(Sorry-lah, I can't make the picture of a pair of audio interconnects look like the photos in maggielurva's last 2 posts ;-) )

I have had the Kubala-Sosna Emotion interconnects in my system for the last 3 weeks, and am halfway through writing up a review for the next issue of AVXpress. But hey, there is still some way to go until the next issue, so maggielurva asked me to share some of my impressions of them on this blog first. So here we go.

I put on the K-S between my Copland CD player and my Pass Labs X2.5 pre-amp. The first impression was that they were not the kind of cables that grabbed your attention outright. Music just came forth from the system with a very even-handed manner, there was no one sonic area that screamed for my attention.

If I had given up on the K-S at this point, that would prove to be a big mistake indeed, because after 3, 4 days of listening, I started to realize and appreciate my system’s performance with the K-S in it. The K-S slowly got through to you rather than knock you off on first listen!

The biggest effect the K-S had on me was that I felt more relaxed listening to my system. The way the K-S handled musical flow reminded me very much of my impression of the Meridian G08 CD player (I do not mean to say that the K-S made my system sounded like the G08 though, but just the rhythm/flow/ timing part). What I blogged about the Meridian G08 (under ‘A Tale of Two CD Players’ a couple months ago) could be borrowed here, so pardon me for my laziness while I steal from there to describe the K-S – the K-S lingered a bit over the music to allow you to savour the full development of the musical notes, sort of like letting you ‘smell the roses’ on the way. I find this to be quite charming, as it gave me a new perspective on the music. You might get slightly less adrenalin rush but gain insights into the music. In this sense, the K-S comes across as composed and mature in my system - and also ‘sophisticated’, if I may add. It is also important to note that this obvious sense of relaxation did not seem to diminish the musical message or details.

With the K-S in it, my system’s bass performance went up a notch, it went much deeper and I felt that my EgglestonsWorks The Nine loudspeakers' bass capability was fully utilized. The bass was focused and impactful, the Native American drum tracks on Bill Miller’s The Red Road were the best I have ever heard on my system. The K-S mid was another area they excelled in, it had body and richness. The highs were smooth and quite detailed, they were also nicely integrated well with the rest of the sonic spectrum. I thought they were also nicely a little self-effacing, and because of this behaviour, they made many of my CDs quite listenable (bad recordings still bad, but more listenable). Like maggielurva mentioned in his previous post, the K-S may match better with modern amps, if you think your modern amps are a bit shrill or thin, try the K-S,I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

There are a few more areas that the K-S did quite well, like the coherence that they always imbued all kinds of music I threw at them. I’d elaborate more of these in the full review write-up. I’d end this sneak preview of the K-S with a passage I have written for the review article – “The listening experience with the K-S was analogous to sitting in a chauffer driven Mercedes sedan - it was luxurious, smooth, secured and comfortable. The sound, like the ride of a Mercedes, had a high level of maturity and sophistication that was very appealing. It was hard to forget once experienced”.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very Good descriptions of KS Emotion.

That is it's biggest strenght,letting the music flow out effortlessly.It is not really something that scream on your face,but after many hours you would realized how nice the music was

Anonymous said...

Agree with Jamieson.

With my Kharma,nothing works better,and I have all emotion sett-up,from PC to Sp cables.I feel those of you that use Ceramic-based speakers will benefit the most.

Anonymous said...

The sound description of the KS emotion cables is similar to that of Cardas golden ref. It's nice sounding.

Anonymous said...

Yeah,Cardas golden referance is another underratedrange of cables,but Having upgraded from my all Cardas GR cablings ,i can tell you that the KS are just a killer cables.

If your electronics and setup are capables,it just let your system sgine through.....I think you really should try THe IC and Sp cables and you would be in for a real hi-fi treat

Anonymous said...

Cardas top flight cables are just too polite for my liking.

The KS Emotions are different because it allow thw widebandwith signal to pass true without allowing anypart to pass through.

If you want th emost neutral cables ,and hear through the electronics,these are the cables for you ,IMHO.

Anonymous said...

"there was no sonic area that scream for attention'

that is K-S Emotion in a nutshell

Anonymous said...

K-S are especially good for:

1]SS and digital

2]Bright speakers.

If your system are in the above ,there might not be anything better.
if not you need careful audiotioning.

Anonymous said...

with kubala sosna,i get the best results in combining the ics with the speaker cables .

you seems to get no mids bloatedness.