[2bigears]

   is there a cable that shines with these speakers and draws all out of them...?? with my external x-over i have to run 6 runs a side,which is a lot of cable and terminations....

[ted_b]

Funny you should start this.  I'm taking a breather from rewiring my Revs.  I have a boatload of eval speaker cables inhouse, including my AZ Satori shotgun (biwires) and some anti-cable-like stuff.   My fave combo so far, up to now, is:

Amp to speaker ("main")    Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerator stereo pair, active shielded (jumpers used)
Xover-to-speaker ("woofer")   Alpha Core Goertz MI2 (this resembles Bob's copper design)
Xover-to-speaker ("tweet")    Alpha Core Goertz AG2 (this resembles Bob's silver/gold design)

I've tried endless combo's and have just wired up ALL Tesla actives and will give that a try now, and report back.  The Satori (main, no jumper needed) and Goertzes is a decent second, with a little roll off up top maybe, and a slightly less musical bass. 

The current setup (pun intended) gives all the pluses one would think....open, lots of air, dynamic, organic, wide/deep stage.  It's ever so slightly leaning a drollop or two too bright, but I reason that the Satori sound is what I was used to, and that the cables have only been in for 48 hours.  Also, the Goertz AG2 is all-silver; Bob's umbilicals will be silver/gold.  Regardless, the Goertz's resemble Bob's very low inductance design, and i wanted to experience that; the capacitance is very very high, but the xover and amp design mitigate that just fine.

[2bigears]

  hey Ted,thks for that.At the moment i have Zu Abis to the box with Bobs jumpers and MI1 to hi/low's.I have MI3's coming next week,with silver spades[all 4 runs],hoping that works.   Why did you go silver on the hi's ????

[ted_b]

Pat,
I've commissioned Bob for the xover-to-speaker (umbilicals) for all five of mine (Revs and soon-to-be-deilvered Continuum, AD's).  I went silver on the highs cuz Bob's cables will be silver/gold Mundorf on the highs, and copper Mundorf on the lows. 

A quick update:  I still like the control of the Goertz design on the umbilicals, instead of tonights all-Tesla.  The Tesla actives sound GREAT as mains, but I think I get better bass control and overall better dynamics with the higher capacitance umbilicals.  I'll swap them again before I need to send them back to The Cable Company a week from Monday.

[Double Ugly]

Hi Pat,

I auditioned a pair of Gregg Straley's Reality Cables SCs a while back (thanks, Lonewolf  ) and I've had no desire to use anything else since.

They're the best speaker cables I've used regardless of price, but thankfully they aren't terribly expensive (in comparison to what they replaced, anyway).  $250 will get you an 8' pair, a bargain IME.

You can try other brands, design types, etc., but I'd be surprised if you find a better cable, especially a less expensive one. 

On a side note, when I auditioned the SCs, I also tried a pair of Gregg's ICs in the system.  As noted above, I loved the SCs, but I did *not* care for the interconnects.  I really wanted to like them (potential synergy gains, significantly less expensive than my current cables), but they were simply awful in my system. 

FWIW, if you happen to need interconnects, too, I can't recommend Stealth Audio Cables' ICs strongly enough.  They aren't cheap, but there are only 2 audio items I don't care to ever part with -

• a pair of SP Technology speakers, and
• my Stealth Audio Cables Indra interconnects.

That's how much I think of ¹Serguei's ICs. 

All standard caveats apply (in my system, to my ears, YMMV, etc.). 


¹Serguei Timachev, Stealth Audio Cables owner/designer

[2bigears]

  hi Jim,WOW-WOW-WOW,it's a crazy place,250 buck speaker cable and 65 hun ic's.Those are ic's i will never come across.Sounds like you found some synergy there.Good show.I will stay with Gab Golds for now on the ic's,but sc's i am up for audition and testing.Not sure on the Zu cables to the x-over,but time will tell what ends up there.Keep use posted Ted....   [  gotta move the clock on the wall 60 mins ahead,getting paided for 12 hours,only working 11,love it!!!!   ]

[Frank S.]

Using short 3' jumpers of Anti-cables from my monoblocks to my Continuums with great results. I did order a pair of Reality Cables based upon Jim's posts and success with them on SP Tech and Zybar's high praise for them.  Two 4 foot pairs shouldn't cost too much.

I agree with Jim on the Stealth interconnects as I use a XLR Metacarbons between source and pre and pre and amp. I'm not too happy because of my monos, I now need a 2 meter Metacarbon as my 1 meters are too short.  Serguei just raised his prices and a 2 meter pair ain't cheap. 

I've been using a 2 meter pair of Mogami Gold ($79) with surprisingly good results.

Jim- did you use the single ended or balanced Reality interconnect?  I may try a 2 meter Reality XLR interconnect.

[Bigfish]

I am currently using Harmonic Technology Pro 9 SCs on my Timepieces.  I switched to these cables from Reality SCs and I felt there was a definite improvement in sound.  Possibly the improvement was due to the fact the HTs are biwire and thus eliminated the factory supplied metal jumper to the tweeters.  Anyway, since owning the HTs I have not had a desire to audition other SCs.

Ken

[Frank S.]

Ted- are you using the RC Links with the Goertz cables? 

[ted_b]

Ted- are you using the RC Links with the Goertz cables? 

No, no reason to.  The cables are after the crossovers, and the DNA-500 is super stable anyway.  Both Bob and Steve thought the Zobel network was immaterial in my setup idea (it's great customer service when both are involved in my setup ideas).  Weirdly enough, The Cable Company didn't provide them anyway.

