ive had some time to listen to these interconnects on my(now sold) wooaudio3, current Ray Samuels SR-71, and current Gilmore Lite.
each cable has strengths and weeknesses which i will outline here, but to make a long story short the UR6 are my preference for a few different and valid reasons.
first of all unless this is your first visit to the cable forum you are most likely aware of the disagreements regarding the Grover UR series and the Oritek X-1interconnects. this spawned in comparisons between the X-1 and UR5. currently i still prefer the X-1(overall) to the UR5, the X-1 presents detail in a more upfront and lucid manor, which makes for a very enveloping and enjoyable listening experience in that regard.
between these two cables the bass on the UR5 is clearly the better, it has a delicacy that is perfectly articulated and formed to the recording, it can punch, roll, bounce, strum, or sleep... whatever the music asks of it. the X-1 is much more straighforward in the lowend presentation, i wouldnt go so far as to say its one-note b.c its obviously not, but it does not do delicate and it will not convey emotion like the Grovers, it is bloated. the midrange tone of the Grover u5 is also clearly superior in my opinion, it has just the right level of bloom to give guitars, horns, vocals, violins and pianos a very realistic tone and sence of sweet realism, THIS is the grover sound that some of us have been praising all this time. in comparison the X-1 sound flat, midrange is recessed and lifeless which squashes the tonal timbre. THIS is the X-1 sound some have been complaining about. where the X-1 clearly trumps the UR5 is in the highs, the dynamics are incredible, cymbol clashes are seperated, background noise is brought to the front with laser precision and positioning, it creates more than a soundstage and more a sound-dimension. this really conveys a feel of trasparancy. the Ur5 in comparsion sounds bottled up. music happens mostly on a frontal stage configuration and as result instruments have a less prominent seperation and less perceived speed. background details remain in the background, not absent but not stealing the spotlight either.
so overall these characteristics of the UR5 imho lend to a frequncy curve relitively flat throughout the lowend and midrange(maybe a slight bump up in the mids), and a progressive rolloff starting in the upper frequncy spectrum. they sound very controlled, very accurate, never harsh regardless of genre or recording quality. a good all-arounder which i'm confident would sound better on good speakers than they do in good headphones. but this is headfi
in contrast the X-1 would lend a frequency response in "U" shape. bumped lowend, recessed mids, bumped highs. overall this can acheive a fun, dynamic, aggressive, but dominating sound. it can also reak absolute havoc on certain types of midrange focused music and less than ideal recordings... to point of being unlistenable for me.
so a compromise either way, and hopefully that will justify the bickering back and forth about the superiority(or lack there-of) of either one of these cables.
in steps the UR6. apparently Grover Huffman has been hard at work again, LISTENING to his customers suggestions and compaints, and consequently improving his UR series with this latest revision. i am sure some of you are growing weary of a new grover cable seemingly every month, but from the UR4-5-6 there has been a progressive improvement and worthwhile of the upgrade each time IMHO.
keeping in mind the attibutes i assigned the UR5 above, the UR6 sacrifices some bass quantity, maintains the midrange tone, but significantly improves the highs and overall spacial presentation.
the bass is the letdown here b/c there is less of it. however, it still sounds accurate with the same incredible flexability. the midrange tone is still there, instruments sound just as realistic and emotional as the ur5, tones carry perfectly, i never question what i am hearing in this regard. the upper mids carry though to the highs in a seemless manor and the highs dont seem to drop out in this revision. the dimension is toe-to-toe with X-1 but the fine details and background instruments are still not as forward. this is not a compaint as it can be distracting when listening to the X-1, with the UR6 they remain where they belong but never obscured like the UR5 sounds at times.
in an A/B, UR6 to X-1 the initial impression is the X-1 still has the edge, they just sound interesting good bass, dynamic highs, acceptable mids, but after a long litening session even on ideal music they are overly harsh, lack emotion, bass fatigues and becomes somewhat of a novelty at that point. and i am STILL missing an element in the music that i cant pinpoint but i know by now that i also cant find or compensate for.
after coninuous listening my brain adapts to the thinner sound of the UR6 much better and its presentation becomes far more natural, nuetral, and musical, they are more present now but still not harsh. my hope is the highs will acheive more focus, the ur5 got better at this with burn-in and im hoping the ur6 can too, some added bass would be nice addition but i feel its probibly not in the character of this revision.
now switching back to the X-1 they clearly (no pun) sound unrefined, overly bloated and although present they are not personal. i feel as im trying to build a birdhouse with a sledgehammer on some music, they are just plain overdone to me. with that said i am keeping the Grover UR6 in my main system and returning the Oritek X-1. i would strongly advise any current Grover owner to get the newest revision. current (satisfied) X-1 owners i would not recommend switching to Grover, the sound is different and you may be letdown by the more subtle presentation.
on a somewhat personal note my dealings with Ori have been overall very positive. he accepted paypal(although with added fee), did not overcharge for shipping. shipped USPS priority the same day, and i recieved the cables very well boxed in just 2 days. he continued with followup emails as i posted some of my impression, compliments, and complaints.
