This topic will never be "resolved." Endless opinions, "research", (YouTube posts), and user experiences... lend to a bottomless pit. I've owned Audioquest, World's Best (I have World's Best on my headphone amp / DAC balanced set up) but my current favorite are Blue Jeans Cables. One feature I like most -- besides a very reasonable price from Blue Jeans -- is that they terminate with "Ultrasonic Welding". Even the several thousand dollar Audioquest speaker cables are merely set-screwed into the wire. At the end of the day, your "A-B" testing will tell you what you like.
"World's Best Cables" vs Audioquest interconnects
I've heard many great things about "World's Best Cables". At such low price, these alleged giant killers are a no brainer, so I ordered two pairs. When the shipment arrived, I connected one pair from my phono stage to my preamp, and another pair from my preamp to my power amp.
These cables replaced my trusty old Audioquest interconnects.
First listening impressions: extremely lean sound. Details etched in space, almost as if a strong laser beam is outlining them.
Santana I, side 1: almost unlistenable. The highs are piercing, the soundstage is flat, the splash cymbals sound like trash cans. Made my head hurt.
Switching back to my Audioquest cables: my god, what a relief! The sound is back to its good old sound of music. Everything sounds natural again.
Now, the "World's Best Cables" come with the users manual that claims that the cables need to be burned in for 175 hours. Should I give them the benefit of the doubt and suffer 175 hours, or is that just an audio myth about cables burn-in?
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