Cable Asylum: REVIEW: MIT Cables Magnum M3.3bw Cable by Luminator

Model:	Magnum M3.3bw
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$3999.99
Description:	Internal Bi-wire Speaker Cable
Manufacturer URL:	MIT Cables
Model Picture:	View

Review by Luminator on September 27, 2010 at 16:37:46
IP Address: 75.25.148.121 Add Your Review
for the Magnum M3.3bw

Before you proceed any further, click on these links, in the order provided.

Painkiller
Night On The Town
Love Child
In The Heart Of The Young
Cherry Pie
Liberty
Cause Of Death
Back In Black
Here's To Future Days

Sorry, no pictures of San Francisco and Honolulu, this time around.

My last review here on Audio Asylum was on the MIT Magnum M1.3pro balanced interconnect. I do not know why, but the e-mail responses to that review were overwhelmingly positive/supportive. And the ones which were negative/critical came from people who did not wish to be quoted. What to do? What to do?

Well, here is a quote from an audiophile I've known for a few years: "Damn it Lummy! Every time I look up your music, I can't get them out of my head! I've got hot dog jumping frog [from Prefab Sprout's "King Of Rock 'N' Roll"] stuck in my head! It's all your fault!"

Well, for years, I have chronicled the music of late 1987. Since I'm using that fall 1987 semester as the focal point of this review, it is a challenge to come up with music I have not referenced before.

I have already written that the last music video I saw in late August 1987, before leaving Honolulu for San Francisco was The Outfield's "Since You've Been Gone." So I can't use "Since You've Been Gone" as an audio reference.

When my family got back to S.F., we decided to do one more fun thing, before school started: go down to San Jose's Raging Waters . Typical for September, the Bay Area was having its finest weather. It was a hot end-of-summer day, and the lines were long. Several times, while stuck in line at the water slides, I heard Los Lobos' "La Bamba."

When I got back home, my system used the original Monster Cable speaker cable. I thought it sucked, turning the music into a slick mush. Over the years, I'd upgrade everything upstream, yet, the Monster Cable imposed its sound. Lesson learned: speaker cables come at the end of the system, so they are at the mercy of the upstream components. Yet, speaker cables better not mess things up.

To review the MIT Magnum M3.3bw speaker cable, I used a variety of systems, but relied heavily on three. The first was the Classe' CP-500 and CA-2100. The second was the Jeff Rowland Criterion and 312. The third was the Simaudio P-8 and W-7. Our reference CD players were the dCS Puccini, Simaudio Andromeda, and Wadia 781i. Analog source was a Rega P9/Koetsu Jade Platinum/EAR 324.

In that fall of 1987, I was a high school junior. I absolutely loved the girls from the incoming freshman class. Yes, I eventually married one, but that is beside the point. A stereotypically shy, clean, nerdy girl, CT, had a crush on me. I never felt comfortable around her. I just felt so inferior, dumb, underachieving, messy, unrefined, low-class, etc. Being around the pure and benign CT gave me that walking-on-eggs skittishness. I dedicated Icehouse's "Crazy" to CT.

One of my audiophile buddies has "Crazy" on 12" vinyl. Versus the Kimber 4AG, the MIT Magnum M3.3bw seemed to reduce somewhat the vinyl's scratchy, irascible, hashy drag. At the same time, the music did not appear to lag behind, which is somewhat surprising, given that the 4AG has a reputation of being "fast."

I'm still friends with CT. She is still fast, mentally and academically. Like most shy girls, CT made no move to go after me. She claims that, whenever she saw me at school, "There was always a girl around you."

I don't know where she got that from. Anyway, an audiophile wrote, "You always seem to have a good CD player around," which kind of reminded me of CT.

After over a year of being in my friends' possession, the dCS Puccini is back in my house. Back in September 2008, I reviewed the Puccini here on AA. This product does warrant a follow-up. But before I get to that, let me fill you in on a dirty little secret. While users such as Stereophile's John Atkinson utilize the Puccini's upsampling modes, the Puccini sounds most honest, most accurate in PCM mode.

