MIT StyleLine Cable Demo/Review Round 5 USA

tonyb

Nothing "unintelligent" about your review. You played what you liked, listened....isn't that what most do anyway ? There is very few jack of all trades in audio that will please 100% of the people. So don't be ashamed if one product here or there doesn't float your boat completely.

Thanks for your review, and thanks to Jesse and MIT for giving some the opportunity to get ears on these cables.

mantis

Great review, never question what you hear. You hear what you hear and that is that. If you re read my review of the very same cables doing the very same thing, our findings are very similar. I also found the bass to be overwhelming compared to a more natural smooth bass I get from both my Audioquest full wiring and Cardas full wiring.
The " Network bricks" on these cables I believe is the cause of the increase bass and lack of mid range and soft highs. Most of the time the cables are pleasing to listen to as the mid's and highs come across nicely but I believe they have been cut to some degree in the re eking MIT did to them to have the bass stick out so much. A cable can't add to the signal only cut it so thats what I believe we both heard when demoing the full line.
You gotta remember one thing, some systems and rooms probably could really benefit from this style of cable or MIT wouldn't be so successful selling them. They would get pulled off the shelves and MIT would rethink the engineering behind them. I do however also believe MIT thinks these cables serve a great purpose.

mrbiron

Thanks for the confidence boosters guys! I was and have always been an HT guy due inpart to thinking I could never really appreciate a decent 2channel system. I did have a hard time with this. At first, it was all placebo but after a little time spent, things really came to fruitions.

I think THE hardest part was determining that these audiophile grade cables weren't for me and I was afraid I was going to A) sound like a pompous asshat , or anger Jesse for wasting his time.

Hermitism

I couldn't have written a review that good. I have an extremely hard time putting into words what I hear. A buddy of mine picked me up a couple years ago and wanted me to help him pick out some car audio speakers. We narrowed it down to two sets. They sounded completely different, yet I couldn't decide which one I likes the best. And couldn't put into words what I liked and disliked about each. He ended up buying the more expensive pair, because he thought the more expensive sound was the better sound. I took offense to that. But I think a lot of people do that, they make choices based on price if they don't have the experience to choose. I'm not referring to the MIT cables, but referring to my dumb*ss friend.

erniejade

I thought it was well written. When I have my turn, I am going to try them out with the polk lsi9, legacy focus and the 2.3 sda. Sometimes like what has been mentioned before a cable will sound better with one speaker vs another.

xsmi

Erniejade, I'll be curious to find out which you like best. I've only listened to one CD, but I must say, in my system, this is what the Dr. ordered.

B Run

Great review Mrbiron! I used to have a similar setup with Zu Omens, Peachtree and Mission cables and loved it. The Zu cables are definitely no slouch, and the Omens can be super picky with gear and placement too. I'm using MIT cables now (not as nice as the StyleLine) and like them with my current speakers, but you can't beat the synergy with Zu cables and speakers and i've tried a bunch of cables with them. Each cable required a lot of readjusting and changing speaker height off the floor to help calibrate for the change in bass in the Omens due to the finger ports on the bottom.

F1nut

xsmi wrote: »

I've only listened to one CD

Only one....slacker!

xsmi

MIT Styleline Cable Review

First let me say I’m not the world’s best reviewer, however, I’d like to share my thoughts on the Styleline series cables from MIT. My associated equipment is as follows:

Sony 606ES CD Changer
Yaqin MS 30L Int. Tube Amp
SDA-SRS 2 B-B speakers only mods, Larry’s rings
Monster 100 series cables (interconnects and speaker cables with monster banana termination)

Initial Thoughts
These are my first hi-end cables so the build quality was MUCH higher than anything I’ve ever encountered. The packaging as well as the gold plated ends impressed me. The interconnects had metal sheaths instead of plastic/rubber found on lesser cables and bodies on each wire seemed handsomely made.

Installation
I chose to hook up the speaker wires first and leave my Monster interconnect for initial listening so that I could hear what the speaker cables brought to the table. After a day I replaced the interconnect.

Sound
With the Monster/MIT duo, the thing I notices was that the soundstage from front to back was expanded. Diana Krall became more three dimensional. Her piano riffs seemed to have more weight to them when she wanted and more air up high. From the Krall CD I did some classical music listening with the Berlioz Symphony Fantastique! All I could say was WOW! The BBC Orchestra really came to life and I almost wanted to keep it this way, but I had hi hopes for what was to come.

