MIT StyleLine Cable Demo/Review Round 5 USA

F1nut

F1nut

Ok, I have to offer a sincere apology for the delay in getting this demo going. I'm not sure happened to brgman, but I haven't been able to get with him and BlueMDPicker asked to be moved down the list, so I'll get with Conradicles and get this moving.

F1nut

Conradicles has withdrawn, so I'll try leftwinger57.

brgman

Hey F1
Sorry but been out of commission for the last couple weeks with a blown out back.
I haven't done anything and now waiting to see a specialist.

F1nut

Sorry to hear that, get better soon.

Ok, leftwinger57 has asked to be moved down the list, so mantis is next and he's ready to go.

BlueFox

You might want to check with everyone on the list to find out their status. I am fine with my position.

treitz3

Good to go.

Tom

mufsoman

I'm ready anytime....

erniejade

I'm good!

xsmi

So am I!

F1nut

Believe it or not, this demo is off and running.....finally!!!

Mantis is first up and should have these tomorrow.

mrbiron

Bananas!......I suppose this means I have to go ahead, remove my thumbs from my **** and finish house projects in a short time frame.

erniejade

Sweet. Cant wait to read some reviews!

F1nut

Mantis now has the cables. I'm giving him an extra week to burn in the cables that I didn't. So, on or about June 10th they will ship to mrbiron.

mrbiron

2 days after the ol birthday....very nice!

F1nut

Cool, but it'll probably be a few more before they reach you.

mrbiron

BS....Mantis can afford next day early AM shipping. I'm sure of it!

F1nut

Maybe if you talk sweet to him, I don't know.....nor do I want to know.

mantis

F1nut wrote: »

Maybe if you talk sweet to him, I don't know.....nor do I want to know.

LOL.
If he lived close enough he could come here and demo the cables with me.

As an update the cables are connected and burning or properly put running in. Getting the Dielectric properly formed will reveal the true sound of these cables. Listening to them fresh out of the wrapper is completely unfair.
These are very different then all other MIT cables I have used tried and installed in the past. I got to get my research on but I believe these are a new series? Quality seems nice, the speaker cables comes with both Spade and banana plugs. If you remember the older Monster Lock system , MIT adapted something very similar to that. You basically have a pin connector with threads and then select Spade or banana and screw them overtop the pin connector. This is a very useful design if you change out your gear like I do. Gear doesn't stay in my cabinet for a long time and having cables that can be re terminated easily is a bonus.
Once I get at least a full week or so, I'll start really listening to them. I'm also going to reinstall My NAD gear so I can get a full MIT signal chain sound. DAC to PREAMP to AMP to Speaker.
Honestly Jesse this is one of the coolest Wire demo's I have done in a long time. It's so nice to swap out a full signal chain and really get to experience the product the way it was intended. I honestly can't wait to sit down and do this.

mrbiron

I would drive down to you but.........its a little far. For me.
Now, you on the otherhand are welcome to hand deliver up this way. You carry on through and Mr. Boston (not the vodka) will give you a pocket full of lobsters.

mantis

Ok this will be a series of Reviews as It would take me all night to post them, get pictures and all else.
The Demo Program is the best I've ever done. This is exactly how it should be IF you want to really know IF a certain brand of cables work in your system or not.
What I really like about this is a complete signal chain swap out. IF you have a pre amp and amp ( As I do) You can replace your Pre to Amp IC's in RCA analog, then your Source to the Preamp. Or you can go further as I did and go USB to DAC RCA to Preamp then Preamp to AMP and finally Amp to Speaker all MIT. How cool is that????

So what I plan on doing is each cable built quality , length , termination etc then giving it a full review. Each cable in this program could be tested by itself but I don't find that to be a really good showing on a brand especially when they have Technology as MIT does and how each cable is supposed to work.

So I'll re list all the cables I had here which are stated in Jesse's opening Thread post.

(1) 15 foot pair of StyleLine SL 12 speaker interfaces (single runs)
(1) 10 foot single Styleline SL 12 speaker interface (center channel)
(2) 1 meter pairs of StyleLine SL 8 RCA interconnects
(1) 2 meter StyleLine Plus USB interface
(1) 2 meter HDMI 3D cable

So I'll do them in order but I'm gonna bleed in system comparisons as I have really done a lot of testing against this wonderful cables.

