Shunyata cables vs Nordost Frey

Personally I would prefer the Shunyata. Prime reason is I am a tonal balance guy and find the Shunyata a more natural presentation than the Nordost.

Expect members to vote positive for both of these cables, it has a lot to do with personal preference and associated equipment.

IMO. I wrote about the characteristics of the shunyata in review here on Audiogone. helix version I had last summer. I have no idea where you wish to place the ICs.

having heard the majority of what components you list recently aside from the amp, (I heard the MXR? 400 MONOS), on sophias all too briefly. I would want a Nirvana SX in there somewhere or a Synergistic.

with the bass the Ayre provides that Altair might do well as the main IC. or as source, but I would not think as both. Depends on waht you are shooting for.

have you asked Shunyata or Nordost?

I have auditioned the Shunyata cables and found they had a big soundstage and were very neutral but dry and little bright. Then I got the Synergistic Tesla Accelerators. They are as fast as the Nordost plus nicely warm, musical and the tightest bass I ever heard.

Other cable you can consider would be the Audience AU24.

I auditioned the nordost frey interconnects and speaker as well as Shunyata Aries interconnects and Gemini and Andromeda speaker cable.

Of the speaker cable I liked the Andromeda the best, The build quality of Shunyata Helix cables is stunning. I found the Shunyata very balanced top to bottom with great detail. The Frey was also well balanced but I found both Shunyata's slightly more musical and balanced. I think the three were all great though. I ended up with the Gemini as I could not justify the cost difference with my speakers. I have spent time with the Utopia Diva and I would put the Andromeda high on my list.

As for interconnects I really liked the Frey for its detail but found in picked up a little noise on my preamp. The Shunyata Aries is a very balanced interconnect but perhaps not a revealing as the Frey. A recent upgrade in my listening room required a change in placement and I tried a 3m version of the Blue Marble Audio silver interconnect. Had all the balance of the Shunyata, the detail and clarity of the Frey and a bass extension and tightness that I have not heard before. I love the BMA and plan on trying it on my sources. My system is not currently updated so as of now I use the BMA between the Belles 21A and Ref. 150A. I also found the BMA worked well with the Shunyata. I did not audition the higher end Shunyata interconnects.