Speaker Cables and IC's by Douglas...

nooshinjohn

Our very own HelicopterpilotDoug was kind enough to send me two pairs of his IC's and a bi-wire 15 foot pair of speaker cables for demo and use at my upcoming audio meet at my home this weekend. It usually takes me a bit of time to be able to put a simple review together for anything, but I must say the last couple days with my rig have been the very best I have heard it sound in YEARS!

Gear used in this setup are my Carver Statements, Rogue Audio Perseus, Pioneer Pd-dj9 Mk II SACD player and Polk Audio SDA SR 1.2TL's. Cables used for comparison are MIT Shotgun S2's and MIT Terminator Mk1's.

The build quality of Doug's cables is simply beautiful. The care and craftsmanship he puts into assembling them is evident as soon as the box was opened. They are not simply a cable made on a kitchen table by a guy in his boxer shorts with a soldering iron in one hand and a beer in the other. These are serious, professional grade pieces of cable goodness. =D>

I have been using Shotgun IC's and Terminator speaker cables for years now, and have been impressed with the sound quality improvements they gave, but have been on the fence as to whether or not the investment was worth the return. I would not say I was disappointed in the MIT's, rather that I just didn't fully appreciate the touted benefits.

After listening to the Carverfest 2011 cd, I swapped out the MIT's and plugged in Douglas Cables and Interconnects. I was not at all anticipating a difference in sound from the new cables, rather expecting something akin to the rocketfish cables from BestBuy or even the homebuilt cables I had several years ago. I was wrong....

It was immediately apparent that these new cables were miles apart from the MIT's, and in a VERY GOOD WAY! At first, I thought I changed something else, but there was nothing else connected, no bass or treble controls on the Rouge, and I was in Pure direct on the Pioneer. Details that were severely toned down or even missing before were all of a sudden clear, vibrant and properly represented within the soundstage. the shimmer and decay of a cymbal tap and the speed of a drum attack all there. the vibrato in a voice or the breath od air on a woodwind... all there in lush and exquisite detail. Never in my years of audio have I ever been completely speechless by what a magical difference a cable can make in a stereo rig.

Much has been said about synergy, and it is a complete **** to be sure. I can say that the MIT's were good, but the dramatic and immediate improvement Doug's cables have made in my rig must be proof positive that synergy is a real phenomenon, but that cables must be considered as an absolutely equal and important component in the audio chain. My rig will never be without these cables, PERIOD!!!

If you are at all thinking about upgrading cables in your rig, give these a try. You can spend several times more on cables, but I doubt that you will get a better return on your investment that Doug's cables provide.

Kudos Doug on building a world-class cable and best of luck to you sir.

Many Thanks!

John

B Run

Good to hear, Doug lives about 10 minutes from me and i've been wanting to upgrade from my Kimber Kables and try something new. Thanks for the write up, which ones were they exactly?

helipilotdoug

B Run wrote: »

Good to hear, Doug lives about 10 minutes from me and i've been wanting to upgrade from my Kimber Kables and try something new. Thanks for the write up, which ones were they exactly?

The interconnects were these with the Furez locking RCA's

The Speaker cables were these with Furez TST WP48XLNP Copper Bananas on the amp end and Furez TST WP30NP Copper Bananas on the Bi-wire speaker ends. Most of the custom cables we make are listed here.

trav0810

+1 on everything John said. One pair at a time, I have replaced all my interconnects with Douglas Connection cables. Great stuff and Doug is a pleasure to deal with.

vmaxer

John, thanks for the info, I will be trying some of these a little later.

Polkie2009

Thanks for the great review John, I've been thinking about getting some nice speaker cables for my SDA's for years, these sound like a sweet product for the money and made in the USA.

polkfarmboy

So doug's cables according to you john beat out the MIT, very interesting

GlennDog

polkfarmboy wrote: »

So doug's cables according to you john beat out the MIT, very interesting

extremely interesting . . .

G

lightman1

I thought you got run off, John.

J/k

If you say Dougs cables MIT, I may have to give them try. Great review.

F1nut

Not to make light of John's experience, but using Terminator IC's (btw, there is no Mk1 model) with Shotgun S2 speaker cables isn't going to result in the best performance. The Terminator series isn't anywhere near as developed as the Shotgun series. Ideally, one would want to use the same model series for the best results and for comparisions sake.

heiney9

Having owned both I can confirm Jesse's comment. The T2's are good but the Shotgun series is at a whole other level. Best thing I did was swap from T2's to Shotgun's for everything. I mixed and matched at one time and having all the same is much better.

