Custom Canare 4s11 cables vs. MIT EXP 2

DarqueKnight

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

DK, if it is possible to train myself to hear every dollar of difference in my cables, I am going to be honest, I would rather not.

I understand. To each his own. My intent was not to induce you, or anyone else, into undertaking an intensive listener training program. I was just addressing your original inquiry, which was this:

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

What I don't understand is the no difference in sound. If cables do in fact make a difference, shouldn't we notice a difference in the sound?

You popped in another set of cables and didn't immediately get the expected result. You then sought explanations as to why this occured. I merely offered some insight, from credible sources, for your inquiry. The main point being how do you know there wasn't a difference if you did not evaluate properly?

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

Basically, I am perfectly content to only deal in major jumps in quality (ones that can be easily noticed)... whether it be guns, cars, or speakers. If that's not in the spirit of audio... oh well.

Only wanting major jumps in audio quality is well within the spirit of audio. However, there are still rules to be followed since the "major jump" provided might be some performance perameter that you are not sensitive to.

Every component category has performance attributes and performance limitations. It might be prudent to assess beforehand if a "major jump" in performance is a reasonable expectation with a certain upgrade with a particular system. Again, manufacturers and people with the same or similar equipment as yours can be helpful in this regard. Everyone else can only speculate about what you might hear.

audio_alan

Whoa, I feel like I pulled the pin on a hand grenade by starting this thread! :eek:

My reasons for starting this tread was to see what other people thought of these particular cables, if there was something wrong with my setup (which it appears the consensus is my CDP might be the weak link), whether I needed more burn-in time, etc. I never intended for it to sink into the mud slinging that has occurred.

Anyway, I'm going to give them a couple more months, do another A/B with the Canare cables (and possibly even some generics) and report back. Either way, for $50 I think we all got a great deal on some sturdy, well-built cables.

I might look for a better CDP before I perform the next comparison as well...

'Nuff said!

Ace944gs

Eh, I'll throw my response out to Audio_Alan's original question, regarding others' initial reactions.

I got the 10 footers, replacing lamp cord w/ Monoprice bananas, which up to now was the weakest link in my very modest system (Bang & Olufsen Beogram RX2 TT and/or AppleAE streaming lossless-> Adcom GTP-400 -> Adcom GFA-535ii -> LSi7's ->MicroPro2000). (everything, except for the GTP-400 & the B&O TT were purchased right here from CP..thanks again!)

I have to say my experience with the EXP2s has been positive, with a noticeable improvement in soundstage and mid-range. I've listened to a few albums in their entirety (Warren Zevon Excitable Boy, SRV Texas Flood, some classical stuff as well), and the instruments sound extremely detailed and separate, which I like a lot. What I don't like, but imagine will improve with time and/or different recordings, is the vocals appear to have moved back. I enjoy vocals a lot, and hope they join the rest of the music upfront and detail.

My two biggest gripes were a) putting those damn plastic sleeves over the plugs, and b) my speakers are about 1.5 feet from the amp on either side, so because 10' was the shortest option, I'm trying to figure out how to manage 8.5' of gray cable. In other words, no gripes

Good purchase, well worth it IMHO.

audio_alan

Ace944gs wrote: »

.... snip, snip....

I have to say my experience with the EXP2s has been positive, with a noticeable improvement in soundstage and mid-range. I've listened to a few albums in their entirety (Warren Zevon Excitable Boy, SRV Texas Flood, some classical stuff as well), and the instruments sound extremely detailed and separate, which I like a lot. What I don't like, but imagine will improve with time and/or different recordings, is the vocals appear to have moved back. I enjoy vocals a lot, and hope they join the rest of the music upfront and detail.

My two biggest gripes were a) putting those damn plastic sleeves over the plugs, and b) my speakers are about 1.5 feet from the amp on either side, so because 10' was the shortest option, I'm trying to figure out how to manage 8.5' of gray cable. In other words, no gripes

Good purchase, well worth it IMHO.

Thanks for throwing in your two cents. I completely agree about the plastic sleeves. Those things were a total PITA to install! :rolleyes:

phocion

I got mine in today, similar to Ace, they are replacing a pair of homespun 12g generic oxygen free pure copper speaker wire with bananas. My initial impression in a side by side is that the EXP2's have a more delicate mids, but my highs seem a tad harsh with the new cables, and bass sounds shallow. Instrumentation really sounds fuller, with a richness that I am finding profoundly satisfying. I am going to let them settle in over the next few weeks, and do a side by side again.

