Morrow SP7 Upgrade.


Currently using Morrow SP4 Speaker Cables on Low Frequency (bass) in bi-amped system. Various Speakers used, at the moment Revel Ultima Studio. The Morrow's sound best of the cables I have driving low frequencies. At the moment Morrow have 60% off in their trade up program, (I would trade up SP2's I have in a budget system). Anyone have experience going from SP4 to SP7's, and how much better? What other alternatives for bass frequencies would you suggest if not the SP7's?
initforthemusic

Well, they're in!  (Oh, my cable assembler was Mike B, not Matt).  So, my MA3s had the 10 day burn in, so ~240 hours, but they did sit unused from shipping, on Monday, until last night, so that could be a factor.  I immediately heard differences between the MA3 and the Monster Reference cables that they replaced (about 15 years ago I worked at a retailer whose only decent cable was Monster, and employees got 60% off retail, so most of legacy cables are Monster). 

Overall, the sound was smoother, particularly in the lower treble on up.  With the Monster, there were some upper-mid/lower-treble areas that would kind of jump out at me (not in a good way).  These jump-out frequencies were gone, replaced by some lesser jump-out frequencies lower down in the mid-band.  They were noticeable, but not nearly as bothersome.  One big area of improvement I heard was in the decay of cymbols, which seemed to go on forever.  There was a smoothness to the sound that might be what TAS's Jonathan Valin (and HP before him) call "continuousness".  Soundstage seemed a little wider, and there seemed to be more depth as well.  There was an increase in detail, with certain lines of music becominng much more easy to follow than with the Monster.  Bass seemed to have a little more definition, with no big difference in output, although there seemed to be an increase in the "subterranean" feel of really deep synth bass (Soundtrack to "The Mission", by Vangelis, track 1).


One thing that I noticed was more frequent spine-tingling running up the back of my neck, and my desire to keep listening past bedtime.  Another point in favor of the Morrow is that a ragged zone of treble, like in the 5kHz range, which I had accredited to my speakers (Ohm Walsh 2000) vanished.  So, happily, it seems this was not an issue with the speakers.  And no, this did not occur at the expense of any treble detail or extension.


Music I listened to included Veruca Salt ("25"), Angelfish ("You Can Love Her"), Count Basie ("Kate" from 88  Basie St. XRCD), the Vangelis soundtrack for "The Mission" and others.  All from my server, all 16/44 resolution via my Squeezebox Touch to my Superberry DAC (a highly modded Beresford 96/24 DAC), to my McIntosh C220 to Odyssey Audio HT3 amp to the Ohm speakers and Vandersteen 2Wq subwoofers.


Now, I realize there is still much break-in to occur, so that is why I am not going to call this post a formal review.  But I am impressed.  I would like the mid-band to smooth out a bit more, and hope they will.  But even at this point, they are a clear improvement over the Monster Reference. 

Update - One huge, and I mean huge improvement I neglected to include in my last post regards sibilants on voices. Previously, I had a fairly frequent issue in which vocal sibilants projected from a different location in space than the voice itself. Distracting? Heck yes! The MA3 completely eliminated this issue. Vocals and their sibilant components are now anchored together in the soundstage. This is really, really big. Prior to installing th eMA-3s, I had chalked this issue up to everything but the cables - the speakers, my room, the DAC, the preamp, etc. I am amazed that this was just a cable issue. As a friend and gear modifier always says, "everything matters." Cables certainly do!
Well, I've put some more time into the SP7's. What was interesting was I swapped in a different Power Amp which has only single Speaker outlets, so I put in a set of Bi-Wire cables and the SP7's sat there for a while before I twigged to put them back in my budget system, When I put them back in, well, they sounded pretty ordinary but settled back in after a couple of days. Re-reading the info. sheet it explains exactly this.

Anyway they have been back hooked up to the bass of my Revel Studios and must be pretty close to full break in. They are a pretty big step up from the SP4's with more bass depth & definition. Kick-drums for example, kick harder. I'm running Cullen cables on mid & high's, they are incredible value for money and have bested some higher priced cables in this area. They are not as good as the SP7's when running the bass driver's, they have quite good definition but lack the weight of bass that the SP7's transfers. I'll swap the SP7's over to the mid & high's soon, I did earlier but preferred the Cullen's in this area although the SP7's wern't fully broken in then.

So do I recommend the SP7's? Well, on the proviso you get the 60% discount on the trade up program (the RRP, like some other cable co's. is a joke), and for driving bass drivers, I feel they are very good at transferring lower frequencies. Just listening to a disc as I type and the kick-drums thump! Of course I would need to try many more cables to be definitive but they have bested a few other cables in this area. For mid & high frequencies and "full range" I really need to experiment a bit more, but thumbs up so far for bass delivery.
Thanks, initforthemusic. I continue to try and put more hours on the MA-3. I am prolly at about 300 hours. Although overall I am very pleased, the bass response remains puzzling. Sometimes, I hear wonderful extension and weight, sometimes there seems to be a lack of bass energy. An email from Mike Morrow confirmed that the bass is one of the last areas that will get fully broken in. I really need to spend more time listening to familiar music, but, like you, I suspect, I am not in this hobby to hear the same audiophile-approved songs over and over. With listeninng time being a very rare and precious commodity, I want to listen to whatever I want to listen to. So, I will try to be more patient with the MA3s. Interesting that you noted more impactfull bass as you moved up the Morrow line. Maybe I need to move up as well... ;-)
@bondmanp In my main system I use a balanced pre-amp so use XLR cables. Anyway had a small issue with the Pre. so I placed in the Doge 8 which only has RCA in's but XLR outs. I put in a fairly new pr. of hybrid (copper/silver) RCA's. The reproduction with these in place was a little on the bright side, so put in the Morrow MA-4's,allowing time to settle, not as bright, but not quite there overall. I placed in a pr. of Silver Litz RCA's, these were a massive step-up in this configuration. Hmm, the Doge 8 with the Silver Litz, RCA's sounds sensational. With this set-up I may have to re-appraise the Doge 8, a Pre. I've always had question marks on.

I also swapped around the Speaker Cables, allowing them time to settle. The SP7's on MId's/Highs & Cullen's on Low's. Nope sound's nowhere near as good when used around the other way. The SP7's on low & Cullen's on mids/high's just sounds so right, at least on the Revel Studios.