Cable Quest

Sure okay.

I've ran through a number of brands for both IC's, PC's and SC's; Zu audio, Morrow, Nordost, Audioquest, and Finally Snake River Audio. SRA is heads above the others and would highly recommend a look.

Sampled quite a few of the names mentioned in this post and settled with MITs.

The speakers sounded like a veil was lifted off them.

IC - Siltech Classic Legend - Siltech reputation , silver+gold, great reviews “sounds like nothing”, affordable 

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/10635#&gid=1&pid=41

I arrived at an inflection point about 3 years ago when I realized my hardware was very good but I could not seem to get the sound to equate to their level. So sure, I've been into 2 channel for 50 years, but it was only with the advent of the Wilson Alexia's and the ARC preamp where I felt that cabling was holding me back. So I ventured out on a quest to try as many top brands as I could to see what would raise the sound quality and still make me happy. I've owned many more brands than that list but wasn't tracking before 2018 with any seriousness (driven by IRS rules so all receipts are filed).

There are a ton of crap cables out there and there are some very good cable brands. I mean the exceptional brands (and within them there are misfits as well).

I did not try everything out there and deliberately did not try, for instance, Nordost, because the consistent theme is the brightness users comment on, so I passed on those.

I fell in love with Kubala Sosna Elations. If I could afford them I would have a complete set of those. But I would pass on the Emotions (too "dark" to me in their line-up). The upper tier Synergistic are very open and airy and never tiring. And almost all my power cables are Synergistic and my present speaker cables are Synergistic.

I am commenting on most recent experiences more fresh in my memory.

Upper level Cardas are very musical and solid. I moved on from them because to me they always had some level of linen cloth over the music and I tired of them. Still good, but not fully open in my system.

Much like the misfit Emotions, the Cardas Clear Reflections were way too much midrange and reminded me of the Emotions. They both seemed to be outliers in the suite of cables from low end to high end. Very good cables, but they differ from the cables below and above them. They can fit in the right system, but didn't work for me.

The Purist Audio cable line is one of the quietest out there. I was able to get as high as Corvus and they were very good. I could have gone that route. I never was able to get to Dominus at the tippy top. The Corvus is an excellent cable; plays open and airy with solid bass and midrange.

I am glad I experienced Siltech but to me they were so neutral they had no personality. Not musical, but if you want neutral, they are all that. 

At some point during a quest you start questioning your mental stability and methods. And then when you find a cable that just hits it out of the park for you and your set-up you wished you had tried them a year earlier and saved all the buying and selling and shipping hassles. I hit that with Wywires. And I will tell you I had Aalex make me a 12 foot power cable a few years back and I hated it. It did not light my fire so Wywires was not a contender in my mind. After you go around and around and force yourself to be unbiased and investigate further you might as I did, consider trying them again. These forums help me a bunch. Type in the keywords above and search and sort and read everything and connect the dots.

Anyways, Wywires Diamond and Platinum have given me what I wanted and I will search for some speaker cables as well down the road. Right now the Synergistic SC's are a good match.

The Wywires, to me, have everything. They are so smooth, never tiring, detail without any hint of etch. None. Musical as all get-out and simply play music that is toe tapping. I am totally guilty of listening to my system, still while enjoying the music, but the music I play is often complex and subtle jazz like Manu Katche. He plays the drums like it is his orchestra and every 10 inch splash cymbal, or rap of a tom is his symphony in motion. The Wywires let me catch every nuance of his drum kit without missing any dynamics of the band.

Leonard Cohen's (RIP) voice comes through deep and throaty without sacrificing other frequencies that some cables could not replicate.

Sooooo, I am not an expert on cables and my opinion is only relevant to my system and journey. I had to do it to satisfy my engineering curiosity.

Honorable mentions are Snake River, Stealth, Hijiri, Cerious, and Masterbuilt. I'm not going to comment on the cables I experienced as pretty lousy (to me). 

Happy listening!