With the full MIT setup, the soundstage expanded a little front to back but really what changed was the transparency. I almost felt like I was inside the recording ad could watch the musicians playing. Everything was around me. I think these cables work well for my gear. Bass was solid, midrange bloomed and the highs were evened out more. I think if I had these cables I almost wouldn’t need to upgrade these speakers. They were just what the Dr. ordered.

I had a lady friend over for the first time in a long time last night (Monster Cable throughout) and I had the Krall CD in as it’s very romantic. What I noticed when I paid attention to the recording, was that it was somewhat lifeless compared to what it had sounded like. I’m going to have to find some cables with the attributes of these MIT’s for a LOT LESS money. Oh well, Thanks Jesse for the opportunity to listen to these. And you were right; my gear IS good enough to hear a difference!

tonyb

Cool XSMI.....so your saying that cables actually make a difference ? LOL

Sometimes what I like to do is after getting something new in the system, be it a cable, dac, whatever....after a month or so I take it out and put everything back the way it was prior. Never could say I liked the prior version....but it puts into perspective the gains you paid for.

erniejade

I think it was a fair and nice review. Part of the fun of this hobby is trying out different things and finding synergy with components. In the past I have tried what others say was fantasitc but on my rig, I could never figure out what they heard was so good and vice versa.

I picked up the cables last night. I haven't taken them out of the box yet but right off the bat, I will say the box itself is lighter then my dh labs q10 and dougs biwire speaker cables.

I just got home from Dj an American cancer event so I might hook them up tomorrow but wont do any critical listening for a day or so. I need to let my ears readjust from being pounded by my subwoofer bins on an outdoor event.

I will say off the bat the equipment being used will be an audio research sp16 preamp, mcintosh mc402 amp, cayin tube sacd, and w4s dac2 for redbook.
My current cables are dh labs air matrix IC, and dougs biwire speaker cables. When I changed rooms to the 11x12 room the q10 with the legacy was too in your face. Dougs brough more bass out and tamed the highs but not so much as I felt anything was misssing. They kind of are just right. I will be going between the polk lsi9, legacy, then sda. In my past finding, the sda always seeemed to do better with mit. I went with the q10 when I was running Taylor's because the mit wasnt a good synergy on my rig at the time.

xsmi

Cool ErnieJade.

mrbiron

nice review XMSI! Glad to see that they worked out in spades for you.
Maybe it was the choices of music that solidified it?

tonyb

Ernie,

That synergy thing is a ****, what worked for me on the Legacy's was Reality speaker cables and Audio Metallurgy GA-0 IC's. Though you do have yours in a small room which plays a big part too. I think the SDA's aren't as picky about whats hooked up to them as the Legacys are.

xsmi

mrbiron wrote: »

nice review XMSI! Glad to see that they worked out in spades for you.
Maybe it was the choices of music that solidified it?

It may have been. I chose the CD's that I was currently most familiar with. But I honestly think a lot of it had to do with the speaker cables working well with my speakers the way they're set up. If the tweeters were replaced or upgrades made to the crossovers, I don't know if they worked as well. BUT, what I couldn't get over is how transparent they were which I really believe brought life to otherwise average recordings.

tonyb

Actually, choosing the cd's your most familiar with is the way most of us audition a new piece or cables. What better than music you know intimately ?

Glad your getting your feet wet with cables. It sucks having to send them back though when you like them. Garage sale bro, raise the coin for things you like. Sell those Air Jordans you have sitting in a box for the last decade.

xsmi

How do you think I bought the SRS 2's? I'm conducting a show in three months that's going to give me a little play money and I'm debating on finally finishing the upgrades on the speaks or changing my cables. Part of me is hoping that I can forget after a while what the system sounded like with the MIT's because I'll never be able to afford those, but Doug's cables or Audio Quest, I could probably afford those. I'm sure either of those are a step up in quality than what I have.

erniejade

Thanks tonyb I will have to check them out. Just looking at the mit, I will say I like its a thinner cable with a smaller box on each end and a medium box in the middle. Looks like they would be easy to work with. Xsmi, doug is great to work with snd has for all types of budgets. Tell him what your running snd what kind of sound you like and looking to get out of your speaker. He will go through options with you. Fanstastic to work with and quality work as well as connectors. I spent a little bit more for upgraded spades and im glad I did.

