Audioquest vs. MIT Speaker wires
mole'
Posts: 3,160
i wanted to know how the Audioquest CV-8 speaker wires compare to the MIT AVt-3 ?
mole'
Post edited by mole' on
Comments
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Dude,
Looking at your sig., your a man on a mission! -
Dude,
Looking at your sig., your a man on a mission!
Your question may be somewhat redundant since the audio experience is completely subjective to the listener, mole. I'm interpreting that you're not totally satisfied with what you have. If not, move on and try different things until you find what does work for you.
its not that im n ot happy with it. still have to give everything the proper break in time. just looking to see if i should pick up some new AQ CV-8 cables from a local shop at a good price.mole' -
I had a set of CV-8's and they were fantastic cables. But like Keiko said, it's more about what sounds good to you and what works in your system. If you want someone to tell you they are better then I'm sure you'll find someone to do that for you. But even so, you really won't know until you get them into your system and listen to them yourself.
If there's one thing I've learned in my relatively short audio journey thus far it's that reviews and other people's opinions mean close to jack monkey squat (unless you happen to find someone you know that has close to the same audio preferences as you). If you get an itch to try something, get it and try it. If it doesn't work, sell it and try something else.
Good luck trying out the CV-8's.Speakers: Polk LSi15
Pre: Adcom GFP-750 with HT Bypass
Amp: Pass Labs X-150
CD/DVD Player: Classe CDP-10
Interconnects: MIT Shortgun S3 Pro XLR
Speaker cables: MIT MH-750 bi-wire
TT:Micro Seiki DD-35
Cartridge:Denon DL-160
Phono Pre:PS Audio GCPH -
Audioquest isn't in the same league as MIT.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Audioquest isn't in the same league as MIT.
Not that I'm disagreeing, but why do you say that, other than MIT being your preference? What puts MIT in a different league, in your opinion? -
Simple, they sound mo' better and they've got the patents to prove it.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Simple, they sound mo' better and they've got the patents to prove it.
so stay with the AVt-3s?mole' -
Mole, no matter what I or anyone else says, it's up to your ears what sounds the best.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Mole, no matter what I or anyone else says, it's your to your ears what sounds the best.
ok.
im gonna buy them and see. ill sell the ones i dont like.mole' -
Audioquest isn't in the same league as MIT.
I completely disagree. I feel Audioquest is a much better company from head to toe.
I would not use anything MIT. I don't care for them at all.
As everything audio / video this is just my personal opinion.
DanDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Mole, no matter what I or anyone else says, it's up to your ears what sounds the best.
Now that I can agree with.
Experience is key here. If you already own the CV-8's and picking up the MIT's , do serious side by side. Listen and you'll see whats the better cable for your rig.
On a side note I owned the CV-8's and they are one of the very best cables I have ever had the pleasure of owning. I would absolutely own them again.
DanDan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Now that I can agree with.
Experience is key here. If you already own the CV-8's and picking up the MIT's , do serious side by side. Listen and you'll see whats the better cable for your rig.
On a side note I owned the CV-8's and they are one of the very best cables I have ever had the pleasure of owning. I would absolutely own them again.
Dan
i already have the MITs (AVt-3 /EXp-1) a few more days til they will be fully burnt inmole' -
I completely disagree. I feel Audioquest is a much better company from head to toe.
I would not use anything MIT. I don't care for them at all.
As everything audio / video this is just my personal opinion.
Dan
A better company from head to toe? Interesting comment. I was talking about how the product benefits the audio experience. Anyway, as for MIT as a company, I've talked with them many times over the years, their technical help and general customer service is on par with Polk Audio, which as we all know is top tier. In addition, they hold more patents than any other cable company, have white papers available to read on their site, offer a lifetime warranty on all their products and don't have batteries to change.
With you Dan, being the possible exception, I've never heard of anyone that went from Audioquest to MIT ever going back. 'Nuff said.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I believe that AVT series is 100% unexciting so the comparison is a draw to me.
Dan - I'm sure that someone else has noticed you've historically been comping what you install or what's carried by your employer. Whatever, its all good as I belive your equipment experience is a much more balanced opinion. The two brands don't compete on the same residential level anyways as AQ is more diversified across the lineup.
Oh well, can he really end up w/ anything but better sound?CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint. -
I believe that AVT series is 100% unexciting so the comparison is a draw to me.
Dan - I'm sure that someone else has noticed you've historically been comping what you install or what's carried by your employer. Whatever, its all good as I belive your equipment experience is a much more balanced opinion. The two brands don't compete on the same residential level anyways as AQ is more diversified across the lineup.
Oh well, can he really end up w/ anything but better sound?CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint. -
Yeah, the only way to go forward is to compare for yourself.
