Master Built-What are Owners Hearing That They Didn't Hear With Other Cables

[mullard88]

Hi audio.bill,

On your post #338, I will post further impressions as the Crofts settle in.

 

[mullard88]

In the last 9 nights, I had the main system playing from the time I get home until the next morning when I leave for work. After listening, I have left my bedroom door open, commanded the Hegel Mohican to go into repeat cd mode! doze off to dreamland and then awake to beautiful music the following morning.

From inside my bedroom, it sounds like there is a live performance in the next room. For example, a piano will sound like there is a piano being played in the next room. The entire frequency is very evenly reproduced, there is no frequency that's emphasized. The dynamics are unrestrained allowing the loudness to freely ascend and descend.

Inside the music room, the presence of the piano is felt. The sense of it vibrating there, its resonance, its woodiness. It simply and distinctly sounds like a piano.

On my listening seat, the soundstage is huge, really big. When I turn my head to the left, the stage extends yonder beyond the left side wall. I feel the same sense of the right side wall disappearing and the soundstage extending through the wall when I turn my head to the right. Instruments and singers are life size. The layering I initially missed is plain to hear. I can tell when a singer is more stage front than another Singer. In a chorus, I can tell the singers are of different heights. The voices are beautifully distinct from each other. The soundstage is exactly the same as with the Spectral DMA360 S2. It starts from the front of the speakers and extends right through the back wall. The frequency range is extended and very evenly done. The bass is full and satisfying even without subwoofer. The highs are extended, even delicate sounds are not just hinted but realistically blended in. The ambience is not too obvious or even slightly emphasized, it is just the way it is when attending the show. It is amazing how busy the stage can get with the amount of details that are resolved yet it is not difficult to track the details. The sound is so devoid of "hifiness" the chain of equipment used to reproduce the music does not seem to exist. There is no listening fatigue. It's amazing how musically satisfying it is and how quickly time flies by.

 

[JackD201]

I'm so happy, you're happy Sam. While I await my turn, it's fun to live vicariously through you, Jim and Steve. Now to find a new home for my 11Mk2s!

In the meantime, I took some inspiration from you and re-upped my bedroom set up.

VR-44
Valvet L2 tube pre
KR VA900 monos with KT120 tubes
EERA Autographe
2 Ultra XLRs (Player to Pre and Pre to Amps)
Signature SCs
Signature PCs (Amps)
Mater BUilt PL PCs (Player and Pre)
15ft Signature PC to PS Audio distributor.

Been playing a lot of Christmas CDs and it has helped bring the Christmas spirit after what I would call my most challenging year yet.

 

[RogerD]

In the last 9 nights, I had the main system playing from the time I get home until the next morning when I leave for work. After listening, I have left my bedroom door open, commanded the Hegel Mohican to go into repeat cd mode! doze off to dreamland and then awake to beautiful music the following morning.

From inside my bedroom, it sounds like there is a live performance in the next room. For example, a piano will sound like there is a piano being played in the next room. The entire frequency is very evenly reproduced, there is no frequency that's emphasized. The dynamics are unrestrained allowing the loudness to freely ascend and descend.

Inside the music room, the presence of the piano is felt. The sense of it vibrating there, its resonance, its woodiness. It simply and distinctly sounds like a piano.

On my listening seat, the soundstage is huge, really big. When I turn my head to the left, the stage extends yonder beyond the left side wall. I feel the same sense of the right side wall disappearing and the soundstage extending through the wall when I turn my head to the right. Instruments and singers are life size. The layering I initially missed is plain to hear. I can tell when a singer is more stage front than another Singer. In a chorus, I can tell the singers are of different heights. The voices are beautifully distinct from each other. The soundstage is exactly the same as with the Spectral DMA360 S2. It starts from the front of the speakers and extends right through the back wall. The frequency range is extended and very evenly done. The bass is full and satisfying even without subwoofer. The highs are extended, even delicate sounds are not just hinted but realistically blended in. The ambience is not too obvious or even slightly emphasized, it is just the way it is when attending the show. It is amazing how busy the stage can get with the amount of details that are resolved yet it is not difficult to track the details. The sound is so devoid of "hifiness" the chain of equipment used to reproduce the music does not seem to exist. There is no listening fatigue. It's amazing how musically satisfying it is and how quickly time flies by.

It's amazing what a well executed and designed grounding shield can do for audio cables MB has done their homework....very nice.

 

[Steve Williams]

I have had my new loom burning in and am absolutely amazed at these cables. I have never heard such detail, clarity , dynamics as well as top and bottom extension without so much of a hint of coloration.

I am awaiting delivery of a pair of Ultra PC's for my amps. Presently Leif has loaned me a pair of early model PC prototypes and have already out performed the PC's I replaced them with.

The change in sound stage is so dramatic that on occasion it is almost startling as it truly seems the singers and musicians are in the room

Thank heaven I don't have a bedroom system like Jack where I feel the need to re up the ante as these cables each day continue to provide sonic changes with each day more of burn in.

Finally the amount and degree of bass that I am getting now with the new Ultra SC's is so dramatic that I continue to scratch my head wondering how my 32 wpc amps are cranking out bass with such magnitude.

