Gopher
Member of the Trade: LampizatOr Audio
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2002
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Introduction:
I’ve been meaning to get this review written for a while now, however. Due to changes to Grover’s UR cable design and alterations to my own reference system it has taken me longer than I’d originally anticipated to get a grasp of these cables.
Before I begin this review I just want to say a bit about myself/my background. As far as cables go, prior to Grover’s cables, I used ~$2000 worth of Acoustic Zen wire to link my system and speakers. I’d played around with several other interconnects (most of which are listed in my profile) and found those [AZ] to be the most pleasant to my ears. After hearing the first version of Grover’s cables, despite them being poorer performers then the Acoustic Zen’s in terms of imaging, I realized how painfully colored and artificial the Zen’s really were. I have faithfully followed Grover through every revision since.
I also want to add, before I get into this review, that I am a hard person to please as it pertains to audio. I have a pretty good handle of what I do and do not like and if a particular piece of gear does not do it for me, I have no problem sending it out the door—be it a relatively expensive FOTM, or long standing, well reviewed so and so.
Associated Gear:
The system used to evaluate the Grover UR interconnects and speaker cables consisted of the following:
VPI Scout / JMW-9 w/ Dynavector 20X-L
Musical Fidelity a308cr / Meridian G08 / Berendsen CDP-1
Dynavector P-75
Sonic Frontiers Line 1
VTL TT-25
Von Schweikert VR-1
M&K MX-90
Sound:
When I first put the Grover UR cables into my system, some of my first observations were that in comparison to the Grover/Wolff Empress interconnects, the URs had a significantly more forward/aggressive presentation. Where the Empress cables were on the warmer side of neutral and slightly laid back the URs were seemingly more ‘get up and go’ cables making vocals more present and strings just more--alive. I also noticed almost immediately that the Grovers seemed to do a far better job of recreating space. In comparison to the Empress cables, the UR also had a lower noise floor, and this additional blackness led to a broader soundstage which, coupled with the pin point imaging it is also capable of reproducing, led to a significantly improved recreation of the recordings original venue, which has made for a substantially more involving listening experience for me. When I close my eyes and listen to Bill Evan’s XRCD Live at the village vanguard, and hear the bartender to my left removing glasses from the shelf, or a telephone subtly ringing off to the side as the performers continue, it is really something special—you’re transported to the smoky night club and you don’t want to leave.
As you might have assumed when I mentioned the lower noise floor and the imaging of subtle sounds of the night club venue, detail retrieval also seems to be improved with this newest line of cables. Its not night and day as my system was already very revealing, but I do catch myself detecting new, little things every so often and the improved imaging which throw these subtle things into their appropriate place in the sound stage really is pretty nice.
When I first started listening to the UR cables I posted that I felt the UR were not quite as smooth as the Empresses, but I’m having second thoughts there and am not sure its entirely accurate. The URs are extremely neutral and it pulls this off without grain, sibilance or other uglies--I’m starting to think the difference I perceived was stemming from a the Empress cables having a slightly bloomier, albeit less accurate, midrange. I’m actually not sure bloom is the best way to describe it, as I feel bloom and midrange extension/emphasis tend to go hand in hand and that the UR is the more forward of the two cables, but there is a less natural (but still pleasing) roundness to the Empress cables that some might prefer—the smoothness I suspected earlier though, probably isn’t the culprit.
Others have reported hearing a significant difference in the treble performance of the two cables, and I think initially I reported the same. But after living with the URs for a while, I’m not sure I’m really hearing a big difference there and may have perceived the more neutral/less warm presentation as being brighter—I do not think this is the case. On the other hand, the bass performance increase I was once unable to put into words has become much more readily apparent to me. There is no question in my mind that bass extension and overall solidity has been improved. The mid-bass isn’t punchier, per say, but the low end is more ‘present’ with more texture as well.
Putting it into perspective: I love the Empress cables (which are no longer available) and still use one of their phono cables between my VPI Scout and phonostage—they are truly great performers, even at three times the cost of the URs. The newest URs however are really something special—to use the cliché, this cable “gets out of the way” and lets music through. These cables have helped me in firming my realization that musicality isn’t exclusive to gear with a warmer tonal balance or a sugar coated midrange, and that there is something special about gear that does neutral well and allows one to be engaged by the natural delicacy of voices and unadulterated instruments.
