Bernhard -- I had the Pro 2, Tara Labs Luminary, and XLO Type 7. All very good (I liked the Tara the best, the Pro 2 the least)
Now, I finally bought a new Aural Symphonics V-2 (from an Agonner who had two!) It is absolutely amazing. The other "high end" ST cables were indeed better than the stock Wadia or Krell, it's true. And, to be fair, it is also true that some people (depending on the brand of DAC and/or transport) find that nothing (not even the AS) improves the performance over the stock ST cable they already use.
However, what I can report is, that with my Wadia WT2000S transport and 64.4x DAC, the AS isn't just better -- it's in another universe altogether!
So I give you one caveat: Unless you are running Wadia equipment (or of course plan to get the EMM version of the Optimism for EMM equipment) make sure you can return the cable for a full refund, if it doesn't work with your equipment. If it does, I promise you won't mind the price!
Now, I finally bought a new Aural Symphonics V-2 (from an Agonner who had two!) It is absolutely amazing. The other "high end" ST cables were indeed better than the stock Wadia or Krell, it's true. And, to be fair, it is also true that some people (depending on the brand of DAC and/or transport) find that nothing (not even the AS) improves the performance over the stock ST cable they already use.
However, what I can report is, that with my Wadia WT2000S transport and 64.4x DAC, the AS isn't just better -- it's in another universe altogether!
So I give you one caveat: Unless you are running Wadia equipment (or of course plan to get the EMM version of the Optimism for EMM equipment) make sure you can return the cable for a full refund, if it doesn't work with your equipment. If it does, I promise you won't mind the price!