Transparent Opus Gen 5 vs Transparent Opus MM2 mini review

jfrech

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John, congratulations on the Transparent upgrades. Are you saying that each step, from Opus MM2 to Opus Gen 5 to Magnum Opus, is itself as significant as a component upgrade, or is getting one of these three compared to other cables out there, like a component upgrade? Or a little of both?

Hi Peter, hope summer is going great for you and your family. I'd say a little of both...but increasing as you move up to Opus Gen 5 or Magnum Opus. I was recently considering new amps, updating my Ayre MX-R's to MX-R20s, then compared the 20's to Nagra VPA's and Nagra MSA's. While each of the 3 amps brought things to the table, so does the Gen 5 speaker cable update in a equivalent measure. For now, I've decided to stick with my MX-R's and find a time when I can send my Opus MM2 speaker cables in for the update to Gen 5.

Used Opus MM2 is just a killer option for those wanting to get into Opus...

The Magnum Opus has more energy, more integration, more textures...quicker dynamic swings (micro and macro)...it connects you closer to the musicians and their intent. I was at church yesterday and they had a small classical ensemble, a few saxes, flutes, oboe's, trumpets and strings...unamplified and I was maybe 25ft away. The thing that stuck me is the tonal balance on the Transparent cabling was just like was I was hearing there. Never aggressive highs...but full of energy, textures, details, movement...
 

number95

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May 14, 2014
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I hated this thread as John will make me upgrade my Transparent cables soon :)

Btw, I totally agree these level cables are worth component grade upgrades, not fine tuning.
 

jfrech

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I hated this thread as John will make me upgrade my Transparent cables soon :)

Btw, I totally agree these level cables are worth component grade upgrades, not fine tuning.

Trust me , I know what you mean!
 

Bobvin

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With many folks upgrading, I asked my dealer if I he had some demo cables from the older MM2 line available. He had some Reference MM2 speaker cables, a 2m pair of balanced Reference MM2 interconnects. He sent these to Transparent to get the right calibration on the interconnects, and some new spades on the speaker cables. Transparent had a couple additional pairs of RefMM2 interconnects so I was able to build out a loom for my system, with the exception of a USB cable and phono cable.

My kit consists of AMG table, Benz LP-S cartridge, Einstein Turntable's Choice phono-pre (dual mono version), Ref10, Ref75, and Alexias. I've had the same wires for years, Cardas Golden Reference interconnects, Audioquest Volcano speaker cables.

I also had TheCableCompany send me some Shunyata cables so I could compare.

The Transparent cables will be staying. They have completely transformed my system. Where I was previously somewhat averse to the idea of a network I now say who the hell cares how its done, these wires sound A WHOLE LOT BETTER. To use common vocabulary there is much more air, space, soundstage depth and layering, cleaner more articulate bass lines, better separation and deliniation—just f'in brilliant the difference these cables have made.

The Shunyata cables were a nice improvement vs. my prior wires, but the Transparent (in my system, in my room, to my ears) were clearly the better wires. Nice that buying these as used from my dealer will also mean when I move up to Gen5 my investment will hold equal value towards the upgrade.

Last spring I had attended an event at my dealer's and they had ARC GS150, GS-pre, and Wilson Sabrina connected with Gen5 cables. I thought to myself how the hell come that sounded so much better than my own rig? I thought perhaps my amp needed to upgrade to SS? Well, the cables were clearly the bottleneck and I am now a believer. Dammit all to hell, I know where this will ultimately lead...

Did I mention I'm having fun listening again? Some of the joy was missing as I knew my system just wasn't delivering what I knew it should. And a further benefit, I am listening at lower volume as I feel I don't have to force the music out, it now just flows so much more smoothly from the speakers.

***post not intended to be flame bait for audio objectivists, these are my subjective opinions***
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
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The Shunyata cables were a nice improvement vs. my prior wires, but the Transparent (in my system, in my room, to my ears) were clearly the better wires. Nice that buying these as used from my dealer will also mean when I move up to Gen5 my investment will hold equal value towards the upgrade.

