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Do speaker wires matter

I recently was given a pair of Mirage M1 speakers. All highs, mids and lows work but I don’t believe they sound like they should.

The tweeters are not giving the detailed highs. I am not sure if the mids and lows are where they should be.

i am currently using a vintage 2226b Marantz I just had restored. Impedance is 8 ohms and it only puts out 26 wpc. I know these speakers require A much more powerful amp. I’ve done a little research on this.

im wondering if the speakers could not sound as good because of the Marantz and/or also because of the speaker wires I’m currently using. I don’t know what gauge they are. They were given to me as well. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

i did also find a Mirage technician in Canada who still repairs them if I’ll have to take that route. No turning back now 😊
em2music
mike_in_nc
1,193 posts
 
I agree the Marantz is probably underpowered for these speakers.
How long are the speaker wires?
soix
10,271 posts
 
Yup.  Mismatch of amp capabilities and speaker needs.  Speaker cables aren’t even a rounding error at this point.  You need either a new amp or new speakers. 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Speakers. Your amp is fine. Just need speakers with another 10 dB sensitivity. 93dB and you will be fine.

Want to save yourself a lot of time, money, and headaches? Never even consider anything less than 92dB. Just cross it off your list. Too many fabulous sounding 95dB+ speakers out there to be killing yourself trying to solve a problem so easily avoided.  

And yes, speaker cables are huge. Every bit as important as every other component. Its just right now you have other priorities, like finding a good Tekton, er I mean high efficiency speaker.
zufan's avatar
zufan
563 posts
 
I'm with MC on this one. So many good higher sensitivity options. 

The last thing I need now are more speakers (famous last words) but when I do I'm going to finally try Tekton. Or giant Tannoy. First world problems. 
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,326 posts
 
Those were very nice and highly regarded speakers back in the day.  I remember a time I was looking seriously at M3's.  Your amp, as the other reasonable people on this thread have already told you, is seriously underpowered.  If the M1's are really 83dB, then you will need some muscle, but it should produce very good results.  Worth dealing with the speaker cable, but start with the amp, anything else will be a probably ineffective bandaid.
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