In any of the upsampling modes, Echo & The Bunnymen's "Lips Like Sugar" was sweet indeed. But then we switched to PCM mode, and the honest clarity won us over. No, the vast depth and breadth of soundstaging were not as expansive as with the upsampling, but the focus, true colors, and cleanliness caused one of my guests to say that the upsampling was like "saccharine," while the PCM was like, well, "pure cane sugar."

In late 1987, my friend and classmate Scott had a portable Quasar CD player. Scott had Expose's Exposure CD. While Expose's freestyle could be engaging, the Quasar portable CD player's lo-rez, slow, dead sound was not.

When we removed the dCS Puccini, and hooked up the Wadia 781i, the M3.3bw allowed us to hear the change in presentation. The voices and instruments came into firmer presence, and the system easily handed out the colors and beats. It did not matter that we were not female or adept at dancing; the M3.3bw let us get on with our herky-jerky moves.

I took the MIT Oracle v1.2pro and Magnum M1.3pro over to my friend's Simaudio Andromeda/P-8/W-7 system. His room is a little larger and more open than the typical Bay Area home. But there is something about that Andromeda CD player. Now, we usually like to kick back, and shoot the breeze. But when he put on Exodus' "Brain Dead," it was a jolt of good ol' 1987 air. It was as if his room disappeared, and were replaced with our crowded high school hallways. Sigh, we are more than twice as old, but it was fun to break out our spastic mosh violence from the late 80s. I haven't heard reproduced music this fresh, exciting, and alive since using Pranawire cables on that system. The M3.3bw certainly had no complaints about being used in the Simaudio system.

I remember the holiday 1987 parties in Daly City, Keith Sweat's "I Want Her" playing. My main reference bi-wire speaker is Totem's The One. But my friend with the Simaudio system has, among others, Totem's Wind. The Wind is unkind to any bass bloat, boost, or emphasis. And I recall some of MIT's speaker cables from the 1990s having this same problem. Not so with the M3.3bw, which has a more neutral/honest bass register: garbage in, garbage out. Along with control in the bass, the M3.3bw maintained articulation in the mids. Therefore, the M3.3bw will not change the way the backing vocals sound like "I wanna," instead of "I want her." Yet, Sweat clearly says, "I want her ."

We do not have an internally bi-wired Nordost Odin speaker cable. So we have to use Nordost's jumpers.

Most of you have forgotten about late 1987's hit, "Got My Mind Set On You," by the late George Harrison. No contest; the Odin is so sonically invisible, it leaves the Magnum M3.3bw sounding like the equivalent of a dark, old, drab, gray, cobweb-filled stone castle. The Odin has transparency, without artificially turning on the spotlight. And its speed is unmatched. The way the music effortlessly "pops" out from a silent background is superior.

However, my friend and I had to confer with each other, then came to the consensus that, lo and behold, the Magnum M3.3bw got some of the sides and back portions of the images more fully/accurately. Let's say you go to a toy store, and find that a stuffed bird is hanging via string from the ceiling. With both cables, you clearly know that it's a stuffed animal. With the Magnum M3.3bw, it is as if you could approach the hanging stuffed animal not just from the front, but from other angles. Okay, so with the Odin, you get your run of the rest of the toy store, while the M3.3bw gives you just the space/aisle the hanging stuffed animal is in. Nevertheless, we did find one aspect at which the M3.3bw did better than the Odin.

But what about Nordost's cheaper [but still more expensive than the Magnum M3.3bw] Valhalla? Sigh, perspective. You see, once my audio friends and I heard the Odin, we became aware of the Valhalla casting a "white haze" over the music. Take the Pet Shop Boys' "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" With the Valhalla casting its white clouds, we agreed with the Pet Shop Boys' use of white album covers. But with the Magnum M3.3bw providing more grit and soul, we just enjoyed Dusty Springfield's vocals, and then became saddened that cancer took her, before she turned 60.

