Ruark MR1's & Musical Fidelty v90 DAC

I have a simple routine I use when analysing whether or not a cable is worth it.

Is it better than the stock cable?

Is it made by a reputable company?

Does it cost less than 5% of the cost of the items it's being plugged into?

If yes to all then it's probably worth buying, I then add on another 5% if I want/need a cable that looks good (paying extra for aesthetic reasons).

Buying a £400 USB cable for a £120 DAC would be stupid, using my rule the DAC would need to cost £4000 minimum if it's a good looking cable, if it's bog standard looking then the DAC would need to cost £8000 minimum.

Basically I would never buy a £400 USB cable.

The above is how I do things, others are free to use their own method of working out if it's worth it or not.
 
Well thanks all for the replies. Well my speakers where £300 and the DAC £200. And the cables are nikkia optical 29.99 and the A to B USB cable 9.99. I just find it funny some manufactures that sell there cables say that it will make performance better. I was reading one and it said there cable made bass and treble better using there cable lol.
 
A lot of Hi Fi dealers seem to sell that chord. And from what I've seen it never gets good reviews. Especially what fi. I've seen QED get good reviews on there cable
 
9designs2 said:
So it does then :p

DAC and PC is part of your Hi-Fi, the PC has become your source.
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PC, source? The HiFi geeks' heads would explode with all that unshielded circuitry, the shared power source with all the components and the drives not rested on anti vibration fairy dust. :D
 
Not that its anything to do with the topic but had ordered a pair of MR1's which arrived today. Lovely little speakers but unfortunately mine (walnut) had a fairly obvious difference in finish in that one speaker was a nice semi gloss finish and the other was a very flat matt finish. Dunno if one missed a coat or different sheen was used or whatever.

Spoke to guy at Ruark who was pleasant & chatty enough about the issue and confirmed they both should have had the semi gloss finish. I probably wouldn't even have noticed if both had have been the same finish. Anyway, didn't really play with them too much but I'll maybe pick up another pair as they're a nice size etc.. Just at their price point they'd need to watch their QC a bit.
 
There excellent speakers Tachyon. You wont be dissapointed in there performance. But that is strange . With the issue you had. Hope you get it sorted. And there customer service is great very friendly and helpful. They answer any questions you have. Which I had about a subwoofer
 
After I had written my last post I got them out again for another go before they went back. I played a bit of Zac Brown & Dire Straits which I had on my Nexus 4 which doesn't have aptx bluetooth but the sound was pretty impressive regardless. I would have liked to have got them wired up with a 3.5mm jack to my pc but I didn't have one.

My wife thought they sounded great as well and said she didn't notice the difference in finishes when they were well separated but it's one of those things that would irk me just knowing about it after spending that sort of money.

Was only able to get a refund and not a replacement due to getting them from a third party on Amazon and they couldn't guarantee stock levels or something. Totally agree about Ruarks customer service, answered the phone immediately and the guy I spoke to was very pleasant and helpful.
 
Im after a sub in the coming weeks. I've heard from a few sources that in testing they tried the the Rel t zero sub and it suppose to sound excellent. But that was the only sub tested with them. And after different views seem's most MR1 customers have gone that route with the sub
 
nicknack35 said:
Im after a sub in the coming weeks. I've heard from a few sources that in testing they tried the the Rel t zero sub and it suppose to sound excellent. But that was the only sub tested with them. And after different views seem's most MR1 customers have gone that route with the sub
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Not tried the Rel but BK XLS400 for closed or Monolith for open.

Job done. The latter comes on a pallet. :D

If you find there's not enough bass, get 2 and an Antimode to go with it...
 
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Had a monolith for 6 months. Really can't fault it. Simply awesome.

When it arrived on its own pallet I was wondering how it would fit in with everyday life. But it's so well made, it looks like a lovely coffee table :-).

It's the way it sounds that it so impressive though. For its size it can be very subtle. But when needed it leaps into life and really is something else.

Haven't managed to get round to an anti mode yet. Recent upgraded my amp to one with some nice audissey processing that massively improved the bass. Stuck it on a couple of granit slabs as well that also helped. For the house and the system I have it's more then enough.
 
Haha, I use my sub as a kind of side table too ! It's just a piece of furniture, you wouldn't know what it is until I told you about it.
 
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