I can tell you that at the San Diego gathering last month four us did a direct comparison of Audioquest Columbia ICs to MIT Shotgun S-3. I think these are roughly at the same price point. Eric paid about $300 for Columbias if I'm not mistaken..I got the MITs used/like new for $200. All of us agreed the Shotguns sounded better, including Erik Tracy the owner of the AQ Columbias.
See more details on our impressions here:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104242
Guess who contacted MIT dealer Joe Abrams within the week to order a pair of Shotgun S-3s? Yep, Erik Tracy!
Obviously, you're looking at some different cables here. So the main point is not that one (company) is better than the other but rather that without doing the side-by-side, neither Erik nor the rest of us would have been able to form impressions. In this case, we all agreed...but we didn't all agree on everything that day. Personal preference!2 Ch.
Parasound Halo A23 Amp
Parasound Halo P3 Preamp
Parasound Halo T3 Tuner
Bada HD22SE tube CD Player
Magnum Dynalab Signal Sleuth
Magnum Dynalab ST-2 antenna
polkaudio Lsi9s (upgraded cross-overs)
MIT Shotgun S-3 Bi-wire Interface Speaker Cables
MIT Shotgun S-3 Interconnects (3)
IegO L70530 Power cords (3)
HT
Denon 2808ci AVR
polkaudio RTi A5s (fronts)
polkaudio RTi A1s (rears)
polkaudio Csi A6 (center)
Signal Cable Ultra Speaker Cables
Signal Cable Analog II Interconnects -
Mole, no matter what I or anyone else says, it's up to your ears what sounds the best.
Now this is one statement in this entire thread that means anything. As far as patents go...I think BOSE probably wins that hands down. Does that mean better sound...I think not."2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
Does your dealer offer a in house trial? The place by me on a lot of the equipment they offer a 30 in home trial.
I am not going to argue anyone's point on here about what cable is better but at the end of the day, to me, it is what your ears like and synergy in your system.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's. -
Norm Apter wrote: »Yeah, the only way to go forward is to compare for yourself.
I can tell you that at the San Diego gathering last month four us did a direct comparison of Audioquest Columbia ICs to MIT Shotgun S-3. I think these are roughly at the same price point. Eric paid about $300 for Columbias if I'm not mistaken..I got the MITs used/like new for $200. All of us agreed the Shotguns sounded better, including Erik Tracy the owner of the AQ Columbias.
See more details on our impressions here:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104242
Guess who contacted MIT dealer Joe Abrams within the week to order a pair of Shotgun S-3s? Yep, Erik Tracy!
Obviously, you're looking at some different cables here. So the main point is not that one (company) is better than the other but rather that without doing the side-by-side, neither Erik nor the rest of us would have been able to form impressions. In this case, we all agreed...but we didn't all agree on everything that day. Personal preference!
thanks for the info.
gonna wait for my MIT to get fully burnt in before i get the AQ CV-8 and see how the difference is.
or just say F-it and buy some shotguns S-3mole' -
I like Audioquest my HT rig is run by them.. But for my 2 channel It gets the MIT treatment hands down...Polk Audio SDA 2.3tl Fully Hot Rodded. 😎
SVS SB16 X2
Cary SLP-05/Ultimate Upgrade.
Cary SA-500.1 ES Amps
Cary DMS 800PV Network
OPPO UDP 205/ModWright Modification
VPI Scout TT / Dynavector 20x2
Jolida JD9 Fully Modified
VPI MW-1 Cyclone RCM
MIT Shotgun 3 cables throughout / Except TT, and PC’s -
A better company from head to toe? Interesting comment. I was talking about how the product benefits the audio experience. Anyway, as for MIT as a company, I've talked with them many times over the years, their technical help and general customer service is on par with Polk Audio, which as we all know is top tier. In addition, they hold more patents than any other cable company, have white papers available to read on their site, offer a lifetime warranty on all their products and don't have batteries to change.
With you Dan, being the possible exception, I've never heard of anyone that went from Audioquest to MIT ever going back. 'Nuff said.
As you know I have worked with just about every single wire made under our Yellow sun. With that being said I found MIT and sister company once Transparent to "take something away" from the sound. I have had all kinds of MIT's to play with in all different levels of gear to Install them in. Not to mention I work for a company now that carries more wire then I have ever scene. It's crazy even coming from me.
But honestly man , thats my opinion of the 2. I have found Audioquest cables of all levels to really allow a system to come alive , to perform at it's best , to get out of the way and allow the music to come across. The only other cable I have found to perform at this level is Kimber Kable. We carry Cardas which is supposed to be some of the best wire on earth , I don't find anything special about it. I find it to work great , I prefer the Kimbers over them as I have done plenty of in store side by side with a ton of different speakers and gear.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Both cables are good quality , I think he will end up with better sound.I believe that AVT series is 100% unexciting so the comparison is a draw to me.
