Cables from the States

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Lindsayt
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Re: Cables from the States

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savvypaul wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 12:10 pm
Lindsayt wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 12:04 pm
So that's 14 strands in LS3. Compared to 64 strands in the least expensive Morrow cable...
Gauge of strands?
Insulation material?
Unspecified on their website. Looking at the photos they will not be thick strands. They also look somewhat flat in profile.

It seems like another Wizard of Oz website. We know what they want to present to us, but we don't know what's behind the curtain.

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Re: Cables from the States

Unread post by antonio66 »

I didn't start this thread as a comparison between Morrow and NVA, i somehow or other find myself on different American forums when on the net, and often see Morrow mentioned in a good way, especially their cheaper ranges. Having looked on the website the company was started by one man making his own cables, not to dissimilar to NVA, and as you can see he seems to do some pretty good deals. I for one would like to try his USB and interconnect cable

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Re: Cables from the States

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antonio66 wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 8:29 pm I didn't start this thread as a comparison between Morrow and NVA, i somehow or other find myself on different American forums when on the net, and often see Morrow mentioned in a good way, especially their cheaper ranges. Having looked on the website the company was started by one man making his own cables, not to dissimilar to NVA, and as you can see he seems to do some pretty good deals. I for one would like to try his USB and interconnect cable
But, others do want to make the comparison; that's a reasonable part of any critical analysis. You'll find 'rave' reviews somewhere or other for just about every audiophile cable on the market (including NVA), if you look hard enough. More important, though, is how you narrow your choices down...and to do that you need to look beyond the 'sizzle'.

Making cables is not rocket science, it's basic principles. Look at the cores used, the gauge, the insulation materials, the construction geometry, the connectors. There are some cables that are sold on multipliers of 20 plus - the marketing won't make them any better value. There are also cables that are made in a way that gives them some pretty weird and undesirable electrical qualities that consequently alter the frequency response - all in the name of enabling audiophiles to proclaim they 'hear a difference'.

Most importantly, you need to prioritise the electrical requirements of the amplifier (and, occasionally, the speaker, e.g. Quad ESL57).
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Lindsayt (Tue May 04, 2021 12:18 am)
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https://nvahifi.co.uk/

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Re: Cables from the States

Unread post by antonio66 »

I know you can find rave review on nearly all hifi products, BUT, I would not have posted this if I didn't think there seemed to be more good mentions for this cable than one might expect. I do hope we are not all into how thick are cables are, go take a look at Crystal Cables to see how wrong you can be.

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Re: Cables from the States

Unread post by savvypaul »

antonio66 wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 9:42 pm I know you can find rave review on nearly all hifi products, BUT, I would not have posted this if I didn't think there seemed to be more good mentions for this cable than one might expect. I do hope we are not all into how thick are cables are, go take a look at Crystal Cables to see how wrong you can be.
Electrical properties are electrical properties. No amount of marketing can change that.

Going beyond a certain gauge is pointless, but how thick a cable is does not necessarily relate to the gauge of the cables inside. Much of what you 'see' with many 'thick' cables is simply an overblown jacket.

There are lots of 'flavour of the month' products that come and go...like yesterday's news headlines used to become today's fish and chip wrappers. There are lots of comments for certain brands of cables because they advertise a lot. Many are spending more than £5k a month on Facebook advertising, alone. Buyers pay those costs...hence the huge margins required to sustain them.

I've no idea about how Morrow operate, but as soon as I visited their website I then started getting their ads in my Facebook feed. Lindsay is correct to say that they are not quite giving you all the information you need to form a reliable judgement.
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Lindsayt (Tue May 04, 2021 12:19 am)
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Re: Cables from the States

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

savvypaul wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 10:08 pm
antonio66 wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 9:42 pm I know you can find rave review on nearly all hifi products, BUT, I would not have posted this if I didn't think there seemed to be more good mentions for this cable than one might expect. I do hope we are not all into how thick are cables are, go take a look at Crystal Cables to see how wrong you can be.
Electrical properties are electrical properties. No amount of marketing can change that.

Going beyond a certain gauge is pointless, but how thick a cable is does not necessarily relate to the gauge of the cables inside. Much of what you 'see' with many 'thick' cables is simply an overblown jacket.

There are lots of 'flavour of the month' products that come and go...like yesterday's new headlines used to become today's fish and chip wrappers. There are lots of comments for certain brands of cables because they advertise a lot. Many are spending more than £5k a month on Facebook advertising, alone. Buyers pay those costs...hence the huge margins required to sustain them.

I've no idea about how Morrow operate, but as soon as I visited their website I then started getting their ads in my Facebook feed. Lindsay is correct to say that they are not quite giving you all the information you need to form a reliable judgement.
Most people will never come across cables where a mismatch results in a failure. As a result there is a general belief that a cable is just a conductor that connects two units together. Unfortunately it isn't quite that simple. Speaker cables my be less of a problem than interconnects but it always pays to listen to what the amplifier manufacturer says. It would be all too easy to create a cable that represents a resonant circuit but fortunately few cables are inductive enough, but if you don't know what is inside the box how can you be sure? NVA say use low capacitance speaker cables for a reason and void the guarantee if you don't. I have yet to see an advert for speaker cable that actually mentions the capacitance.

Unless you have the knowledge and experience to select cables based on the raw specifications the best bet is to follow the equipment manufacturers specifications. The amplifier manufacturer doesn't want you to destroy the amp and probably doesn't sell cable (with some notable exceptions) so their recommendation is likely to be reasonably good. The people who sell cables aren't always as open about their products as one might wish. Beware the man, or woman, who sells a cable but won't tell you its properties.
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karatestu (Tue May 04, 2021 5:07 pm)

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Re: Cables from the States

Unread post by Neonknight »

I know of Morrow cables, but not have heard them. The problem with cable companies is that anyone who can solder ends onto a wire is now a cable builder. They often use off the spool wire of some offbeat source, and then cover it in tech-flex, write some stuff about being organic, holistic, and detailed...now you have a cable product. Whether it is a good product is a roll of the dice, and you are counting on users to relate details about their experiences. Who knows their systems, what they value, or if they can critically listen.

Morrow cables may be excellent, I really don't know. I have not had the opportunity to hear a set. They are not a company I plan on reaching out to anytime in the near future, but maybe with any luck when our local audio group gets together someone may have some experience with it. I joined it in the middle of COVID, so my interactions with group members have only been online.
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slinger (Tue May 04, 2021 6:06 pm)

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Re: Cables from the States

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

Neonknight wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 3:52 pm The problem with cable companies is that anyone who can solder ends onto a wire is now a cable builder. They often use off the spool wire of some offbeat source, and then cover it in tech-flex, write some stuff about being organic, holistic, and detailed...now you have a cable product. Whether it is a good product is a roll of the dice, and you are counting on users to relate details about their experiences. Who knows their systems, what they value, or if they can critically listen.
That pretty much sums up the situation. What you didn't say was that some of these people will cover the connector and the first bit of the cable with adhesive filled heat shrink sleeving so that you can't open it up and see the quality of the soldering. Nor indeed can you see the actual conductors they have used.

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Re: Cables from the States

Unread post by Neonknight »

Curious to know if you decided to order any of the Morrow cables?

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Re: Cables from the States

Unread post by antonio66 »

No I haven't, and most probably will not. I've seen this on ebay and have been tempted to make up a pair of speaker cables, and possibly a set of interconnects. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171972995093 also this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112050722813

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