OK, I've had the CT-1 for almost a week now, and I have to say, it's almost like there is some sort of chicanery going on with this product! How can a cable be so far superior to other(fairly expensive) cables? How could it be that, after 40 or 50 years of R&D in the cable "industry", nobody has come up with a reasonably priced cable that approaches this?
What I am hearing is not just incrementally better than my previous interconnects, but far better. I know it's a widely used cliche, but it IS like a veil has been removed from the music. It is mainly the mids and low frequencies in which I hear the most difference. Vocals are so clear and natural sounding, and when there are multiple vocals simultaneously, you can easily hear each one's part. Attack on drums and stringed instruments is immediate and seems to be more impactful. I also seem to have more bass impact and definition. Finally, the overall dynamics of the system seem to be greater.
Again, the only area I'm not sure about yet is the high frequencies. I need to do some more listening with high quality sources, and try to get a better feel for what the cables are doing with HFs.
Are they worth $1600? I don't know yet, since I have not listened to other high dollar ICs, but, as I said, the difference between these and my prior ICs is marked. If you amortize the cost of a set of the CT-1s over 10 years or so, maybe one can look at them somewhat similarly to how one evaluates spending thousands of dollars on an amp or other component.
