Lush^2 - Share your configuration experiences

[zettelsm]

I’ve had my Lush^2 for eight days, so I’ve (barely) had time to get enough hours on it to break it in and try a couple of configurations. But I figure I’ll do my bit to throw in my two cents and maybe participate in some consensus-building — or at least offer some additional data points.

 

I’m coming from using an original Lush between a Innuos Zenith MKII STD running Roon and a Chord DAVE DAC.

 

Since I was familiar with and really liked the original Lush, and I had been reading about the JSSG adventures on another CA thread, when I received the Lush^2 I set it up in the JSSG360 configuration: A: B-W & Y-R B: B-W & Y-R

 

I generally only have time to sit down and listen to music with my undivided attention for an hour or two later in the evenings. Since I leave everything energized except my amplifier when not listening, I get snap-shots of a new piece of kit as it breaks in in 24 hour increments. But break-in goes fairly quickly — four evenings and I’m close to 100 hours, a week and a day and I’m approaching 200 hours. Still, I may need to go back and re-visit this first configuration because I heard some really dramatic tonality and presentation shifts over this first 100 hours.

 

Initially, fresh out of the shipping envelope, my impression was of a large, expansive soundstage, deep bass and somewhat recessed high frequencies, lacking transient snap or PRAT. Still, it sounded promising and I thought the soundstage and imaging already surpassed my original Lush. Since it took well over 100 hours for the high frequencies and transient energy to really fill in with my first Lush, I was content to let the break-in process continue and hear where it went with this configuration.

 

24 hours in and I thought things actually got worse — not only were the highs still missing in action, things sounded billowy and diffuse and very slow and muddled. 

 

50 hours and the sound stage was back to being more precise and expansive, images re-gained weight and definition, and the highs were beginning to catch up to the rest of the frequency spectrum. Rhythm and musical momentum also improved. So, back to sounding promising.

 

At 75 hours, the metamorphosis was quite nice — I thought the Lush^2 in JSSG360 configuration was very balanced top to bottom with a very wide soundstage featuring moderate depth, good energy, and clear highs with only a tiny bit of edge on the highest frequencies, which I chalked up to the inherent sound of less favored digital mastering — I hear this same bit of edge with the original Lush cable as well. On the whole, I thought the Lush^2 an improvement over the already good Lush.

 

For the next listening session I started up listening to a few selections with the cable still in the JSSG360 configuration, and then switched to: A: B-W & Y-R B: B-W

 

My impression of this configuration was that it has everything the previous JSSG360 configuration had — big soundstage, solid images, deep bass, present midrange and decent energy and added the most realistic sounding vocals I’d heard to date from digitally sourced music on my system. Really quite lovely to listen to music, particularly anything featuring the human voice. And, the high frequency edge that sometimes intruded was completely gone, unless the recording itself was a really egregious specimen of digital-sounding engineering.

 

I was very content to listen to this configuration for the rest of the evening and the next. However I started thinking that the reason the midrange and voices were so beautiful, and the high frequencies so edge-free was because there was some essential upper range energy missing. On some music it didn’t really matter, but for other pieces it seemed a little lacking. So, moving along I tried this one next: A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y & W-R

 

This really is quite a stunning configuration. To my ears it has it all — deep articulate bass, extended grain-free highs, spooky realistic midrange, wide and deep soundstage, strong dynamics with lots of transient pop and rhythmic swing. It also had that elusive, quivery, energize the room presence that real live music has. It was very hard to tear myself away from the stereo last night and I didn’t get to bed before midnight. I’m very much looking forward to sitting down tonight and enjoying more music.

 

If this keeps getting better and better — wow.

 

Steve Z

 

 

[zettelsm]

Thank you, guys. And thanks very much Peter for making this innovative cable available. As opposed to some things I’ve tried in the past there is no ambiguity, at least so far, hearing the contributions of the various configurations. Very gratifying.

 

Steve Z

 

Oh, and I have to update my signature to reflect the Lush^2 — it’s definitely a keeper!

[zettelsm]

Thank you, Roch. That sounds very intriguing. I appreciate you taking the time to post your impressions.

 

I had another very, very enjoyable evening listening to music. Still in A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y & W-R configuration. Yesterday evening I played a variety of classic rock — Yes’ (The Ladder), Elton John (Madman Across the Water), ZZ Top ( Rhythmeen — note to PeterSt: it must be the recording ‘cuz I don’t hear much bass either), Genesis (A Trick Of The Tail — Squonk is awesome!), most of the Stones’ Undercover album.

