I just received two Revelation IC pairs from Steve. After listening for two hours and experimenting with different positions for these two cables in my system, the results are fairly astounding. I already had one length of Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerators which sounds very good. I am happy with them but I wanted to compare them to the GGs to see which I would stay with long term. My goal was to first see if I find some synergy with the one GG and the two SRs in the system at the same time, and if not, to go with a complete complement of ICs from just one of the manufacturers. I moved the cables around to every position and found nirvana in one particular configuration.
The configuration that works best in my system is with the GGs placed between the two sources (CDP and TT) and the preamp, and the SR placed between the preamp and amp. This configuration sounds unbelievably good. I'm astonished. This is exactly what I was looking for when I started thinking about recabling my system and leaving Nordost Red Dawns. The tone is amazingly beautiful and rich. The sound stage/image is just perfect. Instruments are the correct size (pianos take up much more space in the sound stage, cymbals are more pin-point). The sound coming from my speakers is perfectly nuanced and sounds just a little bit "sweet". It wasn't warmth per se, but sweetness. I have experienced a feeling like this once before when I heard my first Conrad Johnson tube preamp. It struck me immediately as sounding "sweet". I am 100% happy with this set up.
Placing the GG between the preamp and the amp, and placing the SR between the source and pre sounded good, but not great. The tone is good, but the image is just a little incoherent.
This next configuration surprised me the most of all. Placing two GGs between the source and preamp, and also between the preamp and amp sounded the least appealing of any configuration. The image just was not very coherent, so it sounded like the instruments were tripping over one another and invading each other's space. This could be attributed to the fact that these cables have not burned in for any length of time yet. Also, I use a passive preamp, and the system just may not be happy with two GGs on either side of this preamp. I did notice that I had to definitely turn the preamp's volume knob up another 30-35 degrees to get the same volume level in this configuration. It is obvious to me that these are incredible cables and I do not think that the result of my system's sound in this configuration should be passed off on the cables.
I would describe these cables by saying that having a phenomenally rich tone is one of their properties. YoYo Ma's cello has that full cello sound which I had been hoping to get. Pianos sound like the big, beautiful instruments that they are. I can still hear the little details from the audience in live recordings that I like to hear (I could hear the cash register at the bar on my "Miles Davis - Live at the Plugged Nickel" LP, lol). Both the bass and top end are both equally represented with correct emphasis and excellent detail. These cables are a great bargain and I couldn't be happier with them.
I would contrast these GGs to the SR Tesla Accelerators by saying that by themselves, the sound stage produced by the SRs is more 3 dimensional than the GG, but the GG's tone is much richer than that of the SR. Both have very good extension in the upper and lower frequency ranges. Granted, the GGs have not burned in yet. If their properties change significantly in the next few hundred hours of listening, then I will update that event here.
Well, I found what I was looking for when I started my cable search a few months ago. I wanted to round out my system and I've definitely reached my goal. Thanks for all the posts here, they really helped. I want to say that Steve is the nicest business owner I have ever met in this industry. I have met other extremely mannerly and accommodating individuals in this industry (Paul at PS Audio, Bill at Circle Stereo in Austin), but Steve takes the cake for graciousness and service. I hope he does very well with his product in the future; I don't see how he cannot.
