Spotfire Speaker Cable Review

[STD305M]

Hi All,

I recently bought myself a pair of Oliver's New Speaker cables and thought I would post my thoughts.

Setup was the new Project 2xperience SB DC fitted with At33ptg through a Pure Sound T10 sut into P10 phono stage

DCB1 turbo preamp into a Pair of Firebottle Monos

Speakers were Spendor S6e floor standers

All cables for the review were Spotfire RCA and Spotfire Speaker Cables.

Albums were Pink Floyd - The division Bell,

Yello - Toy

Queen - Re Mastered Greatest Hits.


Ill keep this short, I hate waffle. I've used many cables from cheap Qed 79 Strand through to Chord Silver Spiral with many others in between and noticed a little change in how the sound was
presented, liking some and hating others, the best to date in my system had been Tellurium so stuck with that for the past year or so.
Yesterday I finally had the chance to hook up the Spotfire ( massive cables by any standard ) and oh my god what a revelation. These cables Slaughter anything I have used before, the have the biggest widest deepest soundstage ive ever heard, you can pinpoint every instrument and voices hover right in front of you almost as if you could close your eyes, reach out and touch the artist...
treble is well extended without being over bearing bass is tight and very low but its the mids that impressed me the most, absolutely no grain full of air and plenty of space around the vocalist.
I think Oliver has done the same with this speaker cable as he did with the interconnects. Full blooded hard hitting and very musical cable with the best sound stage I've heard at any price.. I would gladly pay double what I paid and still think Id got a bargain.


My only criticism would be how stiff the cable is and you need plenty room behind your equipment rack to use this cable but, if you have the room boy are you in for a treat

Regards Steve

Well Done Oliver -- nice one mate, top notch cable :cool:

[Bigman80]

Hi All,

I recently bought myself a pair of Oliver's New Speaker cables and thought I would post my thoughts.

Setup was the new Project 2xperience SB DC fitted with At33ptg through a Pure Sound T10 sut into P10 phono stage

DCB1 turbo preamp into a Pair of Firebottle Monos

Speakers were Spendor S6e floor standers

All cables for the review were Spotfire RCA and Spotfire Speaker Cables.

Albums were Pink Floyd - The division Bell,

Yello - Toy

Queen - Re Mastered Greatest Hits.


Ill keep this short, I hate waffle. I've used many cables from cheap Qed 79 Strand through to Chord Silver Spiral with many others in between and noticed a little change in how the sound was
presented, liking some and hating others, the best to date in my system had been Tellurium so stuck with that for the past year or so.
Yesterday I finally had the chance to hook up the Spotfire ( massive cables by any standard ) and oh my god what a revelation. These cables Slaughter anything I have used before, the have the biggest widest deepest soundstage ive ever heard, you can pinpoint every instrument and voices hover right in front of you almost as if you could close your eyes, reach out and touch the artist...
treble is well extended without being over bearing bass is tight and very low but its the mids that impressed me the most, absolutely no grain full of air and plenty of space around the vocalist.
I think Oliver has done the same with this speaker cable as he did with the interconnects. Full blooded hard hitting and very musical cable with the best sound stage I've heard at any price.. I would gladly pay double what I paid and still think Id got a bargain.


My only criticism would be how stiff the cable is and you need plenty room behind your equipment rack to use this cable but, if you have the room boy are you in for a treat

Regards Steve

Well Done Oliver -- nice one mate, top notch cable :cool:Hi Steve

Wow! Thank you for your words!

The rigidity of the cable cannot be avoided unfortunately BUT I do recommend spades at the Amplifier end because of this.

Spades mean less strain on the amplifier terminals and also reduces the space needed to fit the cables. No 90deg angle to deal with.

That said, I am really pleased to see you have had the same experience with the cables. It felt like I'd upscaled my entire system when they went in.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to leave a few words on the cables.

O

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[struth]

good write up. must be expensive as theres no price given :lol:

[Audio Al]

I would gladly pay double what I paid and still think Id got a bargain.


Or you can send me the other half £££ :lol::D

[Bigman80]

good write up. must be expensive as theres no price given [emoji38]Not cheap Grant, regrettably.

I've just quoted £420 for a 4m pair.

They just can't be done cheaply. Worth it though, imo anyway.

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[struth]

100+ quid a metre pair then.. i will consider

[YNWaN]

Any pictures Steve?

[Bigman80]

100+ quid a metre pair then.. i will considerAs a rule of thumb, yes.

I am trying to get that lower by looking for alternatives for the connections which could help a little.



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[struth]

As a rule of thumb, yes.

