Gabriel Gold IC's are they really this good?

I would like to know if anyone can compare and contrast the new Synergistic Research Telsa cables to the Gabriel Golds. They both seem to be very solid and I'm wondering if the GGs will actually better the generally more expensive Teslas, which have also been acknowledged to be an exceptional value at their price point.

you would likely bd beter off doing your own comparison and letting =us all know your results.

Budburma, I agree with you. That is going to be what happens, I think.

I just received two Revelation IC pairs from Steve. After listening for two hours and experimenting with different positions for these two cables in my system, the results are fairly astounding. I already had one length of Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerators which sounds very good. I am happy with them but I wanted to compare them to the GGs to see which I would stay with long term. My goal was to first see if I find some synergy with the one GG and the two SRs in the system at the same time, and if not, to go with a complete complement of ICs from just one of the manufacturers. I moved the cables around to every position and found nirvana in one particular configuration.

The configuration that works best in my system is with the GGs placed between the two sources (CDP and TT) and the preamp, and the SR placed between the preamp and amp. This configuration sounds unbelievably good. I'm astonished. This is exactly what I was looking for when I started thinking about recabling my system and leaving Nordost Red Dawns. The tone is amazingly beautiful and rich. The sound stage/image is just perfect. Instruments are the correct size (pianos take up much more space in the sound stage, cymbals are more pin-point). The sound coming from my speakers is perfectly nuanced and sounds just a little bit "sweet". It wasn't warmth per se, but sweetness. I have experienced a feeling like this once before when I heard my first Conrad Johnson tube preamp. It struck me immediately as sounding "sweet". I am 100% happy with this set up.

Placing the GG between the preamp and the amp, and placing the SR between the source and pre sounded good, but not great. The tone is good, but the image is just a little incoherent.

This next configuration surprised me the most of all. Placing two GGs between the source and preamp, and also between the preamp and amp sounded the least appealing of any configuration. The image just was not very coherent, so it sounded like the instruments were tripping over one another and invading each other's space. This could be attributed to the fact that these cables have not burned in for any length of time yet. Also, I use a passive preamp, and the system just may not be happy with two GGs on either side of this preamp. I did notice that I had to definitely turn the preamp's volume knob up another 30-35 degrees to get the same volume level in this configuration. It is obvious to me that these are incredible cables and I do not think that the result of my system's sound in this configuration should be passed off on the cables.

I would describe these cables by saying that having a phenomenally rich tone is one of their properties. YoYo Ma's cello has that full cello sound which I had been hoping to get. Pianos sound like the big, beautiful instruments that they are. I can still hear the little details from the audience in live recordings that I like to hear (I could hear the cash register at the bar on my "Miles Davis - Live at the Plugged Nickel" LP, lol). Both the bass and top end are both equally represented with correct emphasis and excellent detail. These cables are a great bargain and I couldn't be happier with them.

I would contrast these GGs to the SR Tesla Accelerators by saying that by themselves, the sound stage produced by the SRs is more 3 dimensional than the GG, but the GG's tone is much richer than that of the SR. Both have very good extension in the upper and lower frequency ranges. Granted, the GGs have not burned in yet. If their properties change significantly in the next few hundred hours of listening, then I will update that event here.

Well, I found what I was looking for when I started my cable search a few months ago. I wanted to round out my system and I've definitely reached my goal. Thanks for all the posts here, they really helped. I want to say that Steve is the nicest business owner I have ever met in this industry. I have met other extremely mannerly and accommodating individuals in this industry (Paul at PS Audio, Bill at Circle Stereo in Austin), but Steve takes the cake for graciousness and service. I hope he does very well with his product in the future; I don't see how he cannot.

Yep, I am fully expecting the sound to evolve over the next few weeks, as would be expected. I was so astounded by what I heard that I figured I would go ahead and write it out. I'll move the cables around a bit in a couple of weeks to see what happens. But honestly, I will be surprised if my system with this same hardware ever sounds better than it does right now. It's just incredible. The sound stage, imaging, tone, detail, and frequency extension are all perfect. I've never heard anything like it. I'm 110% satisfied and I would unreservedly recommend the GGs. I was considering upgrading my crossover and all kinds of other things, but I need to rethink that now to see if it is even necessary.

Bobf just just made a comment to the effect that "it was actually scary that electronics could do this." That was one of my immediate impressions with the GG Revelations. I never knew that my amp and CD player could sound this good (I knew my speakers should be able to, though). In a way, it has given me a sense of the limititations of my gear, as I am assuming that I am now hearing the upper limit of my CDP and amp's capabilities. They sound great, but I now have food for thought regarding any upgrading that I will do to those two components, as I believe that I have found the true character of those components. I think I have definitely found my "reference component" in the GG cables.

WOW! I hope the people at Audio Metallurgy and Steve don't mind being called "small fries"
I hear both of them have some deep pockets.

This is purely a objective, academic discussion, no need for consideration of egos or tip-toeing around semantics, I think. The term was used merely to provide a relative reference or point of contrast from which the author could begin to make his point.

I too have wondered about the economics behind such a small operation that produces such a great product. Contrasting the excellent GGs or AMs against bigger companies' (possibly inferior) product is intuitively interesting and one obviously inquires, "How can this be?"

I did research all the bigger cable companies' product before I bought the GGs. They all seemed to have several obvious weaknesses or trade-offs and the GGs did not, which is why I took the leap of faith with GGs. I was not disappointed, even though my standards and expectations were set very high.

I know many members think it is heresy to mix cables, but I'm still using my Synergistic Research Tesla and GG Revolutions in sequence and love it. The image, 3-D staging, tone, detail, upper and lower frequency extension is amazing.

I like both the cables, but they have slightly different qualities and complement each other very well in my system. The GG is a bit sweeter with better frequency extension, and the SR Teslas are more three dimensional. Both have excellent clarity and detail.

Bobf wrote:
"clio09-I assume you must have some?
What cables did you compare the GG's against before you went with them?"

In my case, it was Nordost Red Dawn's and Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerators. I was amazed right away. There was some slight overall improvement for me after break in, but not much. They sounded incredible right when I got them and positioned configured them correctly between the right components.