RCA cable upgrade sounds worse?

I recently purchased (online, as there is no shop near me) a pair of Audioquest Big Sur’s as a cable upgrade to replace a standard pair of rca’s that go between my phono amp and headphone amp.
Firstly, my system is, Turntable: Project “the classic” with a 2m bronze (connected to phono amp by Pro Ject connect it e phono cable)
Phono amp: Technics SU V5 (intergrated)
Headphone amp: Woo Wa 2
Headphones Sennheiser HD 700s

So the cable is between the SU V5 and the Wa2, and I have the old rcas plugged in to one input and the Audioquests into another, so I can A/B on the fly, and things are confusing.....
It seems to almost vary on a track by track basis, the Audioquests will be what I want, bigger soundstage, better separation, better fine detail etc...., but then on the next song, they will sound rolled off on both frequency extremes, flat and lifeless in the middle and congested. I don’t understand how they can sound sometimes better and sometimes worse than a stock rca cable.
I have tried placing them at a different spot in the chain, switching the ends around, letting them “burn in” if that is even a thing with cables, basically anything I can to justify spending the money on them (facepalm) however since it seems to be more often than not I don’t like the sound, I’m asking to see if it is a mismatch in something. I have it set up the way which sounds best, directional arrows pointing from phono to headphone amp, and still it sounds worse then the stock cables more than half the time.
I know very little about the numbers side of electronics and electricity etc.... so please explain it as if I have no idea, because I don’t. I’m just wondering if an upgraded phono stage (planned anyway) or another cable is needed instead.

Thank you for the assistance.

 

How do you like the connect it e phono cable?

 

Better recordings will sound better on a more transparent system. Increased transparency will also lay bare a poor recording. The stock cables were imparting a coloration on everything, making the tunes all sounding similar. Welcome to a taste of the high end.

 

Honestly I don’t really know, seems... ok? But it came with the table and I’ve just always had it there, so without switching it out for a different cable I can’t really compare sorry. Is well made and comes with a ground, it can be takes apart to give two seperate unattached cables and the ground as well, so that is all well and good.

 

Cable aside you might want to consider a new phono stage. The Technics on top of needing re-capping for fresh performance is still likely to have a phono stage that could be surpassed by spending something in the range of $200-400.
When you say next song is it the same song in the same album or you are talking another album? It should not change so much from song to song in the same album unless is a compilation from different artists or times. May be you didn't get the right cables for you, there is a lot of hype with brands, you need to keep trying but you can get good unbranded cables too.

 

At first I figured that is what it was, but after listening to louder and quieter pressings, better and worse pressings etc.... it was still all over the place. With better pressings it wasn’t making them sound better than the stock cables, and in some cases it was worse.
The only way I can describe the Audioquests when they are bad is “choked” which is why I thought maybe they might just not be the right match.
Many times I have gone down the rabbit hole a bit I have initially thought things to be lacking something (usually bass) but have grown to realise that, like what you said, it’s just more transparent, but given my lack of knowledge on electronics, I was wondering if there would be a better cable or way to bring more high and lows back that seem to vanish from them at times.

 

Thanks for the reply, the next song mean the next one on the same album. I find that on older recording that are more “mid frequency” based, the Audioquests are ok, but on recording from the 80s with lots of high frequencies or modern ones with lots of lows, the Audioquests suffer.
I was wondering where the technics lay on the quality spectrum too, so thanks for clearing that up a bit. Tax return time soon, so a new phono stage isn’t long off.

 

I build my own high quality cables with high quality parts - very reasonably priced - and quite enjoyable. My point is - the cables shouldn't be the thing to chase in affecting your sound.

 

Exactly which outputs of the Technics SU-V5 are connected to exactly which inputs of the Woo WA 2?

Because based upon your experience, I would start to explore swapping the cables between their existing places or try using different inputs on your headphone amp. And would also entertain the possibility of something faulty on one of your SU-V5 output circuits.

 

I know, the are low on my priority list, I just figured that before I do any more upgrades on better phono stages and cartridges, I should get a cable that will Not take as much away from those upgrades.

