Mejames- I can appreciate your experience with the cables you mention, but why would you doubt, or rather HOW could you actually DISAGREE with the statement by Newbee that is qualified with "In my experience". He was drawing from his own experience as you are drawing on yours. Surely you aren't disagreeing that he actually had the experience he says he did. Just a matter of semantics, but I guess it struck me because you actually chose to quote him in your post.
Regarding the $1000 interconnects you do mention. Are you suggesting that Yxlei should invest in these cables given the cost of his other components? It would seem a bit out of proportion to me, but perhaps you are just using it as an example. I've got to say that I've certainly heard one cable sound warmer than another, and a power cord that can bring sonic improvements to a system. But I've never heard any of those improvements be as significant as a change in hardware. Now perhaps I just haven't heard enough cables in the really high-end to know what is possible, but I when I switched from Kimber 4TC speaker cable I went to a pretty expensive and well reviewed set of Synergistic Research Signature 2 cables. Yes, the difference was immediately apparent, and in that case I found the sound stage improved, the sound was a bit warmer to my ears, and the imaging a bit more focused. I was very happy with the change, but the system was not far from where I wanted it to be to start with. Did it impart a whole new voice to my system? I'd have to say it did improve the sound markedly, but I would not have called the difference a major shift in sonic presentation that would make a thin&bright system more rich and full. I would really like to hear cables that made that kind of difference. Perhaps I'm just not discriminating enough, or just haven't heard the right cables yet?
