Been running the 518IA with the AN speaker cables for about a month now and thought i'd post some impressions. The only change in the interim was the removal of a Luxman phono cable (borrowed) and the insertion of an Audience Au24 SE cable (bought). Was already running the Au24SE interconnects from phonostage to amp.
This change, and the long and laborious process of running in the speaker cables (can't remember if i've hit 50h or not, lost count along the way) have resulted in a much fuller sound than a month ago. Soundstage is nicely wide (a good 3ft beyond the speakers) with much more realism in the music. Can feel the metalnass of hit cymbals and the fading (decay?) of the cymbal is fuller. It is possible now to 'hear' the texture of the reed when a saxaphone is playing. Of great significance is the reappearance of bass. The sound was rather thin and restricted to the mids & highs when i first switched to the AN speaker cables. I had to resist the temptation to mess with the set-up and, as the AN dealer promised, the sound has slowly become fuller, the consequence of which is the extension of the lower frequencies. Bass is clear, with electric and upright basses both sounding more 'right', while bass drums still sound a little thin, as if the drummer is playing with a pillow inside the bass cavity. I don't expect the bass definition to improve much more, but i see it more as a limitation of the speaker than the set-up. I had been tempted to roll the tubes in an attempt to produce a more bass-oriented sound, but am glad that i haven't messed with the tubes as yet. I still have a pair of Psvane 12AX7s gifted to me by the LM dealer, but will probably not put them on just yet.
The 22wpc 518IA really continues to impress me on a daily basis, and judging by the increasing frequency with which friends running Leben and Rogue Audio amps have been turning up to listen to it, I can safely say that there has been a marked improvement in the quality of sound being pushed out by the B&W PM1s in my living room.
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