NEW Cerious Technologies Upgrade - Graphene Matrix Cables
CT Graphene Matrix Cables:
I have been using the CT GE cables for almost two years. I recently traded up for a full loom of CT Graphene Matrix cables, including speaker, interconnect and PCs, and I wanted to share my experience. I started by replacing only the ICs to try and hear the differences.
The new Matrix interconnects sounded better than the GE immediately after install. I found the original Graphene Extreme ICs to be good but not on the same level as the outstanding GE speaker cables. As break-in started to clear things up, I can hear more clarity and detail not heard before. The ICs are incredible on their own and at the 30 hour mark, I can hear a clear superiority over the GE ICs. I recently started using the Teo Game Changer ICs and preferred them over GE but the Teo has now fallen to the new Graphene Matrix ICs. My Teo’s were and are great, and it is stunning to experience Cerious Technologies commitment to making great technology better.
On the third day of listening to the GM ICs. I couldn’t wait anymore, Having too much fun. I then installed the speaker cables and power cords once I had a pretty good feel for the sound of the GM ICs.
With the full loom of GM cables running in they are going through some strange changes and definitely need time to settle down before realizing what they can really do and very important Bob says to not move them. Since I have a home office I can let them run in all day. I’m at around 120 hours now and they are still improving. Here’s what I’m hearing:
Extended highs and tighter lows. More detail and better low level listening Drums are tighter, more clearly defined. So real is the snap of the snare drum. The bass has more depth, seemingly goes deeper, lower. This aspect stands out the most.
I am not in the industry, I’m not an engineer, I don’t work for Cerious Technologies, but I am a fan of the cables and am enjoying what my system is capable of.
I’m closer to my own pinnacle of sound reproduction than ever before.
That is a great question. For me, it seems to have a lot of detail in certain frequencies, but it does not seem even across all frequencies. I sometimes hear dull spots - like it's smoothing it out too much. When you first plug one in, it seems aggressive and almost in your face - not relaxing at all, but then, for me, it settles out to what I described above.
I wanted to share my experience with switching to the Graphene Matrix/Extreme from Nordost, Audience, and PS Audio.
After a fellow audiogoner who is local to me told me about Cerious Technologies I reached out to Bob to ask some questions about the product(s) and he was very ease to communicate with.
My original intentions were to replace some tired PS Audio Signature speaker cables.for context I had demoed in my system Nordost Frey II and Tyre II.
I placed and order for 10' GM speaker cables and decided to try 1.5M RCA GM interconnects which would replace my Audience AU24's between my DAC and Integrated. I am fortunate enough to be 30 min away from Bob so I was able to pick the cable up directly.
I should note that I am sensitive to overly forward or tipped up presentation so I always have concerns when I here words like "resolving and transparent".
The first few hours in the system had me concerned the GM's for my ears are a little hot... That being said the best advise I can offer is LET THEM BREAK IN without moving them. You will be rewarded for your patiences. In my system the first 20hrs got me 50% there, 80hrs about 90% there, and I have heard much change after 200hrs.
In comparison to the Frey II and the Tyre II, they have a more balance presentation and less emphasis on micro detail. This isn't to say they are not detailed I just simply mean that the Frey and Tyre overly emphasize micro detail to the point where they are tipped up a bit in the upper mid and higher frequencies.
I have been fortunate enough to listen to the cables with Arcam A32, Luxman 590AX II and D-08u, Aqua Formula DAC, Meridian DAC, Jolida 202A, Line Magnetic 210IA all being sent to Golden Ear References and powered through Nordost QX4, QB8 and Nordost Frey II power cables. I always allow 3+ days for the cables to settle back in.
The results are always the same. Balanced tonality big wide and deep soundstaging, well articulated, and great texture to vocals.
