Speaker Cables to work best with Cyrus 8XP and Monitor Audion RX8's

[DSJR]

This is one reason why Amphion use a maximum crossover point of 1.6Khz (1.2Khz for the Argon2s!) for their tweeters, which means that the aluminium midbass isn't handling 'mid treble' in the first place, nor issues with ringing & breakup.

Getting tweeters to work down to 1.6kHz limits power handling and then the tweeters can harden up in tone if used too low. Not ideal although I do appreciate some companies where price isn't an issue can do wonders. Give me the smoother tones of a "BBC Legacy" style monitor these days - each to their own

Thanks for the comments on the Talk Audio speaker cable. I know the original version very well indeed () and thin toned it wasn't, generally. If only the later CT "Excel 4" was available again - using 42 decent gauge strands of the best copper in a dielectric which was formulated not to react with the copper over time and presented in fig-8 form instead of the dumbbell "4.1" form which many wives of Sevenoaks customers hated (Sevenoaks sold drums and drums of QED Micro bell-wire, thereby downgrading at a stroke all the systems they sold with this stuff)

[Stu @ M Developments]

Thanks for all the comments guys, got myself some thick copper cable by "monster cables" that I used to use in a prior system. Been trying them out back to back for the last hour or so on my 3 favourite tracks and I am confident the copper cable beats the expensive silver, especially in the bass atack and power spectrum, which has pleased me greatly.

However, the BIG shock for me is that the biggest improvement to the harshness that i disslike (like a lack of clarity somewhere around the high midrange) came from BOTH cables the moment I fitted the terminal bridge to the speaker terminals so that they were no longer Bi-wired! What's that about? Is it common? I have never run the bridge on these since new!!

[Alex_UK]

Not a surprise to be honest... A lot will agree that bi-wiring adds nothing and can make it worse! However the terminal bridges can potentially be improved on - use a small amount of the same Monster cable instead and see how that sounds...

[Macca]

Those brass bridgers are the tool of the devil. Never use them. Like Alex says make up little runs of the cable and use them instead. On a wider note I would also think about different 'speaks, I have never heard MAs that were not over the top super bright - and I quite like a bit of sparkle. Other option would be a 'warmer' cdp I suppose. Like an ARcam.

[wee tee cee]

Stewart,
Try to get a listen to some tellurium blue, I was running chord oddesay and found the TQ stuff a massive improvement.

[icehockeyboy]

Stewart,
Try to get a listen to some tellurium blue, I was running chord oddesay and found the TQ stuff a massive improvement.

I'm with WTC all the way here.

By the way, I had a small chuckle to myself when you mentioned your friends Naim and MF systems, some forum folk don't think too much of either brand, not me, I used to have some MF kit, and thought it was OK, nothing more mind! Just ok.

[DSJR]

MA speakers of recent years (and metal cone drivers in general, even expensive ones) have major problems with the bass cone going mad in the treble and crossover bodges to hide it, which then takes the crossover frequency too low for many tweeters. Apparently, acoustic output from the tweeter can set the bass cone resonance off physically, so not an easy fix. Brass bi-wire bridges are maligned, but all they can realistically do is add a tiny fraction of an ohm to the tweeter input. Gold plating these should all but eliminate this yet still people go on about using wire links instead!!!!!!

One thing to try is the hifi dave way of connecting up a bi-wire speaker with one single pair of conductors. I've tried this too on my LS5/9's, which Rogers supplied with both XLR socket as standard, plus four 4mm posts added on. Put the positive speaker wire in the treble red terminal, and the return in the bass black terminal, KEEPING THE BI-WIRE LINKS IN PLACE! See if this helps. It probably won't really cure the phasey hash that most MA's seem to have compared to the best passive alternatives, let alone active ones, but you never know.

By the way, the Rumour cable was intended to be a replacement for the stripped-out sounding Nordost Flatline cables that Chord Company used to market as their own until Nordost decided to promote their whole range in the UK.

[Macca]

. Brass bi-wire bridges are maligned, but all they can realistically do is add a tiny fraction of an ohm to the tweeter input. Gold plating these should all but eliminate this yet still people go on about using wire links instead!!!!!!

.

What can I say - Every 'speaker I ever owned sounded better without the links. Not a tiny fraction of a difference either. I come on the internet and I find many people who have found the same thing.

I re- wired up a friends system a couple of years back - it was a real rats nest round the back so to simplfy things I single wired the speakers with the jumpers in place (they had been bi-wired). A coupel of days later he says to me 'I don't know what you changed but can you come and change it back?'

[Stu @ M Developments]

Stewart,
Try to get a listen to some tellurium blue, I was running chord oddesay and found the TQ stuff a massive improvement.

Been running Tellurium Q Black and their respective bridge links since mid last week, will write a review as soon as I get a spare couple of hours to put it all into words.

[Stu @ M Developments]

MA speakers of recent years (and metal cone drivers in general, even expensive ones) have major problems with the bass cone going mad in the treble and crossover bodges to hide it,

Can you elaborate on that please as it doesnt quite make sense. Also, what do you mean by metal cone?