I just sent back my mono Morgana.
The system is a serviced lp12 aro/Lyra Kleos SL/52/135/sl2. Had 2 other Naim fan boys over plus a mate who has zero hifi interest, played a number of lp’s till everyone wanted to hear the Naim cables to compare which i didn’t as I thought it was a bit of a waste of time. Turns out in my system the Morgana gave more hifi in the aspect of detail and some other nice nuance, We found after the change out the Naim cables went a lot lower like room pressure lower! the music just sat back and rolled off like a chocolate fondue compared to the Morgana, Took about 5 seconds (even the non audiophile mate) of the OEM cables when seriously everybody commented “oh so much more music” it was a bit embarrassing to tell you the truth, had been ranting how great the Morgana’s blah blah but hadn’t A/B it whoops. In saying that maybe a modern DR system would be more compatible? I did give them plenty of play time over 16 days they just really didn’t beat out Naim cables on my system.
I do thank Witch Hat for the opportunity and their excellent 30 day return policy.
I was initially impressed that Morgana had the same Naim DNA, so i can hear why people like them.
One of my mates commented that they gave my system a disjointed sound, prat was to fast! (never herd that one before ) could be showing issues with my system? Anyway was an interesting experience if not a costly one. Living down under ive had to suck the sausage with the import taxes and return post, comes out around $380 NZD.
Here’s what I took from the experience.
Naim have it covered so leave the expensive experimentation to other Hifi brand owners.
Nope, very serious stuff for us. The non audio guy is an Englishman and has an impeccable tastes Naturally
One buddy has a beautiful 500 system and was wanting to audition them until he heard them unfortunately.
I have a very similar set of boxes to you, but got a definitely different result. It’s not only an issue of different ears as we had multiple listeners (inc musicians, not hifi nerds), but also of rooms.
It sounds like your mates saved you some money and weeks of gradual realisation that something wasn’t right - get them a beer.
I really did do as much due diligence as I could living over here, I’d read a bunch of reviews and had visited not only this form, but other forums, I never found one review that was even slightly negative. So I took the plunge.
There is a wealth of information on the forum. At least there was on the old one. One should always be a bit careful regarding advice to buy stuff on this forum. Trust your own ears and extensive home demos are the way and even then it’s not always the way to audio nirvana
Strange as I have had no problems at all with any WH cables including Morgana and my system is the same as yours apart from the cartridge. It was a massive improvement once everything had burnt in.
I bought a set of WH speaker cables a few years back. The short story is that NACA5 trounced it. The WH was dull and boring compared to the Naim speaker cable which was musical and full of life.
Morgana, also known as Morgan Le Fay, was a very bad lady in the King Arthur chronicles. So I’m not at all surprised to hear that she has been acting up again.
Surely your mother must have told you, when you were growing up, to avoid girls like her!
I’d expect your experience is the same as mine and indeed the vast majority of Morgana buyers, or WH wouldn’t be making cables, given their returns policy.
The thread is once more a useful reminder that from the tip of the stylus through to the stands, room and ears of the listener, with so many variables there’s no substitute for trying before buying.
I assume these were the mono XLRs between the 52 and 135s? If so, the main benefit seems to be their shielding (Naim ones aren’t shielded). I believe that if your system is prone to noise then there should be an audible benefit. However, if noise is not an issue then the sound will just be different. I’m sure this is what you have just experienced. My strategy is always to get the big boxes sorted first and keep to stock cabling unless there is a particular problem that needs fixing, in which case cabling may provide a solution. Otherwise don’t bother.
I think they attached one of the plugs incorrectly, which in turn i had to twist one of the cables to fit. I’m told that it makes no audio difference at all. I thought I’d be the judge of that.
I have zero issues with Witch Hat as the dude I was dealing was as nice as apple pie, I put it down to what can happens when you’re in another country and the hassle of getting things sorted from afar. In fact I commend them for even posting to overseas.
) could be showing issues with my system? Anyway was an interesting experience if not a costly one. Living down under ive had to suck the sausage with the import taxes and return post, comes out around $380 NZD.
