market for new IC cables.AQ,Cardas,Nordost&Kimber

As as Elizabeth mentions I have tried and owned all the brands you are looking into as well that’s why I mentioned you really need to try them in your system. As far as Clear Day Cables go, yes they are a small shop and I do have many of their cables but actually not using them any more as I am now using Wywires which I do prefer but were much more. I’ve also pulled out most of my Kimber PCs for Wywires as well. I am using a Nordost Vishnu PC for digital as it works great there. As far as my Clear Day Cables go, I’m keeping them because they didn’t cost me much and I’ll use them later and I’ve loaned them to several people who have ordered their own from Paul. Nothing wrong with ordering from the big names but you will pay more and depending how far you move up their line you may get a lesser cable say from some of the small shops who have been around for ten plus years. I ordered a pair of cables over the phone from Ray Kimber in his earlier years and he sent me a box of cookies with the cables - Great Guy there. Anyway a lot of the big names once were nobody’s too. 

mancub -
Apologies for not reading carefully. I missed your IC focus in the title though I think the general traits comments I made still apply.

Missing your interest in ICs, I neglected to mention Mogami. Certainly a well-established mftr. Might be one to consider (though maybe not high priced enough). I just purchased a pair of Mogami Gold Neglex Studio XLRs and am very pleased with the sound with them installed...especially given the price of <$100 for 1 meter delivered.

Other XLR cables at hand that the Mogami were compared to are: Harmonic Tech Pro Silway II, Cardas Gold Ref., Cabledyne Copper Ref., and AQ Columbia. Will the Mogami trounce any of the wire you are considering from the Big 4? No idea.

Thanks guys for the info.Ghosthouse thank you also...I also had an issue when I used Rocket 33/Columbia I  had a thin sound.Amazing that you made that comment,it was the main reason for the post.

Ha! Two with the same opinion...must be a valid characterization ;-)

Maybe you will like some of the newer Cardas wire....Parsec or possibly Cygnus (though I’ve not heard the latter). Parsec definitely has more "heft" than the AQ stuff did in my system but not nearly as heavy as the old-school Cardas. Good luck. The Cable Co. will help take the guesswork out of your decision.