Purist, Legenburg or K-S?

Many thanks for you input. It seems that Purist is highly regarded but do I need to spring for Dominus to obtain "the magic"? I have also heard that Kubala-Sosna excels with SS while Purist prefers tubes. Any confirmation there?

Nsgarch, I have no experience with Harmonic Tech. How would it compare to the other 3 cables?

Khrys -- I haven't found a used Dominus spkr cable at a price I can afford either, so I'm using Venustas. I think any of my top three choices are flat neutral products, and will provide the resolution your system can generate without coloration. So, for instance, I could understand a statement like "tubes prefer Purist" but not "Purist prefers tubes";--)

I haven't heard the dart amp, but like my ML 23.5 and a couple of other SS amps, I'm sure it breaks out of the typical SS mold in terms of smoothness but without the euphonic warmth most tube amps exhibit. I'm not going to get into the tube/SS debate here, except to say that the best examples of each can provide "live" sound -- except that with SS, it costs more to get there.

I don't know about Kobala product except they have a lot of fans (but so do Nordost and Kimber) so you'd have to A-B them against one of the top three and decide. Harmonic Tech makes an excellent product, but unlike Siltech and Purist, you'd have to buy their most expensive model, because the number two and three models don't share the magic.

All that said, unless you are able to audition used (i.e. well broken-in) speaker cable, you'll have no idea how much (usually) better they will get, or how long it will take. Even my top three won't sound that great out of the box (although way better compared to most ;--) so it's really tough to keep things "apples-to-apples" a factor audiophiles and audio reviewers forget to consider. Basically, unless (any kind of) cable is well used and/or "cooked", I'm not interested in what anybody, including ME, thinks about its performance ;--)
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Nsgarch, thank you for taking the time to share your experience and wisdom.

It helps me to curtail the obsession and enjoy what I have.

Khrys,

Like, Nsgarch, I'd suggest auditioning as the answer. There is simply no way to say "best" at this level. Anyone who tells you there is a "best" is simply ignorant.
This is the point at which an honest audio retailer could be extremely useful.
JMHO>

Khrys, my experience has been somewhat parallel to Jfrech. You have a lovely system, yet to me, your cabling is the one thing "wrong with this picture."

I think you should just spend a little money with the Cable Company and borrow a set of Venustas (IC and spkr) and then ditto a set of Harmonic Tech, Virtual Dynamic, and Ridge Street -- any one of which will open up your system so you can really hear what you been missing with the Cardas stuff.

Besides offering you as many cables as you wish to audition,
ALL THE CABLES THEY'LL LEND YOU ARE USED!! That is so important IMO for evaluating cables, as I said.

And when you've decided, you dont have to buy all your replacements from them (their used prices a just a little higher than the open market) you can just buy one pair of Ics, or a PC to use up your credit, and get the rest on Agon as it becomes available (once you've decided what you want, it's a lot easier to wait for a good deal ;--)
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