Now I have purchased 2 10' GE power cords for the Golden Ears and 2 GM to replace the Frey II's coming from my wall outlet to the QX4 and from the QX4 to the QB8 (5' and 3' respectively). When I picked up the CT power cords I was demoing the beautiful Luxman 590AX ii and the Luxman D-08u with a Nordost Valhalla II power cable from the wall to the QX4. I placed all of the CT power cord into my system and out of the box the GM sounded really good, not as well put together as the Valhalla sonically but the Valhalla was fully broken in. 20hrs later I just left the Valhalla out of the system the GM's were just hitting the mark and were besting the Frey II power cords with a more neutral tone and expansive soundstage and really close the the Valhalla. I have about 130hrs on the power cords now and feel they are fully broken in. I am very pleased with experience the CT cable are giving me.
One last point to make is these cable are large in diameter but with well thought out routing and purchasing the proper length for the chosen routing I have found no issues with the diameter or flexibility of these cable.
I hope my experience helps anyone who may be on the fence about these cables.
@thezaks I didn’t bother to put the Valhalla back into the system because @ 20hrs they were so close to my ears and I returned the power cord shortly after.
@littlecx I have not tried the Odin 2 in my system so I have no context for comparison not to mention I don’t see a time where I could stomach the price of the Odin.
@ozzy I agree. The price to performance ratio is stellar.
I have owed an update for quite some time regarding my comparisons between the Graphene Extremes and the Matrix level. Unfortunately, life has gotten in the way. My little baby boy arrived recently, and life had been full of preparations beforehand, and now newborn good times since. As such, I didn't get done the full loom A/B comparisons I had hoped. But, I did spend some good time recently comparing the speaker cables side-by-side.
I let the GE speaker cables sit in place for about a week - running right alongside the Matrix cables. So, when I swapped back and forth, I was only moving the last foot or so of cabling, and only modestly for the most part at that. This hopefully minimized the settling time variable for the most part. It's also a major reason why I didn't compare the full loom. I couldn't do the same with the power cables - given space constraints to CPT Equicore unit, any swapping involves wholesale moving and reorienting of all cables. Meaning, I'd have to give several days settling time in between swaps to do the comparison well. No time for all that in my life right now.
Ok, so basically, I found the speaker cables to have a very similar overall character, with the Matrix just being more refined. The Matrix has quite a bit better 3D soundstage, and cleaner separation of instruments within the soundstage. Overall tone/body is similar, though. So, I'd say if you like the sound of the GE, the Matrix just has a lower noise floor that helps the music breathe better and sound like real life.
Given the results of what I found with the speaker cables, and that the power cables seem to have a very similar girth and construction, I assume the power cables have a similar character to them, and I didn't feel the need to do the full loom comparison. I feel like comparing the speaker cables gave a pretty good idea of what the Matrix SC's and PC's bring to the table vs their Graphene Extreme counterparts.
Now, I also did get to compare the Furutech FI-50 (non-NCF) connectors to the stock Matrix connectors. Bob outfitted one of my Matrix PC's with these Furutechs, and the other three with his stock connectors. I can run my system without preamp if necessary, using Lampizator internal volume control from my DAC. This frees up one of my Matrix PC's. So, I can run the stock cable and the Furutech cable directly next to each other and swap with minimal physical disruption - to minimize the settling time issue.
I found the stock and FI-50 connectors to have similar levels of detail, with the stock being a bit warmer sound, and the FI-50 being a bit brighter. This would come down to system synergy as to which is better, but I suspect most systems would benefit more from the stock connector than the FI-50. I do recall hearing this brightness go away when I shifted from Furutech GTX-R outlets to the Furutech NCF outlets, so I do wonder what the NCF version of the FI50 connectors would sound like. Maybe someday I'll get to try that one out and do another comparison. It's possible the NCF connectors have that warmth plus added detail, just like the outlets did. We'll see.
Well, that's a weight off. Now I'm looking forward to starting to add this Total Contact Enhancer stuff to all the connections - which I've been waiting to do until I had these and other comparisons out of the way.
Oh No! Please do not smear that contact paste on the beautiful conductors used on the Cerious Matrix cables!!! All that will do is add another metallurgy to the signal flow. The paste is for cheap fittings to make them conduct better.
@thezaks , I do prefer the CT Matrix over the Teo Game Changers but I have no experience with anything else in the Teo product line. I am very satisfied with the Matrix cables so my Cable journey may be over.
It might help to have some explanation from perfectpathtech, rather than just calling someone out - not a very classy move, even if something is not being conveyed the way they prefer.
