MIT Demo - Round 2

Big Dawg

Big Dawg wrote: »

I'd like to get on this list as well, if it's possible. By the time it will get around to me, I'll be well within the qualifications.

I just received a pair of MIT EXP1 speaker cables (about $200 list), so they'll be well broken in. It will be interesting to hear the differences between their lower and higher priced lines.

Sunday I'm buying nspeidel's TL modded SDA 2Bs.

Self-correction. They are nspindel's SDA 2Bs with the TL mod so well documented on this site.

acsubie

forgot to update and state that the cables have been hooked up to my RIG for a week now...these cables definitely will bring any system to life! And I thought the last MIT demo was a nice step up but not enough to upgrade...not these..These are the real deal!!

Anyway I wont be having the full four weeks since ill be leaving town for a few days in the next 2 weeks so the next in line can PM me with shipping info and these will be sent on the week of the 22nd!

Thanks again MIT and Ricardo for allowing us this generous offer!

Toolfan66

Ricardo...

Can i get on the list now?

Thanks,

Larry.

Ricardo

List Updated.

Guys, please don't forget to post a review that says a little more than "they are great". What differences did you hear, if anything. Did your rig sound better/worse, etc.

acsubie

Ricardo wrote: »

List Updated.

Guys, please don't forget to post a review that says a little more than "they are great". What differences did you hear, if anything. Did your rig sound better/worse, etc.

Oh dont worry Ricardo, I do plan on going more in depth, that was just a teaser:)

gavn8r

acsubie wrote: »

Oh dont worry Ricardo, I do plan on going more in depth, that was just a teaser:)

I certainly wouldn't mind hearing more "in depth."

phuz

Received the cables today. acsubie and Ricardo, please check your PM's.

Ricardo

Let me know if the banana plugs show up. I might have an extra pair here.

Guys, please check twice before sending the cables to make sure all spades/bananas are included.

acsubie

phuz wrote: »

Received the cables today. acsubie and Ricardo, please check your PM's.

Phuz empty your PM box..

I used the banana plugs for my connections and after unplugging them from my gear they went right in the boxes..But you never know since weirder things have happened. I will check behind my cabinet when i get home after work

phuz

acsubie wrote: »

Phuz empty your PM box..

I used the banana plugs for my connections and after unplugging them from my gear they went right in the boxes..But you never know since weirder things have happened. I will check behind my cabinet when i get home after work

Emptied.

Found the two bananas in question floating around in the plastic. All is well.

acsubie

phuz wrote: »

Emptied.

Found the two bananas in question floating around in the plastic. All is well.

thats a relief because i just spent the last 1/2 hr searching behind my rack and speakers for those lil suckers...I remember unplugging and putting them directly in box so i was very perplexed as to what could have happened..but weirder stuff has happened

Anyway enjoy them!

Ricardo

Come on guys. MIT is graciously lending us the cables for us to try in our rigs. The least we can do is post a few lines on our impressions.

Thanks!

Conradicles

Reviews? Come on guys.

phuz

I'll be wrapping things up and shipping later next week. I have a bit more critical listening to do before I can come to a conclusion.

Here's a tidbit, I frankly am not hearing many differences with these cables over my Kimber 8tc/Hero combo. Whether this means good or bad things for Kimber, MIT, or my equipment, I'm not sure. I will say that there were some fairly pronounced (positive) differences with the last MIT demo that we did in October of last year. This time around, pretty much nada.

Associated equipment:
Rotel RCD-1072
B&K Reference 5 Preamp
B&K Reference 200.2 S2 Amp
Equitech Son Of Q Balanced Power Unit
Dynaudio Contour S1.4
Big fat stinkin' Signal Cable power cables

phuz

Shipped to phipiper10 yesterday, should be there Friday.

messiah

Please add me to the list!

iskandam

wow how did I manage to skip over this thread the whole time. I'd love to join the list and put em in the ring against my Audioquest CV-4s.

