Transparent Opus Gen 5 vs Transparent Opus MM2 mini review

microstrip

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I dare not even glance at the RRP on these for fear of turning to stone, No, that was Medusa! Do they come in 6" lengths?

One nice aspects of Transparent Audio cables is that longer lengths are not much more expensive than short ones. The expensive part is the network.
 

number95

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LL21

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One nice aspects of Transparent Audio cables is that longer lengths are not much more expensive than short ones. The expensive part is the network.

That is exactly what Franz Kuzma once told me...
 

jfrech

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Hi John,

I presume this was the last MM2 component you have had and now your system will be fully covered by Magnum Opus right? How do you overall compare Opus MM2 to Gen V Opus to Magnum Opus? I mean do you observe similar improvements between those? Or is the improvement from Opus MM2 to Gen V Opus more significant than moving to Magnum from Gen V?

This was the last MM2 component. My tonearm to phono stage and phono to pre is magnum opus. dac to pre and amp to pre are Opus Gen 5. I did get to hear the Opus Gen 5 vs the Magnum Opus from my tonearm to phono stage. It's likely a bit bigger of a difference than the Opus MM2 to Gen5 I'm speaking about above. I know people will argue with me on this point, but I think Opus Gen 5 to Magnum Opus (phono cable) is easily like a cartridge upgrade. And that seems to follow what I am finding with the Transparent wire..it's like component upgrades, and in a lot of cases, the wire makes a bigger diff than a better amp or phono stage...
 

number95

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This was the last MM2 component. My tonearm to phono stage and phono to pre is magnum opus. dac to pre and amp to pre are Opus Gen 5. I did get to hear the Opus Gen 5 vs the Magnum Opus from my tonearm to phono stage. It's likely a bit bigger of a difference than the Opus MM2 to Gen5 I'm speaking about above. I know people will argue with me on this point, but I think Opus Gen 5 to Magnum Opus (phono cable) is easily like a cartridge upgrade. And that seems to follow what I am finding with the Transparent wire..it's like component upgrades, and in a lot of cases, the wire makes a bigger diff than a better amp or phono stage...

Thanks for the feedback. Upgrade to Gen V topology is on my list, it has to wait for a while. What I understand from your experiences, Magnum Opus vs Opus Gen V is a more significant upgrade compared to Opus Gen V vs Opus MM2 so I wonder if bite the bullet and skip Opus Gen V and move to Magnum Opus.
 

LL21

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Thanks for the feedback. Upgrade to Gen V topology is on my list, it has to wait for a while. What I understand from your experiences, Magnum Opus vs Opus Gen V is a more significant upgrade compared to Opus Gen V vs Opus MM2 so I wonder if bite the bullet and skip Opus Gen V and move to Magnum Opus.

If you bite that bullet, let us know!! Would love to know how the Magnus sounds...have heard very very good things about it.
 

number95

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If you bite that bullet, let us know!! Would love to know how the Magnus sounds...have heard very very good things about it.

Sure, will do. But it will have to wait, and in case of Magnus, it has to wait longer.
 

LL21

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This was the last MM2 component. My tonearm to phono stage and phono to pre is magnum opus. dac to pre and amp to pre are Opus Gen 5. I did get to hear the Opus Gen 5 vs the Magnum Opus from my tonearm to phono stage. It's likely a bit bigger of a difference than the Opus MM2 to Gen5 I'm speaking about above. I know people will argue with me on this point, but I think Opus Gen 5 to Magnum Opus (phono cable) is easily like a cartridge upgrade. And that seems to follow what I am finding with the Transparent wire..it's like component upgrades, and in a lot of cases, the wire makes a bigger diff than a better amp or phono stage...

Hi Jfrech,

any advice from your dealer on XL Gen 5? Curious as to how it compares with RefMM (MM2), old Ref XL MM2 and the old Opus MM2. Thanks for any insights.
 

jfrech

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Hi Jfrech,

any advice from your dealer on XL Gen 5? Curious as to how it compares with RefMM (MM2), old Ref XL MM2 and the old Opus MM2. Thanks for any insights.

Opus mm2. I had some ref xl and some ref mm mm2. Opus is in another Relm
 

LL21

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number95

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Magnum Opus SC arrived finally. First of all that sounds like no other cable including Opus MM2 (have not heard Opus Gen V btw). Their networks are huge by all means even compared to Opus. I already have had high expectations, but right out of the box, very cold, not tuned to my current amps, even the first minute was amazingly musical and much better than my Ref MM2. It gets frighteningly better even after 10 hours. As some says, cable is a major component and upgrading cables is like a major component change.
 

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number95

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Another similar photo taken handheld, a bit more narrower depth of field. For sure these babies deserve a proper shot with a tripod :cool:
 

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jfrech

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Impressive pics ! What camera and lens are you using? I wondered if you were trying a different color choice, I like what you got the best...

And I don't EVEN want to know how good it sounds :) !! I can only imagine after recently going from Opus MM2 to Opus Gen 5 on my speaker cable. Some people might want to shoot me on this forum, but my Magnum Opus Phono cables "might" be as important as the cartridge and phono stage. That's a mouthful...I know...but..since I have it in my system...and I was going from Opus MM2...cabling is very important, maybe it's best if we leave it at that.

I went ahead and bought a Transparent Opus power cord. I'm impressed...it's similar to the Opus line of signal cabling...conveys emotion, conveys dynamics, full & rich but also resolute and extended in the extremes.

Please post as break in progresses and when your new amps show up. I know the tuning is a big deal in these cables...so I bet you're in for more surprises.

