Got my Grover UR5s - Page 2

not bright but lean. when basslines start to get lost and i need to focus on that lower spectrum to sort it out then i think the sound is lean, its not about being a basshead, and it doesnt automatically suggest a cable is bright.

the opposite are the pulsars which were so bass heavy i had to strain through all the lowend to decipher any upper detail. i couldnt even really describe the soundstage, vocal tone was overly lush and posistion was unnatural above my head, and there was not nearly enough sound seperation.

the ur4 i have is very expansive and the sound/ambience is very transparent, but it is lacking some feeling of the u5 which is presented in the lowend energy.

in A/B at the same volume level the u5 is only slightly less transparent from a posistioning standpoint, and the stage is more forward rather than surrounding and free, but overall its balanced better low-to-high and as a result i can further increase the volume of the u5 without glare and the dynamics become that much clearer.

im having trouble accepting that the oritek could better the grover in every possible way, which is how your posts are sounding, i think there would be a compromise somewhere but you havnt conceeded anything. my instict tells me that if youre hearing ultra dynamics and detail presented in a vast soundscape then the bass is squashed out of the relative balance, otherwise you would also be talking about the incredibly tight, deep, accurate and controlled bass... so far the only thing ive heard about the lowend of the oritek is in this thread when gopher said the oritik are not as warm as the u5.

im going to stop there untill i hear the oritek myself, but im doubtful my impressions will be so totalitarian as yours. however i will be honest b/c just like everyone else here im searching for the best sound out my system within my budget.

Gentlemen.........
I have the three cables in question, have been carefully listening for 1-2 weeks and still drawing evaluations, all three are excellent with various strengths and sound signatures which I will eventually detail in my impressions.

Please keep in mind whatever I say or ET or Mark or Gopher etc are just our impressions and not absolute guidelines that apply to everyone......just very general impressions. Each person has different hearing tastes/bias and abilities, plus each system cables are used in definitely has colorations present even if owner will not admit it...........so with all these variables it is not wise to make absolute statements of one cables superiority, or be surprised if others come up with different results.

Here are the worthy contenders:
Oritek X1 $199
Wolff Gold/Silver $450
Grover U5 $140

What's so unbelievable?
If I said the $1400 Sliversmith interconnects were better in every way you'd believe me. Price doesn't always reveal value in cables. I still think the X-1 was merely a prototype for the $750 X-2.

I've never thought the Grovers lived up to their reputation anyway. An interesting reality check is to look at the music posts of those who offer opinions on equipment. One fella thought the Grovers were "spellbinding" and then regarding music generally mentions in the music forum that "I do not listen to anything other than the remastered versions anymore"!

Very cool!
Go to them DA!

im looking forward to hearing another perspective.

<sigh>

Guess I'll have to order Oriteks for sure... maybe they'll make my remasters sound better. More transparent. Illuminescent. Acheive peace on earth and eliminate AIDS in subSaharan Africa.

X-1 is not a prototype!

The X-1 is absolutely not!!!
The X-1 doesn't even look or feel the same as the X-2! It is a mature product that hasn't and will not change anytime soon.
The X-2 is a radical departure from all conductor-based cables and hardly shares a thing with the X-1, except for their sonic virtues, but you'd expect that, coming from the same person with the same ears and taste.
The X-1 was developed on its own and started selling before I even came up with the technology in the X-2. The X-1 remains a product because the cost of labor in making the X-2 (one pair a day at most!) dictates a high price, which is not affordable to buyers on a small budget.

Harrumph. My impressions *are* locked in concrete, iron-clad and absolute! If you don't agree with me, you are either deaf or stupid!

Heh, yeah those are wise words. Best you can do is try to identify someone with similar sonic tastes as you, and who you think has a good ability to verbalize what they hear, and separate the opinion and judgement of those traits and focus on any actual description of sonic characteristics to get a sense of how they actually sound, whether or not that sound appealed to the reviewer. It may be that what he/she hates is *exactly* what you like, and so long as they describe its sonic characteristics accurately, you may still enjoy a cable the reviewer did not.

DA, I can't wait for your impressions, can you start a new thread when you post them, that kind of head-to-head ought to have its own space.

How about the most important perspective...your own.


They won't lay a veil on top. There's lots out there that will throw a veil over lousy remasters though. Nothing wrong with that if that's your thing and you don't mind losing out with the good sounding stuff.

OK...I stand corrected...for the final time.
Well what else was I to think given the elevated performance?

So true. We have different takes on different CD's sound qualities. Different ears, brains, systems, lives and that's OK.

impressions soon, the x-1 ship burned in.

Looking forward to your impressions euclid!

Eyeteeth, I'm still not sure what "brightness" in your description of sonic characteristics means. I'm familiar with brightness in the context of lighting. Could you give some examples. Thanks.

Brighter = More treble
Darker = Less treble

Thanks, PsychoZX. So, I can now follow what you guys are talking about. It seems eyeteeth's arguing that UR5 is "brighter" than X-1, given other characteristics are equal. Thanks.