Looking to buy 1st cable upgrade from #10 wire. For Ohm Walsh 100-S3s and Spendor S3/5s running off ATI 1502 Power amp with CJ PV 6 tube preamp and Cambridge 740C. Listen to lots of jazz, female vocals, blues, acoustic music. I found the preamp softened and warmed up my sound taking off what I thought was some edge but as an older amp some detail too. Trying to decide on what kinds of speaker cable to move towards. Cant afford to go truly esoteric...$200 -300 max. Can people give me a sense of the relative benefis or tradeoffs between the two companies and the types of cable they sell?
DNM Reson wires should put you in a very good place in terms of wires. I use the ICs and are more familiar with those, but from what read the speaker wires have similar attributes. By very good place, I mean exceptionally clean, tight detailed and balanced with little or no added sonic "flavor".
I just bought a broken pair of Anti cables and it was a huge difference over my XLO reference 600 & Goertz cables. Big sound change. Very smooth added detail and separation of instruments, wider soundstage, more depth, tighter bass.
I recommend the anticables, they are cheap (8ft=$80) but really need 300hrs of break in to get the most out of them. A lot can depend on your set-up but when I read up I was surprised of all the positive comments from people with very different rigs. They are a bit unconventional due to being separate solid core wire but I like that. I think they are safe to try out plus they will sell on Audiogon in minutes if you decide to sell them.
I have not heard the Morrow's but read good things about them.
I also have a brand new pair of Bogdan Goldy cables but have yet to try them and break them in. I need to but I'm pretty happy with the anticables in my rig.
I have both brands in both speaker and interconnects. I had replaced my PS Audio Plus speaker and interconnect cables with Anticables. I had the Anticables with Eichmann copper bullets which were in my system for a couple of months, but didn't like what they did to the sound very much. I replaced them with Morrow SP4 speaker cables and Morrow MA4 interconnect cables. The Anticables were very clean sounding but perhaps too clean, and stripped my system of tonality, emotion, involvement, and enjoyment, and had a more one dimensional soundstage. They were okay for the price, but I wanted better musical performance, emotional involvement, and texture. The PS Audio were better in some ways, darker sounding than the Anticables, and warmer in tonality.
The Morrows are in a superior class compared to both Anticables & PS Audio IMO, in turning good sound into beautiful music and a soundstage that is much more like listening to a live performance. I strongly recommend Mike Morrow's break-in service. The Morrow cables for me are the end of the search for a top quality cable at a reasonable price for the return in improvement in performance, satisfaction and enjoyment I get. I am not affiliated with Morrow Audio, I'm just a very happy customer. My Morrow interconnect cables are terminated with Eichmann silver bullets which are excellent. The copper Eichmann's are good but not as good as the siler. The stock RCA's that Mike offers look decent, but I haven't tried them. Morrow offers a 60 return policy if you aren't happy with them.
There are quite a few reliable Audiogon manufacturers mentioned above. Two more musically satisfying over-achieving choices of speaker cable come from Joe Mazzaglia's Auricle Audio Design Gregg Straley's Reality Cables It is not easy to guarantee what will sound better to you in your own system when so many brands are added to your original two - these should certainly be considered. I would get some IC's from either of these fellows to complement their speaker cables since this plays key role in what you will have traveling to your speakers. These would be my choices for revealing the character and emotion in the types of music you specified, or any great recordings.
I have Morrow cables, cords & interconnects in both of my systems and I am completely happy with them. mORROW CABLES are extremely musical, detailed and a flat put bargain too boot. In fact Morrow's Reference 2 series replaced Kimber Select 1033's in my main system. Not only do the Morrow cables flat out sound better than the Kimber Selects, but with the savings from the switch I nearly paid for my secondary rig. I have a good friend who has Anti-Cables in her system and while they do sound good they are not as open & detailed as the Morrow cables. You should call Mike Morrow and speak to him directly about his cables, he's the nicest guy that you will ever meet in the audio industry and he's very easy to talk to.
Have to agree 100% with Hiendmuse, as I went from Anti Cables to Morrow SP3's & MAP 3 XLR's. Outstanding cables. I am thinking of trading up the the SP4's on his trade up program.
Telescope Trade, I had the Morrow SP3 speaker cables and traded up to the SP4's. A very noticeable improvement in soundstage, resolution, depth, and tonality. Definitely go for the optional burn-in service which is provided at no additional charge for the SP4's.
I have moved up the ladder with Morrow Audio and have the SP5 and SP4 SC's in a bi-amp configuration. I also have the MA6 ic as well now. Nice open sound to these and as you move up you add more fullness and an increase in separation. I have owned a lot of the others mentioned except for Clear Day which offers a trial period and I plan on giving those a try as well since they have been reviewed well here and the price is right.
Thanks, I will check with him tomorrow. Yea, I will let him burn them in as I don't want to go through that again! It would probably drive me nuts with my new speakers.
Telescope Trade, my system benefitted from going from SP-3's to the SP-4's. YMMV. Morrow offers a 60 day trial period. If you don't feel they are an improvement over the SP-3's, just return them for a full refund.
Tvad is right regarding price to performance scale and everyone has their own scale. When you trade up on the Morrow Audio cables you could be spending more on the trade up then you did with the original cable you have. Going from SP5 to SP6 would be more than buying another SP5. This is with the best discounts of the year given. At the time the price between these two cables were apprx $260 or so and I went for the SP5 not thinking clearly about the trade up price. Now it is way over and above the price to performance scale for me. You just need to know going in what the trade up price is going to be if you want to do this program. In my system the ic's have been the cable that provided the better improvements for me.
