[Nick Dangerous]

Wayne (of Bolder Cables) was gracious enough to send me two pairs of his new M-80 interconnects and a cryogenically treated pair of his Bybee'd NITRO interconnects w/silver connectors over the past week. My experiences with them were very positive indeed. But first, a bit of history...

My Oris speaker rig incorporates a philosophy of price/performance and sourcing used parts from other audiophiles who have upgraded to even higher levels of performance. Everything from the source to the speaker represents the most performance for the least amount of money. Even the "world beating" AER speaker drivers were purchased used, cutting the cost nearly in half. The system was configured as such:

SOURCE
Pioneer DVD-440 Transport
Bolder Digital I/O cable
MENSA DI/O DAC w/Bolder custom PS

PREAMP
Creek OBH-12 2-input passive w/remote

AMPLIFICATION
Bottlehead Paraglow 2A3 monoblocks
Parasound HCA-1000A high current SS amp

SPEAKERS
Oris 200 horn enclosures w/AER MK1 drivers
Onken bass cabinets w/Vifa drivers

INTERCONNECTS/SPEAKER WIRE
Outlaw .5m PCA interconnects
Cardas Litz 29ga. twisted solid core copper wire

For a few months, I have been wrestling with a problem in the midbass. I was blaming the Paraglow amps for failing to deliver enough body and punch, rendering drums and bass notes without enough presence. I heard the tympani, but did not feel it. Upgrading the Paraglows to Paraglow II's restored the midbass, but at the cost of some high frequency rolloff. Cymbals no longer had enough *SNAP*. Instruments such as bells and mallet percussion decayed into the haze rather than PINGING as they did before. This was frustrating beyond belief. I wanted both the highs and lows, but was being forced to settle for either/or.

When Wayne's cables arrived, I had reverted the Paraglows back to their original stock build (sans II). The Outlaws connecting the DAC, preamp, and monoblocks were substituted with M-80 interconnects. I made sure to connect them according to the correct orientation... white connectors to source, black to output. Slipping the M-80s onto the tiny preamp's RCA jacks was a pleasure compared to the annoying task of unlocking the Outlaw connectors. They are aggravating to deal with in confined spaces.

After making the change, I could not believe what I heard. The midbass was all there! The Paraglow amps were not the problem... the Outlaws had been choking my entire system the whole time. After replacing them with the M-80's, a seamless frequency response from the most thunderous lows all the way up through the crystalline highs was discernable. It was alive and full bodied... just what I was looking for. It almost felt like I had an entirely new bass system. The integration was perfect. I now feel silly for equipping an almost $10K DIY speaker project with $40 interconnects. Lesson learned: Keep everything from source to speaker on the same tier of price/performance.

I'd describe the M-80's as balanced, natural (relative as that term is... sorry), and excellent with bass frequencies. There was no negative impact on the higher frequencies. In fact, the entire presentation "shed" itself of a slightly unpleasant character I cannot quite articulate (coloration?), moving everything a step closer to the real thing.

The Bybee'd NITRO interconnects went a step beyond THAT, upping the reality factor another seemingly impossible notch. They had the same basic flavor as the M-80's, but at an even higher level of performance. At $620/pair they aren't cheap... but were I to fork out the cash, I might as well never worry about interconnects again. The Bybee NITROS are on my Christmas list for sure (my 2005 Christmas list, that is).

So... after solving this nagging problem with Wayne's wonderful M-80 cables I have to praise his efforts. My system is finally delivering the kind of sound I have been chasing for a long time. Now I can stop solving problems and resume making incremental upgrades, all the while ENJOYING THE MUSIC. Isn't that ultimately the point?

By the way, if you happen to be considering an interconnect purchase, do it now because Wayne has the M-80's on sale until tomorrow (the 31st). You can always return them under the 45-day money back guarantee if they don't suit your needs. I ordered two pairs of the .75m M-80 interconnects that will permanently replace the Outlaws (which will be posted in the For Sale area as soon as I finish this review). The Outlaws are a great value for $40 and definitely blow away most consumer level crap at Best Buy... but when you get into high fidelity and more expensive amps and headphones, the M-80's are an excellent candidate for "the next level". They also happen to look as good as they sound.

