PAD Venustas

I've tried the Venustas in several systems, and what I connect with in particular is a seductive, warm midrange. The first time I heard our system with them, I fell asleep, the music was that soothing. And after having tried some 20+ IC's, I was then sold on the Purist approach. That said, the Venustas is not as fully extended or as pure sounding as the Aqueous Anniversary, IMO. We use the Aqueous between the CDP and preamp, and the Venustas between the amp and preamp. In the CDP/preamp position, the Venustas sounds great, but the music has less bite and immediacy to it. Because it is slightly rolled off on the top, the Venustas seems to allow more bass to come through, but I would say that the bass is not as defined as with the Aqueous. In a word, the Venustas sounds 'tuned', while the Aqueous sounds transparent. We also have horn speakers, and I believe the Aqueous Anniversary is complimentary to the energetic delivery of the horns, while the Venustas will have more of an effect of taming them, albeit only marginally.

Hope that helps.

We use the Aqueous Anniversary speaker cables, and love them. I have not heard the Venustas speaker cables. The Aqueous had a similar effect as the IC. Transparent, flawless tone, with excellent extension top to bottom. I think I've read here, however, that the most favorable reports come from those with high efficiency speakers. Ours happen to be 104dB. If I remember correctly, Ozzy, you didn't like them. Do I have that right?

One other thing. The cables initially have a tinge of glare, and the bass is not fully defined. 100+ hours helps things settle in, and the Purist burn-in disc brings a textural richness and liquidity to the sound.

I really like the sound characteristics of the Au24...ultra smooth midrange, esp for female vocals, relaxed, smooth presentation, treble without etch or glare, wide soundstage, etc.

I would say a couple of things. I've found with two components that I actually liked the music more with the RCAs than with the XLRs. They were the same cable, naturally, but both had the same effect of losing focus with the XLRs. YMMV, of course.

You obviously are a big fan of the AU24. I found them to be exactly as you describe, but within an hour I was really bored with the music. The Venustas have similar qualities--excellent bass as well--but in contrast to the AU24, I find the music to be enveloping and utterly engaging. My suggestion would be to pick up a used pair of Venustas, leave them in your system for 3-4 days (they may disappoint at first), and then go back to the AU24. Then you'll know which you prefer, and you could end up sticking with what you already have.

Best of luck!