Phono cable for Graham Phantom

Jfrech,

I have a Purist Aqueous Anniversary phono cable on Graham Phantom/SME 20/2 to Aesthetix IO Signature.

I want to upgrade to either a Proteus Provectus or a Stealth Hyperphono. Since you have listened to them both in the same system and found them similar, would you elaborate on the differences, subtle as they may be?

Thanks,

Ed

Jfrech,

Thanks very much for your analysis. I agree with you that once you reach the Purist and Stealth levels, there's not a lot of black and white between comparable cables even when the materials & designs are quite different.

I have liked the AA much better than the Venustas in my system. The Venustas were base shy, the top end seemed rolled off the midrange seemed a bit smeared. AA has better clarity and resolution top to bottom with good soundstage and imaging. Dominus Ferox is slower than AA and even a bit slower than VD Revelation 2. Dominus has more liquid midrange and sweeter highs than the VD Rev 2, but base is not as tight as VD Rev 2. Stealth Indra RCA did not do well on my Aesthentix IO phonostage, but the IO seems not to like RCA. Indra RCA is superb on my Ayre C-5xeMP, even though its not supposed to sound as good on RCA. Indra is fastest cable I have tried and has biggest soundstage and separation of instruments.

I just bought a used PP XLR so I can try it out against Dominus Ferox VD Rev 2. I'm hoping that it has at least as much resolution as both Dominus and Rev 2 with base, and soundstage more like Rev 2 and mid-range and highs more like Dominus. Hopefully, it will help me decide about phono cable too.

Will let you know how it compares in my system after I have compared them for a couple of weeks.

Thanks again,

Ed