So folks here, including myself, have surmised we may be hearing phase issues when inserting an "articulating" MIT cable into the system, or when switching between articulation modes (SD, HD, SHD) on the speaker cables, regardless of what interconnects are used upstream (including MIT).
The thought, then, is that, since the articulation technology appears to be based on phase corrections between current and voltage at various frequencies (optimal at -90 degrees, or Power Factor=0), then given two cables that might have mirroring phase characteristics at frequency A - where in fact they would probably correct each other - stand to have that synergy broken by replacing one of them with a phase-correcting MIT, by exposing the other cable's phase deficiency at that frequency; ditto elsewhere in the spectrum, for perhaps a more profound effect. Notice, current/voltage phase need not necessarily translate to phase relationships between frequencies.This could also happen by replacing all cables with MIT products that are not carefully selected.
My own experience has been that the HD setting in my HD90.1 speaker cables kinda sounded "phasey" when it was the only "articulating" cable in the chain, but wasn't sure; they no longer do, and I have recently settled on HD. But frankly, since then, I have gone all-MIT, with 50ic as the interconnects - a matched system. Those who hear "phase" issues when switching between modes on the speaker cables, might in fact be right, in that only one setting would be theoretically fully compatible with the interconnects in the system. This, then, leads to system matching down to the cable level (of any one brand), where otherwise random cable selections stand to offer unpredictable results - a conclusion that some (a lot?) of you have reached long ago. From my perspective, I wanted to somehow quantify it.
Perhaps mixing and matching some brands is OK, but it would appear MIT would not play well in a heterogeneous system. Then there is the entirely different question of whether their network technology works at all with the signal-amplifying equipment in the chain...
A potential consequence of this for Spectral owners is that, once you buy the speaker and interconnecting cables for the amp(s), you probably have to go all-MIT to get the most accurate sound. My own experience certainly confirms that, and the improvement in articulation, dynamic headroom and especially timbre is remarkable.
The thought, then, is that, since the articulation technology appears to be based on phase corrections between current and voltage at various frequencies (optimal at -90 degrees, or Power Factor=0), then given two cables that might have mirroring phase characteristics at frequency A - where in fact they would probably correct each other - stand to have that synergy broken by replacing one of them with a phase-correcting MIT, by exposing the other cable's phase deficiency at that frequency; ditto elsewhere in the spectrum, for perhaps a more profound effect. Notice, current/voltage phase need not necessarily translate to phase relationships between frequencies.This could also happen by replacing all cables with MIT products that are not carefully selected.
My own experience has been that the HD setting in my HD90.1 speaker cables kinda sounded "phasey" when it was the only "articulating" cable in the chain, but wasn't sure; they no longer do, and I have recently settled on HD. But frankly, since then, I have gone all-MIT, with 50ic as the interconnects - a matched system. Those who hear "phase" issues when switching between modes on the speaker cables, might in fact be right, in that only one setting would be theoretically fully compatible with the interconnects in the system. This, then, leads to system matching down to the cable level (of any one brand), where otherwise random cable selections stand to offer unpredictable results - a conclusion that some (a lot?) of you have reached long ago. From my perspective, I wanted to somehow quantify it.
Perhaps mixing and matching some brands is OK, but it would appear MIT would not play well in a heterogeneous system. Then there is the entirely different question of whether their network technology works at all with the signal-amplifying equipment in the chain...
A potential consequence of this for Spectral owners is that, once you buy the speaker and interconnecting cables for the amp(s), you probably have to go all-MIT to get the most accurate sound. My own experience certainly confirms that, and the improvement in articulation, dynamic headroom and especially timbre is remarkable.