Hi John, glad to hear you like the improvement coming from Opus cables. My Ref MM2 cables are a big improvement over XL and I imagine Opus should have at least similar or even more improvement over MM.

Btw, I heard Transparent soon renewing all of its cable lines, completely changing current MM2 topology to a new one, bringing a higher line over Opus which is hard to believe given its cost and performance. Personally, I am so pleased with my Ref MM2, no intention to consider any upgrades within 4-5 years.

number_95 June 17, 2014 09:05

Congratulations with your Opus speaker cables! I am sure a similar degree of improvement or perhaps even more from mm to xl line. Did you also change the interconnectors with Opus?

Yes, Ref Phono 10 is almost excellent right out of the box, it is improving still, now 70 hours, looking to hear it when it completes 500-600 hours.

Btw, a good friend of mine gave me his Lyra Atlas for burning in as he still waits his t/t to be delivered. I see that you also have Atlas, which loading do you prefer? I tried 500 ohms and it sounds fantastic. Compared to Ikeda 407 tonearm and Kai combo, Graham and Atlas has a different flavor, Atlas is more dynamic, detailed and honest without being too analytical while Kai holding its edge in soundstage and liquidity. Both excellent cartridges.

number_95 April 26, 2014 16:38

Now over 150 hours, I presume cables settled almost fully, no signs of forwardness, it is so relaxed, tonal balance back to neutral, bass came back with a nice texture, soundstage improved in depth, highs having excellent details without being edgy or harsh. Compared to XL, there are more musical energy and details while dynamic range improved. Backgrounds again are much blacker compared to XL which improves harmonics and details as well as imaging and soundstage. Overall, my system is now more capable of reproducing musical information closer to real performance. Also unlike XL, Ref MM2 sounded not great right out of the box, it had a painful breaking in period which performance was volatile thru burning in. At least, it has a happy ending :-)
Now that I also upgraded phono stage from ARC Ref 2SE to ARC Ref Phono 10 and added Ikeda IT-407 as a second tonearm with Ikeda Kai cartridge, the overall improvement combined with Ref MM2 cabling is something to hear :-))

number_95 April 23, 2014 09:32

Hello John, thanks for your interest. I have been travelling for the last 2-3 days, so a bit behind burning in schedule. So far 60 hours, forwardness gone, slight harhness on mids/highs gone, mid to highs integration much better, having said bass texture is a bit leaner. Overall more musical and effortless. I also think I started to see a bit better soundstage in terms of depth though difference is minor.

number_95 April 05, 2014 19:47

So far 40 hours. The tonal balance is better, mid/upper harshness fading away, interestingly bass is a bit leaner now, so still +/- , but overall it becomes more musical. Will keep you posted.

number_95 March 31, 2014 07:30

Thank you both for your feedback. So far 15-20 hours, performance is a bit volatile presumably due to burn in in progress. I hope highs will transform into mellow and presentation will move to balanced from a bit aggressive. If my memory is right, when I upgraded from Ref to Ref XL (MM2), I never noticed a bit forwardness as well as a bit harshness on highs, even right of of the box. I hope after 200-250 hours final performance will have a happy ending :-)
I will let you know.

Thank you again,

Hakan

number_95 March 28, 2014 12:33

Hello J,

As I mentioned to you on another forum (AA), I upgraded all interconnects and speaker cables from Ref XL to Ref MM2. Cables arrived last weekend. Right out of the box, better resolution, darker backgrounds, richer tonal colors, faster and more realistic timbres, more dynamic range and energy. Also a bit more (perhaps too) agressive on highs but hope it will go away during burn in. Can you please give some feedback for burn in period (how many hours, what kind of changes during burn in etc) for your Ref MM2 cables?

Regards.

number_95 March 26, 2014 13:55