Erik Tracy

iskandam wrote: »

wow how did I manage to skip over this thread the whole time. I'd love to join the list and put em in the ring against my Audioquest CV-4s.

Ok - I'm holding you to that comparison, cuz I'm running the AQ CV-4s myself and am really pleased with them.

I'd get on the list as well, but I'd probably be back in diapers by the time they got around to me....:p

F1nut

No one stinking review from any of the guys that have tried these cables. That is inexcusable! In fact, it's down right embarrassing.

You spent a lot of time listening, the least you can do is take ten minutes out of your life to write a short review.

strider

The cables were waiting for me when we got back from New England last night. Don't worry, my neighbor grabbed them for me and locked them in the house. I'll be certain to post my impressions after I get some time with them.

Ricardo

I will post my impressions on the CVT-1's in my system. Hopefully this will trigger others to do the same, since it's the least we can do after MIT offered this set at no cost for us to try in our systems.

I really didn't want to do this, because in my case on top of the different cables, I was comparing a balanced system with an unbalanced system. For true balanced components, there is a lot more than which type of connectors you are using that impacts how the system will sound.

With that disclaimer, here's what I heard. Comparison was done changing a complete set of MIT Shotgun S3 with MIT CVT-1 (two IC's and speaker cables). I let the cables burn in for approx. 250 hours, and then went back to the S3's and listened to the differences.

-Soundstage: I could not identify any difference in soundstage (depth, height or width). In this area everything stayed basically the same.

-Highs: the CVT's made the high frequencies a little hotter. Not at the level of being harsh and didn't experience fatigue, but to my ears it was very noticeable. Having said that, I could definitely live with this.

-Lows: with the CVT's the bass was thinner. This was very apparent since day one, and when I went back to the S3's I smiled. Huge difference in my system, and this gives the edge to the S3's.

So there it is; let's hear from the rest!

phipiper10

OK, First things first. Thanks Ricardo for organizing and coordinating!
Thanks to MIT for extending this kind offer to our group.

Listened to my usual suspects - (I might have to expand this group very shortly however).

Garcia, Grisman Rice (HDCD)
Neil Young (HDCD)
Sara McLauchlan
Norah Jones

For reference here is my review of the previous Demo
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67455&page=4

The cables are BIG and THICK and the boxes on the cables are LARGE. You should probably have some support or nice resting spot for these boxes as you wouldn't want the cables and boxes to be supported by the banana plugs (or your connection of choice) to your speakers.

I don't mind the big and thick. I kind of like it. Just wonder though if they couldn't get the same effect with smaller boxes. Hmmm????

Believe I have a fairly wide/tall Soundstage now. (I attribute mostly to the Tylers)
These certainly didn’t make it any larger if anything brought it in a bit and tightened things up. It most definitely pushed the musicians in my recordings out in front of the speakers. Much more than with my AQ. I really liked this a lot. You can call it forward I suppose but I’d just call it out in front. I wasn’t attacked by sound though the sound had great “attack” if you follow. Particularly with Garcia, Grisman and Rice. I swear they could have been 6’ away and the speakers are about 9’ away from my listening position so I mean REALLY like they were there standing in front of the speakers playing.

This was without question the closest Garcia has ever been to being in my living room. Really!! At times I thought I could guess the brand of strings on his guitar or could guess the notes and chords being played. His voice wasn’t just rough and crackly. I could hear phlegm or congestion. There was most definitely an added visual component due, I think, to the realistic reproduction of the music.

This disc, The Pizza Tapes, was truly a musical highlight in my rig.

By comparison to the previous demo cables the bass is much more refined – at least in my system. You can call it less pronounced but for me and my room, this is a much more evenly balanced cable overall.

The key to it all though was the resolution and inner detail. Clarity all the way around in bottom end with definition, the mids and highs were as good as I’ve ever heard in my system. The vocals for all the artists sounded new and fresher than ever. Strings were never etchy, bright or harsh and not too smooth either. These were not “liquid” mids that some might be familiar with and adore. This to me was a more honest, balanced presentation.