StyleLine SL 12 speaker interfaces
When I opened the box , they where wrapped in a nice Felt like bag. Typical for Higher end cables to be packaged this way.
All Black with the Choice of Screw on Spades or Banana Jacks or if you please you could use the Spring clip Pins that the cables are terminated with. Think Older Monster cable M series with interchangeable Connectors. This is a fantastic Idea which gives you the ability to upgrade components and speakers without having to have the cables re terminated. The only thing I don't like about them is the overall length of the Termination once you screw on what you want. It looks kinda funny sticking off the back of the speaker( Pic's to come)
Very long legs off the split with the Positive and negative ends. I don't get it why they are that long but I'm sure there is some reason or they would be more like most other cables do and give you enough of a split to be able to connect to each binding post of your speakers and or amps. Some higher end amps Binding posts are slight wider then standard Dual Banana spacing which is a industry standard.But I never seen a pair of speakers needing such width.
The Network Interface in in the center of the cable and it's much smaller then what you would expect from MIT. Years ago these Network bricks where huge and difficult to manage. Ugly IMO but this new Style Line series is pretty damn friendly.

So as Jesse Pointed out, these cables where new and needed to be Run in. Run in is the proper terminology when referring to what most call " breaking in". Let me explain briefly what happens here.
When a cable is new , it's not electrically charged in the Dielectric. Energy gets pulled from the signal as it passes down the wire into the Dielectric and then gets re released into the signal path. Once the cable is fully charged , this doesn't happen anymore. Why? Beats me I have been trained in Wire theory so many times and the common theory is that once the cable becomes fully charged which usually takes about 2 weeks time of constant signal , then you can hear what the cable has the ability or not to do.

So What I did to make this completely fair, I kept 3 pairs of cables charged with the MIT staying in my main system. I had my AudioQuest and Cardas Speaker cables run in so when I did my shootout , I could fully hear what cable sounded or passed sound like.

After 2 weeks I decided to really start listening to the cables. With the NAD GEAR first I fully wired everything up with MIT from top to bottom DAC everything. Even the HDMI cable was Installed with the Chocolate HDMI coming out.
before I did the full swap out for my shootout, I used all MIT for the speaker wire listening vs each other then I did full system re wire.

The MIT cables have a Technology called Articulation Poles which these cables have 12. What that is in simple terms in think of it as a EQ for the cable. MIT engineers figure out the peaks and dips in response and raise or lower each to get a full flat response. The goal here is to be as true to the signal as possible. This is how MIT decided was the way to get it done. They use high quality copper and Silver plus pay attention to the Geometry but it seems like the real science here is the Network Interface.

So with all that out of the way I listened.
Some strong back ground with me is I have probably tested more wire then I should have. I have been exposed to so many different brands over my Professional career and really wanted to find out what the real deal is here. Honestly After you learn so much , you have to go with your gut feelings on what is real what is true what works and what is simply bull crap. I don't find this to be right or wrong , I guess is really comes down to your preferences and what you want to cables to do in your system.
If you read any Cable thread in this forum, most of the time it comes down to he said she said stuff and fights break out and names get called. I'm gonna tell you up front I have no time for any of that anymore, I have decided that my personal and Professional journey is mine and mine alone. But with that thought I love to share my experiences with all of you guys here on the polk forum.
So the MIT S12's are different then both my Audioquest and Cardas cables. Neither of them have any passive electronics to help maintain the signal from amp to speaker.
The sound quality with the S12 speaker cables is pleasing to the ear. The Mid range is very nice and present. The one thing I really liked about these cables is the mid range clarity. I found they where able to perform in this area as well as both of my speaker cables I tested them against.
The Low end IMO seemed a bit out of wack. With both the Audioquest and Cardas I had very tight and natural bass response. With the MIT's it seems a bit bloated and loose.
The Highs where pleasing as well with the MIT's, they did a wonderful job replaying Female voice and recapturing the breath and shimmer.
Overall I would say that MIT did a wonderful Job in building these cable. Weather I would own them myself over what I already have is another story as I looked up the retail price point and is double of what my cables cost. Value into my system I would have to say is not. I didn't find any benefits over my Audioquest or Cardas for that matter. The Mid range was a place I felt the MIT might be slightly better but when I went back and forth I didn't find anything missing with my cables.