xsmi

And the fact he's a polkie doesn't hurt either.

erniejade

First off I would like that thank Jessie, Now Jerome, YES! Ok no Morris Day fans here? Enough with the music jokes onto the good stuff. But for real thanks Jessie for putting this out there. ½ the fun in this hobby is trying out different gear but, Jessie, I need an address to send the doctor bill for my back from having to flip the 110lb amp around! LOL ( ok so I lied one more joke lighten up people)

This is a review and shoot-out combo with different speakers and cables. I know it doesn’t seem fair on the pricing but, I have heard some high dollar cables that I didn’t think sound good and some lower priced cables that I thought were outstanding for the $. Its all about synergy and personal preference. The cables were the MIT combo, DH Labs air matrix IC & q10 speaker cables, and Douglass Furez bi-wire with silver spades combined with the DH labs, and again with the mit ic’s. Equipment used: McIntosh MC402 amp, AR SP16, Cayin tube sacd, when redbook was used the Cayin is fed into a w4s dac2. 3, different speakers were used. Polk LSI9, Polk original sda2.3 and Legacy Focus. Music used Santana 1st cd on Mofi, James Taylor Sweet Baby James on Audio Fidelity gold cd, America 1st one on Audio Fidelity sacd, Dave Brubeck time out re-master. Because it is a lot of 411, and a lot of combinations, I am going to try to make it as brief as possible.

MIT, the build was very nice quality, it didn't feel cheap at all and what surprised me was how light they were. I actually shot Jessie an PM when I got the box because I was running and couldn't open them up and said to him I thought the box was light for a full set of cables. Doug’s speaker cables were heavier than the entire box of MIT’s!! I love the ability of swapping out spades & bananas. They were the most easy to work with when putting them on the amp or speaker end.

1st up Douglas Connection MIT IC combo on the LSI9. Lots of bass, almost too much. The vocals on James Taylor and America seem to be recessed instead of in front of you. The echo in the voices I felt like they were missing. On Santana Waiting, Jingo, and Soul Sacrifice, the percussion seemed 10 steps back. Same on the legacy and the 2.3. I will say on the legacy, the bass seemed just right. It wasn’t overpowering, and I enjoyed the bottom end but, the mids and top not so much.

Same setup but swapped out the MIT for DH labs. This brought some of the mid and highs back. On brighter music, this combo is very nice or if you have a brighter speaker that you want to tame the top end down and bring out more bass, this is a good combo that will give you decent mid but recessed on the top end. If I still had my JM labs, this would have been the way I would have went. On the sda and legacy,same. Brought some of the mid and top back, the bass sounded quite good but, still something missing out of the top and mid. The bass was nice and strong where it needed to be. On the LSI9, not a good mix. Still too much bottom and it made the 9’s sound way out of whack.


ALL MIT cables: On the 9’s, I thought it was not a good match again. The midbass hump on them with this combo I did not like. On the sda and the legacy however, the bass sounded quite good. Doug’s actually had a hair more bottom end but, the MIT was a little bit more in balance with the bass, mid and top. James vocals came out a bit more, the echo in the vocals on America and James was more apparent. I could hear them take some breaths and hiss on the cd. On Dave Brubeck, I could hear more in the background, you can hear either someone moving around or talking at points in the cd. This was a good balanced sounding cable but, again,but to me the top end and mids were missing something and again,to me a hair recessed. The MIT speaker cables and DH labs IC combo brought some of the mid into place a bit better but, still seemed recessed.

Full DH labs combo. The LSI9 was a fantastic match! The midbass hump was gone. Vocals popped out at you . Percussion on Santana sounded like it was more in front of you. Change over to the SDA, Not a good combo at all. The MIT speaker cable with DH Lab ic’s was a good combo for the 2.3 SDA. The legacy however,,, I noticed a lot of hiss on the James Taylor cd. I could hear him take breaths. Dave Brubeck, the people in the background was more apparent, heard what sounded like something fall or move, heard someone talking in the back. Santana the bongos and percussion was just right there. The mids and highs were much clearer and more detailed. The bass however, was shy! It could be because I was listening to 2 bass heavy cables back to back but, the bass didn’t just pop out at you. With the LSI9, again, because it has a slight bass hump, this corrected and made them sound right.

