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Transparent Cables - Worth the money?

Hi all,

I am considering a system upgrade which includes Transparent's Reference XL cables (interconnect & speaker). My current system consists of the following components:
ProAc 3.8, ML 383 & 39, Van den Hul Revelation Hybrid (BiWire) and interconnect VdH MC Gold Hybrid. Does it make any sense to upgrade to this extremely expensive cables? I am thinking modular: my following upgrade will be: Conrad-Johnson Premier 16LS, ML 33H. Any comments welcome!
koen
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
today i posted a description of the materials and construction of the opus on the "audio asylum" cable board if you are interested. it is under a thread started early yesterday. i would think construction costs and labor are a few factors higher than your estimate. but i think this is about performance and market value, not cost. i paid about $8k more than the next best speaker cable would cost. for my money it was worth it.
no_money
638 posts
 
Mike, good info. I just upgraded a set of "super" i.c.'s to Ultra yesterday (unfortunately not with Xl) but still sound damn good and I hope to be upgrade to REF. some day. I don't know if I will ever make the jack to justify REF XL or the Opus but if I could, I would.
john_l
782 posts
 
I recently heard the spm compared against the transparent reference. I felt the transparent was a touch better. Ultra-hirez system with wilson speakers & BAT electronics. I also found the audio salon dealer's comments quite useful. It's great to hear from people who have the opportunity to compare many different cables. Has anyone compared the harmonic tech pro-silway II's to nordost spm or transparent reference ?
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
i did compare thr transparent ref. xl to the harmonic tech. magic woofer/tweeter. i liked the harmonic tech. better. more neutral with more extended high-frequencies. the ref. xl sounded slightly dark and closed in in comparison. to be fair to the transparent it is a 5 year old design. the ref. xl still out-performs most other cables on the market. what other 5 year old design can say that?
adsal7e18
250 posts
 
in my experience.
1-on krell+wilson systems every time mit beats transparent
2-transparent has spectaculer sound not naturel sound
3-if your system is really well set up and very good sound you will hear that tranparent is bright on highs and not enough detail on bass(againts xlo limited e.)
4-just one positif thing is it s a airy cable
5-not worth what it cost
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