Cables for Magnepan

MrAcoustat

New Member
Jun 5, 2012
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Hi Andre,

I understand that somebody does not like Silvercables on Maggies.
But what is wrong with Biwiring?
I tried single and biwiring. In my opinion there is a better control in the bass region.

Andreas

Hi Andreas, this may be just a personal choice but on the 1.6qr bi wiring for ME gave to much highs and on single pair of wiring it was much better.
 

andi

Well-Known Member
Apr 9, 2012
97
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913
Germany
Ok, if the bass is cleaner you get the feeling of more highs. Thats right.

Because I am an old man, I like more highs ;)

Andreas
 

MrAcoustat

New Member
Jun 5, 2012
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Ok, if the bass is cleaner you get the feeling of more highs. Thats right.

Because I am an old man, I like more highs ;)

Andreas

Not old Andreas wiser, i know i will be 67 in august.
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2011
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I would not go too much with what cables worked on the 1.6s. The 1.7s and other new Maggies are a whole new ballgame.
 

bdiament

Member
Apr 26, 2012
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New York area
In my view, cables, like any other component in the chain, should selected for their ability to get out of the way rather than for a "color". (I don't find the latter approach works anyway; in my experience, rather than ameliorating a flaw elsewhere in the system, the "complementary colors" approach simply adds an additional one.)

To my ears, when selected for their ability to get out of the way, cables (or any other component) will apply to the .7 series Maggies as they did to the .6 Maggies. The newer speakers will simply take even better advantage of their quality.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com
 

andi

Well-Known Member
Apr 9, 2012
97
5
913
Germany
Hello together,

after a long time I come back to this thread.
Unfortunately I had some healthproblems and other things to do than cable testing. Now everything is fine again.

Meanwhile I bought a pair of Nordost Reddawn II speakerwires for the Maggie 3.6 to get an idea what Nordost can do.

Before that I used a cheap german brand cable (approx 5$ / foot). This cable did a good job and presented a compact image and nice sonics.

The RD was something like a shock. Very, very big soundstage, much better layered than before. Without the pads it is too bright in my system / room. With the stock pads it is much better.

Now I try to get familiar with this kind of sound ( so much details now). To be honest, I get a little bit nervous during listening to the system.

Keep you informed.

Best Regards
Andreas
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Andreas, if you are using the pads, the best $4 you could spend would be to buy resistors with non-inductive Ayrton-Perry windings for the Maggies. An example are these:
http://www.vishay.com/docs/30204/rsns.pdf

Magneplanars are sort of my competitors, but the resistors would improve them tremendously.
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
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Andreas, if you are using the pads, the best $4 you could spend would be to buy resistors with non-inductive Ayrton-Perry windings for the Maggies. An example are these:
http://www.vishay.com/docs/30204/rsns.pdf

Magneplanars are sort of my competitors, but the resistors would improve them tremendously.

Yes Magnepan used to suggest Cadock non-inductive resistors ;)
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
Hello together,

after a long time I come back to this thread.
Unfortunately I had some healthproblems and other things to do than cable testing. Now everything is fine again.

Meanwhile I bought a pair of Nordost Reddawn II speakerwires for the Maggie 3.6 to get an idea what Nordost can do.

Before that I used a cheap german brand cable (approx 5$ / foot). This cable did a good job and presented a compact image and nice sonics.

The RD was something like a shock. Very, very big soundstage, much better layered than before. Without the pads it is too bright in my system / room. With the stock pads it is much better.

Now I try to get familiar with this kind of sound ( so much details now). To be honest, I get a little bit nervous during listening to the system.

Keep you informed.

Best Regards
Andreas

One inexpensive cable that used to work well with Maggie's (haven't heard the newer versions) is OCOS.
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Yes Magnepan used to suggest Cadock non-inductive resistors ;)

I know that Caddock has a high power metal film, but that is a little brittle in the high frequencies.

I prefer Ayton-Perry wire wound. The absolute best would be the Vishay metal foil, but those can be over $100 each. You can sometimes find the white ceramic types with Ayton-Perry windings, but they are extremely rare and would have to be custom made.
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
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New York City
I know that Caddock has a high power metal film, but that is a little brittle in the high frequencies.

I prefer Ayton-Perry wire wound. The absolute best would be the Vishay metal foil, but those can be over $100 each. You can sometimes find the white ceramic types with Ayton-Perry windings, but they are extremely rare and would have to be custom made.

