Picked up some Grover SX interconnects based on reading some reviews here.

[satfrat]

Well I couldn't imagine putting a stiff 9G power cord on a little 4 pound tube Dac to begin with. But I am intrigued with Grover's layered ribbon construction of copper, aluminum and silver with carbon nickel shielding. I've always been a ribbon fan and I sure wish I had read this thread before Topround's RAVE as I would have liked to pick Mike's brain about his newly acquired Grover IC's. A day late and a dollar short,, that's me in a nutshell. 

Cheers,
Robin

[tmazz]

The Pangea 9 may work well on some components but my experience with two different DACs says that's not the place for it.   I felt the sound lost body and depth.   When we tried in on Shane's G2G a few weeks ago, we could have sworn the volume had been turned down.   

I remember reading that post and laughing, not because I didn't believe it, but rather because I have been there before with other cord and other pieces of equipment. More than once I have been in a situation with cable (both power and interconnect) where it sounded great in one situation and I recommended it glowingly to someone, only to have it crash and burn for them. I have even seen cables that sounded wonderful in one part of my own system and turned to crapola on another one of my own components. I personally have yet to try it on anything but the power amp, but one of the reasons I mentioned it was that there are several people up here who loved the Pangea 9 on a DAC, in fact better that the 14 ga version, which is what Pangea recommends for source components and preamps. Go figure. But the best thing about is is in addition to being cheap to own it is also cheap (and easy) to test out. The shipping to you is free so if it doesn't work out you can return is and only be out a few bucks for the return shipping. It may suck in the application that you need it for and then again it just may do enough of what you are looking for to keep you happy (at least until the Nervosa kicks in again.  )

Well I couldn't imagine putting a stiff 9G power cord on a little 4 pound tube Dac to begin with.

No doubt it does seem a bit weird, but it certainly wouldn't be the strangest thing any of us have done to our systems. (Schumann resonators, Mpingo dots, Tice clocks, cable elevators just to name a few.)

Hey; it's only bizarre if it doesn't work.  (How's that for self justification?   )

[satfrat]

Hea I hear ya,,,, I've been burnt on recommending stuff too, you just never know what will work til you try it out for yourself. But in this case, my little Dac will be on the 4th shelf of a 5 shelf 6' rack and the last thing I need is an inflexible heavy power cord pulling the Dac off the shelf, regardless of how well it works. But thanks for the recommendation. 

Cheers,
Robin

[tmazz]

I hear you. In the right situation the Pangea does a lot of nice things. But one thing it does not do well in any situation is bend. 90 degree turns on a high shelf would be a tough one. (My power amp weighs in the area of 80 lbs, so no matter how much the PC pulls on it, it's not going anywhere.  )

Good luck finding something that works for you. (Heck, the chase is half the fun anyway.)

[shep]

Anyone notice any stridency or high end grit during the break in. I notice a leading edge breakup sound on male voices (texture of voice??). It could be the recording, not sure.
M

Yes, this too will pass.

[Carlman]

I'm not sure about the break-in requirements of the Grover's.. I just put them in and let them run for 200 hours.. I didn't notice as many changes as others have.  I liked (and still have) a pair of SX or was it SCX.. or SX.C.1x Graphite/Whites w/ black connectors   just kidding.. Of all the versions, I still like the 'white/white' and SX (non aluminum) the best.  To me the 'white/white' is my all time favorite.  I think Grover tries too hard to please everyone's ear and system requirements rather than focusing on good sound, which is what I think the white/white does.  It's not perfect for everyone in every situation.

As to power cords.. The 1 pc I tried from Grover was a 'first effort' and was not good.  I'm hoping he has revised the design.

Part of me wishes Grover would put a stick in the mud and offer a set variety of cable types/sounds and revise them once every 6 months.  But I know that won't happen.  I think he thinks there is one perfect cable for every situation and every revision needs to be available immediately.  I've found the opposite to be true.. It takes me a few months to get used to a sound and evaluate it.  If the cable is constantly changing it's annoying... and feeds into the anything different is better mentality...
On the other hand, Grover is a hobbyist first and an artist that shares his work at a reasonable cost.  So, it's nice that we get to try these cables and see how it goes. 

-C

[Deton Nation]

I definitely agree that it takes at least 3 months to truly know the signature of a component. Its difficult to stay contained in the beginning. I guess its that magical dream response that its perfect but nothing ever is, and thats ok! lol.

[Deton Nation]

The edge is gone. Maybe it was the time of day, mood, power company or cables breaking in.
Nice! Listening to some Ultravox. A very neutral cable! VERY! wee ooo weeooo Neutral!

[Deton Nation]

Received the Grovers for my source today! Will take a while to break in though.

The original Grovers did take a long time, a month and a half of playing and really smoothed out with great balance and sparkle with nice mid weight and detail. Really a nice cable!
Mike

[richidoo]

Glad to hear it. They have changed a lot in the last year so I'm glad he has found a new good recipe.

[rollo]

  Interseting. How do the Grovers compare to the JPS SC3 ICs ? Anyone with experience ?



charles

[mdconnelly]

  Interseting. How do the Grovers compare to the JPS SC3 ICs ? Anyone with experience ?

charles

For me, the JPS SC3 balanced XLR ICs have shown exceptional synergy between my amp and preamp.  Prior to that, I was using the older Grover SCdot ICs.  While Grover's ICs have proven to work well, particularly for the price, I definitely find the SC3 to work better (in my system, to my ears, etc...).  I have not compared Grover's latest ICs with the SC3.

[BobM]

I heard Mike's grover this past weekend. Very nice - extended, balanced, transparent, etc. All the good things.

[shep]

I have a power chord made for me by Grover, but I haven't found a suitable plug for it here. Also the latest version of the SX, burning in.

[Deton Nation]

What brand terminations does he use for his PCs?