Sterling Black Mamba speaker cable review

[The Vinyl Adventure]

yeah... its a bit slap dash at the mo though as i shuld be getting the turntable back in a couple of weeks so i will do it properly then... its built correctly ... its just not leveled yet
did you notice this

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5763

[Steve Toy]

I've just seen it. That Mike Homar coax lead is rather good I must say.

Hopefully I can get the bass lightness addressed somehow with my DAC. Perhaps a touch of opamp rolling may do the trick.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

just buy some pmc's

[Steve Toy]

Er, I have come to realise it is my DAC not my speakers that lack bass. Having heard your DAC the last time it was here just after having the gain reduced as well as hearing the Audiocom modded Sony DAC confirmed that the Hecos I use may be able to show the PMCs a few bass tricks as well as openness in the mid and top end.

I've come to realise that I like the Hecos. A lot.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

good to hear, i guess you not able to listen to the copper one without your pre?

[Steve Toy]

good to hear, i guess you not able to listen to the copper one without your pre?

Correct. The volume control on the CD transport only controls the DAC output within.

[HighFidelityGuy]

Just to give a quick update on my Mamba experience:
I swapped the spades for the banana plugs last night. I found they made a really nice tight fit in my binding posts and made the cables much easier to work with. They also allowed me to arrange the cables more tidily. I really should have used these from the start but I wanted to try spades for a change to see how well they worked with my binding posts. I certainly won't use spades in the future. I thought they might give a more reliable and stronger contact but that just doesn't seem to be the case.

It's difficult to say whether or not I'm now getting a better sound but I can certainly hear plenty of subtle detail coming through. Unfortunately I didn't get chance to do any serious listening.

The banana connectors will also make swapping between the Mamba and my NVA cables much quicker and easier, so I'll be able to do a much more accurate comparison between the two once the Mambas have run in.

[pwood]

I found the sound opens up over time in terms of image depth. Mine are 2 weeks old now.

I found the same issue with the spades, my amp wont take spades so tried the speakers and was worried they would slip over time so went with the banana plug which was a tight fit.

[HighFidelityGuy]

I said that I'd provide some details about the differences in sound between my Black Mamba cables and NVA LS5 cables once I'd let the Black Mamba's run in for a couple of weeks. Well that didn't work out quite to plan as I've only just got round to doing a comparison over 4 months later. On the plus side I know the Black Mamba is well and truly run in now.

So just to recap, when I first tried out the Black Mamba I thought that it sounded pretty much the same as the LS5 but there seemed to be a difference in the bass that I couldn't decide if was better or worse. So to try the LS5 again I swapped back to it and lived with it for a week.Over that week I felt that the tonal balance had shifted towards the higher frequencies, with slightly less bass punch and slightly more sibilance at the top end.

Swapping back to the Black Mamba this morning the bass punch was back and the sibilance gone. The level of detail in the sound seemed to be the same between both cables. So I'm definitely sticking with the Black Mamba for now as it seems to match better with my system and ears.

Hopefully this will help other people to decide which of these excellent cables might suite their needs the best.

[quadsugdenman]

I have been running the Black Mambas for over six weeks. They have improved immensley over that time. Initially they seemed to lack detail if not a tad light in the upper frequencies compared to my old QED Silver and Ortofon Copper speaker cables.
I have since tried them with the Antique Sound Lab monos, Quad 909 and my Croft Series 7 using identical sources both vinyl and digital. They certainly have improved the clarity and separation of the 909 which can sound 'muddy', lack tonal definition and position sometimes. However the whole valve/Hybrid sound is even smoother, more articulate with each instrument's position in the mix identifiable and the tonal balance improved. I think the bass depth has also improved with the mid range calarity and upper frequencies extended.
All in all, excellent value for money. Thanks to Marco and ColinB for recommending them to me