I had the same experience - used Reference MM2 and tried CS/IC Shunyata and ended up selling the shunyatas. What percentage of MSRP did you end up paying for the used Reference MM2? They have been slow to show up on audiogon.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
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With many folks upgrading, I asked my dealer if I he had some demo cables from the older MM2 line available. He had some Reference MM2 speaker cables, a 2m pair of balanced Reference MM2 interconnects. He sent these to Transparent to get the right calibration on the interconnects, and some new spades on the speaker cables. Transparent had a couple additional pairs of RefMM2 interconnects so I was able to build out a loom for my system, with the exception of a USB cable and phono cable.

My kit consists of AMG table, Benz LP-S cartridge, Einstein Turntable's Choice phono-pre (dual mono version), Ref10, Ref75, and Alexias. I've had the same wires for years, Cardas Golden Reference interconnects, Audioquest Volcano speaker cables.

I also had TheCableCompany send me some Shunyata cables so I could compare.

The Transparent cables will be staying. They have completely transformed my system. Where I was previously somewhat averse to the idea of a network I now say who the hell cares how its done, these wires sound A WHOLE LOT BETTER. To use common vocabulary there is much more air, space, soundstage depth and layering, cleaner more articulate bass lines, better separation and deliniation—just f'in brilliant the difference these cables have made.

The Shunyata cables were a nice improvement vs. my prior wires, but the Transparent (in my system, in my room, to my ears) were clearly the better wires. Nice that buying these as used from my dealer will also mean when I move up to Gen5 my investment will hold equal value towards the upgrade.

Last spring I had attended an event at my dealer's and they had ARC GS150, GS-pre, and Wilson Sabrina connected with Gen5 cables. I thought to myself how the hell come that sounded so much better than my own rig? I thought perhaps my amp needed to upgrade to SS? Well, the cables were clearly the bottleneck and I am now a believer. Dammit all to hell, I know where this will ultimately lead...

Did I mention I'm having fun listening again? Some of the joy was missing as I knew my system just wasn't delivering what I knew it should. And a further benefit, I am listening at lower volume as I feel I don't have to force the music out, it now just flows so much more smoothly from the speakers.

***post not intended to be flame bait for audio objectivists, these are my subjective opinions***

Great news for you!!! Congrats...a big fan of Transparent myself, having used their cables for 10 years...my latest MM2s are all 2nd hand but fortunately calibrated to my equipment. And i have no desire to look anywhere else. Enjoy!
 

jfrech

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Sep 3, 2012
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...The Transparent cables will be staying. They have completely transformed my system. Where I was previously somewhat averse to the idea of a network I now say who the hell cares how its done, these wires sound A WHOLE LOT BETTER. To use common vocabulary there is much more air, space, soundstage depth and layering, cleaner more articulate bass lines, better separation and deliniation—just f'in brilliant the difference these cables have made.

...Did I mention I'm having fun listening again? Some of the joy was missing as I knew my system just wasn't delivering what I knew it should. And a further benefit, I am listening at lower volume as I feel I don't have to force the music out, it now just flows so much more smoothly from the speakers....

Bobvin, welcome to the Transparent club ! First you have a really nice system & congratulations !! It does't surprise me the way you reacted to the Transparent cabling...I'm glad you used your ears to decide, a few folks react to networks saying it can't be good...your (and my) ears don't lie.

Happy listening !!

PS, stay away from Opus :)
 
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microstrip

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I have seen that Rockport and Wilson Audio endorse and very often use Transparent Audio cables in shows. Do you know of any other brands that frequently use Transparent Audio Cables in their systems and demos?

BTW, I just moved to an OPUS MM2 speaker cable, replacing a Reference MM2. Nigh and day, as we audiophiles like to say! The complete OPUS MM2 cable system, including all balanced IC's, sounds really astonishing.
 

Billy Shears

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Jul 27, 2015
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I have seen that Rockport and Wilson Audio endorse and very often use Transparent Audio cables in shows. Do you know of any other brands that frequently use Transparent Audio Cables in their systems and demos?

BTW, I just moved to an OPUS MM2 speaker cable, replacing a Reference MM2. Nigh and day, as we audiophiles like to say! The complete OPUS MM2 cable system, including all balanced IC's, sounds really astonishing.

