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  1. #1
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    Aural Spectrum Interconnects

    Manufacturer Name: Aural Audio
    Manufacturer's Website Address: http://www.auralaudio.com
    Category: Cables/Interconnects
    Product Name or Model Numer: Spectrum
    Price (MSRP): $275.00 balanced and $175.00 single-ended
    Image link: http://www.auralaudio.com/pics/specDSC00053.jpg
    Image link: http://www.auralaudio.com/pics/specDSC00056.jpg

  2. #2
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    Smile Best sounding cable I have heard

    I have tried several cables over the years. Yes, they all sound different - when your system is high resolution. Here is my honest opinion:

    Opinions of Cables that I have tried:

    Cardas Which I also have two pair of (I would sell if you are interested)
    Pros: Also smooth and warm highs
    Great midrange
    Tight fitting connectors (not locking)
    Decent bass

    Cons: Stiff Cable

    MIT Shotgun - just absolutely terrible

    Audioquest - I have tried several types - just not worth the money.

    Monster - I have tried several types - just not worth the money.

    Kimber - Have tried several types. Do not seem to be worth the money, but have had the best bass response of any cable - at the expense of brightness. Not a worthwhile trade-off.

    Music Metre:
    Pros: Very Flexible cable
    Great locking and tight fitting connectors
    Smooth and warm highs - this is the most important aspect to me. Most systems are far too bright.
    Bass smooth, but not deep

    I currently use Spectrum balanced four conductor silver www.auralaudio.com cables thought my system. These are absolutely the best overall sounding and smoothest that I have ever heard - especially for the money. I have 250 feet of it installed. [B]You know they are affordable when you can purchase 250 feet. You know it is affordable when a you can afford a purchase of 250 feet.

    At CES this year, auralaudio used all Cardas in their demonstration booth ($13,000 worth of cables). It did sound great, but no better than the aural audio Spectrum cables. Hearing them side-by-side and in my own system made a believer out of me. These are the best sound you can get for the money.

    I would recommend the auralaudio Spectrum cables - that is what I use and have stopped cable shopping. The list price is worth the price – which I cannot say the same for any other cable manufacture. There is something to be said for a company that wants to share their audio passion.

  3. #3
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    Cool Surprising Sound

    I was surprised by the sound quality that these thin cables gave for the price. They really do rival the exotic cables out there at a Walmart price.

    They helped lower the noise floor of my system and took away a couple layers of harshness.

  4. #4
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    Sorry, but it is completely wrong to use cables as a mean to EQ your system. The best cables have no sonic characteristic whatsoever. If you hear something warmer or more clinical because of a cable, it's a bad design - period. Of course, this is my opinion. What do I know.

    -Robert

  5. #5
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    Is This An Audio Sales Ad ?

    Let's do the math:

    extremehometheater has "250 feet installed". Balanced, or not? This is not stated.

    Assume unbalanced at $175 per 3 ft pair or $125 per 3 ft pair "direct price".

    Assume the 250 feet is 125 feet times 2 channels.

    So what are we spending?

    This looks like a minimum of [ 125 ft / 3 ] x $125 per 3 ft pair "direct price" = $5208.

    A bargain.........Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha hahahahaaaaaaaaaa

    This is even better:
    "At CES this year, auralaudio used all Cardas in their demonstration booth ($13,000 worth of cables). It did sound great, but no better than the aural audio Spectrum cables. "

    Well, this settles it: I will spend my retirement making and selling exotic audio cables. I can see that blown-triple Formula sitting at my dock now......... No more Baja for me, no sir!
    Last edited by Mash; 06-13-2004 at 08:42 AM.

  6. #6
    Veg-O-Matic ToddB's Avatar
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    Well, I added it's review page here: http://www.audioreview.com/PRD_321516_1584crx.aspx

    However, their website is seriously lacking info about these cables, and I was unable to track down anything more on the net. If someone can provide a link to a description of the cables, I'll add it to the review page.

    valnar/Robert, you must not have ever tried any decent cables, because if you had, and your hearing is even remotely in the vicinity of being normal, you wouldn't have said that. I can personally attest that the least expensive interconnects from XLO and Kimber Kable, and the least expensive speaker cables from Kimber, sound better than zip cord and Radio Shack Gold series ICs, two cabling options that many people seem to end up with. There are undoubtedly inexpensive products from other cable manufacturers, and a few low-cost DIY recipes, that will also sound better. If you care to actually try other cables, Kimber's KWIK-16 speaker cables, available for 80¢/foot in bulk, is a particularly inexpensive and convenient option to experiment with.

    Mash, not everyone has the same financial considerations when purchasing ANY product, whether that product is audio related or not. If you think that you can make a cable that people will want to buy, and sell it at a price that will provide for your retirement, then more power to you.

  7. #7
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    Oh, I have some nice cables myself. Some XLO interconnects as a matter of fact. I find them very neutral. I just think its wrong to look for a cable with a particular sonic characteristic as a means to fix a problem elsewhere in your system.

    -Robert

  8. #8
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    ToddB

    You seem a very polite person who has some strongly held viewpoints on wires.

