Double your pleasure with same cable throughout?



Howdy sports fans,

I’m a bit aprehensive and certainly more than a little confused about recent events and would really appreciate some insights from those who have done a likewise effort…. I'm talking about runing SAME BRAND and/or brand & model IC throughout a system. As to culminate this venture by so doing, will be a fairly costly thing and thus delay my finishing things up with my sys…. though I'd rather a delay than a re-do. Been there, done that, on the re-do thing.

I’ve been in the hunt for a different XLR IC from my preamp to amp lately. I found something quite interesting during that process. After (and still), trying several previously ‘untried’ brands in that spot, along with some of the same brand/model, as was/is already exsisting upstream, I’ve thus far found that the EXACT same brand as the source to preamp cable provides the greatest enhancement. The same brand & model, even more so…

Is this common?

Perhaps much of the ‘cabling’ going on in the majority of systems I see here at Audiogone in the various posted systems is a ‘cost’ driven exorcise. Can’t say for sure… and perhaps not, though surely it would be understandable were it so. Given the results, which really speak for themselves, I fail to understand Why then, aren’t more systems running the same brand IC and/or even the same model IC, as wel throughout a system?

Using a MIT Mag 3 on my source, and inserting another MIT offering between pre & amp, remarkable improvements were realized. First was the Shotgun S2, and following it, a Mag 3…. I stopped there as info I gained about which level of IC should be put where seems to indicate the source IC should be of a higher level than the pre to amp IC... or the same, but no further up than the upstream IC as a general rule.

Is this simply a thing MIT has going for themselves? Would even greater positive attributes be realized by adding MIT speaker wires too? Or maybe that’s too much of a good thing?

Or is this just a fluke?

I’m still looking and have a few more items to review before making my choice… but it’s getting closer to ‘buying time’ and I thought I’d ask those in the know… still I want to try both Synergistic REs Ref, and Nirvana SX & SL, as well before deciding. Other cables I've put in have been from decent to outstanding, for the most part thus far, but 'same same' sure has the edge right now.

SURE DO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND INFO…
blindjim
I have used many types of MIT and have never been satisfied mixing them with other brands, all the way from source to speaker. Having said that I just prefer the same brand all the way through, I switch out all MIT and go to all Kimber and vice versa, but I have mixed Kimber and other brands but still prefer one brand.
thanks Pops

I keep getting that info... all MIT, all the time is best... and I may be starting to agree... vs. MIT + X = ??

All the gear save the CDP is BAT... cords are shuynyata, VooDoo... and speaker wire is Synergistic. Adding another MIT may well be the deciding factor, though still I've two more to try.. maybe 3, but that's it.
same cabling... tricky....really hard to make a blanket statement about this..

EVERY component/cable has some sort of sonic signiture or editorial effect...i found you can "generally" use the same cable all the through with the more "neutral" lines of cables (ie xlo, shunyata, kubala sonsa, nordost,audience etc....) depending on your system and taste and what is synergistic - i really like xlo signature ic's, soundstring speaker cable, and audience power cords ( all are very neutral/coherent, transparent at the frequecy extremes with bass slam)

as a general rule...it is really hard to run all silver ic/speaker cables... i have added a single set of silver ic or speaker cables and got good results(wireworld offers cooper, silver covered copper, and all silver..there is a house sound but it is different with differnt degrees of resolution)...some combinations sounded better then other... a really good idea is to ask the manufacture what cables they used whe the speakers/gear were voiced or ask the dealer what cables work well and kinda go from there...

there is no exact science (bummer)....like anything you have to experiment...
So far, the best I've used from SR is the Res Ref cable. I will be trying Designers Reference to connect my DAC to the preamp. I also will try the higher levels of speaker cables and the digital cables at some point. I believe that the Res Ref family hits kind of a sweet spot, both in resolution quality and the pocketbook.

Also, Elliot at SR feels that one wouldn't want to use all top of the line cables in my system, but use a blend to get the best sound. Which is kind of regreshing as they are not so concerned with emptying your pocketbook. So far he's been right on.
IMHO, you have to use the Quattro in place of the mini power couplers to really hear what SR can do for your system.
Hi - hopefully I can jump in and add something on this issue. There are several companies that produce cables that almost always give the best performance when used throughout a system. MIT, JPS Labs, Virtual Dynamics, Transparent, and Synergistic come to mind. Others like Cardas, Purist, Nirvana,Siltech, Acoustic Zen and Analysis PLus make cables that do stand alone and only in some systems do you benefit from using the same cable throughout. There are rabid opinions on both sides of course ( this IS audio after all), but the above products are consistant performers in both camps when appropriate to the system components. The one common denominator that should be mentioned here is that the GOAL is to try and make sure the relative transfer speed is the same throughout the system - ie - don't mix copper and silver in the same system because of teh difference in transfer speeds. Just trying to help eveeryone here by relating my experience. John