Congratulations !!!

Any chance you can post more pics of your system?

All the best, John
 

LL21

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I have heard from a dealer that Ref XL (Gen 5) was such a dramatic improvement, it really negated the rationale for having RefMM (in between Ref XL and Opus)...and that it comes exceptionally close to Opus MM2...and in one or 2 areas might even better it. It seems like the Ref XL Gen 5 thus offer tremendous value (within the context of the exceedingly expensive TA Ref family of cables!!)...but of course Opus Gen 5 is in a different league/world...and i am told by another dealer that Opus Magnus is insanely good.
 

microstrip

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I have heard from a dealer that Ref XL (Gen 5) was such a dramatic improvement, it really negated the rationale for having RefMM (in between Ref XL and Opus)...and that it comes exceptionally close to Opus MM2...and in one or 2 areas might even better it. It seems like the Ref XL Gen 5 thus offer tremendous value (within the context of the exceedingly expensive TA Ref family of cables!!)...but of course Opus Gen 5 is in a different league/world...and i am told by another dealer that Opus Magnus is insanely good.

I researched this question (REFXL gen5 versus Opus MM2 ) extensively before getting my Opus MM2 speaker a few months ago and everyone told me the same think - the OPUS MM2 tuned to your equipment sounds better than the REF XL gen5 in all aspects. And yes, the Opus gen 5 is known to sound even better ... Curiously my dealer seemed even more impressed with the Opus gen 5 power cables than with the signal cables.
 

PeterA

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Magnum Opus SC arrived finally. First of all that sounds like no other cable including Opus MM2 (have not heard Opus Gen V btw). Their networks are huge by all means even compared to Opus. I already have had high expectations, but right out of the box, very cold, not tuned to my current amps, even the first minute was amazingly musical and much better than my Ref MM2. It gets frighteningly better even after 10 hours. As some says, cable is a major component and upgrading cables is like a major component change.

number 95, Congratulations. Love the photo and I know your M Project speakers are fantastic having heard MadFloyd's many times now. I'm curious, did you compare these latest Transparent cables to any other brands, especially MIT? My good audio buddy HATES Transparent cables. I don't have much experience with cables, don't read the patents but I do like my Transparents very much. Enjoy these and report back as things change, especially after the calibration.
 

number95

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May 14, 2014
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Impressive pics ! What camera and lens are you using? I wondered if you were trying a different color choice, I like what you got the best...

And I don't EVEN want to know how good it sounds :) !! I can only imagine after recently going from Opus MM2 to Opus Gen 5 on my speaker cable. Some people might want to shoot me on this forum, but my Magnum Opus Phono cables "might" be as important as the cartridge and phono stage. That's a mouthful...I know...but..since I have it in my system...and I was going from Opus MM2...cabling is very important, maybe it's best if we leave it at that.

I went ahead and bought a Transparent Opus power cord. I'm impressed...it's similar to the Opus line of signal cabling...conveys emotion, conveys dynamics, full & rich but also resolute and extended in the extremes.

Please post as break in progresses and when your new amps show up. I know the tuning is a big deal in these cables...so I bet you're in for more surprises.

Congratulations !!!

Any chance you can post more pics of your system?

All the best, John

Hi John,

Camera/lens combo is Canon 5dmkII + 50mm f1.4, that is a very early shot as soon as I installed the cables taken handheld while there is dim tungsten light. 5dmkII gets a bit warmer white balance under tungsten light but I preferred not to adjust wb after seeing the shot. I will sure post some system photos soon.

Best,

Hakan
 

number95

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May 14, 2014
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number 95, Congratulations. Love the photo and I know your M Project speakers are fantastic having heard MadFloyd's many times now. I'm curious, did you compare these latest Transparent cables to any other brands, especially MIT? My good audio buddy HATES Transparent cables. I don't have much experience with cables, don't read the patents but I do like my Transparents very much. Enjoy these and report back as things change, especially after the calibration.

Hi Peter,

Thank you.

I haven't heard newest MIT cables. Had a chance to hear Nordost btw. Cables can be system dependent so may have different outcomes with different equipments. I like Transparent and have preferred them for years and they have succeeded to raise the bar each time they introduced their next generation cables. Gen V is the most recent example, MM2 was also clearly superior to MM which it was clear better than XL.

So far magnums are around 20 hours and one can hear more refinement compared to right out of the box hearing.

Hakan
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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I researched this question (REFXL gen5 versus Opus MM2 ) extensively before getting my Opus MM2 speaker a few months ago and everyone told me the same think - the OPUS MM2 tuned to your equipment sounds better than the REF XL gen5 in all aspects. And yes, the Opus gen 5 is known to sound even better ... Curiously my dealer seemed even more impressed with the Opus gen 5 power cables than with the signal cables.

Thanks, Micro. Any specific comments from people about Opus Gen 5 besides what's been posted here?
 

jfrech

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Curiously my dealer seemed even more impressed with the Opus gen 5 power cables than with the signal cables.

I just bought a Opus power cord (for my amp). I had it on demo for a few weeks. I'm impressed to. I would not say it's all around better than my previous cord. But is clearly a better match for my system and ears in the area's of dynamics, beauty, textures in the bass and top end. The Transparent Opus power cord is very similar to the Opus signal cabling. I could see someone saying the Transparent Opus Power cord is dark in a comparison...but it presents all of the information just in a more natural and pleasing way to me. It's one of those things that you keep comparing and you just keep going back to it...goes for the heart vs the head.
 

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