I meant that perfectpathtech was calling out ozzy - not sure why?? If we disagree with something, it's probably better to explain why we disagree with it, rather than just calling it untrue and nonsense - that doesn't help at all.
I see geoffkait keeps making childish useless statements.
The fact of the matter is I have tried the paste and did not like it. The high frequencies were subdued and the music sounded dead. Perhaps I used too much of the paste.
perfectpathtech want’s you to believe that everyone loves his paste. If not...
The question is; Do you want your connections clean tight and secure using the best metallurgy available or do you want to have your connections with a pasty film between the contacts? If so, then are you listening to the paste?
I dunno some rave about the paste so there must be some positives with it. It probably helps with systems that are bright the paste tones it down. I just didn’t like it.
ozzy, is your memory failing? Eat more fish. 🐟 allow me to refresh your memory. You were a beta tester for the product and tested the *first batch* which apparent wasn’t up to speed and got at least two bad report cards. That is the function of beta testers, to judge how the product is doing so far and provide feedback which you did. Then when you saw all the very positive feedback of the final product you wanted back in and requested a new sample. That request was apparently declined. Thus, the bad attitude and sniping at the product.
Does that refresh your memory? 🙄 Funny, since this is at least the third time this has come up.
Hell hath no fury like an audiophile scorned. - Old audio proverb
I’ve been following this post, and I wanted to share my experience with Bob of Cerious Technologies.
Last year I contacted Bob about purchasing some GE speaker cables. I placed an order and he told me that they would ship in a week. He emailed me two weeks later and told me that some of his materials were lost and that there would be a delay. I was understanding of the situation. Three weeks after my order was placed I received a package, but it did not have the length of cables that I ordered. I contacted Bob and he told me that two orders were mixed up. He asked me if I would forward the package on to the customer who was supposed to get it, and told me that he’d have that customer send me my package.
I received the cables and I liked them, so i thought I’d try one of his power cables. A couple of weeks later I placed an order for the red PC. I had to email Bob several times to get him to send me an invoice, in fact it took two weeks, but he finally sent it.
Despite my less than stellar experience thus far, I liked the cables and I inquired about buying more. Bob was either totally unresponsive, or it typically took several emails to get him to respond, so I decided not to order more cables. I did continue to use the speaker cables in my system off and on for about 8 months.
One day when I was changing amps, the heatshrink which connects the spade to the cable came loose. I was able to continue using the cable because even though it was loose, the spade was still making a connection with the cable.
Then, last month when I was swapping amps again, the heatshrink and spade came loose and fell off of the second cable. I was unable to get this one to stay on, so I reached out to Bob and asked him If I could return the cable for repair — he said yes.
I sent the cable back to Bob. Several weeks went by and I did not hear from him. I sent him an email asking if he had received my cable for repair. I was quite disconcerted by his response:
Got the cable. So what is the real story with this cable? Never had a failure of a spade and you have two sheared off of the same run of cable. Certainly not a "loose heatshrink".
Bob
I really didn’t know what to make of this response. Did Bob think that I purposely damaged his cables? Did he think I’m a competing cable manufacturer trying to find out his secret sauce? I really have no idea, but this seems like a rude way to treat a customer.
I responded amicably to Bob’s message. I explained to him exactly what happened, as I outlined above, and asked him again if he could fix the cables — I got no response. I waited another week and sent a follow up asking if he’d be repairing my cables — still no response.
So it appears Bob has decided to keep my cables and not respond to my messages.
I felt compelled to share this experience with those who may be considering a purchase from Cerious Technologies.
I am sorry that you had the bad experience. Actually the way you describe it is suprising. Bob at times does seem to be extremely busy. But based on my experience, he will make it right for you.
Responding to Shadow... Yes sometimes we screw up. Sometimes we are buried in orders. We try to service our customers as well as possible. I was contacted that "the heatshrink had come loose" on his speaker cables. I got the cables back and both spades on the same channel had been torn off. When I wrote him to find out what gives he responded "Well the heatshrink IS loose..." If you got into a front end collision in your car at 40 mph and called a body shop and said "I have a paint chip on my hood..." and then had the car towed in, they might have a few questions. Still the cables are on their way back and working as new. We are trying to be better at communication. Still our weakness and my bad. I would never keep a customer's cable, however.
