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  1. #1
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    MIT at my house!

    Earlier this month Mike came by the house with a *big* box of goodies for me to try out in the system - his own set of MIT cables, or more properly interfaces. This included the MI-2C3D Level 1 Speaker interfaces, MI-2C3D Level 1 XLR Interconnects, SL Matrix USB, and Oracle MA-X Digital Balanced Interconnect (AES/EBU). This replaced my Acoustic Zen Hologram 2 speaker cables, Matrix Reference II Interconnects, and WireWorld Platinum AES/EBU and Starlight USB cables.

    At first listen, it was clear that there was a big difference with the MIT loom. We listened for a couple of hours and Mike was uncharacteristically quiet, not talking at all during any of the songs we played and hardly saying a word between tracks. As is often the case with major system changes, first impressions are hard to describe - you get a sense of what you hear but you haven't processed it yet.

    Fast forward a couple of days - the sound continued to improve as the cables settled in but there was a very slight edge in the highs. I told Mike about it, we did some investigating and found that the interconnects running to the amps were set to medium impedance but the XS 300 amps have high impedance. I made the switch on both interfaces.

    Bam! The slight edge was gone. Once settled in at the proper settings the sound was perfect!

    So how do they sound?

    First, there's a ton more detail - it's been a while since I've noticed "something I never heard before" on my system but now I get it all the time. And everyone who's heard them says the same thing. Breathing, tapping, fingering, audience noise - much more highly resolved.

    Second, the background is quieter - but not in the sense that you see it as "blacker" - blacker would call attention to itself. It's more like there just isn't any background noise anymore, which makes quiet passages stand out more and sudden notes all the more striking.

    Finally, it's like the pre-amp suddenly has several new control knobs on it: Texture, Tonal Richness, and Holography... and they're all dialed up to 8 or 9. Those knobs weren't there before, but if they were they would have only been set to 1 or 2 in comparison).

    Texture and richness speak for the themselves - they're not squishy terms like "organic" or "musical". Holography... well, if my system was like a High Definition OLED TV before now it's like the Holodeck on the Enterprise (Next Generation). It seems almost that real. And everything is affected equally - male and female vocals, percussion, strings, horns, guitars, and OMG piano!

    It's startling at times - the sounds are so real and they come out of nowhere in a sound field that fills the whole space in front of you and doesn't seem to have any relationship with the speakers or equipment in the room. Decay goes on forever. It doesn't sound like reproduced music - just music. And opening your eyes doesn't break the illusion at all.

    I could go on but I think you get the idea - these MIT interfaces are not leaving my system (sorry Mike).
    Howard

    Pass Labs XS 300's, XS Pre | Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference Series 3, Alpha USB | Aurender W20SE, ACS10 | Magico S7's with MPOD's, QSub 15 x 2 | Shunyata Denali 2000T x 2 with Sigma HC | Audience aR6-TS Incoming... Shunyata Everest 8000 w/ Omega XC | MIT Heritage and Oracle Interconnects and speaker cables | Critical Mass Maxxum rack | Resolution Acoustics custom room treatments

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Re: MIT at my house!

    Howard, I am having the same experience with another brand of cable. It is hard to believe that cables that are purported to be responsible for maybe 3-5% of the sound (if that) can make such a dramatic difference.

    Cables from my understanding don't really add anything but "do no harm to the signal". When you get ahold of a brand such as yours it can be bliss. Congratulations.
    Le Roy

    Austin, Tx : Soulution 520 preamp, 501 mono blocks, 541 SACD/560 DAC w/ Network Streaming, Raidho D3.1, Lumin U1, Uptone Audio Modded Mac Mini w/ MMK fanless kit & JS-2 LPS, Regen, Ansuz DTC loom (complete), Oppo 105D, QNAP TS-451+

    Chicagoland : Soulution 725 preamp, 711 stereo amp, 541 SACD/560 DAC w/ Network Streaming, Raidho D5.1, Naim UnitiServe 2TB, Aurender W-20 Ansuz DTC later generation wire, Teac X1000 R2R, QNAP TS-451+

    Foundation:
    Raidho Rack system, Ansuz DTC Mainz8, Ansuz (2) Supreme Mainz D8 Distribution, 20 amp dedicated outlets via subpanel

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    Re: MIT at my house!

    What you are both describing is the difference between audio cables and an audio interface. This is what you get with MIT, Ansuz DTC and Transparent. And yes, the interface makes a major difference in sound quality IMHO. These brands have come a long way since they were first introduced. Definitely not your father's MIT!