I'm sorry to report I didn't however get to really demo the Center channel cable as I wanted to so when they arrive at the next guys house , it will not be broken in well. My center channel is hung on the wall and with all these cables I really wanted to test, I didn't factor in enough time to do so.

So overall the MIT cables are very good well built and nicely terminated. A lot of thought and planning went into this line and I think many would find them to be a huge benefit. Not many cables I have tested even come close to mine and these came very close.
I'm also of the mind that once a cable gets the job done in the system it's asked to perform in, there really isn't any room left for improvement.

My next review will be of the RCA and USB's combined with the HDMI as I really dug into them all together along with the speaker cables with everything being of the same brand . I'll get that together when I have some more time.

mantis

Here is a Pic of the MIT ends with Bananas


MIT long legs


My Audioquest Rocket 44's Terminated in 500 series Silver Banana ends


My Audioquest Rocket 44 legs



I didn't take many pic's of this shootout as it was a lot of work doing this demo. Well worth it and very fun.

mantis

Next up will be a short Review of the HDMI cables From MIT vs Audioquest Chocolate.

As with a proper HDMI cable, you get picture and sound. Considering I own one of the very best TV's ever built, I can easily see differences between sources, resolutions , and quality of cables.
In this shootout I didn't have a HDMI to go to the TV only from the Blu ray to the Preamp. With 1080p 24 frames , swapping back and forth I didn't really see anything either way that was better then the other. Both cables performed stepping, IRE patterns and Color Temperature exactly the same.
What I learned is both cables are using Silver Plated conductors. What MIT must have done with this HDMI cable is built it and terminate it correctly. For Video I saw nothing worth saying one is better or worse then the other.
With audio I ran some 16 44.1 stuff in very good quality and the differences I heard here where amazingly subtle between the 2 cables. I thought for sure the Chocolate would have really made a statement with playing some music in 2 channel but what I noticed is both cables where extremely hard to even tell which cable I had Installed. At one point I forgot which one was in and when I swapped to the other I was unsure of my results.
With another hour of back and forth I came to the conclusion that MIT built a very good high quality HDMI cable. This cable sounds and looks fantastic. I'm very impressed. It would have to come down to price here which one costs more and I would buy the cheaper one as neither had an honest lead.
These are not the same results I had years ago when I made the switch to Audioquest HDMI cables. But I didn't have as high of quality HDMI cables to compare them 2. It really goes to show you that in the digital world once a cable is built correctly, there really isn't any more you can do with it to make any improvements. But if the cables are not built to perfection like these 2 are, results will vary as mine did years ago.

Great Job MIT as I feel Audioquest makes the very best quality HDMI cables on the planet, now they have someone to compete with, NICE!!!

mantis

MIT USB cable.
Along comes another USB cable to try out. Very well built and very nice construction. I had this cable playing on and off as much as possible but I didn't really burn it in for a full 2 weeks. I did however get a lot of playing time on it and I was very pleased with my results.
I tried music from 16 / 44.1 stuff all the way to 24 / 192. This gave me a wide range of quality to put this cable to the test. What I noticed about this cable was balance. It was remarkably balanced with no hint of coloration at any point or time. I really enjoyed how it just found a home in my system without me wanting it out. Quite frankly I could be happy with this cable for many years to come as it stood up to my Audioquest Carbon on just about all things music.
So What I did was to be fair was to play full songs and enjoy the entire song instead of swapping out every minute or so like I usually do. I usually focus on a point of the song that I can hear every single detail clearly and be able to look for certain flags when swapping back and forth.
So with the MIT USB cable , I found myself just enjoying the music. The cable does not call any attention to itself like the speaker wires did. When I swapped out my Carbon to the MIT, I didn't notice much change. It performed right to the letter with the very high quality Carbon I personally use in my system. I have gone through many USB cables and came to a digital truth for me that if you get a cable that is not built to perfection, you will not get perfection out of it. I did notice these traits in some of the cables I tested over my time now digging into DAC's and USB cables. My high Res Music is important to me as It's like another step towards getting the absolute best possible source sound one can have. I feel Computer music is where it's at so this USB shootout to me was important.
After a few hours of back and forth , I was able to tell the difference between the 2 cables. It wasn't night and day or anything that would in casual listen would even come to revile. Something in the way She breathed was sticking out when I put back in my Carbon cable. It sounded more separated more natural and more real. The MIT cable seemed to push breath back a bit in the sound stage where I had to look for it where the Carbon presented it clearly. Another thing I noticed was Guitar string ring or fret buzz. On the Carbon again it stuck out more and on the MIT it was laid back. Softer if you will.
Now one could argue one way or the other that one of these cables where doing exactly what and how it was recorded and the other was modifying what is. I would venture to guess the Carbon was the more natural out of the 2. But again this wasn't a huge deal it wasn't like the Guitar was pushed back and off to the right. It was right where it was on both cables but the details where different.