I’ve been meaning to get this review written for a while now, however. Due to changes to Grover’s UR cable design and alterations to my own reference system it has taken me longer than I’d originally anticipated to get a grasp of these cables.
Before I begin this review I just want to say a bit about myself/my background. As far as cables go, prior to Grover’s cables, I used ~$2000 worth of Acoustic Zen wire to link my system and speakers. I’d played around with several other interconnects (most of which are listed in my profile) and found those [AZ] to be the most pleasant to my ears. After hearing the first version of Grover’s cables, despite them being poorer performers then the Acoustic Zen’s in terms of imaging, I realized how painfully colored and artificial the Zen’s really were. I have faithfully followed Grover through every revision since.
I also want to add, before I get into this review, that I am a hard person to please as it pertains to audio. I have a pretty good handle of what I do and do not like and if a particular piece of gear does not do it for me, I have no problem sending it out the door—be it a relatively expensive FOTM, or long standing, well reviewed so and so.
Associated Gear:
The system used to evaluate the Grover UR interconnects and speaker cables consisted of the following:
VPI Scout / JMW-9 w/ Dynavector 20X-L
Musical Fidelity a308cr / Meridian G08 / Berendsen CDP-1
Dynavector P-75
Sonic Frontiers Line 1
VTL TT-25
Von Schweikert VR-1
M&K MX-90
Sound:
When I first put the Grover UR cables into my system, some of my first observations were that in comparison to the Grover/Wolff Empress interconnects, the URs had a significantly more forward/aggressive presentation. Where the Empress cables were on the warmer side of neutral and slightly laid back the URs were seemingly more ‘get up and go’ cables making vocals more present and strings just more--alive. I also noticed almost immediately that the Grovers seemed to do a far better job of recreating space. In comparison to the Empress cables, the UR also had a lower noise floor, and this additional blackness led to a broader soundstage which, coupled with the pin point imaging it is also capable of reproducing, led to a significantly improved recreation of the recordings original venue, which has made for a substantially more involving listening experience for me. When I close my eyes and listen to Bill Evan’s XRCD Live at the village vanguard, and hear the bartender to my left removing glasses from the shelf, or a telephone subtly ringing off to the side as the performers continue, it is really something special—you’re transported to the smoky night club and you don’t want to leave.
As you might have assumed when I mentioned the lower noise floor and the imaging of subtle sounds of the night club venue, detail retrieval also seems to be improved with this newest line of cables. Its not night and day as my system was already very revealing, but I do catch myself detecting new, little things every so often and the improved imaging which throw these subtle things into their appropriate place in the sound stage really is pretty nice.
When I first started listening to the UR cables I posted that I felt the UR were not quite as smooth as the Empresses, but I’m having second thoughts there and am not sure its entirely accurate. The URs are extremely neutral and it pulls this off without grain, sibilance or other uglies--I’m starting to think the difference I perceived was stemming from a the Empress cables having a slightly bloomier, albeit less accurate, midrange. I’m actually not sure bloom is the best way to describe it, as I feel bloom and midrange extension/emphasis tend to go hand in hand and that the UR is the more forward of the two cables, but there is a less natural (but still pleasing) roundness to the Empress cables that some might prefer—the smoothness I suspected earlier though, probably isn’t the culprit.
Others have reported hearing a significant difference in the treble performance of the two cables, and I think initially I reported the same. But after living with the URs for a while, I’m not sure I’m really hearing a big difference there and may have perceived the more neutral/less warm presentation as being brighter—I do not think this is the case. On the other hand, the bass performance increase I was once unable to put into words has become much more readily apparent to me. There is no question in my mind that bass extension and overall solidity has been improved. The mid-bass isn’t punchier, per say, but the low end is more ‘present’ with more texture as well.
Putting it into perspective: I love the Empress cables (which are no longer available) and still use one of their phono cables between my VPI Scout and phonostage—they are truly great performers, even at three times the cost of the URs. The newest URs however are really something special—to use the cliché, this cable “gets out of the way” and lets music through. These cables have helped me in firming my realization that musicality isn’t exclusive to gear with a warmer tonal balance or a sugar coated midrange, and that there is something special about gear that does neutral well and allows one to be engaged by the natural delicacy of voices and unadulterated instruments.
