I always love the weekends, when I get a chance to cook up some fine food, listen to music, play hi-fi games, go for a bicycle ride, and just generally kick back and enjoy life!
I invited my Mom & Dad over for dinner and some music listening (Mom's 90, and Dad's 92). I grilled some fillet mignon, lobster, and fresh veggies, and we washed them down with some fresh craft beer or Champagne (Mom opted for the fresh craft beer, Dad preferred the Champagne, I was non-partisan and had a bit of both!)
As you might expect, the conversation turned to music. Mom's a jazz fan, Dad not as much, he likes country music more. Mom told me about when she was younger, and heard Tony Bennett perform live at the Top of the Mark in San Francisco.
I got out my 1996 Analogue Productions test pressing of the Tony Bennett & Bill Evans album (remarkably, Acoustic Sounds has one in stock!) and we gave it a listen ...
1996 test pressing of Tony Bennett and Bill Evans.
... then we got to chatting about jazz, and Mom told me about hearing Judy Garland and Cesar Romero in San Francisco too, but not at the Top of the Mark, but probably at the Fairmont.
Mom & Dad checking out the 45 RPM version of Dream With Dean.
Then I got out the 45RPM version of Dream With Dean from Analogue Productions and we gave that listen too.
We continued to chat about jazz singers, and Mom told me about hearing Frank Sinatra perform in Las Vegas back in the day.
ORG 45RPM reissue of Duke's Blues In Orbit.
About that time there was a knock at the door, and the nice folks from FedEx left me a box of records I just ordered, one of which was the ORG 45RPM reissue of Duke Ellington's Blues In Orbit, which turned out to be absolutely superb! (Get it while you can!)
Mom told me that she remembers the first time she heard Duke Ellington back in 1943, it was a life-changing event! I think its hard for people to realize now how 'big' and influential Duke Ellington was in music then - he really changed the world.
While I was writing this post I did a Google search and found the photo below of Duke playing at the Hurricane Club in New York in 1943 - cool!
Duke Ellington at the Hurricane Club in 1943
After a bit more listening we called it a day, and I took Mom & Dad home.
I had reported earlier that I made up a pair of RCA interconnects using the Western Electric WE16GA wire, found them promising, but to be too forward in my system, so I put them on my Cable Cooker and let them cook for a week.
RCA interconnects made from vintage Western Electric WE16GA wire.
I took WE16GA interconnects off the Cable Cooker and installed them back into my system (MX110Z to MC30s position) in place of the Belden 8402 microphone cable interconnects I've been enjoying.
I played music for a while by streaming jazz from Jazz24 (my favorite!) and was impressed with what I was hearing. Surprisingly, the WE16GA sounds quite a lot different to me as interconnects than it did as speaker cables, crossover wiring, or internal wiring of my WRSEs. Much more transparent and spacious, for starters.
Before conditioning the WE16GA interconnects on the Cable Cooker I said:
"It was apparent from the first drop of the stylus that the Western Electric WE16GA interconnects are a lot more transparent than the Belden 8402 microphone cable interconnects, while maintaining a similar tonal balance.
One thing I’ve noticed about the vintage Western Electric WE16GA wire, is that when I first install it into my system the timbral textures always sound a little bit ‘rough’ to me (and true to form Miles’ muted trumpet was a little bit edgy on my Cookin‘ test pressing), then given a little time everything smooths out nicely to give the rich, natural, and colorful presentation that Western Electric WE16GA is known for."
So did the week on the Cable Cooker smooth everything out nicely to give the rich, natural, and colorful presentation that I'm used to hearing from the WE16GA in the rest of my system?
Mostly. On Jazz24 I was impressed with how everything was sounding, it was definitely richer and more natural than pre-Cooker, with even muted trumpet not going over the top and getting excessively/unnaturally shrill. The colorful presentation and incredible musicality that I am used to hearing from WE16GA was still intact, with the presence, spaciousness, and timbral textures sounding very impressive.