Nagra have used the new Transparent Cables for the first time at a couple of shows. As far as i am aware they always had Purist audio before that.....
 

number95

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May 14, 2014
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I have seen that Rockport and Wilson Audio endorse and very often use Transparent Audio cables in shows. Do you know of any other brands that frequently use Transparent Audio Cables in their systems and demos?

BTW, I just moved to an OPUS MM2 speaker cable, replacing a Reference MM2. Nigh and day, as we audiophiles like to say! The complete OPUS MM2 cable system, including all balanced IC's, sounds really astonishing.

Magico did with their M Projects.
 

microstrip

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Do you remember the rest of the system and which demo was this? I would guess that it was not in the US.

The system used Metronome top digital components and Constellation Audio electronics. The demo took place at their distributor in Lisbon - Imacustica http://www.constellationaudio.com/ca/events/past/imacustica_portugal_2015.php... We listened to a few tracks of my favorite recordings and I remember I had a nice chat with Irving Gross about Manuel de Falla's theatrical music.
 

jfrech

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I have seen that Rockport and Wilson Audio endorse and very often use Transparent Audio cables in shows. Do you know of any other brands that frequently use Transparent Audio Cables in their systems and demos?

BTW, I just moved to an OPUS MM2 speaker cable, replacing a Reference MM2. Nigh and day, as we audiophiles like to say! The complete OPUS MM2 cable system, including all balanced IC's, sounds really astonishing.

Congrats !! I've made that move too. Agree with you. I've since moved my for opus interconnect to gen 5, rca interconnect to magnum opus but still have opus mm2 speaker. My dealer is bringing his opus gen 5 speaker cable by in a few days. He has similar tuning- so I should get a large measure of what it can do. The interconnects from mm2 to gen 5 are a big deal ...
 

Billy Shears

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jfrech

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My dealer brought his Opus Gen 5 speaker cable by today...to compare to my Opus MM2 speaker. His are tuned for a different solid state amp and they are 25 ft long vs my 10 ft...so supposedly the tuning is a against his gen 5 (in my system) as well as the longer length vs my perfectly tuned 10 ft mm2 (for my system).

Smokes...I'm honestly surprised at the breadth of the difference. The textures, how a layer of noise is wiped away...and how the sense of fingers plucking strings, pressing a piano key, a voice moving around a microphone, how things move in space like a tambourine in the background. The extension and tightness of the bass...how you can hear a vibrating string more clearly.
 

Alpinist

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My dealer brought his Opus Gen 5 speaker cable by today...to compare to my Opus MM2 speaker. His are tuned for a different solid state amp and they are 25 ft long vs my 10 ft...so supposedly the tuning is a against his gen 5 (in my system) as well as the longer length vs my perfectly tuned 10 ft mm2 (for my system).

Smokes...I'm honestly surprised at the breadth of the difference. The textures, how a layer of noise is wiped away...and how the sense of fingers plucking strings, pressing a piano key, a voice moving around a microphone, how things move in space like a tambourine in the background. The extension and tightness of the bass...how you can hear a vibrating string more clearly.

That's really great! I had read that the Opus Gen 5 speaker cables were materially better than the Opus MM2. Do you think you'll make the move to the Gen 5?

Best,
Ken
 

Alpinist

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jfrech

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That's really great! I had read that the Opus Gen 5 speaker cables were materially better than the Opus MM2. Do you think you'll make the move to the Gen 5?

Best,
Ken

Yes. Already placed the order ! It was really cool to listen side by side...just took a few notes...wasn't something you had to strain to hear...spent 3 hours listening last night...
 

number95

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May 14, 2014
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Yes. Already placed the order ! It was really cool to listen side by side...just took a few notes...wasn't something you had to strain to hear...spent 3 hours listening last night...

Hi John,

I presume this was the last MM2 component you have had and now your system will be fully covered by Magnum Opus right? How do you overall compare Opus MM2 to Gen V Opus to Magnum Opus? I mean do you observe similar improvements between those? Or is the improvement from Opus MM2 to Gen V Opus more significant than moving to Magnum from Gen V?
 

Argonaut

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Yes. Already placed the order ! It was really cool to listen side by side...just took a few notes...wasn't something you had to strain to hear...spent 3 hours listening last night...

I dare not even glance at the RRP on these for fear of turning to stone, No, that was Medusa! Do they come in 6" lengths?
 

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