The MIT’s are darn good cables. I am not knocking any of the cables listed. They all have a different sound and on my rig, it might have gone a different way if I had a brighter sounding amp or a SS pre. Synergy and matching is a frustrating thing.


1. Build, Douglass I thought was the best overall build quality. The spades he uses are incredible and built well. MIT is a close second but, the spades on Doug’s are over the top good.

2. Easy to work with and move goes to MIT. Being able to not fight your cable to get it where you want is awesome.

3. Sound. On the LSI, the full DH labs on my rig is a clear winner. On the SDA, the combo of MIT Speaker cables and DH labs IC’s was the clear winner. On the Legacy, This one is hard. The Focus is a very detailed speaker and will show flaws in your system. I like the mid and top end of the DH setup, but, I like the bass from Doug’s cables. The MIT was a bit more balanced between top to bottom vs the other 2 sets but, still the mids and top was a bit recessed for my taste. For the Focus, I need to find something with the top end of the DH, and the bottom end of Doug’s. I know this might sound bad but, if I had a bass knob, I think a +1 might have brought it where I might have wanted it. Yes sometimes I do miss that stuff LOL. I know so un-audiophile of me.


My conclusion, there is NO perfect cable! Only personal preferences on what you like and getting lucky with synergy but, most of us already knew this. I wanted to like the MIT setup more but, it just needs to open up the mid and top end a hair like the DH labs and I think they would have had a winner for my rig. Again, it could be because I have a warmer sounding amp.

Anyway this was fun! Thank you again for the opportunity to test them out.

erniejade

I did try to keep is shorter but, using several different speakers and 3 sets of speaker cables, this would have been 2-3 pages by itself. If anyone has any questions at all though or would like me to expand on anything, please feel free to ask.

agfrost

Nice review. (and psst....it's "Jesse")

BlueFox

erniejade wrote: »

My conclusion, there is NO perfect cable! Only personal preferences on what you like and getting lucky with synergy but, most of us already knew this. I wanted to like the MIT setup more but, it just needs to open up the mid and top end a hair like the DH labs and I think they would have had a winner for my rig. Again, it could be because I have a warmer sounding amp.

Anyway this was fun! Thank you again for the opportunity to test them out.

Great review. Good job.

I bet if you go a bit up the MIT line then this issue, "needs to open up the mid and top end a hair", would be added.

I should be moving up the ladder for my turn. I am ready to upgrade my HT speaker cables.

erniejade

agfrost wrote: »

Nice review. (and psst....it's "Jesse")

woops!!!!

erniejade

Blue fox I think you might be right. Further up the line might be the way to go. I see some S1 shotgun in my future to try out.

mufsoman

So here's my review of the cables. Like others, I'm not a professional so bear with me as I present a very informal review.

I had a unique opportunity to trial both the MIT Styleline and Douglas Connection Alpha cable at the same time, along with my usual Monoprice 12 gauge speaker wire with Nakamichi nanners. A friend and I spent 5 hours testing these speaker cableS and IC's using a netbook, a downloaded audio measuring app, and a DOE plan (Design of Experiments). We tested all speaker cables and IC's in all nine possible combinations.

To keep this from being a very long tedious review I'm going to cut to the results quickly. Besides Doug being an awesome dude, he makes some great cables. Build quality is very high and Doug's speaker cables and IC's were the best sounding of all combinations. Doug's speaker cables with my current Morrow MA4 IC's were a very close second. Least favorable sound were the MIT speaker cables and IC's. Unlike previous reviews, the MIT's sounded bright/harsh. Even when combined with the other cables, the infusion of either the MIT speaker cables or IC's caused the sound to turn bright. We did not notice any bloated bass.

I have attached an Excel file which shows the DOE plan and brief results of each along with the frequency vs. db chart of each. These charts don't show as much difference as what we heard. Disregard the green slopes on the charts, which were the real time db when the recording was stopped. The red slopes are the max. db reading at the given frequency. In the upper right corner of each graph is the frequency at which the max. db was read, and what that db reading was.

