straight wire maestro 1 or 2

Actually no. The v.2 RCA plugs are beefier, and both the IC and SC have slightly heavier clear jacket material, but that's about it as far as I could tell when I took them apart. They are STILL great cables and a real bargain on the used market -- I had to buy expensive Purist Venustas before I could get major and significant improvement ;-)

Nsgarch - right on! I still use Maestro II speaker cables quite often, they are excellent. They are the most balanced I have used with Thiels and Kimber Select silver IC's. In many ways they are better than Kimber 3035 to my ears in my system. The top end is the best I've ever gotten from a copper cable.