A number of months ago, I had the pleasure of having an Amp3 project amp here, that Wayne had lent me to review. Uncertain of what speaker wires I had to mate with it to my Altec 19 speakers, Wayne was also kind enough to lend me some lengths of M-80 and cryoed Nitro speaker cables. Herein lies my trek and outcomes with those wires...
When I initially received the Amp 3, I had been listening to both a stock Sonic Impact amp and Teac AL-700. Mostly, I had used 22 guage (or so) radioshack single strand solid wire, twisted and also cable made from 3 pieces of Cat5 plenum wire, braided. Main reason for these was that the Sonic Impact has such *small* cable connectors, but really not that much smaller than the *tiny* inputs on the stock Altecs.
In an effort to give the Amp 3 its' best shot at sounding good in my system, I brought in the M-80 wires with adaptors to fit my speakers to its bayonettes. M-80s were definite improvement over what had been listened to before. Generally, I had listened to the 22g wire a lot, favoring it over the Cat5 braid. The M-80 wire expanded the sound, for lack of a better term. I found more integrated sound in my system, meaning that it seemed more of a flat spectrum of complete music, as opposed to hearing both the strengths and weaknesses at the same time of my previous wires. Tonally it seemed more balanced, and I was happy.
For most of my adventure with the Amp3, I listened to the M-80s, going back and forth from what I owned in digital amps to the Amp3. I really did have an agenda in this in that I was thinking that I might be able to live with the M-80s, and I really didn't want to think about up-spending to the Nitros. Well, heck, I would have been even happier if I hadn't had to spend anything at all, and could have continued listening to my home-brew cables.
Of course, who here could have 'upgrade' equipment in the house and not try it?
Given that the Amp3 was blowing it's little guts out trying to feed the Altecs and to be fair in my Amp3 review, I had to give the Nitros a try.
Yes, there was improvement. Quicker, full-spectrum response was the first thing I noticed. And I had thought nothing was wrong with the M-80! I really liked those, and found them a real bang-for-buck bargain, especially compared to my long-term favorites when I ran my Vandersteen/Bryston rig, Synergistic Research Mark IIs and Signature #2. In comparison they were 'bottom heavy' and not as balanced.
I've definitely found that bouncing between solidstate, digital and tubed amps, wires do help balance the sound, and with the Amp3 and my modded Teac, Nitros seemed to sound best.
And eventually, the Amp3 review done and the amp sent back, the Nitros stayed in the system for more intense listening with my gear. and stayed...and stayed...and time passed and I got busy and didn't have a lot of time for listening.
Well, knowing that it wasn't my gear, I was going to have to decide something about these wires and send something back. I spent a few sessions listening semi-critically, and not critically at all, and then put the M-80s back in.
Now, I *knew* the M-80 sounded greater than what I owned already with my gear but alas, *in my situation* the Nitros were head & shoulders above that. Similar to the clarity that digital amp-age had brought to my system, so too did the Nitros. In comparison, returning to the M-80 there was a certain pall layed over the music. It just wasn't as clear and succinct. Your mileage may vary of course, but in my digital system and with the wear&tear to my old ears, it seems I heard better full spectrum music with the Nitros. Essentially, it seemed 'cleaner'. Back and forth; back and forth.... Both Bolder cables sounded great, but I suppose as they should, the Nitros were a clear winner. With both my digital source and my analog, music bloomed without the least concern of some layer of grunge on the music.
Damn.
Time to sell my other kidney...
Many thanks to Wayne @ Bolder Cable for the kindnesses of lending me the speaker cables. A true gentleman to allow me to listen to his gear for so long and so well. "The check is in the mail", Wayne.
Maybe NOW I will start looking at other parts of my system to upgrade, or maybe I'll just shut up for a while and just listen...
Best Regards,
DeadFish
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=systems;system=288