It took me awhile to really notice anything different between these to cables and I'm gonna go on record to say anyone who is looking for a very high quality USB cable should really consider MIT's offerings. They did a great job on this cable and with the very small things I found compared to another very high quality cable, most may not even notice at all.

Great job MIT , I enjoyed my time with you.

xsmi

Thanks for the write up Dan!

mantis

xsmi wrote: »

Thanks for the write up Dan![/QUOTE
One more to go with the RCA cables and full system compares.

mantis

So basically this demo really gave you a in depth look at this Style line series from MIT. With having the Speaker wires, RCA cables going preamp to amp to speaker was awesome. Then having the USB cable was awesome so i could really test Computer to DAC to Preamp to Amp to Speaker all MIT expect I had to use 1 Audioquest RCA from the DAC to Pre as I didn't have 3 RCA analog audio cables, ok close enough and I did use the Pioneer Elite for a full MIT demo as well. I'll try to keep this short and right to the point.

FULL SYSTEM DEMO MIT
- With running in the cable for a few weeks I was able to pour a glass of Merlot and dig into my computer music. I still love using Loreena McKennitt for Demoing anything. I only have 16 bit 44.1 stuff from her( I have not found 24 bit anything bt I'm hoping someone releases it) But using my Computer USB out to DAC to Pre or Receiver really make a nice difference. I think it sounds better in this configuration then Airplay or Playing the Actual CD.
So I sat down with my glass half full and listened to " THE MASK AND MIRROR" album and started off with one of my all time favorites " DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL". This song for me bring so many memories so many demos that go lost into the pure beauty of her voice and soul. What was so pleasing with the Style line is that it didn't shadow anything with here Acoustic style music. No heavy bass or anything that could bloat or distract me from enjoying her. The Full swap out yielded a very nice balance and grace to all that is and still is if you get me here. Everything I know of her is presenting itself to me, fully and unconditionally.
She sings and I sink. I feel her presence like she's here with me holding my hand and guiding me on this musical journey. The Merlot help calm the soul and the MIT's kept everything in check. I'm very pleased with what I'm experiencing.
So After the Full song I swapped out not this time to Audioquest but to Cardas which I have a full set for a full Cardas experience.
I started the song over and thought " OK something is slightly different". I listened to the full song and absorbed what I was hearing and then fully Swapped in the MIT and tried again. YES the MIT does play everything very well but I'm noticing a slight clarity change. Nothing to get all huffy about but the full swap is reviling some noticeable things.