Dan - I'm sure that someone else has noticed you've historically been comping what you install or what's carried by your employer. Whatever, its all good as I belive your equipment experience is a much more balanced opinion. The two brands don't compete on the same residential level anyways as AQ is more diversified across the lineup.
Oh well, can he really end up w/ anything but better sound?
As far as comping what I install or what my employer sells , yes I do. If I feel the product is solid and good quality hell yeah man. I can't comment on anything I never Installed. Being an installer really allows on ( who loves this hobby ) to experience more Products then any gear head could ever dream of. To be frank , we get companies like MIT coming into the shop all the time wanting to challenge what we currently do and sell their products due to they feel" they are better" then what we currently carry. You should see the speaker companies come in and look nervous as we carry so many damn speakers. LOL it's comical actually. But back to the point here is Wire has a job to do , ask any speaker engineer and if you can get a honest answer , you will see why I don't like companies like MIT and Transparent. Talk to the tech's at polk , keep it to yourself what you find. No need to spoil anyones love for what they own. Not to mention if one likes what they hear , who the hell are we to tell them any different?
Over the years I have found extremely high end wire to not give back the sound quality one could achieve in a system over a better pair of speakers or DAC. Room treatments will sound 100 times better then a high end speaker cable will. Correcting ones room is the biggest overlook on most systems I see. We all get caught up in owning " the cool stuff" MIT is very cool , just look at their line up , it's very impressive and very nice. Quality ends , quality materials etc.
I will say this , I would be willing to challenge anyones MIT cables in my store against anything you want. Cardas , Kimber , Liberty , Audioquest , IXOS , Monster if need be , and allow one to experience cables on different amps , speakers etc. It's fun I do it all the time. Bring all the wire you want. Bring anything you want speakers , amps gear whatever. If we truly want to put this wire thing to bed , come and do a blind test. I bet you would be shocked in what you pick.
Just remember once you have to correct length and gauge , properly built cables , get the signal from a to b correctly , you can't make it any better. Silver can be thinner then copper and get the job done like 16g vs 14g and the silver will sound as good or better then the copper.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I find silver to do the job but in my system I find it to be a bit brighter then copper. I'm glad I made the change to all MIT. With that said I still like Audioquest and for most of the guys here running budget HT systems I my self would recomend them. I feel for most of Polks lineup Polk and Audioquest go very well together even over Signal Cable and BlueJeans.
I find MIT's work very well with my 2 channel rig. But in my HT rig my Audioquest will stay in it's place. I have tried many cables in my 2 channel rig and I am very pleased with my current purchase of the shotgun S3's. They will be there for sometime to come..
With my short experiance here MIT and Audioquest have been my 2 favorites to date. I would love to try some Kimber Cables some day..Polk Audio SDA 2.3tl Fully Hot Rodded. 😎
SVS SB16 X2
Cary SLP-05/Ultimate Upgrade.
Cary SA-500.1 ES Amps
Cary DMS 800PV Network
OPPO UDP 205/ModWright Modification
VPI Scout TT / Dynavector 20x2
Jolida JD9 Fully Modified
VPI MW-1 Cyclone RCM
MIT Shotgun 3 cables throughout / Except TT, and PC’s -
With that being said I found MIT and sister company once Transparent to "take something away" from the sound.
Transparent is NOT the sister company to MIT. Check your facts Dan.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint. -
I will say this , I would be willing to challenge anyones MIT cables in my store against anything you want. Cardas , Kimber , Liberty , Audioquest , IXOS , Monster if need be , and allow one to experience cables on different amps , speakers etc. It's fun I do it all the time. Bring all the wire you want. Bring anything you want speakers , amps gear whatever. If we truly want to put this wire thing to bed , come and do a blind test. I bet you would be shocked in what you pick.
Been there, done that and got the MIT shirt to prove it.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Everyone hears different Dan,you know that. It has been my experience though,and more than a few times, some people confuse a bright speaker with being more clear,or as you say Dan,letting the music flow. I'm not saying thats you Dan,you obviously have the experience to discern the two.
I just don't get cable reviews, mainly because until you hear it in your room with your gear, anything else means squat. We can only expand on our own experiences, no doubt, but nothing should be taken as gospel. The OP needs to just try 'em out and make his own conclusions.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
this went a lot further that i had plan. im just gonna try the AQ CV-8s out and see whats up.mole'
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While normally I do agree with you on most things, this is something we apparently can agree to disagree on. I have the AQ CV-8's with the 72v BP upgrade and a couple of years ago I tried out a pair of MIT T2's.Audioquest isn't in the same league as MIT.
I still have the AQ's in the rig.~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
While normally I do agree with you on most things, this is something we apparently can agree to disagree on. I have the AQ CV-8's with the 72v BP upgrade and a couple of years ago I tried out a pair of MIT T2's.
I still have the AQ's in the rig.
oh wow!
the T2s are better than my current MIT AVt-3s too.mole'
