Experience with Black Cat and/or Triode lab Wires

I went from a full TWL loom to a full Black Cat loom. PM if you’d like more detail.

In short, TWL makes a warm, pleasant, “meat on the bones” sound. Downside is, I ultimately heard it (in my system) as bloated, sluggish and low resolution — too much music was missing, and what was there was distractingly filtered…I lost interest in listening.

Black Cat is very different. Downside is, the very entry level (Copperwave or tone or whatever) isn’t that good — can sound unrefined and tizzy. You’d need to step up to the mid-range or higher stuff to appreciate the benefits without those downsides — speed, dynamics, transparency into the music, yet natural.

Shoutout for Vertere cables as well. Similar virtues as Black Cat, and they have cables in your price range that are excellent. Have fun out there - if you hate something, don’t hang onto too long because somebody on a forum told ya it’s great…

Thanks you so much for all the suggestions and comments. It was a crazy stretch leading up to Christmas, but alas I have the day off. Last comment is extremely interesting as it coincides with others above, and ads the perspective of actual comparison between the two lines. At one point prior to Chris’s passing, he had a new entry level cable. I’m going to botch the name, but I believe it’s called Keuro Neco. It essentially replaced the Coppertone/Copperzone line. Perhaps I am wrong on that but I know the first part is correct. Maybe the Triode lab will be too warm for what I consider an already warm system. The Naim integrated is a tad warm, and the last generation Compact 7 (ES3)’s are certainly on the warm. I’m so trying to have this 2nd setup as a casual listening, stay off the Merry-Go-Round system. I should mention that I do have a speaker cable right now, which is A23. I have 2 sets, one in my main setup, and an extra set which I have been using in this system when playing digital. I have previously owned A23’s interconnect. and did think it was quite good. An easy step would be to just seek out the interconnect, but it’s a little pricey for what I’m trying to do here. I believe it’s around $900 per meter, and having the Step up, I would need two sets.

I had A23 speaker cables prior to making the switch to Duelund 12 gage.   The A23's have strong resale value, but I prefer the sound of considerably less expensive Duelund, with the only downside being an extensive break in period of 150-200 hours.  I have no experience with Vermeer or TWM.  

@pdreher 

i am curious to have your description of how the duelund cable sounded different to your ear compared to the a23...  i agree a23 has a very strong following, i have always wondered about it...

@jjss49  

it's been at least 5 or 6 years since I owned the A23's.  I used them for a few years with Harbeth M40.1's and a few tube amps.   While the build quality of the A23's is quite good and they have an artisan like feel and look to them, I was expecting more of an "ah ha" moment with regards to sound quality.   That moment never came... and while the A23's are good, they sounded slightly veiled and less lifelike than Duelund 12 gauge.   The Duelunds just stand out as sounding more natural and lifelike (after a rough break in period in which they sound god-awful).  I've been using the Duelund 12 gauge in both of my systems for 5-6 years and recently added a Duelund RCA IC between my Weiss 202 and amp... and soon will be rewiring the internals of my Altec 19's with Duelund 16 gauge.