Nordost Blue Heaven to SPM Reference


Nordost cables are known to be very detailed, quick and having a fast transient response while their only caveat is in the bass department. Anyhow I don't think this is an issue with me since I am thinking of improving the bottom end of my speakers with a subwoofer.

I have the Blue Heaven speaker cables on my SF Grand Piano and was thinking of upgrading to the SPM Reference. Will I get a substantial improvement? I am just concerned on the ratio of money spent/improvements in sound. If the differences are huge I don't mind getting rid of my Blue Heaven for the SPM. Any comments?

Thanks in advance.
ryder
I am using the SPM's in my system and I have no problem with the bass response. It's there, it's deep, and it's tight. I have not heard the Blue Heavens.

The SPM's are fast, and this 'quickness' could, I suspect, be heard as somewhat 'lean'. In other words, they are not warm sounding. I use them with my Aerial 10T's which fall on the warmer side; they love that purple wire--it's a match made in (not blue)heaven.

Good Luck.
The reason some people get more bass response with Nordost SPM's and some people get less should be obvious. Wire doesn't produce bass response, it only carries the signal. A person with components -- wire is *not* a component -- that can resolve more bass will hear more bass -- either with Nordost SPM's or with generic well insulated 12 gauge speaker cables. IMO, people go from cable to cable, spending more and more money looking for capabilities that should come from their components in the hopes that $600 cables will turn 3,000 speakers into $6,000 speakers. If it were *me* and I were looking for an upgrade, I would consider selling my "high end" cables and Grand Pianos and employing that money towards an upgrade to the Sonus Faber Cremonas or towards a higher end source or better amplification. You *might* hear a difference between BH and SPM's, and it *might* just be a matter of taste, but you will *definitely* hear a difference AND get more resolution, coherence, soundstage, etc. from higher end components. IMO, it would be money better spent to upgrade components while looking for that particular sound you like than to stand pat with the rest of your system while trying to upgrade the cables. If it is the sensation of "speed" for which you are looking, the first place I would look would be either your amplifer or front end. You *might* be able to get that sensation from certain cables -- and that is debatable, but you can DEFINITELY get that sensation from certain amplifiers and front ends. The Grand Pianos are nice speakers. If they aren't singing for you, I would look at components upstream. Wire is wire -- it carries the signal from and to your components. It is not a component. JMO.
I had Blue Heavens for several years and then went to SPM about three years ago...I also use Quattrofil...Blue Heavens are airy and detailed but the SPM takes it to a whole new level...if you have the equipment that has this type of resolution ability then I'd go for it, otherwise it's just overkill...the Blue Heavens are very good, the SPM have much better bass, among other things...I bought my wires used on Audiogon.
Yes. SPM Reference is a quantum leap from Blue Heaven. You'll get a real taste in hi end cables. However, you should try to figure out if your speaker cables is the component that's holding you back.
I'm not selling the Grand Pianos as they are great speakers both sonically and aesthetically. I have sold my Classe CAP-100 integrated earlier as it doesn't have the power to make the Grand Pianos sing. I am now using ARC D130 to drive the speakers which proved to me a marked improvement over the Classe. I will be getting the powerful Bryston 4B-ST in a couple of weeks time JUST for the GP's. So you can see I am still changing my *components* to get the detail and speed that I wanted.

I am well aware that cables can do "just much" and it largely depends on the equipment/componenents in a particular system. I am just like everyone else trying to extract the best out of my system using the best cable(for the money).

I know there will be substantial difference from the BH to SPM jump but just trying to justify that the SPM Reference won't be too much of an overkill for my relatively modest Grand Pianos-Bryston 4B ST combination.