Auditioning Morrow Audio Cables!

pearsall001
pearsall001 Posts: 5,068
edited October 2013 in 2 Channel Audio
I finally got around to pulling the trigger & ordered some Morrow Cables. The MA2 IC's & the SP2 speaker cables. He gets stellar reviews & I like his designs. I'll use his 60 day return policy to give them a workout. More to follow.
"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.
Post edited by pearsall001 on

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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,243
    edited October 2011
  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,068
    edited October 2011
    Any pics???

    Just ordered them on Sunday. Should arrive shortly.
    "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.
  • DON73
    DON73 Posts: 516
    edited October 2011
    Keiko wrote: »




    These won't work at all.............they've removed the little box on the speaker end and I didn't see any directional arrows:lol:
    TO ERR IS HUMAN. TO FORGIVE IS CANINE.
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited October 2011
    I've heard them, they sound good but nothing above and beyond the price level. I think somebody was selling these on the forum at some point in the past year.

    Good luck and it is a very well made IC with a solid theory behind the design.
    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.
  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,068
    edited October 2011
    dorokusai wrote: »
    I've heard them, they sound good but nothing above and beyond the price level. I think somebody was selling these on the forum at some point in the past year.

    Good luck and it is a very well made IC with a solid theory behind the design.

    I'm not a fan of stranded conductors with a lot of insulation & decorative wrapping, they wind up looking like garden hoses. And the sound from stranded conductors just doesn't get it right in my book. Of course your mileage will vary. I much prefer solid core conductors & Mike uses thin wire & varies his wire guage within his design & uses as little insulation as possible. I believe that less is more when it comes to cables. I'm quite anxious to get them in my system & give them a whirl. I'm presently using Mapleshade Double Helix which is solid core & extremely thin also. It sounds incredible...but the Morrows were calling for an audition. Hours of fun lie ahead.
    "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.
  • inspiredsports
    inspiredsports Posts: 5,501
    edited October 2011
    I've heard good things about Morrow's Reference (4) and Grand Reference (5, 6, 7) lines. It will be good to get some input on the 2's. At those prices and with 60 days and nothing to lose but postaqge, it would be easy to climb the ladder to a higher model if necessary.
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  • Hawkeye
    Hawkeye Posts: 1,313
    edited October 2011
    Phil, look forward to your opinions. I enjoyed the MS Double Helix. I almost regret giving them up. They were a VERY close 2nd to the WW's I'm using now for a fraction of the cost.

    I wish I could remember who I gave them to. He owes a review here for the wires.

    Gordon
    2 Channel -
    Martin Logan Spire, 2 JL Audio F112 subs
    McIntosh C1000 Controller with Tube pre amp, 2 MC501 amplifiers, MD1K Transport & DAC, MR-88 Tuner
    WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 speaker wire and jumpers, Eclipse 5^2 Squared Balanced IC's. Silver Eclipse PCs (5)
    Symposium Rollerblocks 2+ (16)Black Diamond Racing Mk 3 pits (8)
  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,068
    edited October 2011
    I've heard good things about Morrow's Reference (4) and Grand Reference (5, 6, 7) lines. It will be good to get some input on the 2's. At those prices and with 60 days and nothing to lose but postaqge, it would be easy to climb the ladder to a higher model if necessary.

    I was going to start off with the Ref 4's but decided to give the 2's a listen first. Mike has a great upgrade program that lets you get the full 100% of your purchase as you move up his cable ladder if you so choose. There is no time limit either. To be honest though the Mapleshade Double Helix is still my favorite without listening to Mike's cables. I'm looking forward to this competition.
    "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.
  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,068
    edited October 2011
    Hawkeye wrote: »
    Phil, look forward to your opinions. I enjoyed the MS Double Helix. I almost regret giving them up. They were a VERY close 2nd to the WW's I'm using now for a fraction of the cost.

    I wish I could remember who I gave them to. He owes a review here for the wires.