I truly believe that for my ears these MB cables are the the best cables I have ever had in my system. I am going to follow Jack's lead and order an Ultra phonocable from the arm to the phono stage.

The other truly remarkable fact that I am finding is that I can spend hours in my room listening without any brightness that would otherwise be fatiguing.

It is very difficult to describe these cables without sounding like a kid in toy land at Christmas as the words we are all using to describe them evoke calls from our "hyperbole police" who tell us to get down to earth in our descriptions of what we are hearing. My sound system with these new MB cables has brought me to a place I never knew existed.

Congratulations Sam as I know exactly what you are hearing. You need to invite Jerry over as I know he would be very impressed.

So far I have yet to hear of anyone who has asked Leif for a loaner pair of MB cables to audition who hasn't purchased the cable. They are something all audiophiles need to hear in their own system

 

[Al M.]

So far I have yet to hear of anyone who has asked Leif for a loaner pair of MB cables to audition who hasn't purchased the cable. They are something all audiophiles need to hear in their own system

If they can afford them. My next upgrade will be a new DAC, in a year or two maybe. In the meantime I am happy with what I have.

There is simply no way that a cable can substitute for optimum quality at the source. No doubt a great cable can make a considerable difference in a system once everything else is taken care of to optimum extent or close to it (like in yours it seems, at least for analog), but it's all a matter of balance. If I have 20 grand to spend on a DAC or on cables, the money goes to the DAC, especially since digital is my only source.

 

[mullard88]

Hi Jack,

I could have been this happy earlier had you shared this secret before Steve told the forum.

It seems imminent I will be further wowed in my future visits to your place.

I hope to read your observations and impressions on your upgraded bedroom sound in the near future.

It's great that you are feeling the Christmas spirit. It's a bit late but better than going through the season without feeling it.

 

[mullard88]

Thank you Steve.

I will definitely invite Jerry and Philip over.

I suppose it is the top to bottom extension of the frequency range and the even handedness in its execution that makes instruments sound so complete and so real. I am beginning to feel that cables may be more important than electronics and speakers. I feel excited to rotate all my amplifiers into the system. And I am not even listening to a full loom.

Enjoy Steve.

 

[Leif S]

Thank you Steve.

I will definitely invite Jerry and Philip over.

I suppose it is the top to bottom extension of the frequency range and the even handedness in its execution that makes instruments sound so complete and so real. I am beginning to feel that cables may be more important than electronics and speakers. I feel excited to rotate all my amplifiers into the system. And I am not even listening to a full loom.

Enjoy Steve.

Hi Sam

I'm really happy you are enjoying your system so much.

4 years ago I would have never said this, but I now believe it is definitely just as important as every other component in the system.

I will have 2 Ultra PC's here tomorrow and it's going to take everything I have "NOT" to install them in my system lol. I don't even want to know or go down that road. I will stick with my Signatures.

Leif

 

[Steve Williams]

Heck

don't forget where those two Ultra PC's go

 

[Leif S]

Heck

don't forget where those two Ultra PC's go

Haha

 

[Ron Resnick]

I have received from confidential sources information indicating that the hyperbole police are focused on this thread, and that charges are being prepared.

 

[Leif S]

Hello Ron

 

[Folsom]

 

[NorthStar]

'Tis the season!

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hello Leif!

 

[Al M.]

I have received from confidential sources information indicating that the hyperbole police are focused on this thread, and that charges are being prepared.

Glad to hear that, Ron! I look forward to the always valuable insights of the hyperbole police.

 

[microstrip]

I have received from confidential sources information indicating that the hyperbole police are focused on this thread, and that charges are being prepared.

Ron,

It is the main aim of this thread - keeping the hyperbole police focused and busy, while we report on our other audio wonders ...

 

[PeterA]

Thank you Steve.

I will definitely invite Jerry and Philip over.

I suppose it is the top to bottom extension of the frequency range and the even handedness in its execution that makes instruments sound so complete and so real. I am beginning to feel that cables may be more important than electronics and speakers. I feel excited to rotate all my amplifiers into the system. And I am not even listening to a full loom.

Enjoy Steve.

Mullard, that is a pretty provocative comment. When thinking about system building priorities, would you consider cable choice before other component choices, or only after the rest of the system is complete? From the extremely consistent and positive impressions I've read on this thread, it might be possible to buy a loom of MB cables (assuming one can afford them) and put that decision aside while selecting the rest of the gear. In other words, this is the first time that I have not read any consideration about, or effect of, system synergy with these cables. They seem to be the perfect solution in every case, and far superior to all previous cables as reported by owners. This is completely unique in my readings about audio components.

Al M. does make an interesting comment about prioritizing one's budget. If funds matter, would one be better served by allocating the $40K or whatever for these cables toward a better source or do you feel that the source's potential can never be fully realized unless it is heard with MB cables?

I agree with Ron about the hyperbole, but the more I read about these cables, I must confess, the more curious I've become. I would really like to hear them in a familiar system or my own to see what all the fuss is about. It may be very well justified.

 

[Steve Williams]

I agree with Ron about the hyperbole, but the more I read about these cables, I must confess, the more curious I've become. I would really like to hear them in a familiar system or my own to see what all the fuss is about. It may be very well justified.

I have suggested to everyone that IMO the best way to audition this cable is in your own system against your own cable with which you are familiar