well it's in a diff league already. Bass textures...dynamics....wider deeper image...even more quiet. I can tell it's not quite settled yet...13-14 hours playing time is all. If any indications from my Opus Interconnect...it maybe 2 weeks before it really struts it's stuff...

When is that plane ticket to Texas? :-) Saw the British Airways plane in Austin...looks like they are flying a dreamliner london-Austin...not a bad ride i bet !

jfrech April 26, 2014 12:53

W-O-W! Nice one, JFrech. I know its too early to say for sure...but how do the Opus MM2s sound? Comparisons to RefMM (MM2) or even RefXL (MM2) please!

lloydelee21 April 26, 2014 12:33

#95, that's great to read about I was pretty certain breaking in would get you to a happy state. I just rec'd my Opus MM MM2 speaker cables last night (up from Ref MM MM2)...just have about 12 hours on them now...

How do you like your new phono stage? read great things about it...

jfrech April 26, 2014 11:55

Congrats Number_95! Glad to hear things worked out extremely well. Enjoy!!!

lloydelee21 April 25, 2014 20:31

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

Sounds like it's beginning to come together...I bet it improves a bit more...especially the bottom end as well as the resolution and that musical and effortnessless

jfrech April 06, 2014 13:17

Hi Number 95 - that is consistent with my own experiences burning in...only 40 more hours to go or so to hear something hopefully a bit more stable. Good luck.

lloydelee21 April 06, 2014 10:18

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

Hakan, how are things...been about another 5 days...

jfrech April 05, 2014 00:38

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

Number 95...yes, it will be volatile. It goes up (and down). Try to take it easy until you have passed at least 100 hours. ;)

lloydelee21 March 30, 2014 16:31

Hello Hakan...how are they now? with what 40 hours ??

jfrech March 29, 2014 21:47

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

Have to agree with Lloyd here !

jfrech March 27, 2014 23:39

Hi Number 95...I remember that post! The new cables will settle down some, bass will deepen, highs mellow and will be more immersive. This happens toward the end...250-300 hours or so...I suspect it's also presenting more information...

I doubt you'll think it went backwards in any area soon...I'd like to get more Opus MM2 one day...right now fully wired with Ref MM2 and one set of Opus MM2 interconnects...

jfrech March 27, 2014 23:37

Hi Number 95,

First of all congrats. Secondly, in terms of burn-in, I also own XL SCs and RefMM (MM2) ICs...I agree with your assessment regarding XL (MM2) vs RefMM (MM2)...I found after about 100 hours of playing time, things had settled in.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on in the next few days.

lloydelee21 March 27, 2014 20:03

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

System edited: updated a few pics...

jfrech March 08, 2014 20:01

The Transparent Ref XL digital cables have about 180 hours on them now...they should be through the breakin process....

I can enthusiastically say this is a major upgrade going dual aes vs firewire. Much better resolution, much better demensionality, lower noise (it's so quiet now-which is weird to say on digital since it's already quiet...but it's true)...which allows the dynamics and textures to really jump and/or bloom.

The clock cables alone were a improvement.

I feel like I got a new digital front end.

Substantial improvements across the board...nothing went backwards. If you have a dCS stack...you owe it to yourself to try these cables...

jfrech February 08, 2014 14:31

System edited: Added Transparent Reference XL Digital Cables. Dual AES. Plus 2 Tran Ref XL Digital BNC to BNC for the clock...

jfrech February 01, 2014 12:36

I updated my dCS Scarlatti dac and trans software. This allowed me to swap my Audioquest Diamond firewire with Dual AES Transparent Ref XL digital cables. This new software allows all sample rates and DSD via Dual AES via something now in the Scarlatti menu called "Vivaldi mode"

The Transparent digital cables. need 200 hours to break in...I have about 18 hours. But holy smokes is this a BIG improvement. I feel like I got a new DAC or something...will post more as the cables break in...but Dual AES is clearly the better path for dCS Scarlatti owners.

jfrech February 01, 2014 12:31

Additionally, the company and Vinnie Rossi in particular, are first class. The initial item wouldn't power up, but a totally attentive approach by Vinnie firstly put my anxiety at ease, and then ended up in a 100% positive conclusion.
Would completely recommend them to others.

spiritofmusic January 31, 2014 08:31

wow...and first congrats. it's always great to get a huge bump in sound quality from a small amount of $$'s. Glad the Red Wine Audio Battery worked out for you !

Maybe I'll have to give the straingauge a try one day soon...before I make anymore upgrades to my vinyl...

Thanks for reporting back and so very happy for you !

jfrech January 30, 2014 12:42

J, I'm floored with the effects of the RWA BL batt psu to my Straingauge. The initial smoothed off higher frequencies have morphed into fantastic treble extension, w/out doubt the most crystalline highs I've ever heard.
It ALMOST borders on a tipped-up presentation which would be unnatural and fatiguing long term, but actually is a revelation with so much air and microdynamics presented.
And the bass - whew, it's tight and super extended, with real punch and natural warmth.
The superlative high and low end now allow the mids to really shine, fully transparent, with vocals in particular spooky real.
So unlike you, I'm getting no dynamics trade off, just a whole series of steps closer to what I believe is the real thing.
Digital doesn't get even close (and I'm a bigger fan now with my suped up Emm labs CDSA SE X upgradeed cdp than I ever was).
I know you're pretty much set with your Lyra Atlas/Allnic phono, but I'd really implore you to get to hear the Straingauge in your system. Even though it's talked about on the forums, with due respect, I don't think it gets the love it truly deserves.

spiritofmusic January 30, 2014 00:48

Actually, that button is redundant in my setup. My SG200 is a two battery affair with twin inputs into the SG200.
I'm just getting my head around not keeping the SG200 powered up 24/7, and still suspect this might be an issue l/t. But with the impvt so far, maybe fears unfounded.
So far, though, a really surprising success, esp. in the low end which I really didn't think would benefit.
Kudos to Vinnie Rossi at RWA, who showed great attention and patience dealing with my initial teething issue (which neccessitated sending everything back from the UK, incl my SG200 energizer), and coming up trumps in the end.

spiritofmusic January 23, 2014 01:09