Awhile back, I posted a very favorable review of the RCA version of the Nitro on Harmonic Discord. I have pasted some of the text of that review at the end of this post.
Since I use one pair of RCA interconnect between my DAC and preamp, and one pair of XLR between preamp and amp, Wayne had been trying to develop a pair of XLR Nitro that I could audition. I am able to use either RCA or XLR between preamp and amp, but I have had better results using XLR. His two previous iterations were not successful, but Wayne refused to admit defeat, and after several months since his last version, I received his latest pair of XLR along with a pair of RCA, and auditioned them this past week.
Without a doubt, Wayne has nailed it this time. The XLR version is a great success, and has earned the right to carry the Nitro name. Every quality that I had associated with the RCA Nitro now exists in the XLR. As I took notes this time, the characteristics I jotted down were finesse, agility, quick on their feet,
lots of air, nimble. These are the same things I believe I tried to convey in my earlier review.
If you asked me for recommendations on interconnects; especially XLR, I would definitely advise that the Nitro's be on your short list.
This is an excerpt of my earlier review:
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The quality I noticed immediately from the Nitro was gobs and gobs of air in a very good sense. For me, when I hear or sense the presence of air in the music, the music feels more energized and alive - breathing. Notes in the upper registers from instruments such as cymbals and bells sparkled. The piano resonated realistically and standup bass sounded quick and tight.
These qualities were not evident to me in my initial review, and in addition the soft, laid back qualities no longer applied. I would now consider the Nitro to be equally high resolution and wide bandwidth. So I'd have to assume that the blame has to fall on Wayne's xlr version of the Nitro. Apparently, they are not quite ready for prime time yet.
