Every possible aspect of music reproduction improved with these cables.

None.

I have always spent descent amount of money on audio equipment but never thought there would be a need to spend over $100.00 on cable. The difference in sound quality with these cables is so incredible that music that I am familiar with now sounds like it has been re-mixed and improved. It is scary how good these cables are! The best investment I have ever made on my audio.

Key Equipment: Musical Fidelty A220, MSB Link 3, NHT 2.9.

soundstage, detail

none

These Analysis Plus Oval 9 cables are simply incredible in my system. I am not an elecrical engineer and I don't buy all the hype about $9000 cables, but somehow these cables doubled the size of the soundstage compared to my Monster Cables. The detail, precise location of vocals and instruments is just amazing. The soundstage increased greatly in all directions, width, depth and especially height. Anyone with a pair of speakers that cost more than $3000 would be doing themelves an injustice not to spend an extra $300 on these cables. I use a single run of these cables, but if anybody has any input on sound improvement by bi-wiring with these cables, I'd like to hear about it. I'm also interested in any reviewer's comments on Analysis Plus's Silver Oval cables compared to the Oval 9's. My speaker's are B&W Nautilus 804's, Amp is Adcom GFA5502.

Similar Products Used:

Monster Cable M1 MK. II

Clarity and Transparency

None that I am able to detect

These cables are excellent. You can read the previous reviews to hear about them as I really can't say much different. They are very detailed and very neutral. They let the music just flow sweetly out of your system. However there is one area where these cables really stand out.
That is in the VALUE department. I doubt there is any cable for the money that sounds as good and I also doubt there is any cable at up to three times the price that sounds as good. If you love great sound but you don't believe in megabuck prices or markup, this IS the cable for you.
I got mine through Oliver at Delve Audio and he can give you even more details about these cables if you want another opinion.

Used on the following:
Ah! Tjoeb 99 CD Player
Harmon/Kardan Tu 9600 Tuner
Harmon/Kardan HK6950R with custon Signature mod by Musical Concepts
DH Labs Silver Sonic BL-I Interconnects
(Now) Analysis Plus Oval 9 Speaker Cables
Revel Performa F30 Speakers

Similar Products Used:

DH labs Silver sonic T-14, JPS Labs Supercondutors

The Analysis Plus is supposed to be the giant killer at a rather reasonable $399 for 12 feet ($299 for 8 feet). But most good speakers I have owned or auditioned sound best when bi-wired (not single-wire and a terminal bridge or tail). With Analysis Plus you must use a double run joined only at the amp termination. That means you are up to $750 for a 12-foot bi-wire. No longer such an incredible deal, but still a good value if it compares well to others in the $800-1200 range.

When I first pulled it out of the box, the bass was bloated and overpowering--probably welcome for those with mini-monitors, but poor for full range speakers. The speakers were smooth and imaged well but the highs had little extension, detail or delicacy. I heard one or two reviews say it takes a while to burn in, so I stopped listening. I put the CD on repeat and played it at moderately loud levels for 130+ hours, staying out of the house as much as possible for that week. I noticed around 50 hours that the sound started to take on detail and sound like sweet music, but left them alone for another 80 hours. In the end, they sounded smooth and fairly detailed. Excellent imaging. The bass was deep and authoritative and still a little hot in the mid/upper bass, but was much better balanced and controlled.

But I had been living with the MIT MH750 for 4 years on this music, so I know the sound. Something seemed missing. It didn’t seem to have as much air. The highs were extended, but you didn’t have as much sense of the room in which the music was recorded. On some music where the room was obviously reverberant it came across in the percussion but not so much on the voice or piano. I took the trouble to switch back to the MIT and wow! There was so much more detail on ther MIT. The bass was so much more natural. The piano notes sounded more like live piano sounds when played in a “live” room. Now the room sounded the same on the voice, piano and percussion. There was little better control on the upright bass and you heard more of the wood in the sound, but it was just as extended as the Analysis Plus. Overall the music was more engaging, because it had the smoothness and even some sweetness but had a lot more detail and sense of the recording space. It was a few steps closer to the real thing.

I wanted to prefer the Analysis Plus because it was less expensive, did not have the big ugly MIT junction box, and the cable was not so fat. (I wanted to string it under the carpet in front of a doorway.) The sound was very good and is a good value if you run single wire. Since it must be double-run, perhaps Oval 12 would be a good inexpensive solution with similar performance. However, the MIT clearly excelled in my system and brought out so much more of the music. If I had not heard the MIT, I would not have known what I was missing and would have probably loved the Analysis Plus (once burned in). But I’ll stick with the MIT MH750 Bi-wire, junction box and all.

System:
Von Schweikert Research VR4s
Classe Audio 70 amp & 30 preamp
Theta Basic Transport
Muse Model 2 DAC

Similar Products Used:

Vampire SL3, Tara Labs Reference Gen II double run, MIT MH750 Bi-wire, Black Orchid

outstanding soundstage, neutrality, fast sounding

Need time to break in

After only 3 hours of listening with the Oval 9 speaker cables, I can immediatly see the difference on my system. I bought it because of the positive reviews everywhere.

People talk about its neutrality, increased sounstage, dynamic sound. This could be obtained on my system right out of the box. However, I guess I will have to wait several more hours (50+) to get clearer sound and a wide frequency range. I would appreciate ont telling me about it.

My audio system is very transparent and I can hear the difference when I change a component. I was used to Ven den Hul ClearWater for 5 years or so but I found the sound to be a bit flat, unatural specially in the treble area. Moreover, the soundstage was not so good.

Even if I changed all my system (CD and ampli), I could hear some sort of imperfection again. I thought I would have to use a tube ampli to correct the problem. Fortunately, the Oval 9 seem to change the sound a lot toward something very neutral, which is good for me, since my audio syste is very neutral.

Equipment:
REGA Jupiter and IO CD transport and D/A converter;
REGA Maia and Cursa ampli and pre-ampli;
Magneplanar MG 1.6 QR;
REGA interconnect;
Audio Research interconnect;
AP Oval 9 speaker cables. (there is no difference to use bi-wired cable on the magneplanar, according to sources.)

Similar Products Used:

Van den Hull ClearWater and CS-122