Spectral/MIT

kurt: if you really want to hear what avalon eidolons sound like, try 'em with fim cables/ic's on boulder electronics. side-by-side comparisons with a spectral/mit combo will make you think that you are taking off a several layer sheet of heavy gauze when you replace the mit/spectral with fim/boulder. yes, I have made these direct comparisons. more than once. (I own eidolons and have been listening to them in various systems since before their “official” introduction in 1998.) BTW, you need not use “all boulder” or “all accuphase,” etc. electronics with the fim wire.

in response to the original query: i have nothing against either spectral or mit. IMO, tho, there is much better stuff available at the price point of that combo. and if you're considering spectral, it is, indeed, an inextricable combo. that, i think, is why most rational objections to it arise. -kelly

katharina: spectral and its dealer network recommend the use ONLY of mit cable with their electronics. the use of any other wire is strongly discouraged, since it may (presumably) cause frequency oscillations that will damage the gear and even void the warranties. for additional information, you may wish to do a few searches on audio asylum and read some of the other threads on this site, if you haven't already. good hunting. -kelly

czapp: let's not get unctuous here! your system is anything but "humble." too bad, tho, that you, like me and any number of other folks i know, were deluded into buying "salon fluff" for speakers. we coulda bought some big ol' electrostatics like the ever-popular acoustat 2+2's. but then, my ears get hot real quick having to wear those earmuffs. BTW, Boulder is adding (somewhat) less expensive stuff to their line, starting with the 1012 pre/dac, which i'm buying to replace my accuphase dc-330. - kelly

czapp: no offense taken. i was expressing, perhaps, a too obscure allusion to uriah heep.