SPOTFIRE new interconnect review

[Bigman80]

Received the cables today; many thanks Simon, all nicely boxed up & will recycle this again, it's a good solid box!

Only managed a small listen in the last hour but things are immediately apparent. One big thing I noticed and wonder if anyone can clarify? I need more volume on my EAR integrated than normal. Is this down to cable impedance possibly? I know nothing about electrics especially anything to do with Hi-Fi...
My normal interconnect of choice is Linn Blacks from the Linn Akurate streamer direct to the amp.

Now this volume change is no bad thing, I was able to listen to my tunes with volume playing at over 2 o' clock on the amp. Clear and detailed, something I haven't been able to do before. It was mostly playing acoustic vocal / guitar and on my phone app was registering around 85-90db.

A really clear and detailed sound.

I will be having a proper session Sunday with Mark Grant G1500HD's, Linn Blacks and the mystery grey flat cable mentioned before. I'll attempt to post a picture of this cable too if code is okay to be posted direct to the thread via Imgur?

Could JohnG make PM with their address as I will send on to you Wed 29th as I will be unavailable after the 31st. I've been messaged by docp to say he needs to be bumped down a place as he's unable to take delivery. He'll need them afterwards as I'm sure he won't want to miss out.

Until then...

I haven't heard that from anyone who's borrowed them . How strange, saying that I am pretty sure your EAR stuff is probably the first bit they have been in.


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[Parcelmonkey]

Would JohnG please respond and PM their address details for moving these wonderful cables on.

Equipment used, Linn Akurate DS0/1 with uprated board. EAR 834 Integrated. Impulse Lali speakers. Spotfire Cables and Black Rhodium Jive speaker cable. CD player used is an Arcam Alpha 5 with Avondale Engineering mods recently purchased. Room isn't big at around 11' x 13' with speakers about 2M apart and similar distance to listening spot. Room isn't fully treated but has some, with improvements still needed. Therefore not a perfect listening environment.

Okay. First impressions were great, as already mentioned the sound was nice and clear and detailed.

I have listened to the Spotfires a lot this Sunday and they are great. Not perfect, what is?! This was done on the Linn streamer to get used to them.

Pros/ A lovely more forward presentation, detailed and tight bass control. I felt that bass was tighter and although certain tracks can excite the room with bass bloom, it was definitely less apparent with the Spotfires. Brings more depth to the sound-stage and keeps busy music under control. In fact, this was the biggest plus point to me, how controlled everything was compared to other cables I own. I could turn the wick far higher on my EAR amp than ever before, nothing sounded as compressed or harsh with music not of great recordings which is most of my library and I was quite concerned I'd blow speakers! I bottled it at around 100db as it was a Sunday & I live in a block of flats...



Con/ There was a tiny amount of sibilance apparent on some music I tried through either the Linn streamer or CD player. This happens on other cables as well. I'm investigating whether electronic noise is getting in to the digital domain somewhere but clearly I'm no expert.
Otherwise very little to distract from a lovely well constructed cable.

To summarise, I like these cables a lot, so far the best I have tried. I'd like to take my time; maybe speaking to Oliver via PM to see if I can experiment more with different speaker cable to see if I can lose that small amount of sibilance & try them against other i/c's available but I will definitely be voting with my wallet.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Other cables I tried these against -
Linn Blacks
Mark Grant G1500HD
A DIY cable which is very flat & grey? (name unknown)

This test was putting them against other cables I currently own on one CD only and it's a harsh one! The reason I've done this, the results are blindingly obvious.

Music track was 'Girl From Mars' - ASH, Intergalactic Sonic 7's a very harsh sounding CD with this track having a dynamic range as shown on Foobar as 5 which is pretty poor.

https://img.discogs.com/PbH3vDNFMDLd...-8482.jpeg.jpg


There was very little between the Mark Grant & Linn Blacks with the Mark Grant sounding a little less forward than the Linn blacks but also less sibilant so it was a case of which presentation you'd prefer.