    Ken
    "No summit worth climbing is easily attained."
    --------------------------------------------
    Source: MSB Select II DAC with Two Mono Powerbases and Femto 33 Clock; Renderer V2 Digital Input Module and Roon Nucleus Plus; MSB UMT V Signature Transport
    Amps: Vandersteen M7-HPA Mono Amps; MSB M204 Mono Amps
    Speakers: Vandersteen Model 7 Mk2
    Power: Two AudioQuest Niagara 5000’s with AudioQuest Dragon and Hurricane Power Cords

  4. #4

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Thanks for sharing, Sandman. I'm awaiting EVO level 1 speaker cables. Already thinking EVO level 1 XLR.

  5. #5

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by Alpinist View Post
    What you are both describing is the difference between audio cables and an audio interface. This is what you get with MIT, Ansuz DTC and Transparent. And yes, the interface makes a major difference in sound quality IMHO. These brands have come a long way since they were first introduced. Definitely not your father's MIT!

    Ken
    Ken, may I ask which cables you are using?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    “Life’s too short to listen to bad audio.”

    Big rig: Brinkmann Taurus DD TT + 12.1 arm + Lyra Etna Lambda SL MC + HRS M3X2/ Cardas Clear Beyond phono/ Stillpoints LPI/ Brinkmann Edison mk2 phono + RöNT II Tube PS/ Synology NAS with Roon + HD Plex linear PSU + Shunyata HD/ AQ Vodka RJ45 + Aqvox Network Switch SE + AQ Diamond RJ45 into DAC/ Brinkmann Nyquist mk2/ Audionet Humboldt/ Cardas Clear Beyond ICs/ Kharma DB9-S 1.1 LS/ Inakustik Reference LS 4004 AIR/ Audioquest Niagara 5000/ Shunyata Alpha power (HC, Analogue, Digital)/ Finite Elemente Pagode Rack/ Stillpoints Ultra SS/ Vicoustic panels + Stillpoints Aperture II.

    Small rig: Naim UnitiServe/ Curious USB/ Tidal/ Linn Klimax DS3/ Shunyata Power cable/ Pass Labs INT-60/ Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II/ HiD Diamond 8/ Harbeth 30.2 40th Anniversary/ Shunyata Venom EU7 & Venom 3 HD.

    HP rig: MacBookAir/ Tidal/ Auralic Gemini 2000/ Sbooster LPSU/ Audeze LCD-2 Classic + WyWires Red/ Shunyata HD/ Shunyata Hydra 2/ Shunyata Venom.

  6. #6

    MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by kzhtoo View Post
    Thanks for sharing, Sandman. I'm awaiting EVO level 1 speaker cables. Already thinking EVO level 1 XLR.
    Also thinking about the EVOs, heard Magicos with MIT cables in Munich and my thoughts keep coming back to that presentation.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    “Life’s too short to listen to bad audio.”

    Big rig: Brinkmann Taurus DD TT + 12.1 arm + Lyra Etna Lambda SL MC + HRS M3X2/ Cardas Clear Beyond phono/ Stillpoints LPI/ Brinkmann Edison mk2 phono + RöNT II Tube PS/ Synology NAS with Roon + HD Plex linear PSU + Shunyata HD/ AQ Vodka RJ45 + Aqvox Network Switch SE + AQ Diamond RJ45 into DAC/ Brinkmann Nyquist mk2/ Audionet Humboldt/ Cardas Clear Beyond ICs/ Kharma DB9-S 1.1 LS/ Inakustik Reference LS 4004 AIR/ Audioquest Niagara 5000/ Shunyata Alpha power (HC, Analogue, Digital)/ Finite Elemente Pagode Rack/ Stillpoints Ultra SS/ Vicoustic panels + Stillpoints Aperture II.

    Small rig: Naim UnitiServe/ Curious USB/ Tidal/ Linn Klimax DS3/ Shunyata Power cable/ Pass Labs INT-60/ Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II/ HiD Diamond 8/ Harbeth 30.2 40th Anniversary/ Shunyata Venom EU7 & Venom 3 HD.

    HP rig: MacBookAir/ Tidal/ Auralic Gemini 2000/ Sbooster LPSU/ Audeze LCD-2 Classic + WyWires Red/ Shunyata HD/ Shunyata Hydra 2/ Shunyata Venom.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
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    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuoppis View Post
    Ken, may I ask which cables you are using?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    My Vandersteen M7-HPA mono amps came with proprietary single-ended fixed length speaker cables produced for Vandersteen by AudioQuest. They use solid 100% perfect surface silver (PSS) conductors and AQ's dielectric bias system (DBS), which was designed by Richard Vandersteen. My interconnects are AQ Wild Blue Yonder, which are also 100% PSS and DBS. Richard uses AQ cable in all his speakers.

