Nordost Vahalla or Mit Oracle

Well, this is going to be a bit of a stretch, but I have used both the cable you are using now, (MIT 770 CVT - bi-wired) as well as the Nordost Valhalla (also bi-wired). (Unfortunately, the MIT was used in my system several years ago, (about 5 years ago, I think). In addition, I used different amps and speakers then (Mark Levinson No. 23 amp, with Revel Studio speakers), than I do now (Lamm M2.1 amps, with EgglestonWorks Andra II speakers). I have not heard the MIT Oracle V2.2 cables though.

However, I will give you my best shot at the differences, based upon my memory, poor as that might be! :-)

The MIT was a very good cable, and it had impressive bass response. (Quick, tight, deep). The soundstaging and imaging was very good as well. The treble was very good, but not great, as it did not seem as well extended. Mid-range was nice, not too warm, not too lean. A well balanced cable, IMHO.

The Nordost Valhalla is a better cable, IMHO though, especially in my current system, in as that it seems to provide just a bit more resolution to the music. (Of course that could be because my system is just that much better too!) First off, I will state that I have read that some people think this cable is lean sounding. I disagree, in as that I think it is just very, very neutral. (I think that most cables have a bit of warmth to them, some more than others, and that the Valhalla just seems lean in comparison.) The bass response is also very quick, tight and deep. The treble response is very well extended, and provides nice air around the cymbals. (If the Valhalla deviates from its neutrality, I would say it is in the treble response, which could be said to be a bit on the bright side. (However, it mates very well with my Lamm M2.1s, which are slightly on the dark side, so I am happy with it regardless.) The soundstaging and imaging are incredible as well.

Other cables that I have used between the MIT cables and the Valhallas were the Audience AU24 cables, (Very good cables, and a best bang for the buck cable, IMHO, and probably at least as good as the MIT 770, if not better), and the Jena Labs Pathfinder cables, which are a good alternative to the Valhallas. (But, if and only if, your system has no trace of darkness. If it does, the Pathfinders will sound dark, as they did with my Lamm M2.1s unfortunately. I think that the Pathfinders are warmer and slightly more musical than the Valhallas, but at the same time, they have just a hint of darkness to them. (My friend with the Lamm M2.2s, which are not dark sounding at all, switched from the Valhallas to the Pathfinders, and they sound great in his system.) Just goes to prove that system synergy is everything in this hobby!

Well, I hope this helps.
Good Luck in your search.

Upgrade a component with your $5K instead of tossing money into the cable black hole.

If I had $5000.00 to spend on cables,I would be trying them myself,not asking what others think.Of course,this is just my opinion.

Beware:The Threshold amplifiers are very wide bandwidth units.The MIT and its' interface box may cause your amps to go into oscillation.Be sure to have a return policy and be near the power switch-should problems develop.You'll jnow as soon as the amps are powered up.

Check out these, then go spend the rest on a piece of better equipment.

http://show.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/shm.pl?cablspkr&1144365225&item&Audiorevelation&4&5&6&http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/srch_fs.plQQANYAAKEYWAApurlsrchAAEXYAAstAAAAsupra_sword

Actually, the Supra sword super-duper cool technology is not new at all. Opposing signal transmission has been around for quite along while for inductance reduction/elimination. LAN (RJ-45) cables utilize this phenomenon. Those DIY LAN cable speaker wires we have all seen on many sites specifically mention that when terminating the 4-pair 24 gauge wires...you use one from each pair for the +, and one from each pair for the -. Simple aint it? CHEERS!

Dfrost:Had you considered auditioning either? You might add Purist,Stealth MLT or others with a slightly warmer/fuller balance.Have you dealt with the Cable Co previously?
You may find the Nordost slightly elevated in the highs.Whether this compliments your system is another matter.

Threshold does confirm they do not recomend MIT speaker cables with their amps, for the reason you described. This makes the decision a whole lot easier. Thanks for the heads up. It seems strange though, I have been using these mh770s (MIT) for years with these amps, with no issues, but my previous amp (Threshold S 500) did overheat as soon as it was hooked to them.

I agree if you are looking at $5000 cables then investing that elsewhere in the system is probably a good idea to consider to get the sound you want.

My opinion in general, not knwing your system, is that once your equipment is well matched to your tastes then you should be able to find an IC for 10% or less of that amount that works perfectly fine.

But if you must spend $5000 then buy one used, do not overpay, try it and then sell it and try the other if not satisfied. THat way you will know what works best without throwing money down the drain, unless you just have so much money that it doesn't matter to you.

The other components are all "top drawer" Pass Labs XO.2 pre, Krell reference 64 dac with T-20 transport, the T-400 amps have just been completely upgraded by Tresahold to stasis 8 preformance at a cost of $3200.00 each so they are essentially brand new. Line conditioning, power cords, and interconnects are all fresh. The speaker cables ARE the weak link.

I've heard the Nordost speaker cables with VAC amplification running MAgico Minis and that configuration was very detailed dynamic and musical. How much was due to the Nordost? Hard to say other than the overall combo was top notch.

They are also very cool looking wires.

I would update the digital front end before spending $5K on speaker cables.

That is your weak link IMO.

Wire technology does not change appreciably from year to year as the manufacturers may have you believe.

Digital does.

Well I have made the mistake of auditioning the the Kharma enigma (biwire version) in the system, and all I can say is holy ****!! I'm hooked. The room just got wider and a lot deeper. Lows are swift and authoritive mids and highs are more open and airy. The only drawback is they are about three times what I wanted to spend, but with this kind of sonic reward who cares!

To be honest I think there are better speaker cables then Nordost. I will admit the Nordost cable I have used is not in the same league as the Vahalla. I think Nordost speaker cable is not really neutral I get a feeling it gives a false sence a being highly detailed. To me the mid seems a tad more present wich as result gives the idea of a highly detailed cable.
If I were you I would look at and try out other brands as well, brands like JPS lab and NBS.

I may be biased but when I switched from a Nordost to NBS speaker cable, I got less of a hifi sound but more music. The music had the same amount of details. But is justhad a better flow. With the Nordost I was listening to details and with the NBS I lsiten to the music.

I wish I was better in explaining what I hear.