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I opened both MIT and Transparent netwks

I have opened both MIT and Transparent networks to see what was in them. In both cases, it was very similar. In both, I found an inductor, capacitor, and a resistor. They were connected between the signal and ground in a novel way. Both were encased in an epoxy or glue that I had to break to see what was in it. The wire in both networks appeared to be just simple copper wire, and the soldering work was sloppy and ugly. It made me very upset. However, I do think that both MIT and Transparent make very good cables- the MIT's excel in bloom and soundstaging while the Transparents allow a deep silence between notes- a very low noise floor. BTW, I have also cut open a transparent reference digital interconnect, audioquest corals, NBS, and Cardas twinlinks and hexlinks. The Cardas had amazing workmanship and wonderful soldering in even their cheapest cable.

Troy
128x128tarichar
3chihuahuas
108 posts
 
Any one ever cut open an Oscar Wiener? I am affraid to ask what's in them ;-) Seriously though, please let us know if you ever gut open Synergystics Research's Designer Ref. speaker cable. Refering a recent about the SR des. ref. cable, I was wondering how long it would take you to cut the thick cables.
mg123
192 posts
 
Troy: I think its great that you opened them and especially great that you posted that info for us!! thanks .... Frankly I don't like the muffled sound of Transparent cables and would rather get all of the music to my speakers. I think that "quiet background in between notes" people rave about is due to the "network" rolling off the highs (thereby reducing the hiss). I'm more interested in how natural the music sounds during the notes! (I prefer NBS cables.)
genesis168's avatar
genesis168
409 posts
 
Troy, I always wanted to know the contents in the boxes. Well, you've answered most of our questions. Well done!
slawney
242 posts
 
Troy. thanks for the quick response about the NBS cable construction. It corresponds to what I imagined from inspecting the ends of the speaker cables--where the "2 covered bundles of copper wire" exit the colored external mesh-sheath and enter into a rubber shrink wrap until the spades. Yes, "each bundle" of my speaker cable has "2 isolated covered wires" twisted around one another, like you say--that can be concluded without taking the cable apart. Do you remember the material used for the cover of each bundle? Was it silver, as implied by some NBS copy? And can you describe in more detail what you mean by a "foil shield with a drain wire"? Were there any irregularities in the "proprietary geometry" (did the weaving of the two copper wires have any knots in it)? As a would-be cable surgeon, I thank you for the results of your costly examinations.
valueaudio
60 posts
 
I took apart the high end BBQ model. What appeared to be its main design element related to performance was the carbonized layer where the 'skin effect' occurs.
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