    Best,
    Ken
    "No summit worth climbing is easily attained."
    --------------------------------------------
    Source: MSB Select II DAC with Two Mono Powerbases and Femto 33 Clock; Renderer V2 Digital Input Module and Roon Nucleus Plus; MSB UMT V Signature Transport
    Amps: Vandersteen M7-HPA Mono Amps; MSB M204 Mono Amps
    Speakers: Vandersteen Model 7 Mk2
    Power: Two AudioQuest Niagara 5000’s with AudioQuest Dragon and Hurricane Power Cords

  8. #8

    MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by Alpinist View Post
    My Vandersteen M7-HPA mono amps came with proprietary single-ended fixed length speaker cables produced for Vandersteen by AudioQuest. They use solid 100% perfect surface silver conductors and AQ's dielectric bias system (which was designed by Richard Vandersteen). My interconnects are AQ Wild Blue Yonder. Richard uses AQ in his speakers.

    Best,
    Ken
    Appreciate the details. AC must be good if Richard has chosen them for his speakers. Mike also keeps talking about AC quality


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    “Life’s too short to listen to bad audio.”

    Big rig: Brinkmann Taurus DD TT + 12.1 arm + Lyra Etna Lambda SL MC + HRS M3X2/ Cardas Clear Beyond phono/ Stillpoints LPI/ Brinkmann Edison mk2 phono + RöNT II Tube PS/ Synology NAS with Roon + HD Plex linear PSU + Shunyata HD/ AQ Vodka RJ45 + Aqvox Network Switch SE + AQ Diamond RJ45 into DAC/ Brinkmann Nyquist mk2/ Audionet Humboldt/ Cardas Clear Beyond ICs/ Kharma DB9-S 1.1 LS/ Inakustik Reference LS 4004 AIR/ Audioquest Niagara 5000/ Shunyata Alpha power (HC, Analogue, Digital)/ Finite Elemente Pagode Rack/ Stillpoints Ultra SS/ Vicoustic panels + Stillpoints Aperture II.

    Small rig: Naim UnitiServe/ Curious USB/ Tidal/ Linn Klimax DS3/ Shunyata Power cable/ Pass Labs INT-60/ Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II/ HiD Diamond 8/ Harbeth 30.2 40th Anniversary/ Shunyata Venom EU7 & Venom 3 HD.

    HP rig: MacBookAir/ Tidal/ Auralic Gemini 2000/ Sbooster LPSU/ Audeze LCD-2 Classic + WyWires Red/ Shunyata HD/ Shunyata Hydra 2/ Shunyata Venom.

  9. #9

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuoppis View Post
    Also thinking about the EVOs, heard Magicos with MIT cables in Munich and my thoughts keep coming back to that presentation.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    So, what you hear at Munich with MIT different than what S3 mk2 is doing at your home in terms of presentation? Care to elaborate? You are using Cardas at home, right (sorry if I'm wrong)?

  10. #10

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by kzhtoo View Post
    So, what you hear at Munich with MIT different than what S3 mk2 is doing at your home in terms of presentation? Care to elaborate? You are using Cardas at home, right (sorry if I'm wrong)?
    I think what I am hearing at home right now is very good - I am using WyWires Platinum full loom, which I quite like.

    If anything, I guess the MIT setup might have been more open, but it is very hard to say whether that was due to the mk2 version of speakers or because of the cables.

    But I will be very interested to hear about your experiences, as you have only one factor changing in the setup.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    “Life’s too short to listen to bad audio.”

    Big rig: Brinkmann Taurus DD TT + 12.1 arm + Lyra Etna Lambda SL MC + HRS M3X2/ Cardas Clear Beyond phono/ Stillpoints LPI/ Brinkmann Edison mk2 phono + RöNT II Tube PS/ Synology NAS with Roon + HD Plex linear PSU + Shunyata HD/ AQ Vodka RJ45 + Aqvox Network Switch SE + AQ Diamond RJ45 into DAC/ Brinkmann Nyquist mk2/ Audionet Humboldt/ Cardas Clear Beyond ICs/ Kharma DB9-S 1.1 LS/ Inakustik Reference LS 4004 AIR/ Audioquest Niagara 5000/ Shunyata Alpha power (HC, Analogue, Digital)/ Finite Elemente Pagode Rack/ Stillpoints Ultra SS/ Vicoustic panels + Stillpoints Aperture II.