So from ground level, at the same price i would choose the UR6 over the X-1, when considering the 65$ difference the choice has become a no-brainer for me. also considering that Grovers upgrade/revision path seems to be inline with what i am trying to acheive out of my personal system it would be foolish for me to stick with an X-1 that might seriously be outdone to a point beyond argument or even second thought. only time will tell.
each cable has strengths and weeknesses which i will outline here, but to make a long story short the UR6 are my preference for a few different and valid reasons.
first of all unless this is your first visit to the cable forum you are most likely aware of the disagreements regarding the Grover UR series and the Oritek X-1interconnects. this spawned in comparisons between the X-1 and UR5. currently i still prefer the X-1(overall) to the UR5, the X-1 presents detail in a more upfront and lucid manor, which makes for a very enveloping and enjoyable listening experience in that regard.
between these two cables the bass on the UR5 is clearly the better, it has a delicacy that is perfectly articulated and formed to the recording, it can punch, roll, bounce, strum, or sleep... whatever the music asks of it. the X-1 is much more straighforward in the lowend presentation, i wouldnt go so far as to say its one-note b.c its obviously not, but it does not do delicate and it will not convey emotion like the Grovers, it is bloated. the midrange tone of the Grover u5 is also clearly superior in my opinion, it has just the right level of bloom to give guitars, horns, vocals, violins and pianos a very realistic tone and sence of sweet realism, THIS is the grover sound that some of us have been praising all this time. in comparison the X-1 sound flat, midrange is recessed and lifeless which squashes the tonal timbre. THIS is the X-1 sound some have been complaining about. where the X-1 clearly trumps the UR5 is in the highs, the dynamics are incredible, cymbol clashes are seperated, background noise is brought to the front with laser precision and positioning, it creates more than a soundstage and more a sound-dimension. this really conveys a feel of trasparancy. the Ur5 in comparsion sounds bottled up. music happens mostly on a frontal stage configuration and as result instruments have a less prominent seperation and less perceived speed. background details remain in the background, not absent but not stealing the spotlight either.
so overall these characteristics of the UR5 imho lend to a frequncy curve relitively flat throughout the lowend and midrange(maybe a slight bump up in the mids), and a progressive rolloff starting in the upper frequncy spectrum. they sound very controlled, very accurate, never harsh regardless of genre or recording quality. a good all-arounder which i'm confident would sound better on good speakers than they do in good headphones. but this is headfi
in contrast the X-1 would lend a frequency response in "U" shape. bumped lowend, recessed mids, bumped highs. overall this can acheive a fun, dynamic, aggressive, but dominating sound. it can also reak absolute havoc on certain types of midrange focused music and less than ideal recordings... to point of being unlistenable for me.
so a compromise either way, and hopefully that will justify the bickering back and forth about the superiority(or lack there-of) of either one of these cables.
in steps the UR6. apparently Grover Huffman has been hard at work again, LISTENING to his customers suggestions and compaints, and consequently improving his UR series with this latest revision. i am sure some of you are growing weary of a new grover cable seemingly every month, but from the UR4-5-6 there has been a progressive improvement and worthwhile of the upgrade each time IMHO.
keeping in mind the attibutes i assigned the UR5 above, the UR6 sacrifices some bass quantity, maintains the midrange tone, but significantly improves the highs and overall spacial presentation.
the bass is the letdown here b/c there is less of it. however, it still sounds accurate with the same incredible flexability. the midrange tone is still there, instruments sound just as realistic and emotional as the ur5, tones carry perfectly, i never question what i am hearing in this regard. the upper mids carry though to the highs in a seemless manor and the highs dont seem to drop out in this revision. the dimension is toe-to-toe with X-1 but the fine details and background instruments are still not as forward. this is not a compaint as it can be distracting when listening to the X-1, with the UR6 they remain where they belong but never obscured like the UR5 sounds at times.
in an A/B, UR6 to X-1 the initial impression is the X-1 still has the edge, they just sound interesting good bass, dynamic highs, acceptable mids, but after a long litening session even on ideal music they are overly harsh, lack emotion, bass fatigues and becomes somewhat of a novelty at that point. and i am STILL missing an element in the music that i cant pinpoint but i know by now that i also cant find or compensate for.
after coninuous listening my brain adapts to the thinner sound of the UR6 much better and its presentation becomes far more natural, nuetral, and musical, they are more present now but still not harsh. my hope is the highs will acheive more focus, the ur5 got better at this with burn-in and im hoping the ur6 can too, some added bass would be nice addition but i feel its probibly not in the character of this revision.
now switching back to the X-1 they clearly (no pun) sound unrefined, overly bloated and although present they are not personal. i feel as im trying to build a birdhouse with a sledgehammer on some music, they are just plain overdone to me. with that said i am keeping the Grover UR6 in my main system and returning the Oritek X-1. i would strongly advise any current Grover owner to get the newest revision. current (satisfied) X-1 owners i would not recommend switching to Grover, the sound is different and you may be letdown by the more subtle presentation.
on a somewhat personal note my dealings with Ori have been overall very positive. he accepted paypal(although with added fee), did not overcharge for shipping. shipped USPS priority the same day, and i recieved the cables very well boxed in just 2 days. he continued with followup emails as i posted some of my impression, compliments, and complaints.
So from ground level, at the same price i would choose the UR6 over the X-1, when considering the 65$ difference the choice has become a no-brainer for me. also considering that Grovers upgrade/revision path seems to be inline with what i am trying to acheive out of my personal system it would be foolish for me to stick with an X-1 that might seriously be outdone to a point beyond argument or even second thought. only time will tell.
