PAD Musaeus vs. Kimber Kable 8tc

I just demo'd Elementa Advance. Compared to Musaeus it's definitely more open greater transparency while still having many of the midrange and treble qualities of the Musaeus cables. I would say the Musaeus show a smaller presentation while the EA's give a bigger one. I am also going to be auditioning the Venustas and Synergistic Research cable that the Thecableco.com are suggesting. It seems the higher I go in the PAD line up the better it gets.

The Venustas cables sound better in all aspects over the Musaeus. The high's open up, the sound stage is bigger and better defined, and bass comes through much more.

I had no regrets after making that upgrade. ;-)

auidtioned the Venustas - bought the Venustas

I auditioned both Purist Audio Design Musaeus - Praesto Version, Kimber 8tc, and Synergistic Research SE Active Core (I used the silver module for most of my listening) from the cable company. I bought the PAD Musaeus - Praesto Version. In my system the DAP excelled over the others in instrumental timbres, imaging, and dynamics as a result of its black background. Here are my overall ratings for each cable:

Purist Audio Design Museaus - Praesto Version: VG to E
Strengths:
• Very black background with pinpoint imaging
• Outstanding Instrumental timbres
• Good dynamics
• Wide soundstage
Weaknesses:
• Sound stage is a little flat. The sound stage deepened as the cables settled in but they still did not reach the 3 dimensional depth of the Synergistic Research SE Active Core.

Synergistic Research SE Active Core (I used the silver module for most of my listening): VG
Strengths:
• Wide and very deep, three dimensional, sound stage
• Excellent dynamics and instrument attack.
• Well focused images but not as tightly focused as the Purist Audio Design Museaus Prasto
Weaknesses:
• Timbre: There is a coloration that homogenizes the timbre of instruments (especially acoustic instruments). This homogeneity of timbre lessened as the cables stayed in my system but never completely went away.
• Haze: there is a little haze between (or surrounding) images. Consequently, these cables did not produce the black background and pinpoint images of the Purist Audio Design Museaus Prasto.

Kimber 8tc: VG
Strengths:
• Very large soundstage with good depth
• Very transparent
• High frequency response was outstanding - almost magical
• Very good dynamics
Weaknesses:
• Slight homogeneity of instrumental timbres.
• The large sound stage was at the expense of imaging. These cables lacked the imaging of the Purist Audio Design Museaus Prasto