Anaysis plus Crystal Oval IC's

tonyb

Think I finally found my huckleberry. I'm going to compare these to the MIT shotguns S3's since they are both in the same price category ....new anyway.

At first listen of the AP's my first thought was....ahhh there's the solid low bass I was missing.Tight...sharp...tuneful. The S3's was a tad sloppy down low in my system. Mids are on equal ground between the cables. Highs are also fairly equal with the MIT having a hair better, but the AP get rid of some higher freq glare I had experienced with the S3's. It wasn't a lot, just noticeable on certain songs.

Soundstage is only a tad smaller than the S3's....a tad. Actually the AP's gave more of a soundstage than what I was expecting. Low level listening detail is about the same also and detail in general is about the same. Tone....I have to give to the S3's by another small margin. They simply get it spot dead on. A tad more fleshing out too of the notes, almost to the point of being artificial though, which is bothersome to me. Musicality....even, while the AP's seemed a tad faster than the S3's all around. Many , many similarities, with some going one way and others slightly going another. Very close, yet different....if that makes any sense to you. Layering of the music front to back, slight edge goes to the MIT's.

Really all in all, slight differences separated these 2 cables, but slight enough to make positive improvements that I liked....and a few I didn't. As a whole though, for me in my system, taking everything into account and personal preferences, I have to give the AP's the nod. Also the AP's have not a lot of hours on them so I'm expecting them to open up even more so as time goes on.

BTW....neither of these 2 cables deserve a comparison to Audioquest cables.....and I've heard some of their more totl stuff....Jaguars...keep 'em, not for me. Both these cables are in a different league....on a different playing field.

The S3's were a bargain at 125.00 for what I paid, a steal actually. The Crystal ovals were 250, also a good deal over their new price. The crystal ovals aren't going to transform your system, they are a neutral cable, great detail and good soundstage, well balanced top to bottom. Now I just may have to try some of their speaker cables, maybe the black mesh 9's.

hochpt21

Nice review, Tony.

voltz

Nice!! Congrats on the finding some!

I just bought a pair of black mesh Oval 12's 6' with banana's & spades, after hearing you talk about them for so long I snagged them up.

tonyb

I suppose I should answer the obvious question not yet asked.

Are the AP's worth twice what I paid for the S3's ? Answer....no. But you don't find S3's for 125 too often. Are they worth the 250....yes, absolutely. Are they worth retail, no...not in my book anyway but then neither are the S3's, or any other high priced cable. I like Acoustic Zens, Cardas Golden Cross too, but refuse to pay that kind of coin. I've set in my brain 250 as a max for IC's...500 as a max for speaker cables which limits me to used higher end. Don't mind used though, cables are already broke in....most the time anyway.

Also of note, if your using jumpers on your speakers, and you want a smoother top end with less glare, try AP's jumper cables. Lots of dealers have demo's at about half off, so you can snag some upper line jumpers under 2 bones....some at 125 even.

voltz

Good question & answer.
I was willing to try something else when the price was right, so far the S3 & Crystal Ovals are more then I'm willing to spend to try out new cables at least on my current setup. but the Oval 12's were something I could try for the $140 price and with my SDA CRS+ coming I like to see how the Oval 12's sound and maybe use some other AP cables to go with them. I curious about these Hollow oval made cables and their sound...I know i can get affordable Chocolate oval also in bulk.

tonyb

Yeah Skip, maybe not with your tubed gear, but on an all SS system they sounded pretty good to these old ears.

Lets put things into perspective too. Every brand of speaker cables has different lines, they all do different things well, and some not so well. Only until you start reaching the top, or near the top of their lines does every aspect of the sound start to come together. Sounds crazy huh.....I know,I know...it is really, Mit is no different. The shotgun series on up is where you start experiencing everything coming together, top to bottom. Cardas is the same as well as many others. You try a lower line of xyz cable and it's missing something here or there. Another brand may improve on the others shortcomings, but also do something else wrong.....a viscous circle I tell ya.

Voltz....buy used cables dude, you'll get soo much more for your money. Go to HIFI Shark and enter what your looking for.

voltz

I know and I do agree, as curiosity killed the cat & my Wallet

My setup for my Monitor 10's is prefect for me and I'm truly happy (Doug's Furez speaker & Furez IC cables) but for my CRS's when they make it here I want to try something different. My Curiosity needs more planning.

pearsall001

Tony my good man...you're still farting around with cables? I thought you were all set there bro. Well I certainly guessed wrong LOL! Hey enjoy your new addition & it sounds like you're more than pleased. My audio motor is in cruse control for now but you never now when it'll be time to fire it back up again. Enjoy!!

tonyb

Hey Phil, nice to see ya posting.

Yeah, the cable thing....actually it's more like a synergy thing. For me anyway, if something doesn't sound right to my ears, I'll go nuts until I can fix it to a point it's at the least acceptable. Perfection is a ghost many chase their whole lives in this hobby, my aspirations aren't as illustrious....but when I gets a bug up my arse, Tony don't stop until that bug is squashed.

pearsall001

Yeah I'm still here just not as active as before that's all. That bug has gotten me many times too...way too many times in fact. Standing pat for now though. I found a great exterminator for that bug...an empty wallet with cob webs.

tonyb

Yes Sir...that'll do it. LMAO

My wallet is empty too, only a few cob webs starting in the corners and a mild squeak when it opens.

I think I've run the gamut on sub 100 buck cables, my system simply demands more. To tell the truth....I'm thinking about simplifying, selling the speaks, amp, dac, receiver, and starting over smaller.

tonyb

voltz wrote: »

Nice!! Congrats on the finding some!

