Inexpensive,ugly and wonderful sounding.....


Lat International's top of the line interconnect, while only $250, claims to have the same construction and sound qualities of cables costing 5 times as much. Now, I bought that rap, and have been listening to mine for 6 years, and have been very happy. Is ignorance bliss? Now, that I'm upgrading my CDP (Audio Aero Prima), I'm second guessing, perhaps wrongly, my interconnects. Has anyone out there had FIRST hand experience with what I'm going through? I never hear Lat mentioned much on the 'gon. Is it because it's not chic to own generic cables? Is it because people have tried them and think they suck? Maybe their marketing (which obvioulsly keeps the price down) is poor? They are physically ugly. Does that have an affect? What compostion properties, if any, are missing from the Lats that, say, Cardas Gold Reference, or Wire World Gold Eclipse have? Feedback would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.
warren
128x128warrenh
I know what ya all keep saying: "if you're happy why change?" I want to be happier. There's always room for more happiness. 80% is nothing. That leaves a whole lot left over. 20% of a million dollars isn't small potatoes. 20%?--5% IS A LOT!!
Happy Thanksgiving guys,
warren
My 2 cents:

- I have owned the IC-200D (mk 1 & 2) in the past, thought they were OK, not great. For budget cables, I liked several better (DH Lab's Silver Sonic, Van den Hul D-102 Mk 3 Hybrid, Luminous Audio Monarch Sig's, ZCable Jazz4, Zu cable, and more).

- There are some AMAZING cables out there for cheap $$. IMO, you don't need to spend a lot to get great sound. For many, the extra $$ will get better sound, but the margin of return on the investment goes down more quickly these days (IE, you get 80% or so within the first $150-$200 prhaps)

- If you can borrow some cables to try, do so. Don't spend variably just to try things out (it CAN be fun, but also expensive)

- Otherwise, if you're happy, why change ? Enjoy your bliss !

Good luck, and good listening.
Hi Warren,

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! The interconnects of which you speak, I do believe have been upgraded since you purchased yours. I have owned the latest version, the IC-200 Mk II, and I don't think they are ugly and I think their quality is quite nice.

Ironically I replaced my last LAT IC-200 Mk II with the afore mentioned Cardas GR and the Cardas was a nice improvement. (I replaced the Cardas with an Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference and that was a nice improvement over the Cardas in my system.)

My experience with the LAT cables has been interesting; when I purchased my first one, it outperformed a more expensive JPS SC2, so I felt their claims may be true. But, as you have just read prior, I have replaced the LAT's with cables that do excel.

IMO, they are a good cable at their price, but I wouldn't say they are a giant killer, unless they have a certain synergy in your system where they specifically outperform a more expensive cable, like with my case w/the JPS.

I also own LAT's top speaker cable and I feel these are a quality cable and worth their money. I again had a case where I feel they outperformed more expensive cables; I had JPS SC2 speaker cables as well and preferred the LAT's' and I later compared them to Cardas Golden Cross and though the Cardas had a smoother top end that I liked, the bass was to boomy and I preferred the LAT's overall. I am now using Audio Tekne speaker cables, the LAT's are for sale, and the AT's are better, but they are much more expensive also, as the others I compared.
Inexpensive/ugly sounds like a description of my mother in law---not the wonderful sounding part tho.
Warren, even though I have no experience with Lat cables or your gear, it seems to me that there have been some significant advances is cable designs over the last 6 years. It is not unreasonable to try out some newer designs and compare for yourself. If they turn out to be as good as the newer ones, Hey, thats Great!