LISTEN TO ME NOW: I AM AN ANALOG GUY TOO (however, my CD player knocks on the door of vinyl performance. It's a good'un!). I've owned Kimber Silver Streak (haven't heard KCAG though); I've tried AudioTruth Lapis; I OWN AudioTruth Diamond; I've tried Cardas Neutral Reference; and I'm trying Harmonic Technology Pro Silway 2 right now (all RCA versions). And, IT SO HAPPENS THAT THEY'VE ALL BEEN USED BETWEEN MY DAC AND PREMAP, and also phono stage to preamp. I'VE DONE EXTENSIVE COMARISONS. I'll try to get to the point in describing each of their sonic characters. (Incidentally, my preference for preamp to amp interconnects is MIT 330 Shotgun, both RCA and XLR. I'm a Krell guy, but don't let that color my comments for you. Between AMP and PREAMP, this 330 has beaten ALL OF THE ABOVE silver ones, in addition to BEATING TRANSPARENT REFERENCE, AND EVEN MIT REFERENCE, but not MIT "EVO",...both of which cost over $2000/m!!). HERE GOES: --SILVER STREAK--forgiving, not fully developed dynamically, not "fast", not "high rez", slightly forward midrange, loved the WBT connectors. --AUDIOTRUTH LAPIS x3-- "Edgy", laid back in the midrange, the most "silver sounding" and a-neutral ic I've heard, artificially hyped transients with incorrect duration, good bass extension. --AUDIOTRUTH DIAMOND x3--My reference for "speed" and resolution of detail, transients still slightly hyped, tonally neutral but slightly grainy in the upper mids, bass is deep and faster than maybe any other ic in existence (bass of the others sounds like a booming car system, when compared to Diamond with bass that's like what an electrostatic subwoofer might sound like.--CARDAS NEUTRAL REFERENCE--A "tube like" midrange, nice dynamics, nice transients and duration, but DECIDEDLY forward in the upper mids/low treble, not as transparent in any of the range as the others, similar overall to Silver Streak but way more dynamic and a tad more colored thru the whole range.--HARMONIC PRO SILWAY 2--the most transparent low to middle mids of ANY of the others, more dynamic and extended bass than everything (including my fav 330) but somewhat "tubby" pitch definition compared to Diamond's bass, smoothest mid to upper treble but less detailed treble than Diamond, the MOST LAID BACK IN THE MIDS to upper mids of the others (even than Lapis), less "edgy" hyped transients than Lapis, yields a "crystal" quality to the midrange that is at first inviting, until you realize midrange timbres lack essentially all of their natural color, but if your system is forward in the mids, THIS IS THE ONE FOR YOU. Hope this helps.