OK so with Cardas in , I can hear the Chimes clean and clear, they ring out like if they where in the room. if you ever heard Chimes live, you would know what I mean. With the MIT's the Chimes where still exactly in the same place but if I'm hearing this correctly, the chimes are falling back quicker like something is holding them back a bit.
Breath doesn't come as clean and natural as the Cardas Kit does. On a side note Cardas like Audioquest really has hit a mark of excellence in cable building. They do everything right IMO and with no passive electronics like the MIT's do. Not to say one is right or wrong but I do prefer the sound of the Cardas kit in my system over the MIT's due to some small details.
I want to be very clear here, these things I'm experiencing are very subtle and not night and day. Very small details are different and if you listen and then again its a bit difficult to point them out unless you focus on like 10 seconds of a clip and then keep going back and forth and really remembering what you just heard. As a musician I'm very use to listening to the same thing over and over again as when you are learning a song or writing one, you play it hundreds of times before you get it right. You pay attention to every single last detail for perfection. This is what I think MIT lacks in a full system wiring compared to 2 of the best in the world IMO in Audioquest and Cardas. And I'll be honest I don't notice anything at all even being remotely wrong or different to be frank when I don't compare. I'm wondering what the resistance is overall with all those network EQ's in the signal path? Think about it , the USB cable has none so thats a clean run with pure focus on construction materials and geometry. If you read my USB shootout , you will read that it was a very close race. But when you add in these EQ blocks or Interfaces as MIT calls them, you start to hear differences. So what they are trying to do works, it does change the sound. It's not night and day but you can hear it.
So what cable or cables are doing their jobs right? Is the music supposed to sound like when I have the MIT's installed? Or is it more like the Cardas or Audioquest which seem closer in sons quality? I have no idea as I would need very high end test equipment to test the actual signal leaving my computer and then at the last leg of the chain and see how which wiring retains the signal and which one doesn't.
So what are you supposed to do as a consumer? Trust your ears I say. Go with the cables you like the sound of and call it a day. You can go mad trying to figure out which cables you should use in ones system. These Demo programs are amazing and really allow you as the listener to decide IF the cables you own perform as good better or worse then the given cables in the demo program.
The name on the cables or the look of them really should have no merit when demoing. This could make you want to like one cable over another because the given cables might look better or make you feel better. From your listening position , this makes no difference especially if your eyes are closed like mine are when I'm listening. I try to remove my sight so I can really focus on what I'm listening to.
So to end my MIT journey what do I overall think of this product line? Well to be completely honest I think they are very well built very nice sounding cables. Sounding meaning they bring something different to the table and if that difference is something you feel your system needs then by all mean please really consider owning MIT cables. What I do like about them is they really try hard to retain the original signal with the technology they feel is the right thing to do. Would I swap out either of my wire kits for them? No I would not. I found my home years ago in Audioquest and I really don't desire any other brand. My other go to companies that over the years proved to me the highest quality at all price points is Cardas and Kimber. They are my top 3 in that order and I would put MIT in a very strong 4th place. I was very impressed with everything I had here and I would strongly suggest anyone to at very least give them a honest run as I did.

I'd like to take another moment to thank Jesse for putting this together and allowing me to experience MIT all over again. It was fantastic and by far the very best shootout I have ever conducted in my home. I never had full system wiring to test. I always just had one or 2 cables at a time and honestly I feel this way you get a better sense of what they are trying to do when you go all they way.

Thanks man,

Dan

erniejade

Great update. Thank you for taking the time to write it up.

F1nut

mrbiron has the cables now for his 2 week demo period.

Is there anyone else that would like to sign up?

mrbiron

*Warning* Uneducated/Experienced Review Ahead!!!!!

Let me start this review by stating that my original intent in partaking in this demo was to determine what my ceiling would be based on my genetic hearing loss. Yes, I have more than 50% loss all around without aids and this demo proved to be quite difficult for me but was a good set point of where i need to be.

So, let’s take a look at the associated gear and the direction of flow.
Flac -> USB->Peachtree Decco 65->Douglas Ints->Anthem MCA20->Zu Audio Missio SCs->Zu Audio Omen MK1 Rev B……….all plugged into my PS Audio UPC200

I don’t necessarily need the Anthem in the mix but I’ve had a few showings for potential sales and just didn’t pull it out. I thoroughly enjoy having it installed and find it doesn’t brighten the music like most feel Anthem does. I also, did not spin a single vinyl in this demo due to lack of time.

Now, for a brief visual comparison of the speaker cables. I can tell you this, after all of the hype about upper echelon MIT’s, I was a little disappointed with the overall build quality. Not that it was bad but that it seemed to be on par with the much less $$ Zu’s that I already have with the exception of the Icon’s and inline boxes. Those are great! They still make the EXP2’s look like garbage.

I began this journey with just the MIT Stylelines in place of the Zu Missions. Thankfully, they were the perfect length where I didn’t have to move the speakers around all that much. Icon bananas were used on both the amp and speakers. They fit…..HOORAY! Now, I have a list of songs that I know by heart and started from the top. On a side note, no, I don’t listen to classical, female voices (although I’m not against, I just didn’t for this session)nor do I listen the optimal recordings that should’ve been used in this type of environment. I listened to what I enjoy!!!!!!

