Synergistic Research vs Gabriel Gold vs PAD IC's


These 3 brands seem to get lots of attention on Audiogon lately and lots of praise. I'm thinking about trying one of them soon - my current cables are Acoustic Zen Silver and Matrix Reference II XLR ICs and Hologram II speaker cable. Great cables but I would like to give one of these brands a try for a change to see if they fit my current system (McIntosh 301-McIntosh C46-McIntosh MC402 - Sonus Faber Grand Pianos) better. How do you guys think these differ from Acoustic Zen and exactly which model ICs (I'd like to start with IC's) could be an improvement? I'm sure some folks here compared Synergistic's (of course Tesla line sounds like the most interesting) vs Gabriel Gold vs Purist Audio. The problem is I live in Russia and all these brands are not officially distributed here so free trials are not an option.
antonkk

Showing 1 response by jmcgrogan2

I don't know if there is anyone who has heard all four of these cables, if so more power to them. I have heard your AZ Silver Reference II (but not the Matrix IC's or your speaker cables). I have also heard PAD Dominus Rev B/C cables as well as Gabriel Gold Extreme I, Revelation I, and Rapture.

The first thing I would want to know from you is what would you consider an improvement?

From what I have heard, the AZ cables are very fast, articulate and have a averaqe size stage. The PAD cables are not quite as fast or articulate, but are sweeter and smoother, they also have a much deeper soundstage.
The GG cables, in general are also sweeter and warmer, while providing a much larger soundstage, though not as deep as the PAD

I still have not heard the SR, so I cannot comment here.
I do have the remaining question though, what are you looking for?
From what I've heard, both PAD and GG will bring sweetness and warmth, but you will lose HF extension....is this acceptable?
No one cable can do all things for all people with all gear.......so what do you wish to accomplish?

Cheers,
John