Gabriel Gold IC's are they really this good?

I have to agree with Hiernote and John Mcgrogan in that gold is great, especially in an amalagam. Too bad the price of it is soaring! I think that the Raptures' addition of platinum (not too cheap either) to the gold/silver/copper amalgam adds some dimensionality to the stage and separation to the instruments that is very striking. And , the effortless detail is flabbergasting. I found the same to be true with the platinum containing BMI power cables.

I am very much looking forward to hearing from rja about his experience with balanced Raptures. I am using two Rapture pc's (pre and amp) and two Rapture ic's (cdp-->pre-->amp) and am still blown away everyday with every recording i have listened to since i've had them. such extreme detail without any glare at all and the natural timbre and accurate, but soulful presentation is as exciting and heart stopping as it is sexy and alluring.

my system is a sultry shedevil minx! maybe a little strong on the athropomorphising, but as much as i love my wife and 5 year old el boyo fantastico, i find myself hoping they're not home so i get some quiet listening time in. so, now it's almost sinful how much pleasure i get from my stereo AND my family. how good can life get!

over and out (for now).

lest i repeat ad infinitum: enjoy the tunes!

Sexy and alluring??!! Art......your system is a sultry shedevil minx???!!!

Hmmmmmm......maybe I am missing something.....I mean I love the way my system sounds now, but it doesn't get me sexually aroused, so maybe I am missing out on something here.

Cheers,
John 8-)

ok, so that was a little over the top. i was trying to think of what, if anything, might make me wish my family was not home for a few hours and that's where my mind went. off the cuff and right out of hand. made me laugh though. on the other hand, there made be an entrepeneurial opportunity for audio accessories.....naaaaah, that's getting too sordid.

hey john, you think you might want to exchange ic's and compare hybrids to raptures? i may be heading down your way in a couple of weeks....shoot me an email if that sounds good.

best,
art

You know, I also have a pair of the new Edens and they are a hard to beat bargain at their price. They share the emotional involvement of listening to music through the Extremes, but have less midrange bloom. They don't carry the detail of the Raptures (what cable does?!), but they are delicate and tonally accurate. Their sound is very close to neutral if a tiny bit warm....which i like... with great extension and bass control, no glare in the highs and a toe-tapping evolved and involving midrange. And, they offer a nice sized soundstage with excellent instrument imaging/placement and good air.

They have that gabriel thang of perfect pacing, great dynamics and are a very impressive entry level cable for steve's line. if i had never heard the raptures, i would have replaced my extremes with these in a skinny new york minute...actually, i did just that! they go from pre to headphone amp and will to the phono amp as well....unless i can get up the scratch for some more raptures....reachin' for my wallet already...

I don't feel equipped to describe sound (mostly from lack of experience) but short of clapping two stones together and just declaring "me like!!!", I'll try. The impression I get listening to the Raptures is "solidity with finesse" meaning there is very solid and impactful bass foundation married to delicate defined treble information. Because I am very sensitive to a bright, harsh, edgy, irritating high end I will reject any cable or component that exhibits it. A system that possesses this quality, as mine does to a slight degree, demands an IC that does not accentuate it. However, this quality seems to be more software dependent in my system and while many excellent CDs are problem free in this regard, many more are IMO problematic. It would be great if a cable would attenuate this quality but then I suspect it would not be accurate in the treble.

I'm always hesitant to declare anything the "best" but I do believe the Rapture is the "best" IC I have had in my system. I don't feel that the Rapture is a "huge" improvement over the Revelation but I believe it possesses significant sonic benefits. Whether the benefits are worth the price difference between the Revelation and Rapture will vary with each system and owners priorities but for me, I believe the Raptures are priced fairly for the high level of performance they are capable of delivering, especially considering the prices of cables that would compete at this level. I would encourage anyone who is considering ICs in this price range or even significantly higher, to audition the GG Rapture. You may be very pleasantly surprised!

My most recent ICs were the Gabriel Gold, the GG Revelation and the Virtual Dynamics Revelation v.1, all balanced. Before those listed I used several highly regarded balanced silver cables which led me to the conclusion that I do not care for the sonic "signature" of silver.

Because I alternate between two CDPs that connect direct to my amp (EAR ACUTE and Wadia 270SE & 27i) I use only one set of ICs. The Wadias are connected with a VD Revelation Signature balanced digital cable and Aural Symphonics Optimism v.2 AT&T.
My speaker cables are bi-wire GG Revelations which replaced VD Revelation v.1 b-w which is a fine cable but extremely stiff and heavy. I was initially concerned about the gauge of the GG Revelation speaker cables being adequate but that concern has proven to be meaningless. All my PCs are VD Master v.3.