Something I mentioned in the last MIT demo was how the instruments were compartmentalized. These cables had a similar effect but to a much lesser degree. The separation was great and you could identify every instrument, string pluck or note but it never sounded artificial as I thought it did at times with the previous demo.

When listening to Sara I most definitely heard additional echoes from the recording room. Not just a single echo as normal but 2nd and 3rd echoes on the same vocal and most definitely less bass bloom.

For me these cables are in another league from my AQ wires and certainly head and shoulders above the previously demo’d MIT cables.

I could definitely get into these but the cost is most definitely prohibitive and at this point. It’s unlikely I’d encounter these in the near future. I'm fairly satisfied with my cables at the price I paid but this was a VERY nice experience.

Thanks again Ricardo and MIT!

Rich

F1nut

Ok, we still need reviews from H9, SKSolutions, Acsubie and Phuz.

SKsolutions

I had the CVT's in the rig for only a seemingly short few weeks. This was the most expensive cabling I've used to date. With the cost associated with these, my estimation was that they would only be appropriately utilized when paired with components a bit further up the stream toward true hi-fi, wringing from them, the last bit of performance. It's not that they are that actually that expensive, but as a value proposition, cables tend to be lower on my list than say. . a new front end. Well, that turned out to be an incorrect assumption.

In a sense, this is a retrospective because I'm collecting impressions from the past, and I've reread my post right before shipping them on the next demo participant. They've been gone for a few months, and I've had time to readjust to the AQ cables and BWA's.

Instead of listing bass/treble/mid differences to a forum of people that haven't hear either the before or the after, I'll try to remember what it was that made me smile more, and what has changed. What am I'm missing today? These things should be easily measurable and confirmed without the need for expensive equipment and I didn't have to wear a lab coat or a safety device. . . No A/B tests required.

I've had fewer opportunities to watch the hair on my arm stand up. I listen less frequently than before, and at a slightly higher level . . to try to bring 'it' back. I'm less connected with what I hear. I'm moved less often and to a lesser degree. I'm less fooled and convinced on live-ish recordings. I really miss the top end. Yes, they are just cables.

We all spend varing amounts of time and money on this pursuit, and we're often changing out gear. I don't have the exact rig that I would want. . currently still running with the Cambridge front end, & B&K Amp driving the Dynaudios, but the improvement in presentation was if I had the better gear, or made a more substantial change. MIT is time and money well spent.
There will be a set of these in my future, even without upgrading what I feel should be 'next'. They really do rock, and I'll say it again, the Dyn's LOVED these cables.

If pushed to label what they did best, I'd say it was their timing. Maybe it's a better phase retention which is what I would partly associate with the improvement in imaging, a 'quicker' sound and and extended and focused mid-top end. I'm sure there are other factors, but I don't really feel the need to know any longer. I'd just like to plug them back in.
Thanks to Gavin for the Demo, Ricardo for all the coordinating, Jesse for the reminder, and the community for making it possible.

Ricardo

Guys, your reviews make mine look so poor Thanks for taking the time to do it right!!

gavn8r

Hey Guys-

I hope you're all having a good time auditioning the CVT Terminator 1 speaker cables and interconnects. Thanks for the comments about your experience. Keep them coming!

I'm more than happy to give special pricing to Club Polk members if you're interested in buying the CVT's or any other product from MIT Cables. Just give me a call at the office (-- 916.625.0129 --) or send me a private message and tell me what you're looking for. It's the least I can do for all of you.

Gavin

strider

Thanks Gavin. You guys make some great products.

My demo ran a bit over, my apologies to all involved.

Sent a PM to Mark (baggedlancer) and will get them sent out ASAP.

Ben

strider

Mark's passed on the demo at this point.

Looks like Steve's up next....

strider

First, a big thanks to Gavin and MIT for making this demo possible. Takes a lot of trust to ship out a couple grand worth of equipment out to strangers. Thanks, too, to Ricardo for organizing the demo on the CP end.

