INTERCONNECT-advice from knowers!

With an interconnect budget that high, you will be able to try most of everything out there. I've not heard the components in your system, nor have I heard your actual system. I will agree with you on the Silway II (I tried the RCA version). I think you might like the Diamond x3 better than the Lapis, the Lapis seemed to have a hollow midrange like the Silway (both were RCA versions, but the Silway's transgression was much worse in this regard), to me. Diamond goves up nothing to the Lapis, and instead has an awesome midrange and even faster/deeper bass. In another thread, I compared the bass of the Silway II to that of Diamond x3. If this bass were actual subwoofers, the Silway's would be the Sunfire Mark II (the Silway's was more dynamic, but tubby). The Diamond's corresponding subwoofer would be some imaginary ELECTROSTATIC subwoofer, whose bass is so fast, as to almost put you in a trance. And if you want bass that is even FASTER than Diamond's (I guess this would be somehow beyond the "imaginary electrostatic subwoofer"), with a tonal balance that does get slightly more hollow in the midrange than Diamond, but is vastly better in every way than Silway II (IMHO), try Pure Note's Signature interconnect. It's the absolute fastest silver interconnect I've ever tried (and has decent dynamics also), and I've tried a few. However, I did NOT keep it...since absolute speed wasn't really what I was after for the Rogue amp...these might be suited for the 2A3 kit I'm going to build, though. Good luck.

Ejlif, yes I tried the Silversmith, both interconnect and speaker cable. BTW, Jeffrey Smith is by far the nicest cable guy you'll ever run across, IMO. My take ON THE SOUND was: The interconnect was the smoothest tonally, of all SILVER cables I have heard. The PENALTY for this smoothness IS HIGH, though. It was, FOR ME, dynamically laid back, and diminished the sense of "timing" in the music. The closest interconnect that I have tried so far, to the Silversmith, has been the pre-production Vantage all-GOLD-conductor interconnect from England. The Vantage is better at the sense of timing, and also seems to have the deepest bass extension (NOT the most "slam" or "weight", however....quite the opposite actually). The Vantage Gold has the nicest midrange clarity and warmth so far of any ic I've tried (better than my 350 EVO), but very little dynamic realism (UNLIKE the 350 EVO, for instance...it would be the polar opposite in terms of dynamics in the midrange/the whole range...the NBS King Serpent 3 had similar dynamics in the midrange to my 350 EVO, but this was confined ONLY to the midrange). However, the midrange of the Silversmith interconnect was very similar to the Vantage, as I hint at above. But again, the sense of timing was diminished so much with the Silversmith, that it put me off, especially considering the price of the Silversmith ($1600, I think). Mr. Smith informed me that I was "the only one who has found this with his cables"...and I told him I was ok with that. I still like him, cause he is kind, and he has built speakers (the most noble thing anybody can do, IMO)......................................Peizo: You aren't a fan of the top of the line Meadowlark speakers, are ya? ("piezo", their tweeter is the Audax oval piezo-motored one).....AUDIOQUEST, of course. Why do I not think that you've been reading all the mags for very long??

Briweve: I owned the Signature 5.1 speaker cables for a while (be careful with those!! You could coil them up, let go, and cut trees down with them!!!...or kill people). I do want to try the Signature interconnect at some point. Is that the "1.1"? I think that it's possible that XLO's "six nines" copper could maybe be of better quality than "six nines" from other manufacturers, since they claim theirs "costs more per ounce than silver"...they don't say what purity of silver, though!

When you're in this hobby a little longer, you'll find that the mags come in handy too, IMO.

I didn't mean that I worshipped at their altar, I just meant that you're out of touch if you ignore the magazines. The good reviewers have listened to more systems than anyone who contributes here, and it doesn't matter what their biases are. You don't have to agree with them, to gather information.

And many thanks for the compliment, Trelja!

I have the Pro-9, and like it.

I bought mine used from Audionut.

I am very glad that any comments which I have made on here, have had a positive effect. I have said before, and I'll say again, that reviews of cabling seem the least credible and the least translatable, to the reader, who then might use that review as the basis for the planning of which cables to audition. Not everyone feels the same way (about anything, duh!), and certainly cables sound different (to varying degrees) in whatever system context they are in. AND I MUST REITERATE SOMETHING I'VE SAID BEFORE: To anyone who has not done so, PLEASE TREAT YOUR ROOM ACOUSTICALLY. You'll be very glad to hear the differences between the cabling you try. They'll be cast in much stronger relief, than without room treatment. The imaging becomes more real, the sound less fatigueing over long periods.