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  3. 1137341724

Looking to blow some more money :

I have VTL MB450's, Magnepan 3.6r's, CAT SL-1, VPI TNT 3 Table.

The Amps are connected to the preamp with Straightwire Maestro II interconnects. I have been using (forever) a biwire pair of Maestro speaker cables.

I have tried a few newer cables and haven't loved them. I recently tried the Audience AU 24's and found that the were the most detailed and neutral cables I had ever heard. Unfortunately, they made all my pretty tubes and vinyl sound like Spectral gear (mostly ice cold but phenomenally accurate).

When I put the Maestros back in the system, a level of fluidity returned that revived my tubes...but at a price. Most of the detail was there, but when the music got "busy", a fair degree of congestion came along with it. Plus, the Maestros are infamous for being bright....which they are. I think I am trying to say that I want the AU24's detail with a better degree of musicality. I am only willing to stay in the "mainstream" of cables because of resale value---a result of the audiophile disease. I am also not willing to buy a pair of cables that cost more than my CAT preamp.

I only need about 3 feet of biwired cable...and a psychiatrist.

Erik
yesfan
6 responses Add your response
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
If you like what Maestros do (I used them for 15 years 'cause I couldn't find anything I liked that much better, so I know what you're talking about) then you ought to listen to Purist Audio Design Musaeus, Venustas, or, if you can afford it, Dominus. I have all Venustas cabling now (except for some Dominus power cords) and a very analytical set of components (see my system). The Purists add no color, warmth, or hardness (like Cardas, Nordost, Kimber, etc., IMO) and are DEAD quiet. And their tonearm cable is beyond beyond!

Give em a listen.
raytheprinter's avatar
raytheprinter
1,234 posts
 
I have PAD Museaus speaker cables and ICs and am VERY impressed,enough that if i ever upgrade it will be PAD,they also added depth to my system,
unsound
7,329 posts
 
I found Wireworld cables very similar to Straightwire, but, the Wireworld seemed to be bit less tizzy on top.
mejames
986 posts
 
XLO type 5 Speaker cables totally embarrassed my straightwire maestro's they are a absolute steal used now $ Wise
mikesinger
572 posts
 
the audience au-24 is a very good ic and speaker cable. HOWEVER, it really, really needs to be used in combination with the audience power cord to get the true sonic signature (imho..)

the most netural ic i have heard to date at a reasonable price is the xlo signature 2...

another really reasonable combo is the soundstring...
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
i would a/b the vtl's against some neutral ss gear, such as mac. the wire game is usually symptomatic of some other problem
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