    I object to such unproven assertions as you make about mere wires because many neophyte audiophiles, perhaps most audiophiles, have limited resources, and I consider it unfair to encourage anyone to expend their limited resources on mere wires instead of, say, obtaining Magnepan speakers to replace their 'Me-too' speakers. The wire used for these fancy "cables" and "interconnects" is really not expensive enough to support the final asking prices, and while one can measure the performance of an amplifier or a loudspeaker, and one can also characterize the sound of a loudspeaker, audible differences among wires cannot be proven- audible differences among wires can be claimed, but these differences cannot be proven.

    I do not know what your qualifications are, but ten or so years ago I was in charge of engineering for several generator lines for the company that brings good things to life. I approved the EE's work and approved (or rejected) customer's special requests. I was versed in EE before I took the position and I was even better versed after 2 years. When you ride heard on 40 generators a year at a factory cost of 20 mil each it adds up to significant money. Of course this was a drop in the bucket compared to the total amount of money spent to build the power plants.

  9. #9
    Veg-O-Matic ToddB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valnar
    Oh, I have some nice cables myself. Some XLO interconnects as a matter of fact. I find them very neutral. I just think its wrong to look for a cable with a particular sonic characteristic as a means to fix a problem elsewhere in your system.

    -Robert
    Oh, ok. I wasn't sure what you meant, since the tone of your post made you sound like you were a member of the Flat Earth Society.

    Still, I disagree with a portion of your premise. While, ideally, absolute neutrality would be the design goal of every component, we do not live in an ideal world. In addition, the price to pursue that absolute neutrality may not be affordable to everyone. And indeed, not everyone may want their system to be absolutely nuetral. Whatever the case, I consider it advantageous to have different sonic "colors" available, so that everyone can decide for themselves what works for them, in their system, within their budget.

  10. #10
    Veg-O-Matic ToddB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mash
    Todd's a bonehead, but at least he's civil about it...cables all sound the same..."fancy" cables are all expensive...I'm edumacated, so I's know what I's know...
    Ah, Mash. First of all, I paraphrased your comments when I quoted you, I hope you don't mind.

    It appears that you know far more than I ever will about the workings of electricity, and have or have access to any number of measuring devices that will conclusively indicate that cables should sound the same. The problem with all of that is that nature has seen fit to sprout two auditory sensors from the sides of my head, and since those two sensors are the only ones hardwired into my brain (at least for the moment, who knows what the future may bring), they are ultimately the only sensors that matter to me regarding issues of sound quality. As you might have guessed, what those two sensors tell me is that cables sound different.

    Whether or not I can PROVE to you that cables sound different is honestly something that I couldn't care less about, any more than I couldn't care less about proving to you that CD players sound different, or that amplifiers sound different, or that speakers sound different. All I care about is if those things sound different TO ME, and whether TO ME their performance justifies their expense.

    For example, due to an unexpected sale which interfered with my planned upgrading sequence, I've ended up with an interconnect in my system that normally costs just under half of what I paid for my CD player. While I consider the cost of this cable to be totally out of proportion to the components it connects, I can tell you that NOBODY will be getting that cable out of my system unless I die, go deaf, or get a better interconnect. I certainly wasn't expecting to feel that way when I got the cable, but then, that was before I heard it.

    And that does seem to be what this issue usually comes down to, doesn't it? For the most part, people who can't fathom how cables can possibly sound different won't try other cables to find out if their preconceptions are correct. The name of this site is Audio Review, not Scientific Knowledge Base Review, not Double-Blind Test Review, not Contrarians Anonymous Review. As would be appropriate for a discussion board at a site named Audio Review, the conversations are ostensibly about how audio equipment sounds. How, pray tell, are people supposed to discuss how audio equipment sounds if people never hear the equipment? If people try out the equipment and are nonplussed by it, that's fine, that's legitimate experiential information that can be shared with other people. But interjecting inexperienced biases into discussions between people who HAVE heard the equipment is only a nuisance, so much so that it's resulted in a significant number of people abandoning AR to establish another website where they can discuss such issues in relative peace.

    And while your concern about the cost of cables is a legitimate point, it does come across as more than a little specious when you make it right after I've given an example of a speaker cable that has a bulk price of 80¢ a foot. Just to be clear, that's EIGHTY CENTS A FOOT. So, enough cable for a six foot pair of that cable costs a whole $9.60. Add in shipping, and it might even get up to $15. For those people who consider even that amount to be excessive, there's a DIY recipe using enamel-coated magnet wire from Radio Shack that I believe costs about $5. As far as interconnects go, for all their flaws, the Radio Shack Gold series still sounds better than the free cables that are included with mass-market components, and I believe they cost all of $8 for a 1-meter pair. There are also a number of internet-based cable dealers and manufacturers that have 30-day refund policies, for which the only costs incurred are shipping if the cables are returned.

    The point is, unless and until people listen to other cables, their opinions about how other cables sound is of worth only to them. Sure, they can believe that people who claim to hear differences in cables are all suffering some form of mass delusion, but if they don't bother to listen to other cables, then they really don't know, do they?

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