Big news! We figured out how to make Matrix Interconnects up to 4 Meters in length. OMG are they a pain to make but they sound as good as 1 Meters. If you are interested email me. We will be adding them to the website... again thanks.... Bob CT
I received my 10' Matrix Speaker Cables this morning from the FedEx delivery. I've got them on my cable burner for a week and then into system #2 they go. Wow, those cables are heavy 8.5 pounds per individual negative or positive cable!
Congrats! I hear ya about the weight of the cables, and I have a bi-wire set. They look awesome and they will sound awesome. You will be impressed. Did you get them in spades or banana’s?
I've had my new Matrix SC's in for 3 or so weeks and they have been stellar. Right out of the box the bass was magnificent. I am impressed they are even better than the Extremes. And Bob convinced me to try the gold power cord over the Rhodium and I am glad I did. It is the first time I have ever heard a difference with a new PC. I've tried many but this is the first time I ever experienced a change I could notice. And it was very nice. Thanks Bob.
I totally agree regarding the Matrix Speaker Cables they are outstanding and sound wise they do everything correctly. Could easly be the last speaker cable one buys.
Interesting what you mentioned about Bob convincing you to get the Gold ends on the power cord, rather than the rhodium. I asked a while back about gold vs. rhodium and most of the guys mentioned that they had the rhodium ends. Two questions:
1) You mention - "And Bob convinced me to try the gold power cord over the Rhodium and I am glad I did." I’m curious about you saying that you were glad you did - had you tried a rhodium and found that the gold was better?
2) Did Bob mention why he was convincing you to go with gold ends, instead of rhodium?
Congrats Ozzy and Lancelock, it's very difficult to get off the merry-go-round of cables! I'm enjoying my Matrix PC's as well, they really offer superb performance for the price. Bob really outdid himself with his latest concoction. @bugredmachine, where in your audio chain are you using the Gold version? And it is that component tube or SS based? Cheers!
Bob from Cerious: We are shutting down for the next week August 12-19 for vacation. Need to re-charge and get organized again. Thank you all so much and will check emails from time to time! Bob
Yes, I agree...Bob, enjoy your vacation time ;-)! Boy, do I feel lucky, my 12' Matrix power cord (gold terminations) just got shipped to me yesterday, anxiously awaiting its arrival probably Thursday.
Is this your first Matrix PC, or have you had the rhodium version as well? If not, what will you be comparing it to? Looking forward to your thoughts, once you get some time on the Matrix PC.
I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here as I've done that before on other Audiogon Forums regarding power cords and quite frankly I need a break from comparing and contrasting. I've heard the 5' Matrix (Rhodium) power cord on my Plinius SA Reference amp and it sounded very good, I have no complaints. I received my 12' Matrix power cord (Gold connections) Thursday and instead of putting it on my Audiodharma cable cooker as I usually do, I put it directly into my system. The Matrix is plugged into a Furutech GTX-D Rhodium Duplex outlet feed by cryogenically treated 10 gauge wire and a 20 amp dedicated circuit breaker. The Matrix power cord feeds my HFC MC-6 Hemisphere that powers my Preamp, Phono amp, FM Tuner, Transport and Dac. Out of the box, the Matrix Power Cord sounded very good. I'm awestruck at the level of improvement I hear compared to other power cords in the same price range. I must also note that it's not a direct comparison since I had previously used a much closer Furutech GTX-D Rhodium Duplex outlet feed by 10 gauge wire and a 20 amp dedicated circuit breaker. I don't think you can go wrong with the Matrix Power Cord, I'm very happy with it.
Glad to hear you are a happy customer. It makes the job of making a 12 foot Matrix power cord worth it! Hint...making a 12 footer is not a simple task. I know...WAH...WAH...Wah...It will get way better as it settles, too. Bob CT
Has anyone tried the new Audioquest Storm series power cords? I just ordered a Hurricane and will be trying it out. Just curious to know if anyone has compared the AQ's to the Matrix cords? Dave
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