I am trying to get that lower by looking for alternatives for the connections which could help a little.



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not a disaster as i only need metre lengths. might be a while tho

[Jimbo]

The SPOTFIRE Speaker cables have landed at Jimbos.

These are big cables and superbly constructed.
https://live.staticflickr.com/7816/33672705178_76590787f5_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Tixq7o)IMG_0009 (https://flic.kr/p/Tixq7o) by

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2frLrZc]https://live.staticflickr.com/7904/47549272041_758becfa3b_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/)IMG_0010 (https://flic.kr/p/2frLrZc) by J

The cables fitted with spades - Ideal on the large Croft speaker terminals but still need a good mechanical tight fit, so make sure your amp can take them!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2e3SoJc]https://live.staticflickr.com/7902/46633795575_ac68e31b4c_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/)IMG_0011 (https://flic.kr/p/2e3SoJc) by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/]Jckr

Full review to come.

[Bigman80]

The SPOTFIRE Speaker cables have landed at Jimbos.

These are big cables and superbly constructed.
https://live.staticflickr.com/7816/33672705178_76590787f5_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Tixq7o)IMG_0009 (https://flic.kr/p/Tixq7o) by

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2frLrZc]https://live.staticflickr.com/7904/47549272041_758becfa3b_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/)IMG_0010 (https://flic.kr/p/2frLrZc) by J

The cables fitted with spades - Ideal on the large Croft speaker terminals but still need a good mechanical tight fit, so make sure your amp can take them!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2e3SoJc]https://live.staticflickr.com/7902/46633795575_ac68e31b4c_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/)IMG_0011 (https://flic.kr/p/2e3SoJc) by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/]Jckr

Full review to come.I want them back. I miss them [emoji38]

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[Edward]

What's the extra wire I see? A drain wire?

[Bigman80]

What's the extra wire I see? A drain wire?The cable is shielded so it's there to connect the shield. You don't have to do this but i think it make a difference.

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[Wakefield Turntables]

Spades to banana's any particular reason Oli?

[Bigman80]

Spades to banana's any particular reason Oli?

Yes, thats what i had in the draw :lol:

I will be reterminating these with spades of better quality when i have them back. The ones that are on are fine but i have better here now.

[Ninanina]

How much would a 2m set be Oliver?

If I get on with the ML then I'll be looking for some decent cable.. both speaker and interconnects

Do you have a website or do you just deal on here?

[Bigman80]

How much would a 2m set be Oliver?

If I get on with the ML then I'll be looking for some decent cable.. both speaker and interconnects

Do you have a website or do you just deal on here?Hi

I only offer them to AoS members primarily [emoji4]

I'll pm a price shortly.

Oliver.

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[Wakefield Turntables]

Yes, thats what i had in the draw :lol:

I will be reterminating these with spades of better quality when i have them back. The ones that are on are fine but i have better here now.

okey dokey! Looking forward to having a listen at some point.

[Bigman80]

okey dokey! Looking forward to having a listen at some point.[emoji4]

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[Cyrus]

Why don't you just draw up an itemized list of cable types, lengths and terminations so that everyone has an idea of what this will cost them?

[Bigman80]

Why don't you just draw up an itemized list of cable types, lengths and terminations so that everyone has an idea of what this will cost them?Like this one?

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?62445-Things-I-make-and-what-it-costs-to-buy-them!

[Cyrus]

I can't see that list - not downloading Tapatalk ever again.

[Bigman80]

I can't see that list - not downloading Tapatalk ever again.

Oh, apologies, I have now replaced the link.

[Cyrus]

Seen thanks.

[STD305M]

Any pictures Steve?

Hi Mark
A couple of pics
Spotfire Speaker Cable

Steve...

http://i63.tinypic.com/1177mlx.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/33c5281.jpg

[STD305M]

Hi Grant

If you go for 1 meter lengths you will struggle unless you have plenty of room behind the speaker and hifi rack, I originally wanted the 1.2 meters but I'm glad I bought 1.5 meters

Its a really heavy and stiff cable but really sounds amazing, trust me you wont be disappointed.

Regards Steve...

[Jimbo]

SPOTFIRE Speaker Cable Mini Review

Oliver kindly lent me his own pair of SPOTFIRE speaker cables for review over the weekend which just happened to be 2 x 4 metre pair, the minimum length I needed in my system. As he handed over the bag I knew they were substantial cables and although stiff had enough flexibility for use to get around my system. Whilst I have borrowed these cables Oliver has had to go back to some sort of Bellwire!:)

I have not really changed my speaker cables much over the past 4 years since I found the excellent Chord Epic Twin which has been a constant in my system and worked really well. I don't think speaker cable is something a lot of us tend to change that much as it is almost a fit and forget item once you have found something you think is reasonable so I was actually quite excited to get the opportunity to hear Oliver cable in my system as I had previously had excellent results from his SPOTFIRE RCA Interconnect.

