Audiophile,
"were you auditioning the PAD Anniversary Aqueous? Bi-wire or single?"
I was auditioning the PAD Anniversary Aqueous Bi-Wire and preferred the Synergistic Research Tesla Bi-Wire speaker cables. The $1200 Accelerators were exceptional in my system as were the $1800 PAD speaker cables however. The PAD cables (and I've auditioned more expensive and less expensive models) have a house sound I like, warm and detailed but again warm and somewhat colored in that direction for my taste and system. I was a Synergistic Research Designers Reference user (speaker wire and interconnect) that made the switch to Nordost Valhalla not because I did not like the old SR cables warmth and layering but because I wanted Nordost's speed, transparency and inner detail. Of course after awhile I missed the SR cables warmth and layering so I gave the Tesla interconnects and speaker cable a try. The Accelerator interconnects and Precision Reference speaker cable combo are the first cables that have given me all the speed, transparency and detail of my old Nordost cables (and then some) with the warmth and layering of my old Designers Reference while being wonderfully musical and "grain free." These cables in my system and with my electronics sound utterly natural, musical, and holographic (the sound stage is ENORMOUS ;) I've auditioned a lot of cables and spent a lot of money on cables over the years and these do it for me.
PS. The Cable Co is perfect for just such experiments.