 

I had this idea as well and started swapping the cables around and changing ends etc.... but there was no way which seemed “right”. The way I have it set up now is what it was at first and it is with the cables going from the output of the SU V5 (tape rec out 1) into input 1 of the Wa2. The stock cables are going out of tape rec out 2, into input 2 of the Wa 2. Don’t know how much it matters that they are “tape outs”, but there are no other outputs I can use for it, and both sets of rca cables are were switched and compared from both outs, and the stock cable still seems better in terms of frequency response.

 

More expensive cables are not always better. As an example: I compared a $2200 pair of interconnects to the ones I still use ($125), and asked four people to listen with me (one at a time). One was my wife; two were friends who are music or audio professionals; the fourth was a friend with a great system, Spectral electronics and a pair of Avalon Isis.

Each one of us preferred the cheaper interconnects.

If you want something better than what comes in the box, I'd recommend cables from Blue Jeans Cable or cables made up for you by a reputable pro-audio shop from Mogami, Belden, or Canare cable. Your ears may find such cables less colored than the boutique brands.

 

I'd agree with that. I've looked at the schematic, and it has two JFETs (probably 2SK170) as a diff amp, and a Technics custom dual op amp - half used for each channel - feeding the RIAA network back to the JFETs. I haven't checked the accuracy of the RIAA. The SU-V5 dates back to 1981 (so nearly 40 years ago), and technology and understanding has progressed just a little bit since then.

Nowadays you'd (ie I'd) probably use a current generation ultra low noise op-amp as a flat gain stage (such as an AD797), passive RIAA (there will be opinions here about that) and then a flat op-amp gain stage, plus a unity gain buffer after the passive RIAA. And a decent power supply.

 

Thanks for the reply, I’m definitely needing to upgrade it soon, I never knew what to think of it in comparison to other amps, as it’s so hard to find reviews and such on it, and I have nothing to compare it to.

 

Thanks for the suggestion on the other cable brands, will have to check some of them out.

 

Many years ago the shop I was working in had a musical evening run by the manufacturer of well known cables, who had a range from budget to serious money. Over the course of the evening, I think it is true to say that there was absolutely no concensus of opinion whatsoever!

Just because something is several times more expensive, doesn't mean that it is automatically going to be an upgrade. For the cost of some of the cables you could have upgraded the electronics and everyone would have heard an improvement on every piece of music. That is my idea of an upgrade.

 

Belden 8402 stuff is crazy good

 

welcome to the cable merry-go-round. save your receipts and boxes, give 'em a couple, three weeks. put the old cable back in. if you don't want to immediately want to put the new cable back in, send them back. repeat as necessary. unfortunately cables do need some break in time but my rule of thumb is that if they sound worse, send them back.
often you will hears some things change for the better and some things sounding worse- e.g. more clarity but an edgy top end, more bass but more congestion, etc.
i have not had much success with lower priced value cables either- tried them all but the best of the bunch were made by JL Audio and ART "POP" with Mogami wire.
the ones currently in my system include nordost purple flare, nordost blue heaven, audience ohno. ones i have eliminated include a few models of audioquest, cardas, chord, belden, grover, KAB, kimber and wireworld.

 

By plugging in a different set of RCA's the probable outcome is that there will be a discernable change. Could be for the better, could be for the worse.

More expensive cable doesn't always align with "better". I'd send em back for sure, Life's too short and there are many others to choose from.

 

One of the reasons could be that the capacitance difference between those 2 cables is rather big. Try to get to know the capacitance value of your audioquest cable first!

 

Did you burn them in? Cables need playing time before sounding optimal.

 

AudioQuest cables are not bidirectional. Make sure they’re connected the right way. There are arrows for out and in on the connectors. Also they need to break in for a bit.

 

After decades of cable merry go rounds I got Blujean cables to see if my ears were messing with me. Put their best interconnect between my Esoteric and Vincent moded intergraded amp and liked the sound so much I went the whole route with the rest of my system.
After about 2 years decided to put my Audioquest Columbia back between the components and the Audioquest as for now are staying. I cant prove anything but boutique cables seem to color the sound like my 12ax7 tube changes and that is why I feel expensive cables will always be around. Or I could be wrong, take care,John M.

 

AQ is better or just different than Blue Jeans?