Is the SPM/Quatro fil still a good choice

I had used this combo, SPM/Quattro-fil and was quite happy with this set-up. It was very good, until I finally swallowed deeply and ponied up the money for the Valhalla speaker cable. The improvement was well worth the money! Of course, I was lucky, for I could get by with only a short 2 meter run. Happy Tunes!

They are both nice cables. I have owned both interconnects, and the Quattro has a more balanced sound IMO (some would say neutral), with slightly more bass than the SPM. The SPM is slighty tilted towards the highs. I have also owned Red Dawn and Blue Heaven. As you go up the Nordost line, there is improvement. The Red Dawn I found to be slightly dry in comparison. Not dry in a bad way, just in comparison.

If you have trouble finding the Quattro in RCA used and you want two pairs, then look for a used 2 meter pair. I have heard that Nordost will cut them down and re-terminate them to new quality, for $100 per end ($400 total for 2 pairs, since 4 ends are already terminated). I do not know how they compare to those bought new, but since Nordost is doing the work, I assume good.

The SPM Reference are indeed very nice cables, they do however reveal any strengths or weaknesses in the chain, so be prepared for that. The SPM need strong upstream components to sound their best but they will provide you with an openness and detail that is impressive.
I use the Red Dawn for speaker cables and find they are quite open, fast and detailed as well but do not provide the openess or detail of the SPM Reference.

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,
Chris

Thorty40,

I'm primarily interested in IC's rather than speaker cables at this time. I've got an Electrocompaniet EMC-1 cdp, Berning ZH-270 amp driving Aerial speakers. Would you consider this combo to be of high enough quality where the SPM's would work? I've been told that the Jena Labs Symphony cables are also extremely good.

Thanks,

Ken

Although people will recognize my moniker as being the official dealer for HMS cables, I will take the liberty to strictly speak about the two Nordost cables mentioned, since this was the exact same combo I had in my system, when I started out on my cable quest.
In my humble opinion, the Quatro Fils and the SPMs do not go together very well. The Quatro Fils are a far better cable than the SPM and Nordost made huge mistake, never to develop a Quatro Fil line of speaker cables. The SPM is at least one steo down from the Quatro Fil performance.
I really could not stand to listen to the SPM cables for a very long time and that caused me to get a cable loan of the Valhalla cables. I needed to know how much better the Valhalla really were,since I also was quite a doubter that cables can make such a difference in a system.
The gap between the Quattro Fil interconnects and the Valhalla ICs was there of course, but in my system the gap between the Valhalla speaker cables and the SPM was gigantic.
Now I knew that the SPM was a rather poor performer, but I bought this knowledge for big price: After I had auditioned the Valhalla, I knew now how much difference a cable can make and was instantly hooked to the Valhalla performance and sound.
But what kept me from immediately buying a full Valhalla system was the price, gigantic performance for a gigantic price.
This caused me to venture out on my cable quest and to audition almost 45 brands of cables and led me finally to become the importer of HMS cables.
I am my best witness, since had I thought the Quattro Fil and SPM combo to be satisfying, (I had it in my system!!!) there would have been no further search for a much better price-performance cable and my cable quest would never have started.
I can imagine that people think that the SPM-Quattro Fil combo are a decent peformer, as long as they never heard better cables. Only in auditioning you learn about sonic qualities and better has always been the enemy of good.