    Small rig: Naim UnitiServe/ Curious USB/ Tidal/ Linn Klimax DS3/ Shunyata Power cable/ Pass Labs INT-60/ Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II/ HiD Diamond 8/ Harbeth 30.2 40th Anniversary/ Shunyata Venom EU7 & Venom 3 HD.

    HP rig: MacBookAir/ Tidal/ Auralic Gemini 2000/ Sbooster LPSU/ Audeze LCD-2 Classic + WyWires Red/ Shunyata HD/ Shunyata Hydra 2/ Shunyata Venom.

  11. #11

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuoppis View Post
    But I will be very interested to hear about your experiences, as you have only one factor changing in the setup.
    Will report back after I have it in the system for enough hours.

  12. #12

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by kzhtoo View Post
    Will report back after I have it in the system for enough hours.
    How are you liking your EVO Ones?

  13. #13
    Audioshark
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    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by mdp632 View Post
    How are you liking your EVO Ones?
    I put them on the S5 mk2 system yesterday and sat back and enjoyed a couple of hours of listening. A good dose of the qualities I heard immediately with the 2C3D's on the M3's was present. I'm sold. Amazing.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    My Systems: http://www.audioshark.org/showthread...481#post158481

    "We can hear everything we measure, but we can't measure everything we hear. Let your ears be your guide."

    Dealer for: Aqua Hi-Fi, Aurender, AudioQuest Cables & Power Products, Berkeley Audio, Block Audio (distributor), Boulder Amplifiers, Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), Bryston, Clarisys Audio Loudspeakers (distributor), Classe’ Audio, Degritter Record Cleaning Machines, Esoteric, Finite Elemente, FirstWatt, Focal Loudspeakers and Headphones, GigaFoil, Harbeth Loudspeakers, Hegel, HiFi Man, Innuos, ISO Acoustics, Keces Power Supplies, Kharma Loudspeakers and Electronics, Kuzma Turntables, Lumin, Luxman, Magico Loudspeakers, MBL Speakers & Electronics, MSB Technologies, MySonicLabs Phono Cartridges, Nordost Cables, Ortofon, Pass Labs, Quadraspire, Rega Turntables and Electronics, Shunyata Research, STAX, Stein Music Products, Stillpoints, Soulution, VAC, Vicoustics, Viva Audio, VPI Industries, WireWorld Cables.

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  14. #14

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by mdp632 View Post
    How are you liking your EVO Ones?
    I'm only at about 120 hours with EVO One SC. So far like it enough to order EVO One XLR and Three XLR. MIT at my house!

  15. #15

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by kzhtoo View Post
    I'm only at about 120 hours with EVO One SC. So far like it enough to order EVO One XLR and Three XLR. MIT at my house!
    Which LS cables were you using before? Can you describe the difference?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    “Life’s too short to listen to bad audio.”

    Big rig: Brinkmann Taurus DD TT + 12.1 arm + Lyra Etna Lambda SL MC + HRS M3X2/ Cardas Clear Beyond phono/ Stillpoints LPI/ Brinkmann Edison mk2 phono + RöNT II Tube PS/ Synology NAS with Roon + HD Plex linear PSU + Shunyata HD/ AQ Vodka RJ45 + Aqvox Network Switch SE + AQ Diamond RJ45 into DAC/ Brinkmann Nyquist mk2/ Audionet Humboldt/ Cardas Clear Beyond ICs/ Kharma DB9-S 1.1 LS/ Inakustik Reference LS 4004 AIR/ Audioquest Niagara 5000/ Shunyata Alpha power (HC, Analogue, Digital)/ Finite Elemente Pagode Rack/ Stillpoints Ultra SS/ Vicoustic panels + Stillpoints Aperture II.

    Small rig: Naim UnitiServe/ Curious USB/ Tidal/ Linn Klimax DS3/ Shunyata Power cable/ Pass Labs INT-60/ Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II/ HiD Diamond 8/ Harbeth 30.2 40th Anniversary/ Shunyata Venom EU7 & Venom 3 HD.

    HP rig: MacBookAir/ Tidal/ Auralic Gemini 2000/ Sbooster LPSU/ Audeze LCD-2 Classic + WyWires Red/ Shunyata HD/ Shunyata Hydra 2/ Shunyata Venom.

  16. #16

    Re: MIT at my house!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuoppis View Post
    Which LS cables were you using before? Can you describe the difference?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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