Transparent Audio Music Link Super Speaker Cables

Transparent Audio Music Link Super Speaker Cables 

DESCRIPTION

Premium Transparent Interconnect

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 12  
[Mar 29, 2011]
astroalex
AudioPhile

This pricey cable is not worth the money it costs. Music comes out dull. Highs and bass are poor. It would like to be smooth and natural, but it just cuts out frequencies. Completely veiled or rolled off highs and bass. Period.
Tonight I auditioned Supra DAC XLR (€ 100) and I heard true music again. Incredible.

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Mar 08, 2005]
Nkou
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Bass and mid-range.

Weakness:

none I can listen to.

Huge improvement in all the spectrum when replaced monster speaker cables with Super bicable speaker. Extended and deep bass, Mid-range less analytic and more 'tubee'than monster listenning.

Similar Products Used:

monster speaker cables

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 02, 2004]
muzz777
AudioPhile

Strength:

tonal cohesion top to bottom, fair imaging, quiet

Weakness:

grainy highs, poor low bass, not smooth

overpriced. grainy highs, not smooth, poor bass. Good tonal cohesion top to bottom. quiet cables! go listen to acoustic zen and harmonic technologies or nordost. see below because I just spent 1.5 years a/b ing cables.

Similar Products Used:

acoustic zen, harmonic technologies, nordost, audioquest, ultralink, siltech

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
2
[Sep 30, 2003]
AaronAu
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

See above.

Weakness:

Expensive $900 if bought new. At $400 used for a 1.5m, it is an excellent value.

This review is for the Transparent Balanced Music Link Super XL. This BMLSXL replaced the non-balanced Transparent Music Link Super XL between my Krell KRC-3 preamp and Mark Levinson 331 power amp. The difference is dramatic, as if the cable disappeared from the system. The entire spectrum is more open and natural, transparency and resolution is 30% better, dynamic contrast is wider, bass is cleaner and more rhythmic, and harmonic accuracy and musicality is markedly improved. For those with preamps and power amps with "well designed" balanced in/outputs, this cable gives you so much improvement over the RCA version that I strongly recommend you to loan a pair from your local Transparent dealer and hear for yourself.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jul 11, 2001]
Jim Semian
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Deep but not very tight bass, good looking

Weakness:

Completely veiled or rolled off highs.

I recently bought a (3) meter pair of Audioquest Viper ($320)to replace the Emerald cable because I needed a longer run to accommadate a new entertainment center. I kept the audioquest in my system for about (3) months to breakin, but I was never happy with the sound. I happened to stop in my local audio shop and met the Transparent representative who was there for a training seminar for the store. I told him my problem and my system. He said that I needed to try the Transparent Link Plus. I bought the (2) meter pair Plus and replaced the Viper. I was happy at first because the bass seemed to increase and the background got much quieter. I then compared the two cables and found out that the Plus was quieter but it had no highs. The bass was also much deeper but not as tight. I called the Transparent factory for advice and was told that the link Super was much better than the Plus. I found someone on Audiogon that was selling a (2) meter pair of the Super Link ($350). After about 3 weeks of break in I still couldn't hear any difference between the Super and the Plus. I moved my stereo out of the cabinet and moved it into my home office onto a stereo rack that I could easily make cable changes. I tried every configuration with the CD player, Preamp, Amp and the Transparent and Viper cables to no avail. The sound was just not engaging. I then replaced the new cables with the original cables. The minute that I put on the first song the music became enjoyable again. The shimmer of the cymbals was back in spades. The saxophones sounded real and voices leapt out from the background. My feet started to tap to the beat on their own. I listen to alot of live recorded music and own many bootlegs. I listened to the CDs like I had never heard them before. I hadn't heard them sound like that in months. I can't tell you how disappionted in the performance of the Transparent Super/Plus and Viper cables I am. I thought that they were going to be an upgrade, especially considering the healthy prices. Maybe my system was too warm (tubey) for them. My system consists of the following:

Conrad-Johnson PV7 pre-amp
PS Audio 6.0 pre-amp (I tried this as an alternate to the CJ tubey sound)
Musical Design 140i amp (love it)
B&K 140-ST amp (alternate)
Musical Concepts Epoch CD player
KEF 104 Reference speakers
Nakamichi CA-5 tapedeck
Wire World Atlantis III speaker cables (biwired)

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest - Emerald and Viper. Kimber KC1s, Mark Levinson HFC, Signet, Van den hul, and a custom made cable by an audio store in Houston, TX

OVERALL
RATING
1
VALUE
RATING
1
[Aug 04, 2001]
tony sublett
Audiophile

Strength:

sounds great, good build quality, looks cool!

Weakness:

expensive

I replaced my Monster Cable interconnects (I forget which model) with Kimber PBJ, then I upgraded to MIT Terminator IIs which I really liked and sounded great with my system. On the advise of Bill Hardy (Bill Hardy Stereo, Lexington,KY in the Chevy Chase Area), I upgraded to Transparent 100s, which were WAY better than the MITs (less harsh, better bass). The move from Transparent 100s to the Music Link Supers is not so much a qualitative change, as the MIT to Transparent switch, but a quantative one...more of a good thing.
These would be the very thing for bright, etched sounding solid state electronics, although my system is all tube pre and post except for solid state subwoofer amps, and the Transparent cables are just great! I got 'em cheap (if you can call $350/pr cheap) because they were an odd 1.5M length and no one else wanted them. I would not trade them for anything, but try before you buy. Find a great dealer like I did, it is so much easier that way.

Similar Products Used:

MIT terminator II , Kimber PBJ

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Oct 23, 1999]
Chris
Audiophile

Strength:

Very (pardon the pun) transparent.

Weakness:

Pricey.. But quality costs money.

I've had this interconnect now for more than 3 years. It replaced my excellent Musiclink Plus cables and it is a great improvement. The bass has more weight and punch and the highs are more refined. It is clearly a better cable and is every bit worth double the price over the Plus IMO.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 20, 2000]
Ray
Audiophile

Strength:

bass, midrange

I've used the Transparent link for two years. It connected the cdplayer and recordplayer
with the Pre-amp. After trying the Music plus super between my cdplayer and pre-amp i couldn't
go back. It was more neutral than the link and i could follow the low bass lines better that came out
the Rel subwoofer Strata III. It's a pitty that i couldn't effort the ultra because the Transparent link
change into the phono transparent cable was greater, the soundstage wider and more vived.

System:
Translator Stylus one
Strata III
Rega planar 3
Marantz CD80
Linn Intek , powertek
C37 lack ( www.ennemoser.com)
shakti, Harmonix(ennacom)


Similar Products Used:

vdHul102 , symo

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 14, 2000]
Mike Leghorn
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

dynamic range, detail, precise imaging, lack of harshness in loud brass passages

Weakness:

None, to my ears.

Audio Consultants lets me take equipment home to audition, knowing that once I try it they got me. I approached a sales person with some skepticism when I asked him if interconnects made much difference. He said definitely, and offered to let me borrow the Transparents for a day or two. When I tried them I couldn't believe my ears. By this time I had recently undergone drastic upgrades to my stereo system, which involved the purchase of a Rotel RCD 971 CD player, Audiolab 8000Q preamp, and Bryston 3B-ST amp. I believe that the addition of these cables brought about a quantum leap in sound quality just as significant as any of the other components in the sound reproduction chain.

The first piece I tried was the Scherzo from Bruckner's 9th, recorded on Reference Recordings, with the Minnesota Orchestra. This is an HDCD recording -- the Rotel CD player has the HDCD decoder. The improvement in sound was startling. It seemed like less stood between me and the music, as if I could reach out and touch the musicians. The other most notable effect was how the brass sounded so clean and musical even when blasting.

Needless to say, I never returned the cables. I ended up trading in an old AR turntable to help pay for them. Deciding to purchase these cables was a no-brainer for me.

Similar Products Used:

Tributaries, and before that, plain, cheap cables.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Nov 03, 1999]
Sami Cakir
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Pace, detail, bass

Weakness:

Image depth

A very good but pricey cable. Very good bass reproduction, mids and higs are detailed and natural, dynamics and attack is good too. Transparent Cable products generally known with their strong mids but rolled of higs. I think this cable is an exception, no treble roll of i detected.
This cable is not successful enough in imaging department, especially considering the price. Soundstage is open but could be more dimensional.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
3
Showing 1-10 of 12  

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