mac,
I have been using the Belden 8402 along with the WE 16ga for the past 6 months. Have them with a Truth line stage BEL 1001 SS amp, and Spendor SP-1 speakers. They replaced Kimber KCAG and Anti-Cable speaker wire. I do not find any of the harshness that you expressed and they clearly outclassed my previous cable combination instantly. As a caveat, I have not cable experimented extensively in a very long time.
The Duelunds appear to be a superior design, and being so reasonable I will probably experiment with them in the near future. However, I could stay with the Belden, WE combination for a long time. In my system I find them to be open, airy, tonally accurate with a deep quality soundstage.
I have been using the Belden 8402 along with the WE 16ga for the past 6 months. Have them with a Truth line stage BEL 1001 SS amp, and Spendor SP-1 speakers. They replaced Kimber KCAG and Anti-Cable speaker wire. I do not find any of the harshness that you expressed and they clearly outclassed my previous cable combination instantly. As a caveat, I have not cable experimented extensively in a very long time.
The Duelunds appear to be a superior design, and being so reasonable I will probably experiment with them in the near future. However, I could stay with the Belden, WE combination for a long time. In my system I find them to be open, airy, tonally accurate with a deep quality soundstage.