AN Niobium versus Tantalum resistors?

well. it appears you have taken the plunge. Will be intrigued when you report back..

I added the Z-Foils first. This is for the resistor which the interconnect immediately connects to, so I decided to make this transparent. The Niobium will go downstream in a feedback circuit.

First impression is surprise. I was told the Takman create artificial junk on the highs which exaggerate dynamics (reminds me of WBT), and sure enough this is true! Overall, a feeling of going from a cheap camera lens to a Zeiss or Leica. Pure, uncolored, rich and deep. Noise floor radically dropped over the Takman REY, and those were radically less noise than the REX or generic metal. Resolution increased nicely. No color whatsoever, like looking through high-grade glass. It is nice for my application! These seem good anywhere you do not want the resistor to exist, so to speak. Filling an entire system with these would be odd unless you were totally confident on all other components. 

There is some burn-in going on, so I will take them to 2-300 hrs and then add Niobiums. Obviously AN are aware of the Z-foils, so I am expecting the same but  maybe more humanity or color, maybe tuned toward voices or acoustics.

glad the Z-foils worked out for you at the input, they really are transparent. Yes, filling an entire system with them can be a bit overwhelming, and too much of a good thing.

I’ve had the Niobiums in a couple days, also replacing Takman Metal. Knowing the improvement the Z’s did, initially I’m not super impressed.

I had hoped for the radically low noise/linearity of Kaisei, but these are more on the carbon/tant vibe of "smoothness". Dynamics a touch reduced over any metal I’ve used, a slight compressor effect. Resolution and noise floor is pretty good, not amazing. These are the "closest" to metal that I’ve heard, coming from something that is not metal. But still, when you switch to techno music, the roundness and inaccuracy is apparent. Even solo acoustic feels like I lost the dynamics and fatigues me a little with the "evenness". I’m going to try Z-foil in this 2nd position and I think that will work for me here. If you find your metal resistors too sharp and clear but hate carbon, these are probably what you are looking for. They are musically very nice..but I can’t live without the dynamics I had.

I think its definitely a matter of finding the right seasoning for your application.