I also highly recommend Stealth cables.  Jim Merod is one of my reviewer heros, and he turned me on to Stealth Nanofibers.  I use them between sources and my LS 36.5 preamp.   However, my IC run from preamp to DNA-500 is 5 meters!!  Serguei's stuff is fairly linear in pricing, and I've hit the wall with the price for 5 meters!  My 1M evals (moved map and crossover setup so I could evaluate loaned cables) have the SR Tesla in the lead, which are still $2K discounted at 5M, but I'm evaluating the incredibly low priced Soundstring Alpha Omega Pro balanced cables (20ft) and they sound terrific.  They are Jim Merod's value favorite right now, and I'm hearing why. 

[Double Ugly]

Jim- did you use the single ended or balanced Reality interconnect?  I may try a 2 meter Reality XLR interconnect.

Single-ended.  He was still experimenting with balanced at the time, but with little success according to a mutual acquaintance.

I'm considering taking these for a spin, and would love to have a pair of good-to-great XLRs on hand.  Do you have reason to believe Gregg broke the "balanced" code?

[zybar]

Jim- did you use the single ended or balanced Reality interconnect?  I may try a 2 meter Reality XLR interconnect.

Single-ended.  He was still experimenting with balanced at the time, but with little success according to a mutual acquaintance.

I'm considering taking these for a spin, and would love to have a pair of good-to-great XLRs on hand.  Do you have reason to believe Gregg broke the "balanced" code?

I tried multiple versions of the Reality xlr ic's and never thought Gregg was able to hit the same home run that his speaker cables did.  I haven't tried his xlr ic's in roughly a year.

As for the McCormack amps...I bet they are killer!  They are just a little too much for me to take them for a spin.

George

[Double Ugly]

I tried multiple versions of the Reality xlr ic's and never thought Gregg was able to hit the same home run that his speaker cables did.  I haven't tried his xlr ic's in roughly a year.

That's what I recall.

As for the McCormack amps...I bet they are killer!  They are just a little too much for me to take them for a spin.

My only real hesitation is not knowing how they compare to a DNA-500, and I doubt few (if any) aside from the seller knows.

I like and respect Steve, but asking for a seller's opinion is asking for a predictable answer.

[2bigears]

   Ted,have you given the Realities a try on sc's from your x-over.Gregg said he could do 600 bucks for 8 runs at 4 feet.Or,would you use the as the feeders too the x-overs ???? hummmmm    thks  Pat  [ Jim,thks for the chit-chat,and go easy on the top-half]

[ted_b]

  Ted,have you given the Realities a try on sc's from your x-over.Gregg said he could do 600 bucks for 8 runs at 4 feet.Or,would you use the as the feeders too the x-overs ???? hummmmm    thks  Pat  [ Jim,thks for the chit-chat,and go easy on the top-half]

No, not yet.  They are on my list.  Gregg and I have exchanged emails and voicemails.  With folks like Jim and George onboard I'd be foolish not to evaluate them.  I'd probably look at them for amp-to-crossover, as my umbilicals (xover-to-speaker) long-term are clearly gonna be RL Smith cables...

[2bigears]

thks  Ted,the flat cable has been bumped ???? can you shoot a link on these Smith cables your using ??? thks  Pat

[ted_b]

Not sure I understand.  The flat cable been bumped? 

Let's start over.  Bob Smith (RL Smith) of SP Tech is building me Mundorf-based copper and silver/gold ribbon cables (the same he uses internally) for all my five crossover-to-speaker umbilicals.  That means I only need to actually concern myself with the amp-to-crossover cabling.  Since Bob's ribbon cables aren't ready yet I'm borrowing Goertz MI2's and AG2's as reasonable facsimiles (Bob's cables will be very low inductance, kinda like Goertz).  So far, I like the SR Tesla active speaker cables from amp-to-crossover, with the Goertz's in place as umbilicals.   It beats the AZ Satori biwire shotguns, with Goertz.  However, The Cable Company forgot to send me Tesla jumpers so I've been using the little magnet wire jumpers that Bob gave me.  Today, the Tesla jumpers showed up so I'm breaking them in and will listen again tonight. 

I even have enough Tesla wire (3 borrowed pairs) to run ALL-Tesla (i.e remove the Goertz, although this is a poor test cuz it won't likely be my setup) and I liked the Goertz as umbilicals better.  I also tried two runs of Tesla from amp to crossover (true separate biwire with doubled up spades on amp) and still liked the sound of using jumpers better (and SR preaches this approach, frankly; they claim double runs of wire is detrimental to timing, etc.).  Now that I have jumpers that are identical to the main wire I'll be interested to find out if there is a sonic difference.

[2bigears]

  Ted,thks,now i gotcha....Never knew bout' the two different wires and timing stuff ?? I have Zu mains and MI1's from x-over to speakers.Sounds not too bad so far.Will soon have Goertz MI3's from the x-overs and can try the old MI1's from the amp.Are you at the 11 oclock position on your preamp when listening,10 or 11 seems hi as the amp goes 1200 wpc at 4 ohm,right ?? thks 

[Bill Baker]

Ted.B - Just curious, what wiring do you have inside the speakers. With the umbilicals being basically an extension of the internal wiring, would you want to keep the umbilcals the same as the internal wiring?
 I would be curious to hear further experiments with mixing these up a bit.

[2bigears]

  the Revs have Bobs wire design,it's a ribbon like Goertz uses.We are all searching for the right combo to get the most from the speakers.