Build quality was good, and packaging was borderline excessive. I am testing on my bedroom system, onkyo 608, monitor 10's with 194's. When I am satisfied they are an improvement, I will move them to my main stereo room.

I had no problems with the plastic sleeves

p.s. edit: Thanks Keiko for the heads up on the sale, I appreciate it.

DON73

jinjuku wrote: »

Dear Sir,

Read your own post again.... There's no way to tell whether it was from leaning on the car or simply listening to it by your post.

When I go to car shows with a friend of mine (owns a 68' 442 w/ hurst shifter), trust me you don't need to lean on a car to know it has an aggressively lobed CAM when listening at idle. You can hear that 50 ft away.

Maybe the car was shaking "because she" was leaning on it not that she could tell the car was shaking only by being close enough to lean on it. Some girls have had me shaken when they leaned on me......back when my "cam" was hot. Hasn't happened in a long time:biggrin:

dkg999

Can someone give me the ADD/Readers Digest version of this, ummm, discussion?

EndersShadow

dkg999 wrote: »

Can someone give me the ADD/Readers Digest version of this, ummm, discussion?

They may or may not sound better. Put them in your system for a month so your ears get used to them (or your cables break in), then switch back your other cables and listen for any differences. Pick the one you like better and sell the other.

Done

BlueFox

Inexpensive gear and inexpensive speaker wire and inexpensive interconnects and inexpensive power cords and inexpensive racks used with no vibration elimination is not expected to sound better or worse simply by upgrading one part. Although I hate the Yuppie/MBA word 'synergy', things do work together in audio.

thsmith

I rarely weigh in on these debates but I thought I would share some personal experience.

I use to use a PS3 as my CDP. Thought it sounded ok decided to try a PS Audio DAC and it made the PS3 sound better but not great.

I added a Rotel 1072 CDP in place of the PS3 and keep the DAC in the mix. The rotel and DAC combo sound a lot better using a cheap digital cable.

Decided to use a KK D60 digital cable. At this point I was very satisfied, for a while.

Fast forward 12 months.

Decided to see how the Rotel sounded using its internal DAC, sounded like crap compared to using external DAC.

When Jolida.net put there JD100 on sale I bought one using some pretty good tubes.

I was able to now A/B the Rotel/KK/DAC against the JD100 simply changing sources on the preamp.

It took me several days to decide on keeping the JD100 and sell the Rotel/KK/DAC combo.

At first I could tell no difference and this was done being able to compare sound using same CDs going back and forth.

The more I listened and compare it became apparent the JD100 sounded better to me.

The lesson for me was sometimes it takes time to hear the difference if there are any.

Its not simple and my audio memory is not very good and takes some work and focus to make an informed decision.

pitdogg2

So I have been wondering and not trying to start another fight. When you take off your old cables weather it IC's or speaker and use the new for say 6mo do you then need to burn in the old cables? Reason I ask is when reading some stuff on the Audioquest site that is what they allude to and the reason they came up with the DBS system.

EndersShadow

pitdogg2 wrote: »

So I have been wondering and not trying to start another fight. When you take off your old cables weather it IC's or speaker and use the new for say 6mo do you then need to burn in the old cables? Reason I ask is when reading some stuff on the Audioquest site that is what they allude to and the reason they came up with the DBS system.

I would assume you wouldnt need to re-burn in the old cables, but thats just my thought.

DON73

I've posted this before but here I go again. About 15yrs ago I was in my favorite audio store and picked up an ad from a very well known manufacturer of some very very expensive cables. From my memory: "Burning in cables is like you walking through the woods. The first time you may have a hard time finding your way through but each time you walk through it becomes easier for you to find your way. It's the same with electrons. They need to travel through the wire several times to become familiar with the path"

I'm sure it's not the exact wording but it's close
I have interconnects and speaker cable from this company (bought before I read the ad). The speaker cables are laying in my garage unusable because the wire keeps breaking at the bananas and the connectors have an open circuit

somewhere within the wire itself.

I did order the B grade MITs.