The SPOTFIRE speaker cable had banana plugs on the speaker end and big spades on the amp end and fitted my equipment perfectly but I have had extra beefed up speaker terminals on my Croft amp so this helped. You do need a good mechanical fit and they need to be torqued down firmly as he cable is meaty.

Straight away I heard an obvious difference in my system and for the better. As Steve had alluded too in his review these cables have the same character as the SPOTFIRE IC which is actually what Oli intended. So if you have heard the SPOTFIRE IC you may get a good idea of what these speaker cables are going to do in your system. However as we all know different equipment may produce different results.

In my system the soundstage just became bigger and more open. It seemed that the recording and everything in it became more transparent and open. It is a bit like going from a cheap cartridge which has a fairly narrow soundstage and everything is bunched together to a top flight MC cartridge that frees everything in every plane and allows Instruments and vocalists to breath and be heard in their own acoustic space.

I listened for much of the day to digital material and was astounded by the level of resolution and naturalness I heard. It maybe a strange way of describing a cable but this SPOTFIRE speaker cable sounded analogue. By that I mean there was a smoothness and non fatiguing presentation of the recorded information. There were no hyped artifacts and nothing sounded forced or harsh just beautiful natural tone and spaciousness. I quickly reverted back to my Chord Epic Twin and this confirmed the difference. The Chord sounded slightly hyped up in the top end and over egged the pudding making the digital sound too detailed and wearing. I preferred the SPOTFIRE speaker cables presentation which although detailed sounded far more natural and easier too listen too.

I know its an old cliche but the SPOTFIRE took you a few rows back in the audience whereas the Chord put you in the front seats. I always prefer to be a few rows back as you can enjoy the performance more without being on top of it. I played a vast amount of digital material throughout the day and whatever I threw at this cable it delivered in a very balanced manner. Treble was detailed and well extended, Bass was big, firm and articulate and the midrange was full and very natural, vocals in particular sounded spot on in both presence and naturalness.

This cable does make your system sound bigger and moves the sound down a few notches or should I say it seems to convey material in the mid to bottom end I was not aware off with a presence that gives the impression your are hearing a bigger pair of speakers.

Just before I turned to vinyl I did some A-B comparisons with recordings I had on vinyl and digital. My partner, Helen, listened to the whole session with me throughout and found it difficult to call out wether she was listening to the vinyl or digital version of the recording which maybe a lot to do with the device I was using for digital replay but thats another story.:) However by the end of the day it became apparent we preferred in many cases the digital recording. Oliver has a few theories why the SPOTFIRE cable may have influencing this difference but I thought it may have been the lower noise floor and the sheer resolution the digital playback had especially as it was all upscaled.

Listening to the SPOTFIRE speaker cable with vinyl was equally impressive and here I must admit the difference between my Chord EPIC twin and the SPOTFIRE was not as large. It was still expansive in the soundstage and conveyed superb information in the recording with complete naturalness. Nothing sounded hyped or excessive just balanced and very easy to listen too.

It was a long session but very enjoyable and I would say this cable is easily as significant in its abilities to unravel the complexity and detail in recordings whilst still maintaining balance and calm to the proceedings. As I said at the beginning of the review it had a definite character I found with the SPOTFIRE IC which I found worked extremely well in my system. The SPOTFIRE speaker cable lifted my system and allowed me to hear my recordings in an effortless kind of way so you were just left entranced by the music which after all is what it is all about.

Oliver has definitely produced a cable here of the highest quality and it delivers a fabulous performance which means I am going to have start saving the pennies again!:)

[Bigman80]

Hi Jim,

Ha! Yes, bell wire indeed. I have missed these cables hugely but it's a necessary evil in order to get a bit of feedback on them.

I am very grateful that Helen (and yourself) took the day to evaluate the cables and took the time to do a write-up. Yes, I have a theory as to why it improves the digital so much, BUT I can't prove it yet or actually find any information on it, so I'll have to keep digging, more on that as and when. That's not to say the analogue side doesn't benefit hugely because it does. I just think that there is far more of the recording available in the digital file Vs the vinyl and that's why the difference is so apparant. With the SPOTFIRE speaker cables in, the digital easily matched the analogue and unfortunately at times, far surpassed it. [emoji21]

I have to agree on the effect it has on the soundstage. Whilst some may wonder if that's artificially reproduced, it's actually only allowing what's on the recording to be portrayed accurately.

The job of cables I make, is to have as little influence on the sound as possible. The soundstage is a beneficiary of this because the SPOTFIRE cables allow the minute reflections and transients of the recording to be heard IF the system is capable of retrieving it from the recording. Its these little increments of the recording that give the soundstage its size.

Its been a very interesting few months of playing with various cables and comparing them to each other. Its been worthwhile IMO.

Glad you like them [emoji4]







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[YNWaN]

Could you guys comment on the difference with, and without, the shield connected?

[Bigman80]

Could you guys comment on the difference with, and without, the shield connected?Ok,

When I set up my laptop as the NAS to feed the Pi, I was told to use the ethernet cable rather than WiFi. I did. A few days later, I was listening to some music and felt that something wasn't right. I looked around and realised I hadn't plugged the ethernet cable back in after I'd moved the laptop. Once reinserted, things were *right* again.

Why, I don't know but everything felt a little more solid and it added a bit of depth. Not night and day, but I noticed it.

Same with the the shield. Its very very subtle. I notice when it's not on and I'm not entirely sure why. Just tightens proceedings a little.

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[Jimbo]

Sad to see it go but I expect Oli will be glad to have them back!:lol:

https://live.staticflickr.com/7871/46834389594_647ea29b82_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2emAukL)IMG_0016 (https://flic.kr/p/2emAukL) by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/]J

[Bigman80]

Sad to see it go but I expect Oli will be glad to have them back![emoji38]

https://live.staticflickr.com/7871/46834389594_647ea29b82_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2emAukL)IMG_0016 (https://flic.kr/p/2emAukL) by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/162281319@N03/]JYou are so right Jim, I always say, you don't know how good something is untill you take it out. I definitely know now!!

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[STD305M]

Hi Jimbo

Your gonna miss them mate.
Better start saving :doh:

[Jimbo]

Hi Jimbo

Your gonna miss them mate.
Better start saving :doh:

:lol:

[Blackmass]

I’ve had my Spotfire speaker cables for three weeks now. The first official pair of ‘Reference Spotfire’ speaker cables I believe? The first thing which strikes you is how thick and substantial looking they are. The next thing is the build quality. The fit and finish is top notch, very neat and tidy. This came as no surprise as I already own a pair of the Spotfire interconnects.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/921/6XfnYL.jpg

Oliver said they require circa 100 hours running in before they reach their optimum level. I would say mine have 50 odd hours on them at the moment so please bear that in mind.

I bought a pair of Spotfire interconnects last May and I’ve been extremely impressed with them. When I saw Oliver was making Spotfire speaker cables I contacted him immediately.
Sadly, as most of you will be aware Oliver had a motorcycle accident and wasn’t in any fit state to make any cables. He asked if I could contact him a month later and see how he was feeling then. I did just that and even though he wasn’t feeling 100% he said he’d make the cables for me. An order was placed and within 10 days I had the cables in my hand.

My previous speaker cables were Chord Co Signature’s (the MK1 version) which I’ve had since 2014 which and been very happy with them.
At first you aren’t quite sure what the differences/improvements are but it’s not long before they start to show their true colours.
The soundstage is a lot wider with space and depth between the instruments. Instruments have a more authentic sound and you can feel the way they were struck. It’s hard to describe but it’s all there in front of you.

I agree with James (@Jimbo) with his and his wife’s findings (by chance I contacted Oliver last week to give him an update on how I was getting along with the Spotfire’s and I used the same analogy as @jimbo) I too found the change from the Chord’s to the Spotfire cables similar to the move from MM carts to a (very) decent MC cart. Everything has a move real/authentic sound plus the presentation is more relaxed and easier to listen to. I’ve been amazed at the extra detail the Spotfire’s have retrieved.

Going back to the Chord Signatures they initially impressed but it’s not long before you start missing the Spotfire’s.
I’ve now sold the Chord Signatures and I’ve also placed an order for another set of Interconnects. So I think that’s the best recommendations I can give.

One last thing. Oliver has been a pleasure to deal with. Even though he’s still far from fully recovered from his accident he’s got back to emails quickly and turned around the order very quickly.

Cheers
Rob

PS: I haven't connected the shielding cables yet so I don't know if they make a difference or not.

[Bigman80]

Hi Rob,

Yes, yours were the first pair!

I'm glad you like them and it's very satisfying to receive positive feedback.

I'll have your Naim cable done asap.

Still not 100% as you say so thanks for everyone's patience.

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