Your jaw dropping cables

Never owned any of the very expensive cables , but had Kimber, audioquest, transparent, morrow,straight wire, diy white lightning,cardas, analysis plus etc. For me in my modest little system, I find myself sticking with JPS.

I have not dived into the megabuck range of cables (Odin, Zensati, Transparent Opus, Acrolink) but have had considerable experience with not-so-cheap range of cables (aka below $3k). ASI Liveline is one of them, they do something really special in bringing that aliveness to the music but they can get expensive if one would like to wire the whole system with Liveline reference. Mogami is very nice if one is strictly on budget.

There is one manufacturer though who is a sleeper but all his cables are outstanding for the money and much more. The manufacturer is from Germany with a company called Stereo-lux. He doesnt have an website. His name is Heiko Wingender and can be contacted at [email protected]. He is very well known among tonearm manufacturers because many high end tonearms use his tonearm cable for internal wiring. I have used his tonearm cable and speaker cables, both are phenomenal, I havent been able detect a signature sound of his cables. They just tend to sound neutral and correct. Heiko focusses a lot in designs which keeps signal's time and phase correct. He would not talk about soundstage and such. He uses high quality terminations everywhere. In the end I find it to be a super deal because they cost 1/3rd of a typical liveline cable and sounds as good or sometimes better than liveline. I would say it is more neutral than liveline. It is one of those cables that one can fit and forget about upgrades.

After many brands of cables in my system I find the Mit Shotgun S1 work the best with my Infinity Irs Betas.

My one and only jaw dropping experience with cables was when Brian Ackerman of Aaudio put one Stage 3 Kraken power cord to my Pass Labs XP-30 pre amp. Sound stage depth, all the subtle layers of the music were fleshed out, accurate timbre. I had no idea a power cord could do that!

I am bit surprise that the PURIST AUDIO DESIGN where not mentioned.
They are by far my favorite one even when compare to Stealth audio cable....
An another jaw dropping is the TARA LAB THE ONE  power cable !!!!!!PAD: you did not listen to the sound but you share the live event ....  

Just installed my new MIT Oracle 3.5 Prolines which now incorporate MIT's latest advancements with the 2C3D tech.  No other interconnect I have ever heard or owned has struck me as sounding absolutely faithful to the sound of real instruments being played with everything that goes with it...the overtones, the air, the space and voicing...all there and in a vast dynamic soundscape with pristine resolution!  Don't try them...if you do you will need to take a second mortgage😉

Heavens Gate Audio Ultra Silence interconnects. Faultless, musically involving. Replaced a pair of HiDiamond 7 interconnects

My experience is that I find the KLEI zFLOW33 ICs and KLEI zFLOW22 SCs are jaw droppingly good cables ...
http://kleinnovations.com/klei-zflow33-ics-by-steve-reeve/
http://kleinnovations.com/klei-zflow22-scs-by-steve-reeve/

If you are into DIY - give these a try....

Power Cables... http://www.image99.net/blog/files/be8de0c383c5434907610d6b55049e69-75.html

Interconnects...
http://www.image99.net/blog/files/4127b5fe2694586e383104364360373b-74.html

They are outstanding - but only if you use the recommended parts - any other parts may  degrade their performance.

Enjoy

I've had excellent results with Straight Wire Crescendo III interconnects and speaker cables and Clarus Crimson PCs. 

Monoprice 102747 is so nice, so thick and easy to work with, it is doing a great job with my sound system hookup. It can tolerate HUGE amounts of power for speakers without getting hot or distorting the sound.

ZenWave D4 cables do it for me.Like the top Siltech at a fifth or less the cost.

Refine cables with Telos products...

Klee

On the lower-tier of the spectrum, I have been impressed, w/ both Straight Wire & Signal Cable.

I've tried or owned my share of cables over the years, but the ones I keep coming back to are Jena Labs. They're the most finely balanced cables I've had in my system. While there may be things out there that do this or that a bit "better" (read: mostly differently) the Jenas just organize all the qualities of a great cable into the most coherent presentation I've experienced in my home. Maybe not jaw-dropping in the sense that they scream for your attention, but just simply excellent.

It happened to me when i took to a pair of signal cable analog two to a confident dealer who sell xlo, so we listen first for like an hour the xlo ultraplus, then switched to the signals....well i was shocked, the soundstage became very small, harsh highs, from that day i become a xlo cables fan

So many cables, so little time...

Happy New Year!

I have to agree with sabai Hi Diamond P3 is one special power cord, another one to consider is Synergistic Research Element Tungsten both awesome.

Interesting reading, I want to hear more :-)!

Yea weak minded for sure Judy nice come back :)

"Week" minded.
If the shoe fits...

Cables have a shelf life of 2 years and then they are sold when the new kid comes on the block.

For those who are not week minded their cables can last for years and years.

Took me 10 years to find my IC/SC's. Stage 3 AC cables have outran all other AC cables I have ever had by a large distance.

LessLoss DFPC Reference PC. Not many out there yet, soon to be reviewed by 6Moons. get ahead of the curve. These are astonishing at 3x the price; for $1800, they are essentially a steal.

I have no commercial connection with LessLoss. Just a pleasantly amazed customer.