My system consists of a Tim Rawson built Pass Labs B1 buffer preamp feeding an active crossover from audio-kits.com. An op amp based Linkwitz Reilly 4th order crossover, I just swapped out the resistors responsible for the XO frequency raising it to 200hz from 120hz. The high pass goes to a Trends TA10.1 Class T integrated (6wpc thank you very much) and the low pass to a Rotel 980bx (300 soemthing into 4 ohms per side). The Trends powers a pair of Fostex FE127e based Fonken single driver monitors and the Rotel powers a pair of Fonkenwoof TL with 2 7" drivers in a push/push configuration per side. Both speakers I built. Sources are a Project Debut III TT played through a Hagtech Bugle phono pre and a Pacific Valve Fathom NOS USB DAC fed FLAC files burned with db Poweramp to an external HD. ICs are MIT Terminator 3 and 4, Kimber PBJ, Signal Analog I's, and Zu Fuels. Speaker cables are Bluejeans 10 ga Belden for the low end and either home made CAT5 or Audioquest 4s on the high end.

First I tried a pair of the ICs in between my DAC and pre. They replaced the Signal Cables. The best way I could describe the difference I heard was as if a slight haze had been lifted from the sound. Better articulation throughout the spectrum, instruments seemed more palpable and voices had a bit more emotion to them.

Second I hooked up the speaker cables in place of the AQs between the Trends and the Fonkens. To me the sound seemed darker or attenuated in some way. The improved articulation was still there, but I didn't care for the overall sound with the cables in this position. I then swapped the cables to the low end, reinserting the AQs at the high end. Now we're talking; the high end opened back up and the low end improved quite a bit. The low end seemed to extend much lower, whether the frequency response actually improved (maybe?) or it just sounded deeper do to the improved clarity (more then likely) I can't say for certain. More growl to the electric bass lines, more punch to the drums, definitely heard the resonance of the lower piano notes better. Either the synergy wasn't there with the Trends/Fonken combo (I've read the single drivers and Class T amps need a thinner wire to play best together) or it was a psychosomatic response to speaker cables with boxes larger then the integrated they were attached to. I'd like to think it was a synergy thing.

Biggest "oh ****" moment came next. Put the second pair of ICs in between the XO and the Trends. Wasn't certain what to expect here, the active XO has a Kimber PBJ feeding it from the B1 and I wasn't certain if the MITs in this position would make a difference. Damn if they didn't. Biggest improvement was the soundstage depth and the layering. Instrument placement, typically one of the strong suits of the single drivers, improved greatly. The sounds of instruments and vocals seemed more 3 dimensional and had more weight rather then thin and fleeting.

Overall I was very pleased with the MIT cables performance, especially in the positions they ended up in in the long run. IC and speaker cables upgrades aren't high on the audio agenda right now, but when they are I'll be looking MIT's way.

phuz

phuz wrote: »

I'll be wrapping things up and shipping later next week. I have a bit more critical listening to do before I can come to a conclusion.

Here's a tidbit, I frankly am not hearing many differences with these cables over my Kimber 8tc/Hero combo. Whether this means good or bad things for Kimber, MIT, or my equipment, I'm not sure. I will say that there were some fairly pronounced (positive) differences with the last MIT demo that we did in October of last year. This time around, pretty much nada.

Associated equipment:
Rotel RCD-1072
B&K Reference 5 Preamp
B&K Reference 200.2 S2 Amp
Equitech Son Of Q Balanced Power Unit
Dynaudio Contour S1.4
Big fat stinkin' Signal Cable power cables

Guys I'm sorry and I wish I had more to say, but my last post pretty much says it all. As to the why or what, I don't know. I just didn't hear a difference with these cables. It's all the same gear, same room, same source material, same everything as last time.

I *did* hear a difference in the last MIT demo. I really liked what I heard, and had really hoped that this time I would get even more of what I heard before. Unfortunately it just didn't ring true this time.

A bit thanks to those who have sponsored and worked on this.