November 10, 2014

  • XLO Signature 4.1b, Part 6

    Ah, summer of 1996. One partly cloudy evening, ACS and I were at the Stonestown (located in the SW corner of San Francisco) Tower Records, where we bought Metallica’s new album, Load. We then went to her place in foggy, windy, and cold Pacifica. While we scampered from the car to the warm apartment, we forgot about the new and unopened Metallica CD, and left it in the car.
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    Even when I got home the next day, I didn’t immediately open Load. But when I did, I played it not on my living room stereo, but on my bedroom headphone system, which comprised the CAL (California Audio Labs) Delta and Theta Cobalt 307. I was frustrated with the inconsistent, underwhelming, and disappointing (as many audiophiles can attest, the D-60 never lived up to the published reviews) Illuminati D-60 digital cable, which I’ve reviewed in these pages. I was also frustrated with the subpar and uneven Load. Still, the songs on Load, especially “Ain’t My Bitch,” “Until It Sleeps,” and “Hero Of The Day” [ACS and I later purchased the CD single, above] reminded me of ACS.

    Back then, my main system’s digital front end consisted of the Theta Data Basic II and DS Pro Prime II. With my family constantly in the living room, I found myself using the bedroom headphone system more than the main one. Needing better sound in the bedroom, I then targeted the Cobalt 307 for replacement. One of the DACs I borrowed was the CAL Alpha (also reviewed in these pages). Unlike my Theta DACs, the CAL Alpha had an AES/EBU balanced input.
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    So then I borrowed some balanced digital cables. The Apogee Wyde Eye was cheap, but poor-sounding. The Wireworld Gold Starlight [version "II," I believe] was too mellow, casting a fake golden glow over the music. The MIT Proline Digital was interesting, but a bit pricey ($695). The Illuminati Orchid was expensive (at $750, it cost almost as much as the CAL Delta), and poor-sounding. So the very first time I saw and used an XLO Signature 4.1b was between the CAL Delta and Alpha. It was, hands down, the best AES/EBU cable. It made the others sound bloated, colored, hazy, distorted, plodding, congested, and hopelessly inept.

    I ended up not getting the $1495 CAL Alpha [I used the funds on a huge mistake, the Thiel CS.5. But that’s whole ‘nother tale of woe]. Because I did not get the Alpha, I returned all of the balanced digital cables. Nevertheless, the XLO Signature 4.1b left a positive impression.
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    When ACS and I looked at Load’s album cover, we learned that it was a mixture of blood and semen. ACS remarked, “You mean like sex during my period?”

    The interesting thing is, in all the years I was with ACS, I only saw her period twice. The first was in summer ’92, when we were playing softball. She kept pointing to her rump, asking me if I saw any blood [no]. The second was around Labor Day 1996, when she and I went to Baker Beach. The north end was (and still is) clothing optional. Because she was having her period, ACS kept on her shorts.

    ACS claimed that, when she was on the Pill, it sometimes suppressed her menstrual period. And when she did have her period, she often avoided going out and seeing anyone. She didn't want to "burden" others with her "bitchy" mood and temperament. That, said she, was why I seldom experienced her having her period.
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    We’ve had this XLO Signature 4.1b [it's not the same as the one used between CAL Delta and Alpha] since the mid-90s. It has been used on-and-off since then. Versus when it was fresh out of the box, using it for over 15 years does lessen the “slash & burn” sonics. So I guess that’s like going from a regular CD to an SHM-CD. As an example, Metallica’s Load is now available on SHM-CD (above), which does sound cleaner and more stable, than the original CD. The XLO Signature 4.1b makes the sonic differences plainly obvious and visible.