 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
66.47.253.226
In Reply to: REVIEW: XLO Ultra 6 Cable posted by LowPhreak on November 28, 2005 at 21:43:56:
You're right; the Ultra 6, though hard to bend, spreads its sonic faults out evenly, so you're left with a cable that doesn't mess up the works. While I had the likes of Kimber KS-3033, Tara Labs Air 1, MIT Magnum 1 in my main system, I always kept the Ultra 6 in reserve. The Ultra 6 often was used in secondary systems.While my house was under reconstruction, I used the Ultra 6 in my temporary quarters. It did well on the Totem Arro.
I prefer the 6 over the 12, due to the latter's overabundance of bass. However, if you need an internal bi-wire cable, the Ultra 12 is ideal. Me? I had a Sig2 S2-J-S jumper, so I used that with the Ultra 6. Damn, I think the jumper costs more than an 8-foot pair of Ultra 6!
But anyway, I kept the Ultra 6 until I acquired the Unlimited Edition [see my review on the UE-5 elsewhere on Cable Asylum]. I agree with your assessment above. That is, people should hold on to the Ultra 6, skip the intermediate steps, and go for whatever high-end cable juices their lizard. In my case, it was the UE-5, but others may very well find the Sig2 Type 5.2 or LE-5 to be the sweet spot. Skip the Ref 5A.
-Lummy The Seahorse
Follow Ups:
...and IMO it's too bad the Ultra doesn't get more press. I'd bet it would take over what I call the 'affordable' price range in no time.While the lesser XLO's like ER-11 is darned good cable, especially for longer HT runs where you don't want to spend the bank, Ultra is a fairly vast improvement over that. If I were going to wire up a killer HT system, I'd go with Ultra to all speakers if at all financially possible and be done with it.
Ideally thus far, on 2-channel for me it's been Nordost SPM Ref or Sig 5.2 speaker - both in bi-wire form, (which I already have) but I'm going to soon try Coincident Extreme in-home. I've heard it on other systems and I was greatly impressed. This may well become my "be all, end all" speaker cable reference. The good thing is CE is not wacky expensive @ $1700./8' pr.
Line-level i/c wise, I'll stop at the Sig 2, thank you very much! ;^ )
On phono, I think Nirvana fairly beats XLO 3.2 in some aspects. On Nirvana's phono cable, I would agree with what others have said: its low-level resolution is very good and it has a very pure and natural sound.
What sayeth ye?
-LP
The good thing is CE is not wacky expensive @ $1700./8' pr.
This actually is very wacky. I don't care how resolving or revolving you think your system is, 1700 buck for 16 feet of wire is wacky.
I think I first learned about the Ultra series in early 1996. It's remained pretty much unchanged since then. But because of that, it often gets overlooked.I didn't care for the Ultra 1 interconnect. Something wasn't quite right in the treble.
Phono cables, perhaps more so than other cable types, absoutely need the Cable Cooker. I stuck the throwaway DIN-to-RCA cable that came with a SOTA MME tonearm on the Cable Cooker. Lo and behold, after the treatment, this cable wasn't as restrictive as before. But when we used the Cable Cooker on the XLO Type 3.2, oh ho ho ho!
I did compare the Ultra 6/12 to the Pro 1200. The latter, to me, sounded "raw" and "slippery." In comparison, the Ultras had a more powerful, more liquid presentation. Compared to the Type 5.2, my Ultra 6/12 sounded as though it glossed over or airbrushed the music.
I recommend that you stick with the Sig2 interconnects. Don't go for the Unlimited interconnects. Instead, scour the used market for LE-1 and LE-2 (this is how I found most of my LEs). Like any neutral, even-handed IC, the Limited Edition can, on initial listening, sound underwhelming. But as you swap gear and play a variety of recordings, you'll come to appreciate the LE's honesty. It's like a referee who lets the players play, but isn't afraid to call fouls when necessary. It won't however, be the referee who steps between combatants, and breaks up the fight. Instead, it's like the ref who lets the goons beat each other up.
But still, the Ultra 6 and 12 fill an important spot. For someone starting out, it's an excellent value. In fact, most people I know would be more than happy with the Ultra 6/12, and never feel the need or urge to spend more on speaker cable. At the same time, the Ultra 6/12 won't bust the budget or put off the long term goals of those who aspire to the $$$$ heights. For these patrons, the Ultra speaker cables are satisfying for now, and help buy time until they can afford that $$$$ stuff.
...and it's always great when you can find one in the cable world. If I ever move up to LE i/c's, it's gong to be an expensive proposition because I plan on going with 2 Pass Labs X150.5 amps in vertical bi-amp, then I could do short links of UE or LE to the speakers.On the cable cooking, I haven't been able to talk any of my local shops into buying a unit, but I'm still working on it. I may just pick one up myself. The last one I used was a couple of years ago, when there was eAudionet here in the area. He was just a small outfit, selling a few very good marques out of his apt. (Reference 3A and Avantgarde speakers, Van den Hul, Gamut, various tube amps, Aurios M.I.B.'s, etc.). He's where I bought my CEC TL-1x transport from, and at the time it was one of the last '1x's in the US, the rest being sold in Asia only now. Great friendly Chinese guy, who had no problems letting me try out different garden hoses and cooking some of my old stand-by's no charge. Wan will be missed.
Sorry for the digression!
-LP
Lummy, I would much enjoy your take on a VH Audio AirSine power cord. Any plans for a try? TIA
It's neat how VH Audio offers all those termination options. But no, I don't know anyone who has (or will have) enough samples for us to write about them.I guess we'll just have to assign you to report about the AirSine :-)
And who knows? If you're playing around with AC outlets, that's another variable to throw our cable reports off. Sigh...
Oh, I do like to play around with various AC outlet's and connectors :-) I've got three audio systems that show a marked difference per cable that's terminated with various AC junk :-)
I've had great success with them. www.voodoopowercords.com. And I think the Lum-ster is right - you'd better get on those AirSine's and render us a report, post-haste! ;^ )
-LP
So, how do they do in your system? The Voodoo Power Cords look to be quite nice. I've posted about the AirSine (look in the archives :-)...
...in an earlier post in this thread. I had written that review some time ago here: www.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=cables&n=87241&review=1
-LP
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
