mapleshade ic's...

The Gestalt is the huge profits in building drones.
A drone is ok for blowing up a sleeping family, its a toy compared to a A-10 throwing 4200 rounds of 30mm AP a minute down range at a force that can fight back.

The real next step up from an A-10 is a nuke.

My brother purchased a couple of pairs. He sent them back because A) they sounded bright in his system. B) they were extremely fragile, and a PITA to use.

YMMV

I have both the Mapleshade ics and the Omega Micro Analog 7 ics and Planar speaker cables. The Mapleshade are decent at the price the Omega Micro are in a totally different league. They have ended my desire to continue searching for better, they just pass the signal through with the least degree of coloration and offer a much more natural presentation of any cable I've listened to. If you want flavor there are many to choose from, certainly these probably aren't for you. They are fragile to the point that you have to hold your breath when you touch them, extremely thin and a tenuous connection. I sure wish I could find something I like as well without dealing with the fragility which is even more of a PITA than the Mapleshades and they are quite expensive, the thinner the better the more costly.