In late 1987, I knew many guys who wouldn't be caught, listening to Whitney Houston's "So Emotional." But we're audiophiles. We don't give a hoot about peer pressure. We know that "So Emotional" is a crazy-good recording, with the drums snapping, Whitney's voice soaring (but not out of control), and that spastic, ticklish bassline.

With the XLO Signature S2-5.4, the images are sharp and small. The notes start quickly. You can feel the flesh between your hips and ribs tighten and shrink, kind of like Whitney Houston back in 1987.

With the Magnum M3.3bw, the images are more fully formed. And at the same time, there are greater transparency and space between those images. With both cables, "So Emotional" will give your bi-wire speakers a good workout. If you prefer focus and speed, go with the XLO S2-5.4. If you prefer imaging and scale, go with the MIT Magnum M3.3bw.

Another audiophile wrote: "Loch monster, it took me a while to "get" your reviews. But, and you can print this, I'm hooked. I can't wait for you to do another. Adn [sic] another. Don't stop. Because of you, I want more comparisons, more pics, more music, more experiences, more detail."

My high school was known for having a dance every month. Personally, I did not quite like the Cover Girls' "Because Of You." For one, with DJ equipment at loud levels, the ssssssssearing top end pierced my ears. Two, it was just too damn fast! You try dancing to it.

To be honest, my friends and I could not stand waiting for the Magnum M3.3bw to "burn-in." So I stuck it on the Audio Dharma Cable Cooker for 4 days. Even after that, it took a day or two of regular playing time [no easy feat, if your home is occupied, or you have sensitive neighbors], before the warmth gave way to clarity, balance, and honest transparency. Unlike some other speaker cables, the M3.3bw does not add "free notes." So while some of you may be disappointed that $4000 won't give you "better" sound, "Because Of You" won't come off sounding like a dentist's drill. The M3.3bw does a good job of not smearing transients. So if you use a kickin' source, such as the Simaudio Andromeda, you may just become the most beloved DJ. For a moment, when I stopped myself from running around the room, I thought about the one girl who did keep up with "Because Of You," AL. I saw AL's smile, as her straight black hair flew around, a perfect model of the Coriolis effect. And for good measure, the M3.3bw preserved the Andromeda's sparkle and (synthesized) kick drum bombs on the Cover Girls' "Promise Me." I remember AL and her two female friends, sitting on top of a courtyard table. They had their arms around each other's shoulders, and swayed to the song. I actually sat on top of the couch's back, and did the same -- except I was alone... You may not be able to get your girlfriends together, but do yourself a favor, and just get the Cable Cooker.

With so much going on in popular music in 1987, Yes' Big Generator was overlooked. It is a thin recording, and the M3.3bw, despite its imaging prowess, will not cast a spell, and give Big Generator big and bold images.

At the speaker end, the Magnum M3.3bw is marked so that one set of leads goes to your speaker's tweeter, while the other set of leads goes to your speaker's woofer. What happens if you reverse this? I thought the sound became slightly "weird." Musical impact wasn't as crisp. The top of the soundstage lost some air. Going back to the correct wiring "locked down" the imaging, kind of like taking photos which are not blurred. And once this happens, you can "see into" "Love Will Find A Way's" inner workings.

An audio friend of mine has the MIT Oracle v3.2 single-wire speaker cable. It is not the same length as my M3.3bw. And we had to use MIT leads as bi-wire jumpers. Nevertheless, we found the comparison instructional. The Oracle v3.2 was superior. Take Rush's "Time Stand Still." For one, the Oracle v3.2 reproduced a much larger soundstage. Furthermore, the images were more properly scaled. This type of resolution caused my friend to remark, "This is weird. Aimee Mann's voice is more distinct. Yet, it blends in, fits in, more seamlessly."

