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REVIEW: MIT Cables MI-330 Plus Series Two Cable

75.25.148.121


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Model: MI-330 Plus Series Two
Category: Cable
Suggested Retail Price: unknown
Description: single-ended interconnect
Manufacturer URL: MIT Cables

Review by Luminator on May 19, 2010 at 14:40:09
IP Address: 75.25.148.121
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for the MI-330 Plus Series Two


When time lapses from the last time I posted a product review on Audio Asylum, the Inmates are quick to let me know. Here are some quotes [in green font] from e-mails I have recently received. I have attempted to edit out the expletives.

Give me something to [complain] about!

What, there's not enough on AA to complain about?

I like the way your reviews center on a certain time period. Can you go back to the 60s?

I would love to "go back to the 60s," except that I wasn't around then. I was born in the 70s.

To recap, here is a list of my latest reviews, and which semester they zeroed in on:

Illuminati D-60: summer 1986
MIT S3.3: fall 1986
Kimber KS-1036: spring 1987
CAl Icon Mk.II Power Boss: summer 1992
MIT Digital Reference: fall 1992
Kimber KCAG: spring 1993

Can you at least go back in time? I'd like to know about your younger days.

Eventually. I'd like to take it back, a few semesters at a time. This review will center on the fall 1985 semester.

Lummy, your reviews always seem to get a few [audiophiles'] panties in a bunch. It's time to do it again.

I have no control over what people do with their panties.

What's with all the girls?!

The Inmate was referring to my blog, which is where my reviews derive. Most of those who post comments on my blog are female. I have no way of telling how many of my readers are male or female. You do not have to be a xanga member to leave comments on my site.

I'm bored. Give me something to click on.

Here you go:

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Nevermore
Peace
Centerfield
Go West
Duke
Rhythm Of The Night
Twisted
Welcome To The Pleasuredome
Be Yourself Tonight
Wilson Phillips
This Is How We Do It
Bang!

On my posts here on AA, I've already cited the following late-1985 songs:

A-Ha, "The Sun Always Shines On T.V."
Depeche Mode, "Shake The Disease"
Dokken, "It's Not Love"
Mr. Mister, "Is It Love" and "Kyrie"
O.M.D., "Secret" and "So In Love"
Sade, "The Sweetest Taboo"
Scritti Politti, "A Perfect Way" and "Absolute"
Sheena Easton, "Do It For Love"
Simple Minds, "All The Things She Said" and "Sanctify Yourself"
Talking Heads, "And She Was"
Wham, "I'm Your Man"
Y&T, "Summertime Girls"

Since I have already cited these songs, I will not use them in this review.

Because I had spent the entire summer of 1985 in Honolulu, I missed my own high school's (Lowell, located in the SW corner of San Francisco) orientation. So, I did not step foot onto campus until the very first day of school. As you can imagine, I was lost, scared, and bewildered. While I had taken MUNI Metro before, I had never taken the M-Oceanview line out to Junipero Serra. I did not realize that it was such a long walk from 19th Avenue to campus. As always, I had my Walkman with me. But as I was trying to find my way, I leaved the Walkman off. Still, I remember humming Scritti Politti's "Wood Beez" in my head.

Just as all of us overcome our fear of the first day of school, you can overcome your fear of using the MIT MI-330 Plus Series Two on the Audio Dharma Cable Cooker. And two days on the Cable Cooker is all it takes to optimize the MI-330 PS2's sound. My friends and I have had this interconnect for almost 15 years. No amount of regular playing time ever adds up to the treatment of a proper burn-in device such as the Cable Cooker.

On the first day of school, we students reported first to homeroom. I did not recognize a soul. I tried to psyche myself up by humming the songs from Motley Crue's Theatre Of Pain in my head. Didn't work. I could feel the jitters in my stomach. But then I saw that a girl, MH, was crying. I did not have the guts to ask why MH was crying, but I thought to myself, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels distraught, disoriented, and intimidated!"

In the mid-90s, when the MI-330 PS2 came out, I interacted with Bay Area consumers. They were of the opinion that the MI-330 PS2 was slow and boring. Having heard brand new samples, I can't disagree with that assessment. But that is why proper burn-in is key. I compared brand new samples to those which were well-used. The two batches did not sound alike. The burned-in samples had that rare (in hi-fi) ability to capture the pop, snap, and urgency of snare drums. And the snare drum, my friends, is the key to PRAT. It doesn't matter if you are listening to Motley Crue (whose drummer, Tommy Lee, really punctuates the snare) or Howard Jones' early work, where the synthesizers couldn't really hammer out a percussive beat. The MI-330 PS2 has great resolution here. Thus, it shows the Creek Destiny's soft, muted strokes for what they are. At the same time, the MI-330 PS2 does not hold back the CAL Icon Mk.II Power Boss' prowess with drums.

