Input cables for Spectral preamps?

twitch

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2010
594
236
1,605
SE Pa
David, my reference was made in somewhat of a comparison to a situation years ago when a certain snowmobile manufacturer was insisting that 'their' brand of oil to be used in order to maintain the engine warranty even though other brands had oil that met spec. Simply put, when that happens the manufacturer becomes obligated to provide the oil !

Thus my reference to the Spectral / MIT cable thing.
 

acousticsguru

Well-Known Member
Feb 17, 2014
505
324
373
David, my reference was made in somewhat of a comparison to a situation years ago when a certain snowmobile manufacturer was insisting that 'their' brand of oil to be used in order to maintain the engine warranty even though other brands had oil that met spec. Simply put, when that happens the manufacturer becomes obligated to provide the oil !

Thus my reference to the Spectral / MIT cable thing.

First of all, "oil" for an engine sounds much like a snake-oil argument and hardly a technical inevitability, secondly, MIT is not "their" but an independent brand, and thirdly, Spectral do provide their "Spectral"-branded MIT cables which theoretically speaking they could include along with their product for a price (if you take them by their word, it's as if that were fact anyhow - they do not make believe their products to be cheaper than they are misinforming the customer, on the contrary, all you ever hear is one must use the appropriate cable to prevent damage), if forced to do so, the only difference would be that we customers would additionally suffer from it in no longer being able to upgrade within the MIT (e.g. Oracle) line of cables. A "set price" might keep some customers from buying their product (but only customers who willingly ignore what they're being told all along), but the technical necessity for power amps can't be argued.

But, to reiterate, Spectral isn't MIT, and it does appear they're conscious of pricing (e.g. Oracle Matrix 50 was one of three interconnects designed along with the second-to-latest and latest generation of Spectral amps and approved by Spectral, even so, they chose the more moderately priced HD 36 and HD 23 as UL-350III and UL-230III). I have little doubt that if they owned MIT, the cables would be priced more moderately to suit the pricing of their electronics (having said that, the latter have gone up noticeably in price for the latest generation, at least here in Europe, hardly an effect of the exchange rate).

Personally, being a Spectral customer myself, I've always thought of electronics plus cabling as a "set price" for exactly this reason. What I do like about it is one doesn't misspend money trying to mix and match cables as with most other brands (been there, done that) - it effectively saves money to know what one needs (and really wants, as they're designed together) to get to achieve the intended result versus having to try and find out by trial and error.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
 
Last edited:

twitch

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2010
594
236
1,605
SE Pa
OK, so tell me......what is the 'appropriate cable' ? specs ?
 

acousticsguru

Well-Known Member
Feb 17, 2014
505
324
373
In that paper, points 1 & 2 are important, while point 3 is incorrect.

Could you go into more detail? I've invariably been told that running low frequency cables in parallel with power cables, digital cables and/or loudspeaker cables is a no-go.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing