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Halfway through this review, I got back my Cardas Heart and Goldbug Ms. Brier phono cartridges from refurbishing by Peter Lederman of Soundsmith, Peekskill, NY. After mounting the Cardas Heart, I found that my Hovland HP100 preamp now had a problem with the phono stage. The tube sockets were unacceptably noisy so it was sent back to Hovland for replacement of the sockets and the latest update. LP playback can be challenging but the rewards are enormous.

After getting back my Hovland preamp, Michael Garges suggested I switch to the JJ Tesla ECC83S/12AX7 in all four 12AX7 positions in the preamp.These replaced Sovtek 12AX7LPS, which had been installed by Hovland in the past. They were now using JJs throughout the preamp. I have a stock of JJ ECC83S on hand for my work in restoring vintage tube equipment and was able to select some with strong well-matched sections. I then installed a vintage Siemens 12AT7 cathode follower in the phono stage and an early (shield logo) Mullard 12AT7 in the line stage follower position. I was surprised to hear the significant improvement wrought by each of these tube installations, especially in the follower positions, which are supposed to have less sonic effect. In fact, the Mullard made quite a large improvement over the RCA 12AT7WA black plate tube I had in that position. The sound became airier with more bloom, thus expanding the soundstage. The updates to the Hovland, including better circuit grounding, also provide a quieter background and allow the music to stand out in greater relief.

After plenty of break-in (rebuilt Cardas Heart, new parts in Hovland, new interstage transformers in the Tron 211, review cables), vinyl once again dominated my happy listening time. Playing the reissue Miles Davis In Person Friday Night Live at the Blackhawk, San Francisco Volume 1, [Columbia LE 10018, reissue], I switched from the Acoustic Revive to the Bastanis Epilog II. On "Bye Bye Blackbird", Miles' trumpet took on a richer tone as did the piano. Bass also increased significantly in amplitude. However, the leading edges were not as crisp. Miles' trumpet was fantastic though, with more realistic tone than the Acoustic Revive. To describe the difference, I would say that the Epilog II seems to place a stronger emphasis on the fundamental of a note than the AR. This gives the Epilog II a more robust sound.


This speaker cable review became somewhat of an odyssey, since my system changed during the review:
  • Change of equipment (speakers, amplifier)
  • Reintroduction of vinyl as source
  • Updating/repair of preamp
  • New Adona equipment rack
  • Reorientation of system to opposite side of room

These system changes made me feel obligated to go through the different cables numerous times over, making sure that the results remained consistent throughout these changes. Just as I was trying to wrap up and had sent the Prana Nataraja cable back to Joe Cohen for CES, I became interested in trying one more cable, the Acoustic System Liveline. I remembered that Srajan had posted a letter of a reader who had recently switched from Auditorium 23 to Liveline and was quite pleased. Also, Srajan was fresh off praising the Acoustic System Acoustic resonators and the interconnect. Further, Marja and Henk were preparing an in-depth article on the technology behind Acoustic System.


My impression of listening to music through the Liveline cables is that they convey the music more at the gut level as opposed to the cerebral Prana. They dish out the music with the raw energy and excitement of a live performance. This pushes aside the analytical and strips away artifice. For my taste, I feel this brings you closer to the emotional content of the performance. If the recording is harsh, it will show it but without the stridency I have heard in the past from other cable designs that exhibited this kind of speed.


It is difficult to describe how the Liveline does this. First, it is extremely well balanced from top to bottom. The bass is deep, tight, defined and punchy. Treble is extended without drawing undue attention. Dynamics and leading edges are excellent. More unusually though and the quality that makes it stand out is that it almost seems to turn up the presence knob. I don't mean this in the old-fashioned sense of the actual presence knob that increased midrange amplitude in vintage speakers. I mean that there is a realness to the sound that can be startling. Some of this is the proverbial clearer window. However, there is another quality that I have struggled to put my finger on. It is this rare combination of speed or complete temporal integrity along with harmonic fullness/rightness and natural decay. In my audio experience, these two qualities can be almost mutually exclusive. In other words, a component will do one but not the other. I remember the first time I put XLO interconnects in my system probably fifteen years ago. They had speed I had not heard before but nowhere near the harmonic development of the Liveline cables. To my ears, they were drier and truncated the decay of notes. The Liveline's combination of speed, harmonics and decay makes for a high reality quotient that quickly becomes addictive.


A good cut to demonstrate what the Liveline cables do is "Yardbird Suite" from The Modern Jazz Quartet At Music Inn [Atlantic 1299]. Milt Jackson's vibraharp combines fast playing with gobs of harmonic information. The Liveline makes this sound spookily real because it excels at capturing all of this instrument's rich and complex harmonic signature. One note that Milt hits toward the end of this cut just rang out in the room and pressurized my entire downstairs. I find this to be another interesting quality of this cable. Solo instruments just seem to leap out of the speaker on dynamic peaks. It can be startling and is an important aspect in what makes these cables so involving.