On that first day of high school, my homeroom teacher instructed us to pair up. Since no one knew each other, we just stared at each other. It was funny how the girls paired up with girls, and the boys paired up with boys. The boy next to me seemed nice, so I asked him to be my locker partner, and he agreed. Over the years, he tolerated my smelly belongings and pictures of rock musicians. In the last two years, I cut out CD boxes, and posted those pictures in the locker.

Well, back in late '85, I had Dokken's Under Lock And Key on cassette, not CD. Still, a studio recording like this showcases the MI-330 PS2's soundstaging strengths. On the dCS Puccini, the soundscape is vast, deep, but somewhat distant. The images are small, tight, but perfectly in scale. It is like the perfect model train set. On the Simaudio Supernova and Classe' CDP-102, the music tends to be set up in the space between the speakers. The Supernova has larger, but slightly more diffuse images. Yet, the stage itself appears a foot or two wider. From player to player, these soundstaging/imaging characteristics can be vastly different, or they can be small but subtle. Either way, the MI-330 PS2 can differentiate.

That semester, I had a crush on a girl, CH, who was not only in my homeroom, but in P.E. as well. That semester was dark and cool. Still, CH would show up to homeroom in a gray-and-blue windbreaker. Now, understand that I love windbreakers. As a Bay Area resident, I still bring a windbreaker with me. So when CH wore that windbreaker [my Nike windbreaker was red, blue, and gray], of course I liked her! And of course, in P.E., I did not mind at all, staring at CH. She was sprightly, big-eyed, and smiley. When she and I ran around the track, it was as though we were holding hands. But damn, all that dirt, mud, and dust kicked up...and we still had 4-5 more classes in the day. But I'll never forget the day she was sitting on the floor in front of her locker. She told me to sit down next to her. CH's Walkman had two headphone jacks. She yanked my headphone out of my Walkman, then stuck it into the second jack on hers. We grooved to Miami Sound Machine's "Bad Boy."

Once again, many audiophiles' perception of MIT was that the interconnects were slow and boring. Assuming you have a quality source and covered the burn-in issue, that is not the case with the MI-330 PS2. Because of its soundstaging and imaging strengths, you can pick out each player, and see his or her individual contribution to the song's construction. And on "Bad Boy," it all comes together, and you can't help moving your shoulders to the rhythms. In absolute terms, a few other interconnects will get the notes to leap in more jump-start fashion. But in the overall of start, stop, and decay, the MI-330 PS2 does a nice job of balancing punch, agility, and flow.

The courtyard was where all the "modern rock" kids hung out. In those days, electronics such as Walkmen and boomboxes were considered "contraband." So, boomboxes were too big to bring to school. But everyone brought a Walkman to school. Gotta have tunes, as they say. Anyway, I was sitting on a courtyard bench with some classmates. They introduced me to China Crisis' "King In A Catholic Style." At the time, I did not know that it was produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan fame.

Most audio reviewers forget that people listen to music via headphones. Not I. When used between source and headphone amp, the MI-330 PS2 is outstanding. It uses your head as the soundstage. You will marvel at the perfectly-formed, anchored, focused images in your head.

In late 1985, it was sort of a challenge to find Japanese transforming robots. A few comic/hobby stores had them. And, right across the street from my house, in San Francisco's Japantown, was the Mikado store. It was primarily a Sanrio [Hello Kitty] store. But it also carried anime posters, music, collectibles, cards, models, figurines, and robots. My brother and I bought a few. We would go home, and combine them with our other toys, such as Legos, Star Wars, Transformers, G.I. Joes, et. al. We'd make cities, and have the toys participate in all-out wars. All that time, we'd have the music going. It'd be dark by 5:00p, and New Edition's "A Little Bit Of Love (Is All It Takes)" would stop me from playing, and turn my mind to girls.

I have already mentioned that the MI-330 PS2 throws the first punch with its soundstage dimensionality. It throws a second punch with its "I-can-see-them" imaging. It delivers a third blow with its ability to maintain silence between the images, and between the notes. This silence makes for absorbing, fatigue-free headphone listening sessions. But it also means that, via loudspeakers, the music can transport you back in time. For me, it is like breathing that late-1985 air, while playing with all those toys on the floor of my parents' living room.

Just like those transforming robots from 1985, the MIT MI-330 PS2 was not widely available. Relative to other interconnects, the MI-330 PS2 did not sell well. Nevertheless, it does appear on the used market. Though it was discontinued years ago, it does compare favorably against many of today's cables, including the S3.3 I reviewed last year.

-Lummy The Loch Monster


Product Weakness: locking-barrel RCAs, outer jacket gets marked/soiled easily
Product Strengths: light beige color, no problems with Cable Cooker


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: numerous
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): numerous
Sources (CDP/Turntable): numerous
Speakers: numerous
Cables/Interconnects: numerous
Music Used (Genre/Selections): rock, pop, metal, R&B, Hawaiian, dance, rap
Time Period/Length of Audition: 14 years
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: MIT Cables MI-330 Plus Series Two Cable - Luminator 14:40:09 05/19/10 ( 3)