Magnepan 3.7

Thanks. What cables competed against it?

Nordost Heimdall, Clarity Cable Organic, Cardas Clear, Synergistic Apex, Blue Jeans Cable. Odd collection!

Cardas was full in the mids and rolled in both extremes. I think Clear is their best cable, but still not transparent enough to be a match for the Magnepans.

Synergistic was almost as full in the mids as Cardas but more extended in the extremes. Very nice. The "old" version is what I heard, so they may be available at a discount.

I thought the Nordost had great bass and sparkle, but was a bit flattened through the mids -- especially when compared with the Cardas. Moving up the line, according to Nordost, does not give you more mids -- instead, the focus is on refinement. So, this cable loom definitely has a "house sound". The Leif series is brand new, however, and may well be the part of the line that offers something different, but I haven't heard any of them yet.

Blue Jeans was surprisingly similar in extension to the Synergistic (that is, not as extended as Nordost), but not as refined in any frequency band. Of course, the price differential is ludicrous. At this price, this is a go-to cable loom.

Clarity was very full and rich, and very extended in the bass. This is a great cable loom. A favorite.

WyWires (w/the new speaker wires) definitely had more extended bass than Cardas/Synergistic but still warm/full through the mids. Like the Clarity, the Wywires (with "hot sauce" intereconnects) had great, grainless highs. Maybe the WyWires had a touch more sparkle in the treble? Overall, it seemed balanced. No sins.

All in all, I'd thought maybe that I preferred the Clarity sometimes & the WyWires other times (the WyWires were still breaking in at that point), but the WyWires are much cheaper, so there you go. Oh, and they're way easier to use, too.

Thanks! Very informative. By the way via my RSS reader I am now subscribed to your Internet blog/site.

@Pod: Excellent! Thanks. That makes two of you now. LOL.

RE: OP, I've been tweaking out my Maggies, too. Chokes, upgraded resistors, ceramic fuses. Taken individually, they're ... ah ... subtle. Taken as a whole, however, I think the speakers sound more refined. Interesting experiment and given how cheap most of those bits are, recommended.

Thanks. That was a great blog. Loved the "listen for crickets"