Can David beat Goliath ?

Try an Oritek X-2 about $700/meter
I don't know if it competes as I have never had these head to head but I do know the Oritek is excellent at what it does

i dont know what is considered "cheap" in this context..but the soundstring cable is very good..does every thing very well, well built, and is reasonable priced ($400 for 1 meter ic, $500 for speaker cables, and $500 for power cord)it is not the cheapest (ie $100 ic's) but it has been used in many $$$ systems that is generally reserved for $3000 per meter ic.

the cable is very high quality from a very large commercial wire manufacture in the usa..

i had used the siltech compass lake between dac and preamp, and switched to the indra, which is not cheap ,but cheaper and better then the siltech.

Ozy - was the Compass Lake G5 or G6?

gary, ihad the siltechs g6 ,and can tell you that the siltechs are way too overrated ,and certainly overpriced.
i found several cables out there recently that cost less and produce so much better sound.