Here's my take on the Gabriel Gold interconnects as they performed in the context of my system. I listened mostly to female vocals but also just about every other genre to get a feel for these cables. I'd be happy to provide specifics but omitted these to keep this brief. My first GG cable was the revelation mk 2 and I stated my listening impressions of this wonderful cable in a post above. I was using the revelation (rev mk 2) on my ARC CD-2 and a short Signal Cable silver resolution from pre to amp. I won't repeat all my comments on the rev mk 2 except to say it was like looking through clean glass. If the rev mk 2 is like looking through clean glass, then the Rapture is like looking through clean air. It is incredibly clear and revealing with a lower perceived noise floor than the revelation and this cable is fast- allowing music to start and stop, to attack and decay as it naturally would if it were live. However, there is a caveat. And this is the reason why I took longer to post my impressions because I was frantically swapping power cords, conditioners, CD players, and interconnects. I could not use the Rapture on my CD-2 as it ruthlessly revealed a slight grain in the upper mids especially apparent in female vocals. I tried a meridian player and the grain went away but the sound was warm and lifeless so I went back to the CD-2. Aside from this, the Rapture beat the rev mk 2 in every way. Clarity, clarity, clarity, and a deep articulate low end that I didn't even know my system was capable of. This cable breathes. I find it interesting that the rev mk 2 was able to hide what I presume are well-hidden digital nasties from the CD-2 but the Rapture revealed these warts so easily. However, with the rev mk 2 on my CD-2 and the rapture on my pre the sound was the best balanced, most clear, most musically involving I've ever experienced from my system. You know things are right when you start listening to very familiar CD's at a volume a significantly louder than you normally listen. I could have easily returned the rapture and got another rev mk 2 (and steve would have gladly done this for me) but recognizing the strengths of the rapture wire, and the weaknesses of my digital front end, and knowing that at some point I will likely move to a server-(tube?)dac combination I decided to keep the Rapture. Next to the Rapture, the revelation mk 2 is still an outstanding cable but if you feel you've assembled a state of the art system, you owe it to yourself to try the Gabriel Gold Rapture.