The beginning sample consisted of the following, which are all over the map as far as genres.
Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing
Tool – Sober
Nine Inch Nails – Closer
Paul Simon – Obvious Child
Lettuce – Ziggawatt
Stevie Ray – Stangs Swang
Rage Against the Machine – I celebrate their entire catalog!!!!!!

And then a random array of tunes that arent worth mentioning. My Rat Shack was SPL meter was located directly in front of me so that I could set the volumes around 88db. I tried lower levels but it became hard to hear slight differences because, let’s face it, that’s just too low being 12’ from the speakers.

This environment happened over 3 separate nights spaced throughout my 2weeks. I did have the system running most nights but with a 10 month old, sitting down to focus isn’t an option.

So, the power gets turned and BAM!, I’m greeted immediately by too much bass. Now based on the Tool and NIN songs, you would think, “Hey, doesn’t this guy likes bass?”. I do, but this was to forward and a bit muddy. Also, I felt like my center point fell behind the speakers by about 4’. I reinforced this by having my wife sit in for a few songs. She confirmed the bass was little much bit did not experience the same sound field collapse that I did…….she couldn’t explain it so I dispatched her immediately. USELESS!

The highs weren’t bright and sounded quite nice without being to overpowering. The mids were the hard area with the bass being undisciplined and my depth issue. When listening to more mellow songs, I was able to experience a more accurate presentation that did sound quite nice.

Compared to my daily driver Zu’s, there was a slight improvement on most tracks with clarity on more mellow/subdued songs. The rock/hard rock/metal/alternative I feel are the Achilles heel of the Styleline speaker cables. The bass…..the poor poor bass just took a beating. Maybe a little EQing could have fixed this issue but I did not have time.

Next! I slide the Styleline Interconnects into the loop between the Peachtree and Anthem. The MIT’s have the same rugged feel as my Douglas Int’s meaning the cable flex/thickness were almost identical. The only major difference were the RCA’s used. The Styleline speaker cables were left in at the beginning of this test out of convenience.

Unfortunately, with the matching speaker cables installed, I had the same exact experience as I had with the prior setup. After a few songs I decided I’ve had enough, placed the Zu’s back into action and let the MIT SCs sit this one out. Play button is pressed and I begin listening to what I could swear were my Douglas Ints. All was right in the world! Sound stage had returned to the appropriate location between the speakers, bass was tight, mids smooth, and highs present are the helm. *Happy Again!* They do everything right and I couldn’t complain about them at all.

Last, I grab up the Styleline USB Plus cable out of its tiny little cardboard coffin and drip it in. This was used between the computer and the Peachtree. Again, thankfully the length was perfect for my applications. Before any of you castrate me for saying this, I did not hear an ounce of difference between my generic USB and MIT. The only major difference was the MIT cable is prettier. Why don’t we use the deaf card on this one and move on before the pitchforks get dusted off.
I will add, this was the cable I was probably most curious about. My train of thought was that the generic USB was the weakest link and could stand a little improvement. Sadly, this is also the cable that I spent the least amount of time with. Actually, it was only used during one sitting that was unexpectedly cut short due to my life-roommate. My one major regret. There will be a purchase of a quality USB in the near future as a form of a back check!!

Here I am, after sliding the speaker cables, interconnects back into their velvet pouches and clicking the USB back into its plastic resting place, I can’t help but think I did it all wrong. Was my process flawed? Did I choose the wrong order? Is my gear not of quality to have these cables in their presence? Is my hearing really that bad? Should I have used the Peachtree as an integrated vs pre? Should I have had at least one other person really sit down to bounce ideas off of as to what I “we” would be hearing? I dunno…..plain and simple. This is where I lean on all of you with more experience.
I did not use the HDMI, nor the single speaker cable in the HT. Again, lack of time but I was more concerned with the 2 channel system.

At the end of it all, I will say I am satisfied with my overall experience. I got to play with cables that are otherwise, “out of reach”. Are these the cables for me? At this current juncture, I will say no. But that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t entertain the RCA’s or USB as a substitute later on down the road. The speaker cables seem to be less versatile as Dan and I appear to have had similar experiences.

*end note* A big thanks to the selfless Jesse for, as usual, being a huge contributing factor to this forum. You go above and beyond the call of duty.

I again apologize for my lack of knowledge and seemingly, unintelligent review.

Mark’s Ears