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Morrow SP3 Review (Speaker Cable)

Beave

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The problem is that there seems to be no mention of actually giving the SP3's a listening test against the generic cables. There are things that are not yet measurable. Examples are soundstage, musical realism, the 3D roundness of the image, etc. One must use their ears to experience these things. The ears are the final judgement. We have tens of thousands of customers, in over 80 countries who have bought our cables. They had a 60 day return that began when received. They tried them against their other cables and kept ours. You better believe that if they did not hear a difference, they would have returned them for a refund. Their testimonials bear witness: https://www.morrowaudio.com/pages/reviews Measurements are only a part of the picture. The ultimate test is ones musical enjoyment, with the ears being the final decision maker. Peace...

I agree that ears should be the final judge. I'm glad to see you support the use of blind testing in audio. That's what you're saying, right? Right?
 

VintageFlanker

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We have tens of thousands of customers, in over 80 countries who have bought our cables. They had a 60 day return that began when received.
Nope. There's absolutely no way you have tens of thousands of customers . I know (knew) quite a bit about audiophile cables brands... Still, I had never heard about your brand before this review.

This is a niche market in the niche market. As your bullshit claims about sound, you are actually lying.
 
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egellings

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Electrical measurements could certainly replace the mic ones. More straightforward & repeatable.
 

preload

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Let's compare the frequency response of the SP3 against generic cable:

View attachment 126408

@amirm I know everyone appreciates your speaker cable measurements, and it's clearly generated a lot of discussion here.

One thing I wanted to ask you about is what load was used to take your FR measurement. The reason I ask is that multiple AES papers, all amplifier measurements in Stereophile, and several ASR members, have reported that with a typical loudspeaker load (i.e. a reactive load with varying impedance vs frequency), there should be 0.1-0.4dB (ballpark) fluctuations in FR over the audible range based on the DCR/inductance of the cable + speaker/crossover. Whereas, if your load is a simple non-inductive resistor, then you would not see any fluctuations, similar to the measurement above. The problem is that if you're using a non-inductive resistor as the load, FR measurements will NOT show any deviations caused by the speaker cable when an actual loudspeaker load is used.

To give an example, here are Stereophile's measurements of the Benchmark AHB2 frequency response into purely resistive loads (the flat colored lines) vs a simulated, reactive loudspeaker load (black line).
1628188239184.png


It is my hope that when providing loudspeaker cable measurements, you would consider measuring them into a simulated loudspeaker load (or to an actual representative loudspeaker, perhaps at low volume).
 

Madjalapeno

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The problem is that there seems to be no mention of actually giving the SP3's a listening test against the generic cables. There are things that are not yet measurable. Examples are soundstage, musical realism, the 3D roundness of the image, etc. One must use their ears to experience these things. The ears are the final judgement. We have tens of thousands of customers, in over 80 countries who have bought our cables. They had a 60 day return that began when received. They tried them against their other cables and kept ours. You better believe that if they did not hear a difference, they would have returned them for a refund. Their testimonials bear witness: https://www.morrowaudio.com/pages/reviews Measurements are only a part of the picture. The ultimate test is ones musical enjoyment, with the ears being the final decision maker. Peace...

This is all the snake-oil proof I need.
 

Vovgan

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Our measurements show that losses in these cables is incredibly small and no different than a generic, near garbage cable that I build to compare.

While you have demonstrated several times that a good premium cable is functionally at par with a good generic one, I have strong reason to suspect that an "entry level" cable from a manufacturer like Audioquest or Inakustic is substantially _worse_ than a good generic cable. I tried their cheap interconnects and they just ruined the sound for me beyond a pale of doubt. Given (from your reviews) that it is easy and inexpensive to make a good cable, I suspect that these companies might be doing & implementing research how to _worsen_ the quality of their cheaper cables so that folks would really hear the difference when they upgrade.

It would be great if you find time & motivation to do such test with entry-level cables from these firms. Could be another PS Audio moment
 

voodooless

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I tried their cheap interconnects and they just ruined the sound for me beyond a pale of doubt.

It would be great if you find time & motivation to do such test with entry-level cables from these firms. Could be another PS Audio moment
Well, if you still have them, please send them in. If they are really that terrible, we will find out why. Don’t be surprised if we find absolutely nothing though.
 

beefkabob

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While you have demonstrated several times that a good premium cable is functionally at par with a good generic one, I have strong reason to suspect that an "entry level" cable from a manufacturer like Audioquest or Inakustic is substantially _worse_ than a good generic cable. I tried their cheap interconnects and they just ruined the sound for me beyond a pale of doubt. Given (from your reviews) that it is easy and inexpensive to make a good cable, I suspect that these companies might be doing & implementing research how to _worsen_ the quality of their cheaper cables so that folks would really hear the difference when they upgrade.
Don't trust your ears. You expect badness. You get badness. Nobody is immune to psychoacoustics. Nobody!
 

dennnic

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So what's the big conclusion, buy the cheapest cables you find?
There are many similar discussions regarding expensive crossover capacitors, inductors, not to mention other cables with the sound system. Many people claim you do hear a difference, although it's not measurable.
 

ahofer

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So what's the big conclusion, buy the cheapest cables you find?
There are many similar discussions regarding expensive crossover capacitors, inductors, not to mention other cables with the sound system. Many people claim you do hear a difference, although it's not measurable.
Many make these sorts of claims, particularly those with an interest in selling such things. Few, if any, have shown an audible difference in controlled testing. Many controlled tests show that components other than speakers can be quite difficult to tell apart if not obviously broken or power/impedance mismatched. That’s where the “debate” is.
 

