Speaker jumpers - They do make a difference

BlueFox
BlueFox Posts: 15,251
edited March 2014 in 2 Channel Audio
After going though the last few years upgrading all my cables (power, interconnect, speaker) and power I finally broke down and bought two pair of speaker jumpers. My speakers, Aerial Acoustic 7T, have nice, solid brass jumpers, and, to be honest, I really couldn't imagine a speaker jumper making much difference.

Well, once again, the real world makes a mockery of my preconceived ideas. As soon as I turned the amps on after replacing the jumpers I knew it was different. I had paused an Elgar Cello Concerto while changing, and upon resumption it appeared to be a bit louder. As I listened to it I noticed the cello would seem to move closer to the left speaker, and then come back a tad to the right. It was if the player would lean over, and then go back upright.

As they have burnt in, the soundstage is even better defined, and nuances such as note decay are longer. The over all effect is scary in its new found detail and clarity. How can this short piece of wire, which is about 4" longer than the jumpers, make this big of a difference? I guess based on my past experience with other cables I should have expected this, but I am still amazed at the improvement. I have a new pair of speakers, and they are already broke in. :smile:

Jumpers: Shunyata VTX-11

http://www.shunyata.com/index.php/our-products/signal-cables/speaker-cables/400-ref-vtx11-jumper
Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
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.
Post edited by BlueFox on
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Comments

  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,281
    edited March 2014
    Blue as much time money and effort you have put into your rig and the cheapest thing you could have replaced is the jumpers....shame, shame, shame....you should know what the last 3-letters in brass spells

    Cheers dude...and as always enjoy ;)
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,542
    edited March 2014
    Welcome to the Jumper Club :cool:

    I've been using MIT Magnum jumpers on my SDA's for years. They made an improvement even a deaf man could hear. About a year ago I installed MIT Shotgun jumpers on the RTiA7's and A6 in the HT rig and once again the improvement was not subtle, knocked that slightly hot top end down nicely.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    edited March 2014
    F1nut wrote: »
    Welcome to the Jumper Club :cool:

    I've been using MIT Magnum jumpers on my SDA's for years. They made an improvement even a deaf man could hear. About a year ago I installed MIT Shotgun jumpers on the RTiA7's and A6 in the HT rig and once again the improvement was not subtle, knocked that slightly hot top end down nicely.

    Thanks. Glad to be here. I'm already thinking of an upgrade, and move these to the HT/Surround system.

    DSkip wrote: »
    I'm shocked you didn't go shunyata.... Oh wait.

    So far, each purchase has been a big success. Someday they will have a competitor, but not now.
    txcoastal1 wrote: »
    Blue as much time money and effort you have put into your rig and the cheapest thing you could have replaced is the jumpers....shame, shame, shame....you should know what the last 3-letters in brass spells

    Cheers dude...and as always enjoy ;)


    I feel the same way. :smile: I just didn't think it would be a big deal.

    Thanks.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    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.
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,901
    edited March 2014
    I purchased some jps labs jumpers and yes they do make a difference.
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
    Puritan PSM156
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,542
    edited March 2014
    BlueFox wrote: »
    Someday they will have a competitor, but not now.

    That's a laugh.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    edited March 2014
    That's a laugh.

    :smile:

    I am really enjoying this upgrade. It's getting better and better.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    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.
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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited March 2014
    F1nut wrote: »
    That's a laugh.

    More of a slight chuckle laugh, or more of a complete laugh your A$$ off laugh Jesse? :smile:
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,962
    edited March 2014
    Me likey those jumpers Fox. Except I can't seem to find a price on them. If you don't mind me asking, where did you snag 'em.

    Jess, I can't find the MIT Magnum jumpers either.

    Congrats anyway, and like others said....that should have been the first part in your cable upgrades.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    edited March 2014
    The Cable Company is where I been buying cables for the last year or so. However, they only have two selections at this time. I ordered the Reference VTX model, and received the VTX-11 jumpers. Looking at Shunyata's site there is also a VTX-9 model, which appears even better. I will check on Monday and find out why this is not listed for sale. I will probably get the VTX-9, and move the VTX-11 to the surround system's fronts.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    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.
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    edited March 2014
    Let's see if attachments work correctly. Apparently not.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    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.
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 6,763
    edited March 2014
    I prefer to use the "integrated" jumper concept. The last pair of wires that I built (with Golden Strata wire) were similar to what Synergistic Research offers here:

    Integrated Frequency Transmission

    That way, the jumper is the same cable material as the speaker wire, and there is one less connection because the jumper shares the first spade/banana.
    For rig details, see my profile. Nothing here anymore...
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    edited March 2014
    billbillw wrote: »
    I prefer to use the "integrated" jumper concept. The last pair of wires that I built (with Golden Strata wire) were similar to what Synergistic Research offers here:

    Integrated Frequency Transmission

    That way, the jumper is the same cable material as the speaker wire, and there is one less connection because the jumper shares the first spade/banana.

    Its interesting they think its better than bi-wiring, which is what I have had all my Kimber Kable 8VS setup as (because they didnt offer 8VS jumpers till earlier this year, bastages).....

    I wonder why they think that their method of bi-wiring is any different than just a standard bi-wire. From the pictures it looks like their jumper portion is smaller than the initial wire so it still goes from a larger gauge down to a smaller one, which is pretty much what my Kimbers do.
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 6,763
    edited March 2014
    EndersShadow wrote: »
    Its interesting they think its better than bi-wiring, which is what I have had all my Kimber Kable 8VS setup as (because they didnt offer 8VS jumpers till earlier this year, bastages).....

    I wonder why they think that their method of bi-wiring is any different than just a standard bi-wire. From the pictures it looks like their jumper portion is smaller than the initial wire so it still goes from a larger gauge down to a smaller one, which is pretty much what my Kimbers do.

    Not sure if I agree that Synergistic's approach is better than other types of bi-wire, but in my case, I wanted shotgun type cable runs and jumpers, so I just integrated the jumper in a manner like they show in the photo. In my case, I used identical runs for the jumper portion, but I removed the outer jacket to make it smaller.
    For rig details, see my profile. Nothing here anymore...
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,437
    edited March 2014
    BlueFox wrote: »
    Let's see if attachments work correctly.

    you need one set of nanners fer sure:wink:
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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    edited March 2014
    You know, I thought the exact same thing. However, I have never used banana connectors before. Plus there have been posts here where people say that are too loose, or they are to tight, or they break the posts trying to get the connector out. Spades are a big hassle, but once they are on then you only need to periodically tighten the connector every once in a while.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    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.
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  • markmarc
    markmarc Posts: 2,309
    edited March 2014
    If I didn't do reviews I'd go with spades. But since I do life is much easier with banana plugs.
    Review Site_ (((AudioPursuit)))
    Founder/Publisher Affordable$$Audio 2006-13.
    Former Staff Member TONEAudio
    2 Ch. System
    Amplifiers: Parasound Halo P6 pre, Vista Audio i34, Peachtree amp500, Adcom GFP-565 GFA-535ii, 545ii, 555ii
    Digital: SimAudio HAD230 DAC, iMac 20in/Amarra,
    Speakers: Paradigm Performa F75, Magnepan .7, Totem Model 1's, ACI Emerald XL, Celestion Si Stands. Totem Dreamcatcher sub
    Analog: Technics SL-J2 w/Pickering 3000D, SimAudio LP5.3 phono pre
    Cable/Wires: Cardas, AudioArt, Shunyata Venom 3
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