# Transparent Interconnects



## gregsdouglas (Feb 20, 2013)

Is this for real? $2500 for a 1' RCA interconnect cable? 

This story talks about calibrating the cables for different amps and pre-amp combos. What the???

http://transparentcable.com/special/

Their pricing guide: 
http://transparentcable.com/products/pdf/prices/retail_prices_2014.pdf

I received this link from an apparent audio review site: hometheaterreview.com




A Happy Pre-Owned Transparent Tale

Brian found an almost new pair of 1-meter Transparent Balanced Reference Interconnect listed on Audiogon at a great price. He jumped at the chance. 

When he hooked them up to his Krell system, though, they just didn't sound right. He was almost ready to send them back for a refund when his friend asked him if he had the cables calibrated for his system. 

“Calibrated? What?!” 

“Call Transparent, and tell them your serial number. They’ll know what components were intended to be used with your cable.” 

Brian called Transparent. He told Demos, Transparent’s customer service guru, the model and serial number of his cables and told him he had a Krell system.

Demos called Brian back with the info: “When we built those cables, they were optimized for an Audio Research preamp and amp. No wonder the cables didn’t sound right in your system. The ARC system has totally different impedance characteristics from Krell components. You need to take your cables to a Transparent dealer and have them returned to us for calibration. You have 2 options: basic calibration or certification.”

“What’s the difference and what does each cost? “ Brian asked.

“Basic calibration for Reference Balanced Interconnects would be $350. Certification includes calibration, new packaging, and a warranty. The warranty will give you upgrade privileges and future calibrations will be no charge. Certification for your cables would be $700. Your closest dealer would be Paragon Sight and Sound in Ann Arbor. Their phone number is 734-662-3595.”

To make a long story short, Brian opted to get his cables certified, and they sound great. When he visited Paragon, he heard a system similar to his own with Transparent used throughout. The system really sang.

Brian is now talking to Larry at Paragon about a pair of Factory Certified Pre-Owned Transparent Reference Speaker Cables and perhaps a digital cable and a few power cords. 

To find out more about Transparent products and Transparent’s programs that are designed with happy customers in mind, click <here.>

Sent from my iPhone using HTShack


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## gazoink (Apr 17, 2013)

Hmm. Quite a story. Wonder how they'd sound coated with Electret Cream?:unbelievable:


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

The only thing transparent in that story is the those cables are coated in. Can any of our EE friends here give some insight? Some of what they say seems plausible. But measurable?


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## gazoink (Apr 17, 2013)

You don't need a EE to see this is hogwash. What could anyone do to a cable in the way of "calibrating" it? That implies some sort of change takes place based on the requirements of the equipment it's connected to. So, what did they do, perform detailed analysis on every possible device and combination? Highy doubtful. And what could they change in the calibration process? Electrical properties are all pretty much built-in once the cable is made, nothing you can do after the fact. 

It's pure suggestion, which actually is highly effective when done with conviction. Part of that conviction is the price. A very big part. 

Just another joyous part of high-end audio. Doubtful we should even give it the space here.


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

There is another discussion on this here. Bottom line, don't trust things that come from hometheaterreview.com I guess. :huh:


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## gazoink (Apr 17, 2013)

mechman said:


> There is another discussion on this here. Bottom line, don't trust things that come from hometheaterreview.com I guess. :huh:


Got a good chuckle out of the guy who had Lowes calibrate his lamp cord for free. Wonder if he specified what lamp he was going to use...

Seriously, not sure if this story is funny or angering...hey, it can be both!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

gazoink said:


> Got a good chuckle out of the guy who had Lowes calibrate his lamp cord for free. Wonder if he specified what lamp he was going to use...
> 
> Seriously, not sure if this story is funny or angering...hey, it can be both!


Hey, look at it this way. if we calibrate our lamp cards the 60watt light bulb will last longer and burn brighter


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

gazoink said:


> Got a good chuckle out of the guy who had Lowes calibrate his lamp cord for free. Wonder if he specified what lamp he was going to use... Seriously, not sure if this story is funny or angering...hey, it can be both!


yes that was hilarious!
This kind of thing mostly infuriates me. I can't stand that they can have a business model that allows for profit out of lies by exploiting peoples trust who don't know better. Shame on the consumer? Maybe, but it's just wrong. Not unlike another 4 lettered company I know of...
Very funny responses though!


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## jaguar717 (Sep 8, 2014)

You guys have all heard of Machina Dynamica right?
http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

jaguar717 said:


> You guys have all heard of Machina Dynamica right?


:rofl::laugh::joke::unbelievable::thud:


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## Peter Loeser (Aug 11, 2012)

jaguar717 said:


> You guys have all heard of Machina Dynamica right?
> http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm


This is amazing.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

jaguar717 said:


> You guys have all heard of Machina Dynamica right?
> http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm


Boy the snake oil never ceases to be marketed does it. I guess this one goes after the poor people where the cables go after the rich who either know no better or are just foolish with their money. As the saying goes "A fool and his money will soon be parted".


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## jaguar717 (Sep 8, 2014)

ellisr63 said:


> Boy the snake oil never ceases to be marketed does it. I guess this one goes after the poor people where the cables go after the rich who either know no better or are just foolish with their money. As the saying goes "A fool and his money will soon be parted".


I think this site is fairly well known at this point, and probably a gag. If you look at some of their other "products" they get successively more ridiculous. Then again maybe they just list stuff and send it out if people bite.


