Problems with Mapleshade cables

"Sorry I have little sympathy for anyone foolish enough to actually BUY that hokey trash"

I get your point Elizabeth. I too had my reservations when a friend brought a collection of ics, powercords and strips. If you REALLY want a laugh check out their power cords. Unfortunately the problem is that the stuff actually is quite good. I haven't personally had any problems but can clearly see why some might as delicate as the stuff is. If you want to see REALLY fragile and even thinner conductors the Omega Micros are just that. More unfortunate is that their ics and speaker cables are the best thing I've ever NOT heard. They make every other cable I've listened to sound like tone controls. The coherence and tonality improves the higher up the line you go and the thinner the conductor becomes. I sure would like to know of another cable that does what these do that is less fragile, that's for sure! I suppose this is one reason they haven't really caught on.

Nonoise, have you listened to any of the Omega Mikro ics (Mk VI and Mk VII in my case) or the planer speaker cables in your rig? I find them a quantum improvement over the Mapleshade Excaliber ics or double helix speaker cables. As good as the Analog VI ic is the Analog VII just gives you more, spacial resolution, timbre accuracy and coherence. Goodness knows what you get as you get into the directional cables with the bias boxes, haven't heard them, yet! I've never remotely experienced this level of improvement from any other cable including Stereovox, Vahalla, Harmonic Technology, Audience, Cardas, MIT. I would venture a guess that too much of this may not be the best solution in an otherwise transparent revealing system, use judiciously.

The bottom line is that these cables are fragile yes but they offer excellent value price/performance relative to ANYTHING I've have listened to through the years. The principles involved are outlined on their website. These cables are only a joke to those that have looked at them without listening, particularly the Omega Mikro line. It is the coherence of the arrival of the frequencies to the ear that is clearly audible as was explained to me by Ron Bauman. What I found also remarkable is how the tone/timbre of instruments sounded more natural without added artifacts and the placement in the soundfield stood out in a not so subtle manner. I would suggest that anyone that thinks cables don't make a difference that these cables are a good place to start in altering that perception. To those that realize that cables can make a profound difference, listening to music in your system with these cables will bring you to the realization of what is possible. Just start with a pair of the Omega Mikro Analog VI or VII ics and see what happens. These cables are not exactly inexpensive but they delivered in a manner I couldn't have imagined prior to listening.

Not to get too far off track with the question but as I understand it through my conversation with Ron Bauman there is real science that can't be fully explained in any manner by measurements and further proves that our ears are the best tools in what we hear let alone the prejudices of what we can visually see. I'm sure these guys would make these cables more robust if they could retain the signal in the manner that these do.