Al,
I agree with what you said about Clear Day. I still have the first email that I sent to Paul asking him about his cables. And the moment he sent those pics, it was a clear no-no for me. I did not contact Paul till 2 years later and last year I finally decided to give Clear Day a try. After all, I did not stand to loose anything but $8 return shipping.
The moment I put the Clear Day shotguns in my system, I realized what a mistake I made by waiting for 2 years. I ordered my 8 foot along with jumper cables. I would certainly not know the results if other configs are used, but if you read the forums you would certainly find that people have used them with excellent results. And BTW, I do trust user reviews more than the press reviews.