ORG's Blues In Orbit by Duke Duke Ellington.
Encouraged with the results while streaming jazz, I figured out it was time to get out the vinyl to serve as the final arbiter for the WE16GA as interconnects, and see how well it fares against the Belden 8402.
Blues In Orbit via my Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII and Woody tonearm.
I put Blues In Orbit back on the 'table for a spin, thinking with its varied brass, percussion, and even violin, it would make for an interesting (and telling) listen.
Simply put, Blues In Orbit played through my Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII sounded gorgeous with the Western Electric WE16GA interconnects!
I was hearing the rich, natural, and colorful presentation that the Western Electric WE16GA has been delivering in my system as speaker cables, crossover wiring, and internal wiring for the WRSEs, as well as the additional spaciousness and transparency that it provides when used as interconnects. I did notice that with the Belden 8402 microphone interconnects, the violin on Blues in Orbit sounded smoother & richer, and more natural timbrally.
Eric Clapton's Crossroad Guitar Festival.
I decided to switch gears a little and play Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 album that arrived along with Blues In Orbit. Crossroads features an impressive lineup, with Clapton, Vince Gill, Booker T, Steve Cropper, Keb' Mo', Blake Mills, Matt Murphy, Albert Lee, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Earl Klugh, Robert Cray, Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Clark Jr., Citizen Cope John Mayer, Keith Urban, Buddy Guy, Robert Randolph, Quinn Sullivan, the Allman Brothers Band, Sonny Landreth, Derek Trucks, Tay Mahal, Loss Lobos, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, and Andy Fairweather Low all making appearances on the 4 album set.
There's a lot of wonderful musicians & music on Crossroads, and the album sounded pretty impressive with the Western Electric WE16GA as RCA interconnects, big & spacious, with a mostly rich and detailed presentation, but there were a few places where I thought vocals and the occasional electric guitar got a bit forward & aggressive.
Some Girls.
Next up was the Rolling Stones' Some Girls. The Western Electric WE16GA as RCA interconnects was a bit much on Some Girls, sounding too forward and aggressive for me, making we want to turn down the volume, which is not something I want to do with the Stones!
McCartney Unplugged.
I recently picked up a copy of Paul McCartney's Unplugged LP off of Amazon, which may be may favorite McCartney album of all time, the music and performance is superb. I paid a premium for it and was very disappointed with what I got, the vinyl is credit card thickness, and the sound could have been transferred off a CD for all I know, at least that's what it sounded like, and that was with the Belden 8402 smoothing out my ruffled feathers.
Boy do I wish Analogue Productions or ORT would remaster this album and put it out on 45RPM vinyl (ditto Clapton, Neil Young, etc., Unplugged albums, it would be a huge service to music lovers, as these Unplugged performances are some of those artists best).
After Some Girls, I expected McCartney's Unplugged to sound particularly harsh, but surprisingly it fared quite well with the Western Electric ICs, sounding relatively spacious and natural. It was not what I was expecting from the WE16GA, but was indeed a pleasant surprise.
Miles Davis' Cookin' test pressing with Western Electric WE16GA RCA interconnects.
Well, my final listen for the day with the WE16GA ICs was Miles Davis' Cookin' that I described in my earlier post. The Cable Cooker did help smooth things out with the WE16GA, but as interconnects I prefer the Belden 8402 microphone cable. The Belden 8402 microphone cable ICs are not as transparent as the WE16GA, but I enjoyed their rich, smooth, forgiving presentation more over a broader swath of music.
I'm sure it will vary from system to system, and according to your personal taste, but I found I enjoyed the Western Electric WE16GA more as speaker cables, crossover wiring, and internal wiring for my WRSEs, than I did for RCA interconnects.
So I think I'll stick with the Belden 8402 microphone cable as interconnects, and the Western Electric WE16GA as speaker cables, crossover wiring, and internal wiring for my WRSEs, where their combined synergy in my system is just spectacular.
Thanks for stopping by!
