielding materials, including Teflon, Nylon and a special carbon based material. We them terminate these cables with a modified set of the all OFC milled Vampire RCA connectors (edit-now changed to a Cardas end). Even cold (not broken in or cryo'd) these are something special. More comments to follow. Pictures of the prototype all copper interconnect:   And now, the copper/silver version. These are made from a similar braid to the all copper version, and use a similar method of damping and shielding. However, instead of the conductors all being our CryoParts copper/Teflon, they are a mix of our CryoParts silver/teflon and CryoParts copper/Teflon. We terminate these with a substantially modifed set of Xhadow RCA's. Like the all copper version, these are substantially exceeding our expectations (which were very high). Here's a couple pictures of the prototype:   We will continue to update this subject as we progress on the project. Many have asked if they can put a deposit down and get in the bulld queue for the first production run. If this is of interest to you, please e-mail me and I'll pass on the info on how to do this. 06.19.07--We received the prototype wire for our upcoming interconnects today. If this wire sounds half as good as it looks, all three of them will be winners. We will build a few pair, send them through cryo, and begin listening tests soon. The damping material we specified to be wound with the conductors is working even better than we hoped it would. Exciting! We will continue to update this section as we test these cables. Stay tuned! 06.12.07--We have three new interconnect cable designs being manufactured today. We should have them in house next week and hopefully cryo'd the next. After cryo and testing, we will build a few prototype pairs for listening, verification and beta-testing. Once we decide which (if any) of the designs meets our standards, we will begin offering finished cables manufactured from these new cable designs. Look for updates here on how the designs shake out. The first will be an all copper, the second a copper/silver hybrid, and the third an all silver. All will use a very trick braid of our famous CryoParts wire and a great damping material. A very unique shielding arrangement will also be used. Look for updates here as we progress on this project. Heat Gun Musings06.12.07--Hello everyone! Heatshrink.com has the Steinel 25th anniversary heat gun kit on special for a ridiculously low price. If you have ever wanted a Steinel, call or e-mail Bryan and order one today before he runs out! Another good value in a heat gun, the Ungar model 1095. If you are looking for a good quality, relatively inexpensive model, the Ungar can't be beat. Ungar is a division of Cooper Tools, and they are known for the durability and quality of their tools, and this heat gun looks to be no exception. As an aside, don't waste your money on the "cheapies" that can be found at various places. Not only do they only last about a year, but you may get one that actually catches on fire (don't ask me how I know that...)! Solder Station Musings06.05.07--Just a quick update to let all of you DIY'ers know of a great solder station. Recently, after both of my trusty Weller EC2002's bit the dust in the same week, I needed to procure some replacements. After a search of available models, I finally settled on the Metcal SP-200. I was very tempted to just go with what I knew and get a couple more Weller's, but a few of my industry acquaintances steered me toward the Metcal. Well, after a couple weeks of testing, I liked the first one so much, that I have since purchased another. For those of you who do a lot of DIY work, and need something a bit better than the $50 specials, consider the Metcal SP-200. They can be found for $200-240, and often for much less on eBay. For light work, choose the 500 or 600 degree tips, for soldering speaker wire (or other heavy gauge stuff) get the 700 degree chisel tips. One of the really trick things is that the tips slide right out and can be changed very easily and quickly when needed. I have found that the iron holds tip temperature VERY well and heats up quickly. Good stuff! Solder Update06.04.07--For many years I have been using and recommending the Johnson IA-423 solder. I still love and use this solder on heavy projects such as terminating speaker cables or the like, but have found myself using the Cardas more and more. Unlike the Johnson, which requires the use of flux, the Cardas does not, and so is much easier to use for terminating interconnects or board work. The Cardas also melts at a much lower temperature, which makes it more suitable for light work. As far as the sound quality, I find the Cardas to be every bit the equal of the Johnson--which is great as until now, I had found nothing that even came close. At this time, I do not offer the Cardas for sale. However, if enough of you want it, I could be persuaded to carry a limited quantity for sale in smaller quantities than a full spool. If you only need a foot or two to give it a try, put a note with your order and I'll include some in your package. |