H9

treitz3

I concur. Having all of the same series throughout makes a system. Couldn't explain why nor would I care to......just relaying my observations.

Tom

nooshinjohn

F1nut wrote: »

Not to make light of John's experience, but using Terminator IC's (btw, there is no Mk1 model) with Shotgun S2 speaker cables isn't going to result in the best performance. The Terminator series isn't anywhere near as developed as the Shotgun series. Ideally, one would want to use the same model series for the best results and for comparisions sake.

Agreed Jesse. I would like to add here that the Shotguns were the interconnects and Terminators were the speaker wire... That said, the MIT's are more expensive that Doug's cables by a long shot. They also have several engineers behind them and are a very good cable. The expectation going into this was that Doug's cables would be inferior. In my experience that was NOT the case. Even swapping the interconnects produced a welcome improvement.

As I said in my original review, synergy is the mother of all ****, and in my case, with my gear and to my ears, Doug's cables were superior.

polkfarmboy

They were not just better they were superior lol

daboyz

polkfarmboy wrote: »

They were not just better they were superior lol

Gentle,my boy. Nooshie's ear says they are. His opinion,he desesrves it without ridicule.

I personally have owned both MIT Terminator 2's and Doug's cables. The T2's were the best cables I had owned until I got Doug's cables. I feel they are as good if not better than the T2's. I feel no hesitation in saying that. Now, are they as good as the Shotgun's? I don't know. Never heard them.. I would guess probably not. I forget,how much are the Shotgun's? A house payment? Maybe two or three once you have the full complement?

For what you could pay you'd be hard pressed to beat these cables. For us "normal" guys who can't afford Shotgun's then these I feel are a helluva deal. Cost/benefit ratio is amazing.

May I also add that the locking RCA's that Doug uses is so much better than the T2's I had. Lock down like a vice but are easy to remove when needed.

helipilotdoug

Thanks for the kind words guys :cheesygrin:

BlueFox

Then you will not mind being banned for being a spammer.

mantis

Synergy is the key to any system. With having a matched IC and speaker wire I have always found the best results. There are times when you can mix and match to get a Tweaky personal sound out of ones system but thats prety hard to do unless you have multiple cables to mix and match to build your sound.

Congrads on the new cables man , nice to hear they made an improvement in your system. Honestly cables don't need to cost a fortune to get the desired results. It starts with getting the correct gauge and length , materials and correct relationship between the conductors.Having proper terminations. Keep EMI and RF out of the signal path and your done. Keep going up the ladder will yield less and less results with incredible amount of money spend.

tonyb

mantis wrote: »

Keep going up the ladder will yield less and less results with incredible amount of money spend.

I dunno about that statement Dan. Depends really on who's ladder your using. Incredible amounts of money requires a definition. To me it's 2 grand on up, to others it could be 50 bucks on up.

In another thread, someone refered to cables as a piece of gear. I agree...so as such should be treated as a piece of gear. When the quality of your gear improves, so should the cables.

trav0810

MIT Terminators were one of the IC's that Doug's cables replaced in my system. Once I had Dougs IC's in my system I gave away the Terminators. I imagine that there are probably higher quality cables out there, but I cannot imagine ANYTHING better at the same price point.

SCompRacer

helipilotdoug wrote: »

Most of the custom cables we make are listed here.

Great for the DIY'er, you can buy your wire of choice and terminations. Reasonable pricing. I just placed an order for some power cable. Nice to see detailed specs listed for your offerings too Doug.

tonyb

Gonna have to talk to Doug and see what he can fix me up with for a bi-wire set. Using Gregg Straley's Reality cables now which are pretty darn good. Wonder if Doug has anything comparable. A 10 ft bi-wire with nanners all around like the ones you set up John with. What gauge was that btw ? 12 ga ?

EndersShadow

tonyb wrote: »

What gauge was that btw ? 12 ga ?

Yup, 12 gauge. Same ones found here: http://www.douglasconnection.com/Custom-Made-Furez-12AWG-Bi-Wire-OFHC-Speaker-Cables-DCF124BW.htm