 

Tonight was more jazzy and poppy — Marian Hill, Janelle Monae, Esperanza Spaulding, FKA Twigs, Bishop Briggs, with some Hiromi  Uehara Trio (Move), Duke Ellington (Indigos) and Charles Lloyd (Rabo de Nube) for good measure. Thoroughly absorbing and emotionally captivating.

 

Something else I’ve noticed about this configuration is common in my experience with other really good components — not only does this cable make me want to play music louder than I usually do because everything sounds so good, it also lets me play music at a lower volume than normal while still retaining life and vibrancy and interest rather than becoming background music. 

 

Still your description of A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y is very compelling, Roch. You are sorely tempting me to give this a try tomorrow evening!

 

Steve Z

[zettelsm]

35 minutes ago, Lobbster said:

@PeterSt @zettelsm In this configuration (B: B-W) are you using a jumper on pin 5 & 6 or are they open?

(Presuming jumper is on pins 3 & 4 on both ends)

 

Check out the lower left image from the diagram near the top of the thread. The pin with the red dot and the next three pins are all connected together. The last two pins, that is, the two pins farthest from the red dot are also connected together, but not to the first four pins.

 

The convention established by PeterSt is that the first conductor listed is placed on the pin with the red dot. In this case it would be the black conductor. Any other conductors listed with a dash — symbol are to be connected to the first conductor, so will go on the next pin, and so forth, up to four total. In this case, only white is to be connected to black, as in B-W. The removable plastic jumpers are provided to protect the unused pins from being accidently shorted out, so in this case counting from the red dot, pins 3 and 4 are covered by a jumper. Since the remaining two conductors are not connected to anything and left hanging, pins 5 and 6 can also be covered by the remaining jumper.

 

I suppose it is confusing because we normally think of jumpers as being used to connect adjacent pins togeither electrically. However in this case the six pin header is doing the connecting and the jumpers are only covering the unused pins.

 

Now, in the example A: B-W & Y-R B: B-W-Y-R on the A (flat) connector end of the cable, black is connected to the pin with the red dot (pin 1) and white is placed on the pin next to it. Pins 3 and 4 are not used and are covered by a jumper. Yellow is to be connected to red but not to black or white, so we use pins 5 and 6, which are connected together in the pin header, to accomplish this. On the B (keystone) connector end of the cable in this new example, black, white, yellow and red are to be connected together, so black goes on the pin with the red dot (pin 1), white (pin 2), yellow (pin 3) and red (pin 4). A jumper is placed over unused pins 5 and 6.

 

Clear as mud?

 

Steve Z

 

 

 

 

[zettelsm]

Well, I have to express a somewhat contrary opinion about A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y although it is somewhat preliminary, being based on only one evening’s listening so far. I think it is very good and quite energetic, but to my ears a bit brash compared to A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y & W-R. I hear a bit more forward presentation and less depth.

 

However, I’m going to give it a few more days and then switch back to A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y & W-R again and see if my opinion changes. 

 

Steve Z

[zettelsm]

Thanks BigAlMc — interesting and helpful post.

 

I too am having difficulty deciding which configuration I prefer between A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y & W-R and A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y

 

Last night I had a really enjoyable evening of listening to music regardles which configuration was in play, and after a couple of swaps gave up the audiophile pursuits and settled back to enjoy music. I’m letting it ride now in A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y

 

My initial thought that this configuration might be a little brash and forward certainly wasn’t in evidence last night, though I still had the nagging feeling that there might be a little less depth of field compared to A: B-Y & W-R B: B-Y & W-R. Still, not enough difference to obsess over. My plan is to leave it like this for at least a week (or until someone makes a compelling statement about another “newest best” configuration), then swap back just to hear if longer familiarity with one configuration heightens the contrast with the other configuration.

 

Concerning the observation that sometimes the bass is so strong from track to track that it requires touching up the volume a bit, I’m hearing this too. My thought is, unless volume leveling is on (which I never use) this isn’t necessarily a bad thing — I don’t want my USB cable to make everything sound similar when by the very nature of the music I like — which is all over the place — there is a lot of variability inherent.

 

Steve Z

[zettelsm]

Question, BigAlMc:

 

Are you using both Lush^2 in the same configuration before and after your tX-USB Ultra?

 

Thanks!

