I had a similar experience with speaker cables. I had gone through several sets of cables, none grossly expensive but all in the “several hundred dollars” range. All sounded good, one or two modestly better than the others. Then, several months ago, based on reviews, user comments, recommendations, and in light of the trial period, I ordered a set of Silversmith Fidelium speaker cables. They were an instant “WOW!” Better tonal qualities, better instrument location, much improved soundstage, and improvement in the bass reproduction, which was my major point of dissatisfaction with my speakers. Even my wife, who enjoys good music but is not “in to” how it is achieved, remarked almost immediately on the improvements. I was a bit of a skeptic on the impact of cabling … but not any more, for I have seen (heard!) how cables CAN make a difference.
Optimize or buy new gear..?
Recently had the experience of upgrading a single power cable in my system and it made enough of an improvement that I’m not in such a hurry to buy new speakers. Made me think about optimizing / trying to get the most out of your system by working on the interconnects, power cables, speaker cables before say giving up on the other pieces of your system. Wonder if others have had similar experiences?