With the Magnum M3.3bw, the images, though still relatively large and 3D, were more homogeneous, closer in size to each other. And there was less texture and micro-fine detail.

And, to be sure, we then used the Oracle v3.2 again. The music's flow seemed more effortless, more unfettered, less mechanical, less forced.

Here on Cable Asylum, I have already reviewed 4 of MIT's line-level interconnects. Several audiophiles have asked me if there is any special "synergy" to using these interconnects with the Magnum M3.3bw. With the balanced Oracle v1.2pro and Magnum M1.3pro, my answer is "yes."

Back in 1987, I was in the foreign language lab with my friend and classmate, Jacob. We listened to The Smiths' "Girlfriend In A Coma." We did not know if we should take this song literally. We wondered if Morrissey was serious.

Using those balanced MIT interconnects brought out the M3.3bw's true imaging capabilities. It was fascinating to see "Girlfriend In A Coma" make that transition from "recording" to "creation." The M3.3bw then successfully navigated all the changes in the way the producer changes the spotlight, throughout "Girlfriend In A Coma's" 2:02 playing time. The MIT pairings do not, as so many other cables do, relegate the non-spotlighted instruments into obscurity. They stay firmly in their own recorded space(s). And there is enough detail that, should you choose, you can follow Johnny Marr's masterful acoustic guitar work. And I seem to recall that, by the time "Girlfriend In A Coma" had become popular, the band had broken up.

In the fall of 1987, I took ceramics. The instructor took proceeds from sales of ceramics to buy a JVC boombox with Hyper-Bass. He tailored the EQ, so that Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies" became a lesson in boom & sizzle.

Alas, the ProAc Response One SC has a boom & sizzle frequency response. Here, the Magnum M3.3bw's imaging capabilities, somewhat forgiving way with transients, and lack of free notes (especially in the treble) pay off with the Response One SC. This allows the ProAc's "tubelike midrange" to bring me back to late 1987, when the fog hung over the school, the dust and dirt coated the ceramics studio, and my classmate shut off "Little Lies," and grooved instead to the Alarm's "Rain In The Summertime."

But back to Los Lobos' "La Bamba." You've made it through what, in MS Word, is a 6-page review. You might get the feeling that the MIT Magnum M3.3bw is a solid performer, doing some things well, and falling short of the marks set by other speaker cables. And that feeling can frustrate some audiophiles, who like to be told in black and white terms. But c'mon, you know that quality audio deserves mature, quality reviewing. If you are a guy, would you choose CT? AL? AL's friends? Choosing a speaker cable is not like picking a girlfriend, but you get the idea.

But back to Los Lobos' "La Bamba." With a quality system, the MIT Magnum M3.3bw can bring me back to late summer 1987, at San Jose's Raging Waters. It places me in line at the water slides, but at ground level. Other speaker cables can put me on the steps, or even down the slides themselves. Wheeeeeeeee!

-Lummy The Loch Monster

Product Weakness:	only available in black; needs the Audio Dharma Cable Cooker to extract true potential; spades suck
Product Strengths:	can be special-ordered in shorter lengths; comes with sets of spades and bananas; leads can be custom ordered; black network box not as heavy as those from the Oracle line

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: numerous
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Classe' CP-500, Jeff Rowland Criterion, Simaudio P-8
Sources (CDP/Turntable): numerous
Speakers: Martin Logan Aerius i and Vista; ProAc Response One SC; Totem The One and Wind
Cables/Interconnects: numerous
Music Used (Genre/Selections): rock, pop, metal, R&B, Hawaiian, dance, rap
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner

Amplifier:	numerous
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Classe' CP-500, Jeff Rowland Criterion, Simaudio P-8
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	numerous
Speakers:	Martin Logan Aerius i and Vista; ProAc Response One SC; Totem The One and Wind
Cables/Interconnects:	numerous
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	rock, pop, metal, R&B, Hawaiian, dance, rap
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner