Mogami Neglex W2549

I think my Veritas Magnus balanced cable is broken in—at least close to it, if not fully.

In direct comparison on my main system, the Veritas renders a smooth, liquid sound and tames shimmery treble and sibilance—not completely, but a significant portion—without compromising detail. This really confirms that a stereo system can be tuned using cables.

Very importantly, I want to point out that the cymbal sound is quite right, clear and natural, on my system for the first time with this Veritas cable.  Martha Tilston voice sounds whisper-sweet. 

On the other hand, the Mogami 2549 interconnect is very neutral and honest, serving my warmer second system quite well. Using the Veritas XLR on my second system results in a slightly overly warm sound to my taste.  For ten times less mony, I have no complaint and no one should.

@zavato Mogami will not approach the performance of Acoustic Zen. I’ve tried that. No bueno. Same goes for Blue Jeans. Waste of time. I keep a set of bluejeans RCAs and XLRs as spares. 

I’ll add that for tuner these cables may be fine. But not for dac to pre and pre to amp

Give the Veritas cable a try. It might save you $550 compared to the A. Zen. Then you could allocate that money where it’s needed or donate it to those in need.

@chuckaronson 

Welcome to Audiogon! I hope you have a great experience here.

I've never seen the need for exotic cables.

I've been building my own cables for over a decade. I've settled on Belden 1505F for single ended and Mogami 2552 for Balanced. Both are low capacitance (1505F is 17pf/ft and the 2552 is 27pf/ft, not a big difference for short lengths). I use Rean for SE and Neutrik for Balanced. I've had great success, especially for a low capacitance SE phono cables. I've compared my cables to offerings by World's Best Cables using different Mogami cable (2549). I can't tell the difference (my system is posted in Virtual Systems). 

I am curious about the Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro for SE. It seems to have more shielding. Capacitance is a bit higher than the 1505F. The price is comparable.

How easy is it to work with? Is it stiff? Difficult to strip, etc. 

You have listened to both of the cables I've mentioned. Can you elaborate your findings on the audible differences between these two cables a bit more?

My system is very quiet, even the phono section. But there's always a need for a well shielded low noise, low capacitance, inexpensive cable.