 

Steve Z

 

 

[zettelsm]

Thank you, Alan. If and when I add a tX-USB Ultra I'll have to decide if I go with my original Lush from Zenith to device and Lush^2 from device to DAC or if I buy another Lush^2. If the latter, then that opens up the process of deciding what configuration. But there is no hurry there since I haven't decided if I'll add any USB enhancement devices over what I've tried already. (Not to hi-jack the thread but if you care to drop me a PM I'd love to learn what you hear the tX-USB Ultra bringing to the mix).

 

I am beginning to suspect that PeterSt is correct about the long break-in time for the Lush^2. Each time I listen I think it's even better than the last time. At first I thought maybe the cable needed 24 hours to settle back in after being disturbed for a configuration change, but now I think it continues to burn-in -- I haven't touched it in four or five days but I think it continues to improve.

 

Not a bad problem to have at all!

 

Steve Z

[zettelsm]

So, going slow to make sure I give each configuration a fair trial, I went back to A: B-Y & W-R  B: B-Y & W-R from A: B-Y & W-R  B: B-Y

 

Here's what I'm hearing. First, both are overall very good and I could easily listen to either one of these configurations on a long term basis. That might be the problem choosing between the two -- neither one does anything that starts irritating me after prolonged listening. Which is a great problem to have.

 

Both configurations do a great job of floating realistic, tonally dense instrumental and vocal images in a very large and deep soundfield. Both are well-balanced from top to bottom with no part calling attention or sounding disconnected from any other part of the musical presentation. Bass is deep and articulate, as are the mids and high frequencies -- very detailed and nuanced and textured without at all seeming dry or analytic or lightweight.

 

A: B-Y & W-R  B: B-Y & W-R sounds smoother to me. In particular there is absolutely no high end edginess or glare. Of the two configurations this is the one that I could keep turning the volume up and up and up and play stupid-loud. If I hear anything at all that I wish were better in this configuration it might be just a bit too smooth or a touch soft with cymbals or chimes or the highest overtones of bells. But this is a very slight defect, if it is a defect at all, and might be more a characteristic of the rest of my system rather than this cable. Still, the cable configuration is the only variable I am changing.

 

A: B-Y & W-R  B: B-Y sounds a bit more energetic, doesn't feature quite the high-end smoothness (though it is far from edgy) and doesn't have quite the depth of image that the other configuration has. It sounds like the performers have moved closer a few feet and are squarely in the room. Percussive instruments have lots of snap and pop and transients are very fast and clear. I can play it plenty loud and it never gets fatiguing unless the recording itself is pretty bad, but I don't feel like I'd keep turning it up and up like the first configuration. Conversely, I notice I can turn it down a couple of notches farther than the first config and music still maintains enough life and vibrancy to command attention, before it becomes background.

 

I will probably go back to A: B-Y & W-R  B: B-Y once again just to hear if any of my assessment changes, but not for at least a week more with the current A: B-Y & W-R  B: B-Y & W-R. After that, well, there is Peter's new configuration to try out!

 

Steve Z

 

 

[zettelsm]

 

13 hours ago, John Haines said:

Just 2 questions as to you users of the Lush^2

Many appear to be using it with the Uptone Regen device, (I do own the Amber & the ISO Regens with LPS 1.2)

As the recent seems very much to using with the Regen, & mainly ‘debating’ whether ‘before or after’ is preferred, (with the consensus seeming to be ‘after’ which is of course different as to it’s ‘normal’ position) with apparently some othe cable, (or connector) going ‘to’ the Regen. 

Why are you actually using the Regen?

On any other cable thread such is normally not mentioned. 

But my MAIN question is to anyone using the Lush^2 purely straight to their DAC, no Regen. 

There must surely be a lot of people using the cable in this manner. 

Can comment as to the cable used in this, (more ‘normal’) way??

 

I’m using the Lush^2 directly to my DAC. Well, more correctly I am using it from Innuos Zenith server directly to a Chord Blu MK II CD player/M-scaler, which in turn feeds my DAC (via dual BNC coax). The Chord Blu Mk II is not a filter or isolation device, nor a reclocker or other auxiliary device. It is a combination CD player and FPGA upsampler. For all intents and purposes it is an extension of my DAC.

 

If you scan back through this thread and look for my avatar in the upper left corner of my posts, you can read my impressions of the Lush^2 USB cable in various configurations. 

 

Hope this helps, John.

 

Steve Z