After asking to re-borrow the TIS cables as I had been so impressed with them, I received another loan pair from NVA, this time a 1m set. These are newly made so I wasn't sure what to expect with the memory of the previous pair still pretty fresh in my mind.  Once again, they are connected between preamp and power amp, replacing my trusty Yannis 222 ConnectLitz.

I needn't have worried, all that I remember about them is present and correct. Playing one of my favourite evaluation discs, Christina Pluhar - All' Improvviso, I noted the sense of immediacy, fantastically vivid castanets, the delicacy of the dulcimer strikes, the powerful bass line and sense of a big space, the ebb and flow of the rhythm and the incredibly soaring dynamic swings.  Depth is better than I remember, perhaps the shorter length being a benefit here?

Trying another favourite, The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come, the simplicity of the music belies the complexity of the acoustic.  I heard a cymbal being disturbed at the beginning, what I thought of as distortion on the tape being someone shifting around, other things raised above the (quite high) noise floor.  Damien Rice - O has a more tightly focussed and impactful side drum than before.

So it goes, I'm enjoying my music collection very much.  What the TIS does is to bring to the fore a great sense of vivid music making without ever being bright.  That's a pretty good trick in my book and falls neatly between the lush presentation of copper and the detail and delicacy of silver without any harshness.  So this is what a good silver alloy sounds like?  I'm impressed.



No mistake this time around, this set is staying here in my system.

Final Report on TIS

The NVA TIS interconnect now has over 100 hours on it and it has steadily improved during that time.  Being a preamp to power amp feed means it's getting variable volume, not full line level, implying that burn-in has taken longer.  It has now pulled away significantly in SQ from the Yannis 222 ConnectLitz that it replaced.

One example I was playing last night was Lou Reed - Transformer.  This album is very well recorded and offers some considerable insight (I was playing the standard CD).  What took me by surprise were two things: 1) imaging depth, 2) astounding clarity and detail.

Now, my system is not strong on imaging depth.  Having the speakers close to the rear wall and being in a room that is a decent size but too small for the Ushers generally conspire to make soundstaging wide but not deep.  I'm used to it as one of the things I accept from my setup.  So hearing amazing depth in a recording is highly unusual.  The sense of space in Perfect Day was surprising, coupled with that startling clarity and very low noise floor such that I felt I could hear a pin drop in the studio at any moment.  The effect of the backing vocals in Walk on the Wild Side, starting from far away and approaching to shocking closeness, then suddenly changing dramatically to reverb (or some spatial effect) was more vivid than I've ever heard before.  Satellite of Love was more beautiful than ever with wonderful air and the gorgeous piano stage right.

What I also noticed throughout this and other recordings was the startling detail while remaining non-harsh, a trick that not many cables achieve.  You have the clarity, edge and insight of silver with the fullness, body and non-bright nature of copper all in one.

Finally, a word about the dynamics.  The Ushers are world class in this area and the TIS has made them even more so.  Very often I set a volume at the start of a song and they're blowing my head off at the end.  It's the sense of swell, such as when Cat Stevens lets rip half way through Where Do the Children Play? (or the immense Fruhbeck de Burgos recording of Albeniz - Suite Espanola) that takes you by surprise.  There simply is no compression or headroom limiting whatsoever and the TIS has just made that even more keenly felt.

In conclusion, a highly recommended interconnect for well sorted systems, pricy but not in the silly league.  If only the TIS was made in a balanced version, I could try it between my Ayre and Pass, too.

John, no worries, just give me and RD a little time (week or two when ready) for him to make them up.

Those old Cat Stevens albums do work a system hard, despite their simplicity. Many Naim amps just cannot do these recordings justice as they reach HARD clipping so quickly and when Cat sings out, you jump at the harshness. I find the Croft integrated amp does this too. Totally sublime on his diction and layered guitar harmonies, but you wince when he lets rip if the volume's not ducked a bit first. No issue with lower powered NVA as it's the bass that runs out first in the smaller amps and clipping is heard more as a 'fuffiness' rather than an edgy 'fart,' if you know what I mean.

That's pretty much what snagged me initially, and they keep on doing it.

I heard the cubettes years ago nice speakers

Ahh thanks for the info

I feel for you, Andrew. It was the same for me when I hurriedly sent the loan TIS on to the next person. I felt its loss which is why I asked to borrow it again for another spell.

I have tentatively asked whether a balanced TIS could be made for my SACD to preamp run, which is currently a Yannis XLR set. I know that balanced connections respond less to cable differences, but even so there is scope for a further improvement for me. I have to hold off for a little while, though, as I'm not supposed to be spending money at the moment!

It has been very frustrating being away for much of the past 10 days when I have had the NVA TIS to evaluate. I have been able to put in some good listening hours lately and have concluded that the TIS is indeed a significant step up for me and my system. I tried it in place of my existing Chord Cadenza I/Cs, in three different set-ups : between my Bryston pre/power amps, between my Chord Hugo DAC and the Bryston Pre, and between the DAC and the Power amp (using the DAC as a pre-amp.)

In all three situations, the music sounded slightly louder than before, and was more open, albeit subtly. The soundstage definitely broadened, and dynamics improved. On a track like Nick Cave's "Far From Me" I felt that there was more space between the instruments yet the whole thing hung together so well.

So, I think I need to buy at least one asap. Maybe I need two ? Thanks again to NVA for the loan.

I now have the SSPmk2 on loan - gawd... and think I can say it bridges the gap between TIS and SSC very well. There's a little more 'texture' to bass instruments without the slightly overly ripe 'organic' quality of the Klotz for example, at least when these cables are new. It's a tiny difference with all of them though, but what I thought was better, was the way tiny 'flutter echoes' on some vocals came through. These artefacts can be easy to hear on half decent headphones, but sometimes difficult on speakers. The whole cable thing with my NVA amps is that it becomes progressively even easier to delve into the heart of a mix, especially pop/rock ones.

Going back to simple SC and once you've noticed the things above, they can still be heard, but it just takes a bit more concentration effort to notice them, that's all...

Andrew, the trade-in scheme applies should you want to buy and use the SSPmk2 for a few months before jumping to the TIS. If it didn't work for you from the off, there's always the 30 day return scheme.

Sincere apologies if this is turning into a shill for the SSPmk2.