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REVIEW: Nordost SPM + QuattroFil Cable Review by mhamilton at Audio Asylum

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Back in the days when money was falling from the trees I placed my
order for Nordost SPM speaker cable (10ft) and QuattroFil interconnect 30 ft, balanced; 2ft RCA) and El Dorado Power cords.

I had heard SPM speaker cable for a limited time and liked its fast, detailed nature. I was not particularly impressed by its bass response.
Nonetheless, on the basis of recommendations I placed the order.

It finally arrived and I installed the interconnects first, replacing
home-brew balanced cables based on Belden 8214 between the amp and
preamp, and MIT-330ULII from CD to Preamp (RCA). (I also have extensive
experience with MIT330 and MIT 850 Pro for the Amp-Preamp connection)
I left the Goertz MI-2 in for speaker cable.

First impression was - wow, where did all that bass come from. No longer
was there ANY desire to turn on the subwoofer. Also evident were the
fine details which I expected from Nordost.
On the negative side I felt a mid bass resonance or "bloom" had become noticeable.

Next I switched in the SPM speaker cable and continued to listen and
experiment with different music.

I have been warned that another 200 hours should be allowed for burnin
but there are those who don't belive in burn-in (hi John D.) so
early observations are worth reporting (since the adaptive nature
of the human hearing system is well documented while the physics
of cable burn-in is not).

1) The QuattroFil + SPM combination does not lack in bass as my
previous SPM only trials did. The nature of the bass is still under
study.

2) In the mid and high ranges there is a level of detail and refinement
I've not heard in other cable. The possibility of real sonic holography
is there.

3) There may be a weakness in Bass Attack.

4) There may be a significant resonance (looseness) in the mid bass

I am trying to resolve 3 and 4.

a)It is possible with the extended response of the cables that I am
now experiencing a room resonance that I didn't notice before.
b)Maybe the cables need to break in some more.
c)Maybe the Spectral/QuattroFil/Pass combination is a problem
d)Maybe the relatively high inductance of the SPM (relative to the
MI-2) is not allowing as much fast-bass attack as I was used to.
e)Maybe the bass bloom is over-powering the bass attack.

I don't have an opinion on the power cords at this point.

The next step is to let the system play for 12 hours a day for a week
and see what we can hear then.


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Topic - REVIEW: Nordost SPM + QuattroFil Cable Review by mhamilton at Audio Asylum - mhamilton 15:49:09 11/27/00 ( 4)