The flat grey was more obvious in its presentation being more forward than all the others, very detailed but just too sibilant for my liking.
All these cables were too busy though with this music at 85-90db constant volume, I didn't change volume at all and kept the same line out on the amp, changing cables in between.

The Spotfires did exactly the same as before, music flowed more naturally, bass was tight, less noticeable in sound-stage difference probably due to differences between the two players and way more controlled. i could actually listen to the whole of the track whereas the other cables it was too loud to really enjoy & the music was not separated out sufficiently...

A picture below of the flat grey cable in case anyone knows what it might be?




Many thanks to Oliver for the loan and once I return to the Forum after a little break I'll be in touch. Thanks...

[karma67]

are you back from your hols oli?

[Bigman80]

are you back from your hols oli?

Just walk in to the house mate. Drop me a message tomorrow and we can sort out what you need.

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[Bigman80]

Would JohnG please respond and PM their address details for moving these wonderful cables on.

Equipment used, Linn Akurate DS0/1 with uprated board. EAR 834 Integrated. Impulse Lali speakers. Spotfire Cables and Black Rhodium Jive speaker cable. CD player used is an Arcam Alpha 5 with Avondale Engineering mods recently purchased. Room isn't big at around 11' x 13' with speakers about 2M apart and similar distance to listening spot. Room isn't fully treated but has some, with improvements still needed. Therefore not a perfect listening environment.

Okay. First impressions were great, as already mentioned the sound was nice and clear and detailed.

I have listened to the Spotfires a lot this Sunday and they are great. Not perfect, what is?! This was done on the Linn streamer to get used to them.

Pros/ A lovely more forward presentation, detailed and tight bass control. I felt that bass was tighter and although certain tracks can excite the room with bass bloom, it was definitely less apparent with the Spotfires. Brings more depth to the sound-stage and keeps busy music under control. In fact, this was the biggest plus point to me, how controlled everything was compared to other cables I own. I could turn the wick far higher on my EAR amp than ever before, nothing sounded as compressed or harsh with music not of great recordings which is most of my library and I was quite concerned I'd blow speakers! I bottled it at around 100db as it was a Sunday & I live in a block of flats...



Con/ There was a tiny amount of sibilance apparent on some music I tried through either the Linn streamer or CD player. This happens on other cables as well. I'm investigating whether electronic noise is getting in to the digital domain somewhere but clearly I'm no expert.
Otherwise very little to distract from a lovely well constructed cable.

To summarise, I like these cables a lot, so far the best I have tried. I'd like to take my time; maybe speaking to Oliver via PM to see if I can experiment more with different speaker cable to see if I can lose that small amount of sibilance & try them against other i/c's available but I will definitely be voting with my wallet.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Other cables I tried these against -
Linn Blacks
Mark Grant G1500HD
A DIY cable which is very flat & grey? (name unknown)

This test was putting them against other cables I currently own on one CD only and it's a harsh one! The reason I've done this, the results are blindingly obvious.

Music track was 'Girl From Mars' - ASH, Intergalactic Sonic 7's a very harsh sounding CD with this track having a dynamic range as shown on Foobar as 5 which is pretty poor.

https://img.discogs.com/PbH3vDNFMDLd...-8482.jpeg.jpg


There was very little between the Mark Grant & Linn Blacks with the Mark Grant sounding a little less forward than the Linn blacks but also less sibilant so it was a case of which presentation you'd prefer.

The flat grey was more obvious in its presentation being more forward than all the others, very detailed but just too sibilant for my liking.
All these cables were too busy though with this music at 85-90db constant volume, I didn't change volume at all and kept the same line out on the amp, changing cables in between.

The Spotfires did exactly the same as before, music flowed more naturally, bass was tight, less noticeable in sound-stage difference probably due to differences between the two players and way more controlled. i could actually listen to the whole of the track whereas the other cables it was too loud to really enjoy & the music was not separated out sufficiently...

A picture below of the flat grey cable in case anyone knows what it might be?




Many thanks to Oliver for the loan and once I return to the Forum after a little break I'll be in touch. Thanks...

Thanks for this very good review. It certainly sounds like you've been thorough!!

If there are no further volunteers to listen to the cables when this group has finished, I am happy to let you loan them for a couple of weeks so you can experiment with your speaker cables. Obviously, if someone else wants to be added to the list, the cables will continue doing the loan scheme. We can make time at the end though.

Oliver.


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[JohnG]

I am trialing all different cables at present, I could put the Spotfires into the medley, but my evaluation would be
unsure, as I am not familiar enough or settled on a particular arrangement yet.
It will be better for me to decline the trial period allocated and request a opportunity at a later date, when I can fully determine how the cables perform as a comparison to my chosen cable arrangements.
I think this is the fairest way to go forward.

John

[Bigman80]

I am trialing all different cables at present, I could put the Spotfires into the medley, but my evaluation would be
unsure, as I am not familiar enough or settled on a particular arrangement yet.
It will be better for me to decline the trial period allocated and request a opportunity at a later date, when I can fully determine how the cables perform as a comparison to my chosen cable arrangements.
I think this is the fairest way to go forward.

John

Hi John,

No problems with that as that a sensible approach.

Shall I remove you from the list for the time being?

Oliver.

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[JohnG]

Hi Oli,
A Temporary removal from the list will make it easier to manage.
I will let you know when I am in a position to add your cables to my set up and have time to assess on the influence of the Spotfires.
FWIW, I am getting the most appealing to my ear, from my system at present with Van Damme Silver Low Cap, 1 mtr length. These are giving better results than 0.5mtr Chord Crimson and 1mtr Ecosse CA1 Conductor.
The most noticeable is the influence between SUT and DIGNA.
I intend to take the Van Damme cable further and introduce it to the Phonostage + AVC .
The AVC to monoblocks is 1.8 mtr Klotz MC5000.
I have a Mapleshade Clearview Digital Ribbon bought to support the DAC, it has RCA's so I will be plugging this in at differing positions to get the feel for this type of Interconnect as well.

[Bigman80]

Hi Oli,
A Temporary removal from the list will make it easier to manage.
I will let you know when I am in a position to add your cables to my set up and have time to assess on the influence of the Spotfires.
FWIW, I am getting the most appealing to my ear, from my system at present with Van Damme Silver Low Cap, 1 mtr length. These are giving better results than 0.5mtr Chord Crimson and 1mtr Ecosse CA1 Conductor.
The most noticeable is the influence between SUT and DIGNA.
I intend to take the Van Damme cable further and introduce it to the Phonostage + AVC .
The AVC to monoblocks is 1.8 mtr Klotz MC5000.
I have a Mapleshade Clearview Digital Ribbon bought to support the DAC, it has RCA's so I will be plugging this in at differing positions to get the feel for this type of Interconnect as well.

Hey John,

No worries at all. I'll take you off. Just let me know when it suits. If the loan scheme is concluded we can sort something out.

I made a pair of VD lowcap cables a while back. They are the only cable VD make that I liked. What I suggest may be happening is that they are helping with the veiled nature of the Klotz.

I've done extensive research in the cabling area and whilst I can see the benefit of a cheap but good cable like the Klotz, it is soundly beaten by Sommer Carbocab 225.

If you fancy a cheap to make cable, give that a go and see how you feel about the Klotz after. If you need a pair building, let me know.

When you're settled, you can borrow a pair or two of SPOTFIRE and you can then see how you feel about the 225 after that.

To be honest, that's not far off the path that took me to this point as far as copper cables go. I tried Mark Grant stuff, Nordorst, Chord etc too.

Oliver.

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[karma67]

re chat on the phone,can you stick me on the list to try with the tonearm cable please.