Neal

Tara Labs The One:
Went from Tara Labs RSC Air One speaker cables (on ESL panels) to The One (INCREDIBLE on ALL levels).
Went from Monster Sigma Retro XLR IC to Tara Labs The One XLR IC (bass amp) and the improvement was staggering. Totally squared off the rear of my sound stage into a truly believable venue into the music.

From various cords - TG Audio, Valhalla, Elrod EPS & Statement, Purist, Shunyata, JPS, Cardas...to Elrod Statement Gold. Very seriously jaw dropping.

Ohlala, much depends on what this phrase means. Physically, my jaw has never dropped. Obviously, it implies a substantial improvement, meaning, of course, that the new cable must sound better than the old one. The High Fidelity cables sound completely different and better.

That's a lotta tweaks.

"Did you have any jaw dropping experience with any type of cable?"

This has as much to do with the poor quality of the initial cable as it is does with jaw dropping cable.

Icorem-

Stage III Concepts power cords. Offered via Brian @ Aaudio Imports, check them out!

agree with Tbg completely. they are the BEST cables i have ever tried. a friend tried the CT-1 and asked me how much better the CT-1U was and when i told him it was 'much better' he ordered one and now is replacing the rest of his cables with the CT-1Us. they ARE that good..

There is a magic sonic hologram at the end of the tunnel that is thrilling when you hear it on perhaps one third of recordings. Cables are part of this. The only instance of "jaw dropping" relative to cables I have ever heard were with the first listening to the original High Fidelity CT-1 cables. The effortless and sweetness of the top end lead to the thought that these were clearly different. Watch it with these cables, however, they are a very slippery slope, as the more recent issued series are clearly better and more expensive.

Musicxyz,
have tried Acoustic Zen Absolute vs. Hidiamond? What's your opinion?

12-05-12: Mapman
My jaw drops when I see the asking price for some cables.

o-o

\_/

Ditto !!!!!!!

My jaw drops when I see the asking price for some cables.

o-o
\_/

I get a smile on my face when I listen to my gear with the DNM Reson ICs.

Having a jaw-dropping cable experience means the predecessor was pretty bad.

Not IC's or speaker cables but jumper connectors for my integrated. DIY using Neotech 21ga hookup wire and Neutrik/Rean RCA plugs. Plugged them in and hit play on the transport and was stopped in my tracks on the way back to my seat. Just two pieces of three inch wire and a pair of inexpensive RCA plugs. I now fully appreciate wire now. Soon I'll be ordering Neotech IC's from Take Five.

i have heard a lot of cables. I have reviewed many. I don't find any cable that is so astounding that my draw would drop.

there have been speakers that have been amazing but not cables.

LessLoss Anchorwave Loudspeaker Cables.

I went from Kimber 4TC to these LessLoss Anchorwaves: Jaw dropping indeed! They may be 6 times the price of the 4TC, but they perform preferably (to my ears) to even the highly praised Siltech 770L, and, the Siltech's cost almost 4 times more than the LessLoss Anchorwave cables!

I'm also a fan of their Anchorwave interconnects. A very similar story there, too.

Atlas cables end of story the best.

I have the same high opinion of the Masterbuilt cables, interconnects, and powercords as Thankful. To me, the powercords were the most surprising. Well worth trying before you make the leap and a they have a 90 day return/refund guarantee.

My Master Built (by Delphi Aerospace) speaker cables and interconnects are the best I have ever had. I have had many of the high end-high cost stuff and none touch these cables. The most musical cables I have ever heard.

My computer audio system consists of an Asus Laptop feeding iTunes Lossless or Internet Radio stations to a Peachtree Audio MusicBox(DAC-Integrated Amp)driving Sonus Faber Toy Monitors.USB I/C was an Audioquest Forest.I've always felt drums & cymbals were slightly veiled until just yesterday when I pulled the Forest & installed a Silnote Poseidon Silver Statement USB cable,BAM!Right out of the box the veil was lifted & low level detail has increased slightly!
Anyone still in the cables don't make a difference camp can eat my shorts!

JPS Labs Aluminata IC's, JPS Labs Kaptovator Power Cables, PS Audio AC12 Power Cables.

I posted something last night but apparently it didn't take. As Branislav said, "Cables are no different than any other component". Or rooms for that matter. You can put the same system in three different rooms with their own sonic signature and get three different sounds.

Cables are no different than other components, and make as much of a difference as source or an amplifier.

Jcote: I disagree. Everything in a system has a signature and an effect on what you hear. Not just speakers, amps etc...but cables, vibration platforms and even rooms. Every single thing in a system AND the room it's in, has a sonic signature. You could even take a complete system, equipment cables and all, and put it in three different rooms and likely get three different sounds. Swapping cables is no different.

I'm still curious how one "hears" any cable? Sure each cable will have it's own sound impression but it's so difficult to actually pinpoint the difference and then quantify.

I recently heard a cable loom of Zensati cables at a show. The kit was good, mainly Gamut, but the sound was peretty astonishing. You can't really judge a cable under these, circumstances, but they seem quite exceptional.

Even the entry level are nearly out of my reach, but I will be trying some soon in my system.