I just bought a pair of black mesh Oval 12's 6' with banana's & spades, after hearing you talk about them for so long I snagged them up.

Cool bro, what are they going to be hooked up to ? I want a review asap pal. The 9's are suppose to be better in the lower bass regions with big floorstanders....and I definitely have those.

pearsall001

Say what!!!! Smaller as in what??? You have too much invested in what got you to where you're at now...I can't believe you'd give all that up. Are you moving to a smaller place or what? And here all this time I thought I was nuts LOL!!!

tonyb

I knew you would say that, lol.

Here's the thing, I have a huge room....24 by 27, you'd think I could find a great place to position the speaks well. Uh....no, stuck in a corner next to the fireplace, pisses me off too. I just don't think I can replace them with bookies and get that room filling sound and dynamics. Speaks are about 8 ft apart but with a 50 inch tv in the middle and listening position isn't square on either. Before you say it though, no....can't hang the tv over the fireplace and flag each side with the speaks. Plus I have a support pole smack dap in the middle of the room which makes everything that much harder to set up...furniture wise.

What kills me though, is you'd be hard pressed to find a better speaker for a dual purpose system that has no dedicated subwoofer....or center channel for that matter.

pearsall001

It sounds like your best bet is to leave it the hell alone! Going smaller won't work in that size room unless of course you go with bookies & augment w/ 4 subs...now we're talking. Or brick up the fireplace & run a metal beam for support & get rid of the pole. You can always relocate the pole to the bedroom if you get my drift. Problem solved with some new excitement to boot. What's the problem???

tonyb

Always the optimist ....love that about you pal. lol

Leave sh&t alone ?? Yeah...been thinking that too. Too many other things need my time and attention....and wallet.

Dawgfish

Glad you're enjoying the Solo Crystals. That's what I'm running also. I also have some Shotgun S3s that I compared the SCs too. Wait till the SCs break in some more. To me the two sound more alike than different with a big edge in bass and slam going to the SC's. I get a deeper and wider soundstage with the SCs also in my setup. It will be interesting to hear your impressions after further break in. I stopped looking for cables after going to all Solo Crystal ICs and Oval 9s for my speaker cables. The sound is exactly what I'm looking for.

tonyb

Your observations are close to mine, the 2 cables are more alike than different. Anyway, I'm waiting on a deal for some black mesh oval 9's to show their face. They really are a very nice well balanced cable top to bottom with no over emphasis on any certain frequency range.

What are yours hooked up to ?

Dawgfish

Well, they are hooked up to a lot of different things depending on what I have in the rotation at the time. For amps, I have them hooked up to an Anthem Amp 2 SE, a Rogue Stereo 88 Magnum, or a Prima Luna Prologue 5. The speaker rotation is comprised of modded SDA CRSs, Magnepan MMGs, LSiM 703s, Zu Omens, and modded SDA SRS 2s. The preamp is always the same a YS Audio Symphonies Plus R tube preamp. Sources include a NAD M-55, computer or phone streaming through a modded MHDT Labs Paradisea + DAC, and a modded Sony PS-X75 Biotracer turntable with a variety of carts and step up transformers through a modded Jolida JD 9 phono pre. How about yourself?

tonyb

Wow man, you sure keep stuff around rotating....though I can see why as every piece is one of those "hard to let go" pieces.

Mine is more so trying to be a one size fits all for HT/2 CHANNEL, and a compromise between the wife's wants and mine.

I have a Pioneer elite 21 receiver doing Ht duty, which it's fine for that. Fronts are Legacy Focus 20/20's, powered by a Butler TDB 2250. Surrounds are Polk FX500 pushed solely by the receiver....no center or sub, don't miss them either. Music is a Cullen modded Sonos into a Cary Xciter dac . BDP is a Pioneer 320, and I do have a Pioneer elite avi59 to spin cd's but doesn't get much use. The only time I use it is to gauge my progression on the digital side and do comparisons.

Cables...I've run the gamut over the years. Speaker cables are Strailey Reality bi-wires. Ic's I have the Analysis plus crystal ovals going from the dac to the receiver and to the amp I have Bogden Goldys.

I've tried the AP copper ovals but they just didn't do it in the lower bass regions like the crystal ovals. I'm thinking the Black mesh 9's for speaker cables and another crystal oval for the amp and I'd be done for along time.

footwedge

tonyb wrote: »

I've set in my brain 250 as a max for IC's...500 as a max for speaker cables which limits me to used higher end. Don't mind used though, cables are already broke in....most the time anyway.

Very sound plan. And I like yourself will limit myself to purchasing used speaker and power cables.

msg

nice review and good info here.
you mentioned Hifi Shark as a place to get cables - what are some of the other dealers you alluded to in the statement about buying used/demo cables?

when you're talking about your IC's which cables are you are you actually speaking of in this review?

for my setup and the way I listen to music, I think I'd need three:

1. digital coax out from SBT to pro
2. pro to amp
3. amp to speakers

and then consider a linear PS for the SBT and proper power cables for the amp and the pro?

tonyb

The cables I mentioned I use between my dac and receiver, which is how my music is routed. Digital cable is a Audio Metallurgy GA-O from Sonos to dac. Receiver to amp is Bogden Goldys.

The amount of cables you need simply depends on how you route it. If your going into your pre/pro and want to use it's internal dac, then you need one digital cable. If you want to use the dac in the SB, you'd need 2 analog rca cables. Depends on where you want that conversion to take place. Also, before buying an upgraded power supply for the SB, wait and hook it up first and decide if you even like either the dac in the SB or the one in your PRE/PRO. That money may be better spend on a better dac.

Hi-fi shark
Audiogon
US Audio Mart
Craigslist...in other states too.