Cables

I would stay away from warmer sounding cables and more towards faster or more revealing. Litz copper cables maybe too much of a good thing with McIntosh. Depending on budget I would look into Nordost’s Heimdall 2 or Frey 2. Local McIntosh dealer uses both of these cables and I think they work well. They tried the McIntosh cables and stopped stocking them as they felt the Nordost, for the same money was a better cable. Own a balanced Frey 2, and in my system it’s a great cable.

I think you should ask jasonborne.

@adg101 

+1 while I am not a fan of Mac stuff, I have heard a lot of it. I completely agree, the Mac stuff is heavy on bass and really light on details, you want fast detailed wire… silver can be an advantage… Nordost would be at the top of my list.

For price ,performance the Wireworld Eclipse is a very good choice and not crazy expensive , most don’t have Copper ,they use Brass , Wireworld Silver over Copper connectors.  And  7-9s Copper ,and their patented low dielectric ,and Straight Litz wire, the Speaker cable is a substantial awg-9. For under $2k for a pr of XLRs and 2M speaker cables a verygood buy.

@bernardwilliams 

What kind of budget are you thinking of? I’m a big proponent of buying cables used or “Open Box”.  At 40 to 60% off, you can get more for your money. I bought most of mine from Music Direct, new in the box & 50% off.