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## GCG (Aug 22, 2013)

P. T. Barnum just stood up in his grave and cheered. There must be more than a few of the 'ones born every minute' in order to keep those folks in business. I'm just wondering how they kept their money long enough to buy the junk.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

jaguar717 said:


> You guys have all heard of Machina Dynamica right? http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm


The thing that chaps my...... Is for that kind of money, all I get is a ziplock baggy!?


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

GCG said:


> P. T. Barnum just stood up in his grave and cheered. There must be more than a few of the 'ones born every minute' in order to keep those folks in business. I'm just wondering how they kept their money long enough to buy the junk.


...hilarious.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

willis7469 said:


> The thing that chaps my...... Is for that kind of money, all I get is a ziplock baggy!?


The ziploc bag can be used on your remote controls. by putting them inside the ziploc and closing it you will keep the dust off of them. And that is the only benefit of ordering from that site LOL


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

tonyvdb said:


> The ziploc bag can be used on your remote controls. by putting them inside the ziploc and closing it you will keep the dust off of them. And that is the only benefit of ordering from that site LOL


lol! Like a couch cover!


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## jaguar717 (Sep 8, 2014)

Seals in the quality!


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## |Tch0rT| (May 2, 2013)

mechman said:


> There is another discussion on this here. Bottom line, don't trust things that come from hometheaterreview.com I guess. :huh:


I quit paying attention to that site when they plugged a $5,885 rack for enhancing SQ:
http://hometheaterreview.com/krolodesign-tomo-audio-rack QR/

Mapleshade Audio says some crazy things on their free PC audio upgrades section:



> Do listening comparisons between hard drive and CD/DVD burner models and brands: the audio and video differences among them can be sizable. In any hard drive model series of increasing memory capacity, the smallest hard drive of the series (i.e. single disc) always sounds best.





> When listening to streaming music on line, the choice of browser affects the sound quality. Internet Explorer sounds better than Firefox.


http://www.mapleshadestore.com/upgrades_computer.php

They also sell a "Purist Mini-To-RCA Adapter" for $17.95
http://shop.mapleshadestore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MINI-TO-RCA

Hmmm kinda looks like this one for $0.44:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10429&cs_id=1042902&p_id=7189&seq=1&format=2

This place sells cream for your gear:



> The active ingredient of this nontoxic, odorless balm was discovered by Peter W. Belt to improve the listening experience by relieving stress. AD heard slight increases in nuance and force when he spread the cream under the front edge of his preamp, but heard no change in the sound when he spread the cream on his speaker stands. "No one with an open mind, a sense of whimsy, and $40 in his pocket should fail to try this tweak, which is made my two of the most sincere people in the industry," sums up AD.


http://www.pwbelectronics.co.uk/product/cream/cream.html

A clarifying app for your speakers and headphones:



> The Cardas Clarifier App contains two degaussing frequency sweeps to Clarify the sound of earbuds, headphones, and stereo systems. Playing the sweeps through your headphones or stereo system (using a Cardas iLink cable) periodically will help restore lost performance.


http://www.cardas.com/clarifier_app.php

:sneeky: :coocoo: :unbelievable: :scratch: :rubeyes:

There's endless examples...


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## jaguar717 (Sep 8, 2014)

|Tch0rT| said:


> A clarifying app for your speakers and headphones:
> 
> http://www.cardas.com/clarifier_app.php


Wow I'd love to hear the rationale on that one. Gotta shake loose those stiff drivers?


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

jaguar717 said:


> Seals in the quality!


rofl!
And keeps the relaxing balm off the buttons too!


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## GCG (Aug 22, 2013)

This may be a good place to separate snake oil from truth. On the suject of skin effect, check out this calculator.

http://chemandy.com/calculators/skin-effect-calculator.htm

It shows that up to 40Khz any wire STRAND smaller than 20 gauge shows no effect on resistance. Granted that is a good reason to stick with stranded conductors for speaker wires, but generally speaking, skin effect on speaker wires is a farce. High speed digital signals are a different story. When you get to the 3.4Ghz of HDMI 1.3 any strand larger than about 42 gauge is effected.


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## GCG (Aug 22, 2013)

Missed a decimal on that last one. At 3.4 gig just about any strand size is effected as the skin effect limits conduction to around 1.4um from the surface. But the cables and the drivers are engineered for the limitations so if the cable doesn't cause you to drop bits, you're good.


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## gregsdouglas (Feb 20, 2013)

Wow. Thanks to all for the entertaining responses. This is easily one of my favourite threads. Easily!

Now... Gotta find me a ziploc baggie!

Sent from my iPhone using HTShack


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

LOL Greg.


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## xtinkshun (May 6, 2011)

I auditioned some Transparent I.C. in my system and they were never calibrated. Hmmm. I don't think so. Oh and I didn't buy them either.  I did a blind test with 3 friends and none could tell which were the Transparent and which were the Monoprice. sooooo


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

xtinkshun said:


> I auditioned some Transparent I.C. in my system and they were never calibrated. Hmmm. I don't think so. Oh and I didn't buy them either.  I did a blind test with 3 friends and none could tell which were the Transparent and which were the Monoprice. sooooo


 That's why they need calibration. Lol. You would have easily heard the difference!!!


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## Pneumonic (Jun 16, 2009)

My views on interconnects is they need to be properly shielded from RFI/EMI, have low resistance, be properly terminated with connectors that function in a trouble free manner (ie not oxidize or corrode) for as long as I use them.


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