Dj7675

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So what's the big conclusion, buy the cheapest cables you find?
There are many similar discussions regarding expensive crossover capacitors, inductors, not to mention other cables with the sound system. Many people claim you do hear a difference, although it's not measurable.
It could be measurable if those that claim big improvements would make an attempt to do some simple blind tests with a friend. But people don’t. You will have to ask those that hear such dramatic differences in cables why they don’t do some simple blind tests. If it were as big of a difference as they claim, they would easily be able to pick one out in blind testing...
 

jtwrace

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Mike, let me repeat my earlier question: do you have ANY actual listening test data showing these claimed differences?
The problem is that there seems to be no mention of actually giving the SP3's a listening test against the generic cables. There are things that are not yet measurable. Examples are soundstage, musical realism, the 3D roundness of the image, etc. One must use their ears to experience these things. The ears are the final judgement. We have tens of thousands of customers, in over 80 countries who have bought our cables. They had a 60 day return that began when received. They tried them against their other cables and kept ours. You better believe that if they did not hear a difference, they would have returned them for a refund. Their testimonials bear witness: https://www.morrowaudio.com/pages/reviews Measurements are only a part of the picture. The ultimate test is ones musical enjoyment, with the ears being the final decision maker. Peace...
@Mike Morrow I think the better question is what do you believe in your cables offers these qualities? The only person I've heard explain any sort of benefit in cables is Galen formerly of Belden. AND even he doesn't submit to the hyperbole that most cables manufacturers do.
 

ahofer

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Measurements are only a part of the picture. The ultimate test is ones musical enjoyment, with the ears being the final decision maker.
So no, no controllled test, just the usual circle of confusion.
 

dennnic

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Many make these sorts of claims, particularly those with an interest in selling such things. Few, if any, have shown an audible difference in controlled testing. Many controlled tests show that components other than speakers can be quite difficult to tell apart if not obviously broken or power/impedance mismatched. That’s where the “debate” is.
I am one of those many, although the differences (in my opinion) are very subtle. I will compare a few cables lying around again, now with a blind test. That should make this conversation shorter.

What about RFI/EMI signal pollution? Danny from Gr research claims cables do have a major impact and he supports that claim with a test he did - comparing signal reception on a tuner. You can find it on YouTube.
 
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Dj7675

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I am one of those many, although the differences (in my opinion) are very subtle. I will compare a few cables lying around again, now with a blind test. That should make this conversation shorter.

What about RFI/EMI signal pollution? Danny from Gr research claims cable do have a major impact and he supports that claim with a test he did - comparing signal reception on a tuner. You can find it on YouTube.
I believe Amir debunked that test. I believe it was in video form as well on the ASR Youtube channel.
 

Lambda

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What about RFI/EMI signal pollution?
This is a solved problem... not that it would matter in most cases for speaker cables!
But Shielded cables and Ferrites exist.
Often used so no RFI/EMI escapes the cables but they work of cause both ways.

Farrow-Cable-RVVP-1m-High-quality-0-3-mm2-5-cores-Shielded-Cable-for-spindle-inverter.jpg

U69619702d18f4cd6ad9513f77fa1962fg.jpg
 

Bruce Morgen

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I am one of those many, although the differences (in my opinion) are very subtle. I will compare a few cables lying around again, now with a blind test. That should make this conversation shorter.

What about RFI/EMI signal pollution? Danny from Gr research claims cable do have a major impact and he supports that claim with a test he did - comparing signal reception on a tuner. You can find it on YouTube.

Richie's idea of a test should have embarrassed him into perpetual silence. When it comes to such matters, he has all the credibility of Mike Lindell. The guy has some serious speaker design chops -- but when he exits that wheelhouse, he consistently face-plants.

Now unbalanced RCA-to-RCA cables have some noise vulnerability, especially when their length exceeds two meters or so and they're used in an unusually EMI-heavy environment. That sort of situation is pretty rare in a home audio system, and the best a better "interconnect" -- e.g. a cable with two inner conductors and a shield that's tied to one of those conductors at only one of the two plugs -- can do is to very slightly reduce the audible level of that interference. Speaker cables on the other hand, because of the very low impedance of amp-to-speaker circuits and the relatively large amplitude of the signals they carry, are inherently very EMI-immune and need no such measures to stay that way.
 

ahofer

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Danny from Gr research claims cables do have a major impact and he supports that claim with a test he did - comparing signal reception on a tuner.
Amir dealt with this in another thread. Have a look around. I beg you.
 
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