Hi all
I just saw an ad for a nice pair of Gabriel Gold Halo interconnects. I am looking for a nice pair of RCA interconnects for my 2nd system which is in a theater room. I use AQ king cobra interconnects for the center and rear, and a pair of AQ Columbia for the front 2 channels. I just upgraded my front speakers to Vandersteen VLR carbons (an amazing value BTW) and was looking to upgrade those front channel RCAs for 2 channel listening (Classe Sigma SSP AV processor feeding Parasound A51 multichannel amp). So I came upon the aforementioned interconnects and sought out some reviews and fell upon this forum. There is the long winded background - sorry.
In my main rig, with ARC pre and phono pre, an Aurender N10 and Meitner DAC feeding Vandersteen Quatro CTs, I had a full loom of AQ sky interconnects. These are silver. In any case, I had moved to monoblocks, and needed a long pair of XLRs and got a really nice deal on some used demo Tara cables from a dealer in Colorado (name and store withheld based on his opinion that follows). I have previously also used Nordost Frey interconnects. The dealer’s opinion, selling Nordost and other cables, was that the cheaper Tara 0.8 beat the Nordost Valhala, handily - and to beat the 0.8, his opinion was that one would need to get up to the crazy expensive Odin. Of course, that is just one man’s opinion, but with the crazy margins on cables, it would be a bit odd for a dealer to sell a cheaper cable, and say it kicks the snot out of top of the line Nordost cables. Again, just one person’s opinion. So, in any case, I got these 5m Tara 0.8XLRs and inserted them into my system, and the difference was rather noticeable. Since that time, I have been buying up used Tara cables on Audiogon, and have sold all my AQ sky cables.
My experience could be placebo, and I am certainly not saying that Tara cables are the greatest thing since sliced bread, nor am I a Tara fanboy. I am not trying to fan any flames, but rather be informative and respectful. I am just saying, I loved them, and replaced all my stuff with them in that system. They are rather expensive - but I think this is more due to the noise rejection stuff in their "proprietary mix" of Ceralex, which apparently is rather expensive. I would never pay full price for new cables anyway, and have purchased all used. BUT, they did make a huge difference in my system FWIW.
Respectfully to all, I do not think that the amount of money your system is worth translates, in any way, to ones ability to assess cable worth. I have heard many systems worth thousands less destroy expensive systems. I think system synergy and many other factors play a role. Besides that, psychoacoustics and one’s personal preferences play a role in all this as well. I doubt, very much, that Tara pays off reviewers and sites for better reviews- frankly it is difficult to find a review on them in mainstream major audio media and I have never seen them place any ads in these types of magazines or websites-- so it would not seem that they are paying off reviewers for better reviews as one forum participant had previously suggested.
I also do not believe that silver, gold, or the metal choice inherently equals better cable performance -- there are many other variables to consider in cable design besides the metal used in their construction.
In any case, bottom line is I love what the Tara cables did in my unique system but would never pay full price for them. I am not looking to spend that much on cables in my second system which brings me back, full course, to the original forum topic!
I am just looking for anywhere where I can get a bit more information on these Gabriel gold Halo interconnects for the front speakers in my surround rig, to optimize 2 channel listening. The price looks pretty good at $749.
Id appreciate any feedback on these Gabriel gold halo cables, background on who designed them and any unbiased reviews anywhere.
Thanks
Best of Health
Brett