Perhaps it was just the synergy of the MIT's in my system or the old/worn ears listening, but we were not impressed with the MIT's. Doug's cables were clear winners! I also tested the MIT shotguns last year and don't remember them having the same undesirable effect, in fact I was quite impressed with their sound. For the value, Dougs cables ROCK!!!!

erniejade

Great review. Doug's Alpha cables I think might be priced in the same line as MIT Styleline actually depending on what ends you get on it like the furutech spades are solid!

cmy330go

Test system:
Turntable - VPI Classic 3 w/ 3D arm & Soundsmith Aida
Phono Pre - Sutherland Ph.D
CD - Arcam CD72T
DAC - Cambridge Audio DacMagic 100
Preamp - Parasound Halo P3
Amp - Parasound Halo A21
Speakers - B&W 802 Series 3
Interconnects - TriPoint Audio (local), Audioquest Sydney
Speaker Cables - Synergistic Research

LPs Used:
Rod Stewart - Never a Dull Moment
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Eva Cassidy - Songbird
Simple Minds - Don't You (12" UK Single)
CDs Used:
Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms
Eric Clapton - Unplugged

I've been mostly avoiding this thread so as not to form any preconceived opinions, and as of writing this I still haven't read what other users have experienced.

So here's to hoping I don't make a fool of myself.

I started off with just swapping the speaker cables. The length of the MITs and my cables were identical so swapping was pretty quick and easy. I was a little surprised that the MIT cables were significantly thinner than I expected, but was pretty impressed with their design to swap termination methods. I chose to use banana plugs on both ends as this is the same configuration as my existing cables.

To make this short and sweet I heard the same differences across all LPs and CDs with the speaker cables. If I had to describe in one word, the sound of the MITs compared to my SRs, it would be 'thinner'. Lows were less pronounced, and slightly sloppy. Vocals (especially) Eva's had a little less depth and body. Highs however were very comparable, and in a few cases I felt like I could here a little more space, and air around certain instruments, especially symbols. In all cases it was hardly a drastic difference. These were still very fine sounding cables. Just for kicks, and giggles I also did a quick comparison to some old Monster Z-Series cables that I had from back in my rookie days. The Zs had a very thick boomy low end that was kind of fun at first, but it only took a few seconds to realize how much less refined they were compared to the MITs in all other aspects. Ultimately I do think these are really good cables, I just don't think they match my system and/or taste.

Now interconnects were a little more complicated, but I'm gonna try not to be too long winded.

On the analog side of my rig I use some very reasonably priced cables that are made by a local repairman/audiophile. He had given me a couple pair a few years back to try, and well... after a couple weeks of auditioning... I gave him $200, and I kept the cables. I can't tell you much about the construction of them, all I can tell you is that they 'just worked' with my rig. In this case, in one word, I'd describe the difference as 'veiled'. There never seemed to be a significant difference in frequency response, but the MIT's lacked somewhat of a sparkle and airiness. Everything was just slightly blurred.

However on the digital side of things, the exact opposite was true when comparing the MITs to the AQ cables on my CD Player. In fact I think I'm probably just gonna order a set. Everything was cleaner, and clearer without being harsh. The lows were especially great. I guess I should have auditioned more cables when I bought the AQs. But seeing as my CD player usually doesn't see much use, I just didn't feel like investing the time.

Now since I got robbed of one auditioning day due to a 5hr power outage last weekend, I only got to spend about half an hour with the USB cable. Keep in mind I have done very little listening through my DAC, and have a very limited hi-rez selection. I switched between the MIT, and my generic 10' USB cable multiple times, and could not for the life of me tell any difference. Perhaps it was the recordings, or my far less than stellar DAC, but I just couldn't hear it. That being said, I would actually consider buying one, just to have a cable that doesn't look like crap, and would blend in more with the rest of the gear. But I'm dumb like that sometimes.

I'll be honest. I skipped the HDMI since I honestly don't care about video anymore. I do at least 95% of my viewing via Netflix or similar services, and I'm still using a mediocre old Mits DLP. I just didn't think I could offer any valuable input on the matter.

Well there you have it. I feel kinda bad that I didn't have a glowing review to offer, but I didn't want to sugar coat what I heard either. I'm not in ANYWAY claiming these aren't good cables. I have zero doubt that for the right person in the right system, someone could be happy with these for years to come.

Thanks again to Jesse for this opportunity! Greatly appreciate the time and effort that he put into this.

erniejade

Great and honest review.

xsmi

Great review! I am the only one who felt the cables worked well in my system all the way. That tells me that cables in my system either really stink, or that the electronics in my system like the MIT Cables.