Jdub39, they may or may not be the sweet spot in your system. They were not in mine so you will have to look at your price to performance scale. It was not a huge increase in performance but it was for the better. When I saw the price to trade up from SP5 to SP6 I felt it would be well over my scale based on the other experiences on these speaker cables. Going from SP3 to SP4, I don't remember it being a bad trade off. If you can't hear the differences then just send them back. I use an SP4 and SP5 in my system and bought the SP5 without the trade up program.
I just think the Sp 3's are a good sounding cable in my system and dont want to ruin it , and after changing out just about everything from the power up, the most audiable changes heard next to the Sp-3's where from the power cords and recpticals and conditioners, Ive channged three cords so far all having different effects on the sound. Maybe later down the road I'll give the Sp-5's a try, however I'am thinking of trying the Sp-4 interconnects.
Jdub39, I have found more transparency,weight and a bigger overall presentation when moving up the line. Just more revealing to me. Can be a good thing or bad thing depending on the system. Going from the MA4 IC to the MA6 has shown me my limitations to the system I am running at the moment. Not going to shoot the messanger here. Even with the break-in service I had to let these IC's run for a week 24/7 before I knew their true character. I also felt that the trade up price from MA4 to MA6 was worth it but I was really questioning myself when doing it. SP5 to SP6 doesn't make sense to me when looking at the price to performance scale. It was a better deal to go from MA4 to MA6 for me. I really think you should give the MA4 a try at least before moving into another speaker cable. The MAP3 power cord is really good as well. Bettered the Lessloss DFPC cord all around.
I dont think I'll try another speaker cable, mabe up the Morrow line in the future, but will definitly try the MA-4 to see how it compares to my Aq columbia. As for PC I'm in shock about the new Ps audio Ac-10 cable and looking to try the Ac-12. The top to bottom balance is incredable with the Ac-10 at the moment.
Just tried the MA-1 IC's and at 100 hrs I think I may have to gut out all my IC's for upgrades to the MA-3 or 4 I'll post back after 300 hrs, this sucks!
Another happy Morrow SP4 and MA4 user. The best cable I have had in my system and I have tried a few, Acoustic Zen, Ridge street, Silver Arrow. All good, but the Morrow is better. Hint, if you are going for them look at the Exdem sales or wait till Mike has his periodic sales on new cables
I have the SP3's in biwire. They sounded great right out of the box, but I broke them in as instructed. Actually about 400 hours. It's amazing how thin and light they are, and how they perform.
The bass is what boggled my mind given the awg, but never saw the musicality and just flat out pace and timming at the same time, my SP-3's will be in my system till I can get the SP-4's and if I don't then who cares its just "give me more of this stuff" that's got me now. had them about a year now and still in love!
Bought AC for speakers and Morrow MA1 interconnects. Installed the ICs first. Breakin has been hairy as sound has been all over the place from initially sounding good to becoming brittle and biting then smoothing out some. Have to wait to see how it goes. Just put the ACs in this weekend and it was a huge improvement. I got them off the"gon and the terminations did not fit my ATI amp so I subbed in my old SAE which is still pretty good sounding. Improvement was so significant my wife questioned why I hadnt just bought "new wire" instead of the amp and preamp. For kicks I put in the old SAE pre instead of the Cj and it got even better? Still sounds warm but is more detailed. Very interesting changes. Not sure where its going but I am thinking I need to either get correctly terminated ACs so I can put the new amp back or maybe try some Morrow speaker cables and see how that sounds.
I started with the MA1 interconnect from Morrow Audio because of an unbelievable offer he had(he still does). Moved up to the MA3. Unbelievable cables...neutral and dynamic....never tried AntiCables.....
I am just getting back into some new and used equipment. I have not tried a lot of different cables, but have stuck with Mike Morrow am very pleased so far. Interconnects MA 4 and Spa4's on two sets of speakers. I am not being paid for this response, but just letting you know that Mike will work with you and your system and to me his cables are great. Anyway , I am very happy with his cables....steve ball
I am using Anti-Cables with great satisfaction. I feel no need for anything else. I've compared the Anti's with the high priced spread of various cable manufacturers and went with Anti's. Money was not an issue - only performance.
I had the anticables- full set of interconnects with Eichmann bulletplugs, and full set of speaker cables. They were very clear, but stripped the music of any emotional involvement, presented a one dimensional soundstage, and were not very musically involving. I then went with the Morrow's SP-3 and MA-3, traded up to the MA-4 and SP-4 on both interconnects and speaker cables, and recently traded up to the SP-6 and MA-6, as well as their top of the line phono cables. Morrow's are much superior to anticables, in a different league. No comparison. 3 dimensional soundstage, musically and emotionally involving, neutral, excellent bass and midrange, very satisfying. Mikes burn-in service is strongly recommended.
Cables are extremely system dependant...you have to listen to how they interact with your own stuff. Im my system there is huge depth and width, clarity, power, delicacy, etc. with anti-cables.
everytime i move up with murrow cables the musical improvement is worth every dollar. i have not used the anti-cables but would like to. however when something is really working well there isn't much incentive. someday though...
Could some of you 'goners who have moved from Morrow 4s "up" to 6s or 7s tell me what specific qualities you experienced in that upgrade.
I'm interested in your experience with the upper level Morrows with respect to various music. I'd be interested in your comments referencing specific songs, etc. if that would help with specifics of the experience.
I have 4s, so I'm wondering about the changes in the move "upward." Of course, I agree that all cables are system dependent. Having said that, the Morrow 4s are a very nice fit in my systems right now, but I'm wondering beyond those.
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