My demo took longer than expected for many reasons, including custom delays. But mostly, I kept them because I felt they kept improving over the several weeks period I had them.
It's very perplexing to judge digital cables. Those didn't work for me and in my systems, where I lacked some very subtle messages and harmonics (I mostly listen to classical music and focus on the whole harmonic picture). That said, I cannot name a better cable at the same price, and I particularly appreciated
- an impeccable tonal balance
- a great easiness in the flow of the music
- great stereo imaging
- those are some good looking cables, better in real life than in pictures, with an excellent finish
(My reference points were the AES/EBU Audioquest Carbon (50% more expensive) and the Antipodes Komaki (800% or so?). Why such difference between digital cables remain a mystery to me and I suspect it has to be very system dependent.
However Mike threw in some speaker cables for good measure (two pairs were needed to drive the ICOS 2) and those were THE BOMB. I'm actually buying them not because I want to (that wasn't in my plans) but because I can't bring myself to take them off. So yes, details are there, rapidity, perfect phase and stereo imaging accordingly, tonal balance, no distortion that I could hear. But mostly the music was very present and alive. At 400$ a pair, it's almost a steal. I know better speaker cables, but they are five or six time the price.
And did I mention they're good-looking?