Tyson's experience with the Bybee NITRO and M-80's:

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?f...ro&r=&session=

 

[lan]

How much difference would you say the M-80 is to the cryo bybee's Nitro? I've gotta audition them someday. I've had the M80s for a while and I really like them. I'd also say they are neutral in presentation with great frequency response.

 

[Wodgy]

Nick, you're seeing these massive differences partly because a passive preamp is extremely sensitive to interconnects. (The OBH-12 has an output impedance of 20kOhm.) Why don't you wire a potentiometer directly to your monoblocks? You'll get a major improvement in dynamics, resolution, and particularly high frequencies that way, and avoid having to buy a set of interconnects in the process. (Not to mention the cheap potentiometer in the OBH-12 isn't nearly on the same price-performance tier as all your other gear.)

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Wodgy... that's an excellent idea. I have thought about doing that, but the allure of having a remote control and doing "preamp rolling" (yuk yuk) is an irresistible indulgence. The Creek preamp is the next item on my list that I plan to upgrade. I've been hearing wonderful things about transformer-attenuated volume controls and will try John Chapman's S&B based TX-102 preamp kit in the near future.

Ian... I'd describe the difference much like Tyson put it: Everything the M-80 can do, the Bybee NITRO improves upon it in terms of finesse, detail, and naturalness. A "little bit more" in all areas. Very, very nice cable!

 

[spaceman]

Thanks for the review Nick. I ordered a pair of the M-80s last week, and I am anxiously awaiting their arrival.

 

[rickfri]

Nick;
Your review of the M-80's came at an opportune time for me. Over the winter and early spring I built an SET system from kits. Not as ambitious as yours, especially in the speaker area. If you're interested, it's in my profile. I figured I had listened to it long enough now to try swapping something (tubes, cables, power cords) and was wondering what to try first. I also had Outlaws from my preamp to my monoblocks. After reading your post I decided to switch them out with some Jon Risch twisted pair interconnects that I had made. Switching out these cables immediately improved the bass and midrange. Maybe the Outlaws don't have as good an affinity for tube amps as they do for solid state.
I have a pair of Wayne's Art DIO cables that I purchased a couple of years ago and like them quite a bit. Would like to try the M-80's, but due to a semi disastrous roof repair, I'm a little strapped for cash right now.
I too, would like to try some preamp rolling. Right now I'm using a MAD Octal 6 I'm liking quite a lot because it is switchable between three pre amp circuits, one passive and two active. I'm also planning to try my Headmaster as a preamp at some time. When I get some money together I would like to start on another kit. Do you have any links to John Chapman's TX-102 kit? Tried searching on TX-102 and got nothing, searching on John Chapman got about a blue billion matches. Thanks.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

www.bentaudio.com

He also has a forum on www.audiocircle.com (so does Wayne, FYI).

My preamp is going to be replaced with either the Bent Audio kit or a Placette passive. I won't know which to go with until I can do an A/B test... but yeah, the M-80's RAWK in my rig! Will check out your profile when I have some more time.

Ciao!

 

[Nick Dangerous]

This is really strange, but the M-80's I received do not sound like the demo pair I based this review upon. The only difference between them is length. The M-80's I purchased are .75m long... .25m longer than the demo pair.

In my rig, the two M-80's exhibit the same strengths in the bass department, but my slightly longer pair contribute an artificial quality to the sound. The higher frequencies sound slightly overblown, lacking the natural character present in the Outlaws.

Keep in mind that my rig is highly resolving and very, very sensitive to changes of any kind. I cannot believe that a .25m increase in the length of an interconnect can make this kind of difference... but that's what I'm hearing after several hundred hours.

Weird.

I think this is a system synergy issue. These are fine cables indeed... it could be that they don't jibe in my particular system configuration.

*****. More experiments are needed. Back to the drawing board. I'm going to keep a pair for reference and sell the other pair in the For Sale forum soon.

This is why the cable forum is anti-DBT (double-blind testing)!

EDIT: In October 2003, I identified the real problem. After sending in my ART DI/O for a smART-to-Mensa Plus upgrade, the sound took a negative performance hit. I should have stayed with the cheaper (and better sounding) smART DI/O.

I've kept the M-80's. Great cables for the money.

The Mensa Plus DI/O was replaced with a Meridian 566.24. I'm happy again.