Thanks for the info Gary.

And the problem often is that it's difficult to get these resistors in lots of 2 :)
 

A.wayne

New Member
Jan 14, 2011
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I know that Caddock has a high power metal film, but that is a little brittle in the high frequencies.

I prefer Ayton-Perry wire wound. The absolute best would be the Vishay metal foil, but those can be over $100 each. You can sometimes find the white ceramic types with Ayton-Perry windings, but they are extremely rare and would have to be custom made.

Ayton-perry vs the Vishays ...? Refreshing xover at the moment ....
 

andi

Well-Known Member
Apr 9, 2012
97
5
913
Germany
Myles,

I have seen your OCOS recommendation earlier too.
I will check it out over the time.

My intention is to climb up the Nordost ladder.
Heimdall will be the next try. I use the Heimdall ICs and like them very much.

Best Regards
Andreas
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Ayton-perry vs the Vishays ...? Refreshing xover at the moment ....

I wish that I could say get XXX - it's the best. However, just like assembling a system, the "best" might not be right in that application. The Vishay metal foil (not the film) are very special, but I wouldn't use them in every instance. The Caddock metal film (for example) also sound very good in some locations in a crossover. There is even a place for a thick-film resistor in a crossover.

My recommendation for the wirewound and Vishay foil was specifically for the pads for a pair of Magneplanars.
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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Gary,

thanks for the info on Vishay. Unfortunately they are hard to get in Germany.
I found Mundorf resistors which seems to be good for this application:
http://www.mundorf.com/english 1.1/mresist.htm
These are around 15 US$.
What do you think?

Best Regards
Andreas

Andreas - not enough specifications on the Mundorf website to comment. If they commissioned non-inductive windings in their "ceramic coffin" then they could be very good. I'm surprised that you cannot find the Vishay NH-series non-inductive wirewound resistors in Germany.
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
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Andreas - not enough specifications on the Mundorf website to comment. If they commissioned non-inductive windings in their "ceramic coffin" then they could be very good. I'm surprised that you cannot find the Vishay NH-series non-inductive wirewound resistors in Germany.

I have used the Mundorf MResist SUPREME to improve my SoundLab crossover with success. Although they changed the H for an F and perhaps the decimals in the english translation of the specifications I think they can be classified as non-inductive "Due to the complex bifilar structure from 1? with two wires being wound around the high-temperature-resistant cement element simultaneously the inductance is always bellow 75?F (!)." and "MRES20 Audiophile-resitors, non-magnetic, non-inductive, 50ppm/°C, 20 watt" . It looks they used the google translator. :)
 

DonH50

Member Sponsor & WBF Technical Expert
Jun 22, 2010
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Interesting comments from Gary and all. A few techie notes:

Film resistors tend to have much higher bandwidth than WW; makes me wonder if the WW resistors are rolling off the highs a bit more and taking the edge off.

Metal film resistors tend to be noisier than carbon film but of course everyone knows metal film are "best". :) Before anyone yells, in this application it doesn't matter.

The "non-inductive" WW resistors tend to be bilar or multilayer wras so the inductance is cancelled. What they are not saying is that capacitance is thus highre, leading to lower bandwidth. This can be a plus if your are trying to tame a hot high end.

I am not sure what "non-magnetic" means in a resistor; few resistors have significant magnetic properties.

Interesting thread... - Don
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
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New York City
Interesting comments from Gary and all. A few techie notes:

Film resistors tend to have much higher bandwidth than WW; makes me wonder if the WW resistors are rolling off the highs a bit more and taking the edge off.

Metal film resistors tend to be noisier than carbon film but of course everyone knows metal film are "best". :) Before anyone yells, in this application it doesn't matter.

The "non-inductive" WW resistors tend to be bilar or multilayer wras so the inductance is cancelled. What they are not saying is that capacitance is thus highre, leading to lower bandwidth. This can be a plus if your are trying to tame a hot high end.

I am not sure what "non-magnetic" means in a resistor; few resistors have significant magnetic properties.

Interesting thread... - Don

I think they're referring to the leads Don. Many caps and resistors use a ferromagnetic wire that allows the piece to be easily picked up off the assembly line. OTOH, ferromagnetic leads in my experience, add a harshness/brightness to the sound in the upper midrange. (that was done comparing the same cap with copper and ferromagnetic leads a while ago.)
 

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