    Gordon

    Gordon, this should be a lot of fun. But I have to tell you, as you well know those MS Double Helix cables are top notch in their performance. A lot of guys simply scoff at them because of how skinny they are but once you hear them that perception gets lost real quick. Mike's design is very similar...very small guage, bare minimun insulation but pure sound. I'll leave my garden hose outside.
    "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.
  • TouchOfEvil
    TouchOfEvil Posts: 967
    edited October 2011
    I've considered trying some out several times so i'm very interested to hear your results.
    Living Room Rig:D
    Rotel RSP-1069/Rotel RMB-1095/Rotel-1072/Polk lsI15's W/modded xoverW/DBsubs/Polk LsiC/lsI7's/Klipsch sub-12"the weak link"/DLP Mitsubishi 65"
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  • playback
    playback Posts: 101
    edited October 2011
    I finally got around to pulling the trigger & ordered some Morrow Cables. The MA2 IC's & the SP2 speaker cables. He gets stellar reviews & I like his designs. I'll use his 60 day return policy to give them a workout. More to follow.

    Hi, did you get a chance to speak with Mike? Two years back when looking to upgrade my AQ cv6/gr8 combo, I discovered Morrow Audio, upon speaking with Mike who is a very nice guy ! I wanted to started with the Sp2's but after discussing my set up Mike suggested the Sp3 biwired for my Halo A21 because of high current demands. I noticed the Rotel 1095 which is no slouch of an amp, however it may play well with the Sp2's. if you find the Sp2's lacking bottom end , don't hesitate to try the Sp3's before moving further upwards, many believe the Sp3's are the sweet spot of the line up. Last year I decided to try some of Mikes interconnects I started with the Ma2's and found a glorious midrange and clean highs but a little to lite in the lower octaves, funny thing the two wire Ma1 had what seemed to be a fuller bottom end but lacked the beautiful mids and highs of the Ma2's, this had me thinking "Man only if you could get the best of both cables in one" Thanks to the generous upgrade plan I sent the Ma2's back and got the Ma3 xlr's and like magic it was the best of both and then some:cool: A word of advice! don't take the burn in recommended by Mike lightly! the will need the 400 hrs to bloom and when they do Oh man, They will take your rig up a notch,never have I heard a more silent cable that can be warm, neutral and deliver powerful dynamics that make you look at them dumb founded because of there size:eek: If you have any questions on what to expect let me know. Have fun and congrats on your new cables!
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    edited October 2011
    Gordon, this should be a lot of fun. But I have to tell you, as you well know those MS Double Helix cables are top notch in their performance. A lot of guys simply scoff at them because of how skinny they are but once you hear them that perception gets lost real quick. Mike's design is very similar...very small guage, bare minimun insulation but pure sound. I'll leave my garden hose outside.

    Just as a side-note, I am a Mapleshade fan. Their Double Helix with Plus was my first good speaker wire in the 2 channel system, and as soon as I installed them I heard the improvement. Later I acquired a Double Helix digital cable, and the UltraThin analog cables for my HT. The digital cable replaced the stock digital cable that came with my Wadia in the 2 channel system, and the UltraThin analog cables replaced my Radio Shack RCA cables in the HT. Each one was a very positive step up.

    However, I have to admit the fragility of the cables bothered me, especially since I have cats. While the cats only damaged my Planar V speaker cable (upgrade from the Double Helix), I managed to break the Double Helix speaker wires and analog cables in the HT more than once. Anyway, in the HT, my center channel would occasionally sound scratchy, and I thought it was the electronics going bad. Later, I went on an MIT upgrade spree, and replaced the UltraThin analog ICs in the HT with MIT CVT Terminator 1 cables. These cables have RCA connectors that you can tighten, and the Mapleshade RCA connectors are thin and irregular in shape. Once I went went with the MIT cables, the scratchy center disappeared, and all the other channels became clearer and more detailed. I suspect the better RCA connections had something to do with the improvement.

    Please don't misunderstand me. I am not saying Mapleshade is bad. They are great, especially when you consider the price. One of the best bang for the buck deals around. However, other than the Clearview speaker wire in the HT, I have replaced all my Mapleshade with either MIT ICs, or Shunyata speaker cables. Aside from having even better sound, these new cables are harder for a clumsy oaf such as myself to break. :biggrin:
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
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    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
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    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited October 2011
    I'm not a fan of stranded conductors with a lot of insulation & decorative wrapping, they wind up looking like garden hoses. And the sound from stranded conductors just doesn't get it right in my book. Of course your mileage will vary. I much prefer solid core conductors & Mike uses thin wire & varies his wire guage within his design & uses as little insulation as possible. I believe that less is more when it comes to cables. I'm quite anxious to get them in my system & give them a whirl. I'm presently using Mapleshade Double Helix which is solid core & extremely thin also. It sounds incredible...but the Morrows were calling for an audition. Hours of fun lie ahead.

    Agreed Pearsall and I'd never pass up an attempt to try something out, have fun with it. I believe Mike's using a variable litz design...but not positive. They should sound better than the Mapleshade of which I'm not a fan of interconnect wise but the speaker cable is actually quite good.
    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.
  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,068
    edited October 2011
    dorokusai wrote: »
    Agreed Pearsall and I'd never pass up an attempt to try something out, have fun with it. I believe Mike's using a variable litz design...but not positive. They should sound better than the Mapleshade of which I'm not a fan of interconnect wise but the speaker cable is actually quite good.

    I never got around to trying the MS IC's...but the Double Helix (PLUS version is what I have) is extremely good to say the least. I do have one of Mapleshades power strips feeding my SONOS, DAC & Tube buffer. I'm not kidding when I tell you that things were kicked up quite a few notches as opposed to the wall socket. At first I didn't believe it until I did a switch a few times & everytime my conclusion was the same...the power strip was for real.
    "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.
  • NJPOLKER
    NJPOLKER Posts: 3,474
    edited October 2013
    Pearsall
    Whatever happened to your Morrow's?? I know this thread is old but am curious on any of your findings on the Morrows.
    Thanks
    Drew
  • jon s
    jon s Posts: 905
    edited October 2013
    I don't know about the OP review but I can give you my opinion... I have a Yamaha RX-2400 AVR connected to a Yamaha DVD S2300MKII DVD player. They are driving a pair of Magneplanar 1.6QRs. I use this only in stereo mode for audio only, no HT use. Granted, the system is quite old but it does its job.

    Originally, the system was hooked up to generic cables. I upgraded to Monsters M1000(?) interconnects and Monster 1.2(?) speaker cables. Then was a subtle improvement in the audio, but you would really have to listen to hear the difference. In my mind, the improvements were not enough to warrant looking into Monster again.

    I then upgraded to Morrow Cables. I bought the MA3 interconnects and the SP2 speaker cables. After six months of steady use, I can say there was minimal difference. There was some improvement in imaging and a wee bit improvement in clarity.

    On a sidenote, an Audioquest rep did an in-store demo one day which I attended. He used different cables connecting to the same hardware. To eliminate any issues, he used cables off the shelf from the dealer. He did not use a switchbox but physically swapped the cables out one by one. He used a laptop as a source playing back uncompressed music files, going through the laptop's outputs and then used their Dragonfly DAC. The improvement using the Dragonfly was immediate and substantial. The Dragonfly output was routed to a self-amplified studio monitor via cable.

    The rep then replaced the standard cable with a cheaper AQ cable. The improvement was again noticeable. As he moved up through the AQ line, improvements were incremental but still noticeable. The music opened up, with more detail and clarity. This is what made me decide to try the diamondback. A friend had upgraded his Diamondback to a higher priced AQ cable and let me borrow it.

    I got the Audioquest Diamondback interconnect and replaced the Morrow MA3. I can honestly say that there was some notable improvement over the Morrows. There definitely was improvement in the imaging... When listening to a live concert disc (Alison Krause), the Morrows sounded flat dimensionally. The audience on the Audioquest sounded more in the back than being on the same plane as the musician. There was also an increase in detail and clarity. The increase in performance with the Audioquest was more noticeable than going from the Monster to the Morrows. At first, you think the difference was subtle but as you listen in closer, you actually notice the differences. I ended up playing a lot of other discs for a few hours noticing the improvement.

    I am now ordering a pair of Audioquest Yukon interconnects and a pair of Rocket 44 speaker cables, about $750 total. I think it will be a worthwhile investment.

    Later, I am planning to swap out the Yamaha system and try a Marantz PM7200 class-A amp and a Oppo BDP-83SE with the ESS 9016 DACs... Once I get the system up and running I will update this review...
  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,194
    edited October 2013
    jon s wrote: »
    I don't know about the OP review but I can give you my opinion... I have a Yamaha RX-2400 AVR connected to a Yamaha DVD S2300MKII DVD player. They are driving a pair of Magneplanar 1.6QRs. I use this only in stereo mode for audio only, no HT use. Granted, the system is quite old but it does its job.

