Hi John-good to hear your east coast voice up and at 'em. To my ear and in my experience, the Gabriel Golds are the best cable on the market. I realize that's a bold statement, but I have had them in my system for a couple of years and have no intention of ever changing them. They are the most accurate, neutral, and perfectly paced cables I have heard. The extension and detail offered are absolutely grainless and full at the same time; this is, in my opinion, their strongest suit, although I can find no faults in any area. The bible black silence of the background is adorned with an accurately portrayed soundstage with mesmerizing 3-d characters....this fully rounded image is another of their strong suits.
I have the Extreme's and have not heard the Revelations. If I wax and gush it's because....well. I wax and gush over them; they are what I have been looking for in an interconnect for 15 years. They give me a goofy grin just thinking about them and they are the only part of my system I never consider changing in all of my ever curious and obsessive participation in the madness that is this hobby. Prior to having them in my system it seemed I was always trying to make up for a shortcoming in one cable with a different cable in another position in the chain. The GG Extremes are now the only cable i have in my system (4 pairs).
I have found that I really appreciate the sound of amalgams over pure metals whether flying solo or in combo (i.e. a copper hot and a sliver return). When properly alchemied, the amalgams seem to offer all the best of the pure copper, carbon, silver or gold cables without their individual shortcomings. To that end, I have long been a fan of Siltech, especilaly with my amps of choice, Plinius. Other cables that i have had include Stealth PGS (_XL, _3D) and Metacarbons, Analysis Plus Solo Crystal and Golden Oval, all of the G3 Siltech incluing SQ88 and FTM4sg, all manner of Cardas. Harmonic Tech, Acoutic Zen, DH Labs, Empirical Audio, Discovery, Zu Cable..anyway, those are the ones that I can recall without squinching my eyes and rubbing my templews with tiger balm or something like that.
As for the terminations as mentioned above, some of my equipment won't accept the Eichhmann's because the rca receptacles are just too deep and won't allow the terminations to ground properly. I have one pair with the copper Eichmann's, one with the previous silver Gelco's that you see on Audioquest and two pairs that I had reterminated with Bocchino B7's. The previous Gelco's were great and I wish the Eichmann's worked in all my equipment, because if Steve says they sound better, then they do. He has a great ear and, from what I understand, a great group of audiophile friend's and connaisseur's that rule by blind democracry with sonic sound tastings and testings.
Only the best of the changes survive and what has emerged is a tasty treat not only for the ear, but for the brain with an aural endorphin bonanza! There's magic in them there cables: that's it and that's that. Enjoy the tunes!
Best, Art
