Experience with Black Cat and/or Triode lab Wires

Very nice. I have the A23 speaker cables. I like mine quite a bit. Keep us posted.

Have recently bought A23 speaker cable and jumpers.

Tried my unshielded Duelund last night due to the Naim phono being able to handle the 1.0 MV EMT. Not ideal, but plays quite well. The 16AWG Duelund with Switchcraft RCA's is not to be dismissed. It's really quite good. The experience is almost making me want to get a 2.0 MV cart and call it a day. So no step up. 

Interesting. I use A23 for speaker wire for my Shindo/Altec Valencia 846A setup. I employ a Werner crossover for the Altecs. The A23 runs from my amps to crossover, and from there I tried both Belden 9497 (orange/black) and the Duelund 16AWG. I recall this shootout many moons ago, and I kept the Duelund in there. The 16 AWG was just more organic and natural sounding, although the halloween colored Belden may have had the edge in the bass. I have been meaning to pick up some of the reasonably priced 12 AWG Duelund to try that in place of the 16AWG. I figure the bass will be better and perhaps no down side. I could always run 16 on the horns and 12 on the bass too. I did not love the Duelund 16 on my Harbeths C7’s...easily preferred the A23 there. Back to our top story. I also have a Duelund 16AWG interconnect, but it is unshielded. I disqualified this for the phono application due to no shielding, but perhaps I should explore Duelund interconnect. If it works, my wallet will thank me twice over.

@jjss49  

it's been at least 5 or 6 years since I owned the A23's.  I used them for a few years with Harbeth M40.1's and a few tube amps.   While the build quality of the A23's is quite good and they have an artisan like feel and look to them, I was expecting more of an "ah ha" moment with regards to sound quality.   That moment never came... and while the A23's are good, they sounded slightly veiled and less lifelike than Duelund 12 gauge.   The Duelunds just stand out as sounding more natural and lifelike (after a rough break in period in which they sound god-awful).  I've been using the Duelund 12 gauge in both of my systems for 5-6 years and recently added a Duelund RCA IC between my Weiss 202 and amp... and soon will be rewiring the internals of my Altec 19's with Duelund 16 gauge. 

@pdreher 

i am curious to have your description of how the duelund cable sounded different to your ear compared to the a23...  i agree a23 has a very strong following, i have always wondered about it...

I had A23 speaker cables prior to making the switch to Duelund 12 gage.   The A23's have strong resale value, but I prefer the sound of considerably less expensive Duelund, with the only downside being an extensive break in period of 150-200 hours.  I have no experience with Vermeer or TWM.  

Thanks you so much for all the suggestions and comments. It was a crazy stretch leading up to Christmas, but alas I have the day off. Last comment is extremely interesting as it coincides with others above, and ads the perspective of actual comparison between the two lines. At one point prior to Chris’s passing, he had a new entry level cable. I’m going to botch the name, but I believe it’s called Keuro Neco. It essentially replaced the Coppertone/Copperzone line. Perhaps I am wrong on that but I know the first part is correct. Maybe the Triode lab will be too warm for what I consider an already warm system. The Naim integrated is a tad warm, and the last generation Compact 7 (ES3)’s are certainly on the warm. I’m so trying to have this 2nd setup as a casual listening, stay off the Merry-Go-Round system. I should mention that I do have a speaker cable right now, which is A23. I have 2 sets, one in my main setup, and an extra set which I have been using in this system when playing digital. I have previously owned A23’s interconnect. and did think it was quite good. An easy step would be to just seek out the interconnect, but it’s a little pricey for what I’m trying to do here. I believe it’s around $900 per meter, and having the Step up, I would need two sets.

I went from a full TWL loom to a full Black Cat loom. PM if you’d like more detail.

In short, TWL makes a warm, pleasant, “meat on the bones” sound. Downside is, I ultimately heard it (in my system) as bloated, sluggish and low resolution — too much music was missing, and what was there was distractingly filtered…I lost interest in listening.

Black Cat is very different. Downside is, the very entry level (Copperwave or tone or whatever) isn’t that good — can sound unrefined and tizzy. You’d need to step up to the mid-range or higher stuff to appreciate the benefits without those downsides — speed, dynamics, transparency into the music, yet natural.

Shoutout for Vertere cables as well. Similar virtues as Black Cat, and they have cables in your price range that are excellent. Have fun out there - if you hate something, don’t hang onto too long because somebody on a forum told ya it’s great…

Ditto @jerrybj on the Black Cat Silverstar digital cable.   

Not to muddy the waters, but I'm a fan of Duelund speaker cables and IC's.  Pretty low cost and high value in my experience... and both the IC's and speaker cables can be had within your budget new or used.  Parts Connexion carries them

https://www.partsconnexion.com/duelund-interconnect-cable.html

If you can find them used, you can possibly avoid the 150-200 hour break in period for them to settle it.  Often times posting a "wanted to buy" ad on Audiogon or Audiomart will generate some offers.

I have TWL Freedom ethernet cables. Pete is very easy to deal with, and the cables are excellent, and a very good price.

Also have a Black Cat Silverstar 75 ohm coax cable. It's very good.

Not sure about the entry level RCAs from Black Cat, but have heard good feedback from those who bought the TWL RCAs.

I have 3 of TWL Power cables and they are very nicely made and would recommend them. Haven't tried any of their other cables yet.

Another 2 thumbs up for Triode Wire Labs!!  I also have a full variety of their cables, biwired set of speaker cables, interconnects, digital, power cords. They’re very well made, sound excellent & don’t break the bank.  
 

Maybe start w/one type, try it out & go from there.  

i have not tried triode lab's cables

my experience with black cat cables is that they are on the clear fast and clean school of sound... great air/atmospherics, but careful system matching needed to avoid harshness and sizzle

I have a full loom of Triode Wire Labs cables. They replaced a loom of cables that was 4x the price. The TWL cables are the best cables I have ever had in my system. They are very transparent with an incredible midrange, sweet highs that are never fatiguing and combine that with the best bass in a cable I have found. They are really good. I am running them with pass labs electronics so hardly low power tube gear. Give them a shot...Pete has a 30 day return policy so there is no risk and he is a fantastic guy to work with and very helpful.

Black Cat is re-organizing and will hopefully be back soon. The Black Cat cables are superb and well worth waiting for.

For $400/m I’d opt for Acoustic Zen Matrix Ref II interconnects on a used market. 
Pair them with Acoustic Zen Hologram II speaker cables (used) and forget cables for a while. 

I use TWL speaker cables and they are excellent. I have not tried their interconnects or power cables but others seem to really like them.

I recommend triode wire labs products without hesitation or reservation. I have never heard that their product offerings are geared towards low power amps or high efficiency speakers. I would email or call Triode wire labs and the owner Pete will freely discuss what application might work best with your gear. He is very accessible