    Originally, the system was hooked up to generic cables. I upgraded to Monsters M1000(?) interconnects and Monster 1.2(?) speaker cables. Then was a subtle improvement in the audio, but you would really have to listen to hear the difference. In my mind, the improvements were not enough to warrant looking into Monster again.

    I then upgraded to Morrow Cables. I bought the MA3 interconnects and the SP2 speaker cables. After six months of steady use, I can say there was minimal difference. There was some improvement in imaging and a wee bit improvement in clarity.

    On a sidenote, an Audioquest rep did an in-store demo one day which I attended. He used different cables connecting to the same hardware. To eliminate any issues, he used cables off the shelf from the dealer. He did not use a switchbox but physically swapped the cables out one by one. He used a laptop as a source playing back uncompressed music files, going through the laptop's outputs and then used their Dragonfly DAC. The improvement using the Dragonfly was immediate and substantial. The Dragonfly output was routed to a self-amplified studio monitor via cable.

    The rep then replaced the standard cable with a cheaper AQ cable. The improvement was again noticeable. As he moved up through the AQ line, improvements were incremental but still noticeable. The music opened up, with more detail and clarity. This is what made me decide to try the diamondback. A friend had upgraded his Diamondback to a higher priced AQ cable and let me borrow it.

    I got the Audioquest Diamondback interconnect and replaced the Morrow MA3. I can honestly say that there was some notable improvement over the Morrows. There definitely was improvement in the imaging... When listening to a live concert disc (Alison Krause), the Morrows sounded flat dimensionally. The audience on the Audioquest sounded more in the back than being on the same plane as the musician. There was also an increase in detail and clarity. The increase in performance with the Audioquest was more noticeable than going from the Monster to the Morrows. At first, you think the difference was subtle but as you listen in closer, you actually notice the differences. I ended up playing a lot of other discs for a few hours noticing the improvement.

    I am now ordering a pair of Audioquest Yukon interconnects and a pair of Rocket 44 speaker cables, about $750 total. I think it will be a worthwhile investment.

    Later, I am planning to swap out the Yamaha system and try a Marantz PM7200 class-A amp and a Oppo BDP-83SE with the ESS 9016 DACs... Once I get the system up and running I will update this review...

    I've done many wire shootouts , owned many different kinds myself and to this day I find Audioquest unbeatable. They build from entry level to reference cables to an exact spec. They get it right from the ground up.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
  • jon s
    jon s Posts: 905
    edited October 2013
    DSkip wrote: »
    jon, have you looked into treating your room? If not, I think that would be a more beneficial use of those funds. What may appear as slight improvements in an untreated room become glaring improvements in a treated room.

    I don't think treating a room would improve clarity and detail. It would help in eliminating dead spots or peaks in certain areas. The point is without any other changes, the AQ cable made a significant enough of a change for me to warrant buying more cables. The Diamondbacks I/Cs are "only" $170. The Yukons I ordered are $300. IIRC, I paid about $500 for the Morrows.
  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,068
    edited October 2013
    NJPOLKER wrote: »
    Pearsall
    Whatever happened to your Morrow's?? I know this thread is old but am curious on any of your findings on the Morrows.
    Thanks
    Drew

    I really enjoyed the Morrow's for the time I had them in my system. I talked to Mike a few times & it was always a very enjoyable conversation. He is very passionate about his cables, & he should be. I was going to move up the chain with another pair of his cables but as things go in the audio world I started to read some really nice things about Grover Huffman. I did some extensive research & liked what I read so instead going with more of Morrow's cables I decided to try Grover's cables, IC'c & his digital cable. To this day they are still here serving me well. My speaker cables are a pair of LAT International SS-1000 MK II cables w/ locking bananas. Both the Morrow's & Grover's cables are excellent in their performance. They are not laid back nor are they aggressive...they simply move the music along without adding or subtracting anything. I don't like cables that add a flavor into the mix, that's not what they're supposed to do. For years now I always wanted to try the LAT speaker cables, the timing was right when I went with Grover's IC's so I decided to go with the LAT speaker cables. The combination is awesome, everything jells together nicely. But who knows maybe one of these days I'll give Grover's speaker cables a shot. With my personal experience I can highly recommend Morrow, Grover Huffman & LAT as great companies with equally great products. Have some fun give them all a try.

    http://www.groverhuffman.com/speakercables
    http://www.latinternational.com/index.php/wire%20and%20cables/speaker%20cable.html
    "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.