Any speaker cable's sound quality just blown you away?

When considering wire products -- be it speaker, interconnect, or whatever -- bear in mind that wire has the highest profit margin in high-end audio. This provides a HUGE dollar incentive to manufacturers and retailers to make unsubstantiated claims about the product.

Someone who has spent $5large on some garden-hose sized speaker wire, or the latest megabuck "flavor-of-the-month" interconnect, isn't going to take kindly to any suggestion that they may -- just possibly - wasted their money. There was a long thread shortly before this forum got re-vamped talking about "audio susceptibility", and it might be informative to go back and read some of the comments (including the ones I made).

Some of you may, by now, have discovered or subscribed to a new online audiophile journal written by Richard Hardesty, one of the sagest guys for years in the retail audio trade. Richard is now an editor for Widescreen Review magazine, and is publishing his own Internet journal named "The Audio Perfectionist". Here's what Richard Hardesty has to say about cables in Issue #3 of "The Audio Perfectionist":

"High-end cables are the biggest scam in audio, and some of the most expensive ones perform very poorly. But that doesn't mean that cheap ones will do or that cables aren't very important. Cables can dramatically change the sound of an audio system...Good cables are extremely important and the marketplace is a minefield of scam and hype. Anybody with a crimping tool can call himself a cable engineer these days...Don't buy an expensive cable product without carefully listening to it in your own system. Most of the mega-dollar cables are really bad and should be avoided."

sdcampbell: i have found myself in agreement with you more times than not. i can't, however, embrace a "reviewer" like richard hardesty. he says, without foudation, *most of the mega-dollar cables are really bad and should be avoided.* that sentence may stand as an exemplar for the logical fallacy: post hoc ergo propter hoc. it is most disturbing to see that inane generalization following a statement that makes perfect sense: *don't buy an expensive cable product without carefully listening to it in your own system*

yes, wire is the most hyped and over-priced "component" in the world of highend. yes, some inexpensive wire sounds as good, and better, in some systems as the highest-of-the-high-priced stuff. but not all high-priced stuff is crap. and kimber doesn't work well in all systems. i've tried many speaker cables in my setup (jrdg modified model 8 > avalon eidolons), from inexpensive to insane. for me, tara' "the one" sounds best. it retails for about $4k per 7 ft. pair. i paid less than half that for a like-new demo pair. i think that a bargain. -kelly

Has anybody had experience with the Kharma Grand Reference stuff?

I would suggest to try the NBS Statement 2.

One speaker cable is not going to be "magic" for all systems. Read Dick Olsher's Tip #22 "In persuit of the perfect conductor" at: http://www.blackdahlia.com/tipindex/tip_25/tip_25.html
While there always seems to be an inappropriate amount of controversy connected with speaker cable, interconnects, etc., there's still no substitute for trial and more trial. Just like a good woman, a good speaker cable is hard to find. And because it's so system dependent, once you find it don't change your amp or speakers, or you may need to change your speaker cables too.