Try doing a search in the archives both here and in the Cable Asylum over at AA. Plenty of info and various points of view on these. Sean
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..........................HYPE!!!!!!!!.............. |
Don't know anything about the cables, but I always wonder what folks mean when they describe stuff as either "musical" or "not musical" (not addressing this specifically to you, Sunnyjim, as I realize you may simply be quoting others). Reviewer Art Dudley, for one (but not the only one), seems to find this description to be the height of relevance in trying to commumicate about the sound of audio gear. I, on the other hand, tend to find the term so completely vague and non-specific that I have no idea what it means in terms of the person doing the describing actually giving me any real feeling for how a particular piece of gear sounded to them. How is a reader supposed to take this description and make from it any judgements about how a piece of gear might work for them? If Analysis Plus cable is "unmusical", what does this mean about how it sounds? And what is "musical"? Far and away the numero uno most common criticism audiophiles ever level at gear is the accusation of "brightness" (and the related "thinness" or "hardness"), and I have commonly seen this assessment transmuted into the "not musical" charge. By comparision, gear that is described as being somewhat "soft" or "rolled" or "dark" or "plump" - in other words, roughly the antithesis of bright and thin, but possibly equally colored or incorrect - is just about never stuck with the "unmusical" tag. Qualities independent of tonal balance that make me think of unmusicality include high levels of high-order harmonic distortion or intermodulation distortion, any kind of non-linear distortion or noise, and over-damping either electrically or acoustically, but none of these things could easily apply to speaker cable. If "musical" just meant the absence of all offending qualities, then it should especially obtain when speaking of gear which is highly transparent and neutral, but it is rarely used for such. Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread with a rant or anything, but this issue has been on my mind lately... |
They are very good for the money but IMHO the Acoustic Zen cables better them for a higher price. |
Excellent cable. I use lots of it and prefer it to most other things I've tried. |
I agreed with Bigkidz. Spend a little bit extra and get the Acoustic Zen cables. I have both but the AZ is better in everything department. |
I have used both the copper oval IC and the oval 12 speaker cables, biwired, for about a year. I have been very happy with them, somewhat warm, good bass, and nice detail. However, I have not compared them to any others as these were my first gander into quality stuff.
Matty |
I have Oval 9 speaker cables and a Crystal Oval interconnect in my system. They are great. I would like to try some other speaker cables for comparison, but it seems that I need to spend more money to better these cables (as Bigkidz stated).
But, they certainly do have their detractors. You will find people that love them and people that hate them. I think these speaker cables are very system dependant, but definitely worth a try. There are always used cables available for sale.
jd |
I love them. They were, however, beaten by the (far more expensive) Cardas Golden Cross in my system. I prefer the AP Oval 9 copper over the AP 12 gauge silver hybrid in the systems I've tried them with. Oval 9 is very natural, rich, with deep bass. Treble detail and extension nd speed are natural as opposed to extreme as in some cables or gear. I feel that the Cardas Golden Cross was more refined. Also in a head to head comparison with Harmonic Tech Pro9, I personally found the AP a bit more natural sounding. The HT had a little more speed and treble detail but to my ear was just a hair less natural. I could be happy with either of these though., |
These are my favorite as well. Like some of the others, I haven't compared them to much, only Alpha Core MI2 and Monster.They need a long time to breakin, which is why I think there are usually several pairs for sale here all the time. If you read the review for AP Solo Crystal wires on "6 Moons", you will buy AP Oval 9. |
I have the solo crystal ovals and oval 12's bi-wired
and have no desire to change them... I have had great results. I recently bought one of their new oval 10 PC's for my DAC and WOW... I never expected the improvement to
be that much..
Like any other cables out there because of different
signal carrying characteristics: Inductance, resistance,
capacitance ect...results will vary... I am running all SS gear and they work great. |
I used the Cable Company to audtion a lot of different cables. Analysis plust spent some time driving my Audio Artistry Vivaldi Speakers, and they didn't sound as good as the Cardas Quadlink 5C's I was replacing. I ended up spending a good bit more and went with a pair of Cardas Neutral Reference speaker calbes. So... if you're listening to Audio Artistry Vivaldis through Muse electronics, I'd say you're better off with Cardas :). Short version, YMMV. |
It appears you got some nice equipment, so don't Buy cheap/non-musical cables that will degrade your Sound. I haven't tried the Analysis cables ( I have tried many others )but My RECOMMENDATIONS would be SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH X-SERIES Cables - all the way. They are All I use -I will put them Against ANY cable. If you can hear and/or audition some - do it !
More INFO. : www.synergistic research.com
:) listening |
I had Oval-12 6 months and was not satisfied-flat,dull,liveless sound;then replaced Nordost Flatline gold-with much better results;currently I have ZU cable Ibis and very pleased with them-right sound,great price... |
Generally excellent for the money (as with everything system synergy is a factor). Used their AP Silvers for a while with my Talons, after trying 6 or 7 cables, including Audio Tekna and HT Pro-9. Then heard Anaysis + and liked them even better, but finally splurged and went the extra mile for Wireworld Silver Eclipses.
Using AP Oval 12 in a second system and think they're hard to beat for the $. |
I have been using a bi-wire pair of Oval 12/9' for a couple of years and have no desire to change them out. I certainly have changed many things in my system (IC's, monoblock amps, power cords), but the AP's remain.
BOK |
