Hello Shinn aj,
I wanted to chime in here to clarify a few things if I may. First off I'd like to say thank you for your interest in our cables, much appreciated. My hat is off to everyone participating in this thread; it's really nice to see a KCI vs GG vs Jade thread that is so fair and civil-thank you.
The changes made from the standard Silkworms to the Mk II were just a natural progression over time as we were able to acquire better components and improve our building techniques. A few things were changed such as larger more pure Teflon tubing and a second layer of insulation but the most important improvement was the much improved and much more robust strain relief, besides that there was really nothing earth shattering for the Mk II's honestly. As a side note; none of our cables only have techflex over just the conductors, they all have at least two different layers of insulation over the conductors before the techflex, which is just a protective covering, is applied.
The Silkworm+ came about as we wanted to improve on the standard Silkworm and hopefully be able to build a cable that would equal or even surpass our limited(and costly) Silkworm S.E. without such a high price tag. The "plus" uses all new Teflon, insulation, plugs and wire-pretty much a total redesign and has exceeded our expectations. Though the plus is larger in diameter it is still a comparatively(sp?) thin cable and very easy to manage which has always been one of our concerns.
The cables you are considering are all excellent cables IMO; Steve at GG does top notch, fantastic work and the Jades are no slouch either. Most of these cables will compete with the big guys cables costing much, much more and will offer you more "bang for your buck" so to speak.
I hope that I was able to clear up a few things for you and wish you the best in your search. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me anytime and I'd be happy to try my best to answer your questions. Have a great day!!
Sincerely,
John
KCI