Reasonable high end interconnects: without breaking the bank

@tcatch


It might make a difference but since the original poster his/her amplifier is completely single ended, the xlr question is kindof moot in this case. If you want advice, start a thread, list your equipment and sit back and relax. Someone or several someones will likely have some suggestions.

I'm wondering if any of these recommendations would change if it was clear that the OP was going to use balanced (XLR) cables or was going to have a long run from pre-amp to amps.  I seem to remember that Elizabeth found the Cardas Parsec excellent at short lengths but not so at longer lengths (hence her purchase of the much more expensive Kimber cables).  Anyway, that's what I need: XLR cables at 5 or 6 meters to get from my stack of equipment to my mono-blocks, next to the speakers.  Using Morrow MA 4 right now, which isn't terrible, but I wonder if I can do better without going over $1000.

I like tempo electric pure silver. Look it up. 

Elizabeth nailed it. I use Anticables in my system. Very happy with the sound quality of their the speaker wire and ICs. My source is a LUMIN D1 using Tidal HiFi decoding MQA files. Power is from my Krell integrated amp (class A) thru Magnapans (1.7is). The anticables helped with the high end clarity and bass is tight. Buy what you can afford - we have too much choice in this hobby. Your ‘ear’ is the final judge.

The first ICs I bought that were clearly much better sounding than good cables were the Darwin Silver cables that were their original ones. These beat Morrow MA-3 and MA-4 ICs, along with Crimson, Audioquest, Magnan,  They would be about $295 new or about $150-175 used. New ones at this time I would recommend would be the Acoustic BBQ from Grannyring on Audiogon. His best are the Schroeder Method double ICs and cost $295 new.  His regular and also good sounding ICs are $179 for a 1 mtr. pair.  The doubles are much better sounding in all ways than the regular.  I've done the double method with Teo GC II ICs and with Teo GC's and JW Reference ICs and the result of using double ICs to one connection is way better than doubling the cost of a single IC in the same family of ICs.  Bill Dion's AB ICs save money by not needing extra connectors and just doubling up the wires going to the RCAs.  Bill's ICs have a very organic, real sound to them when I heard them in his system.  I have not heard them in my system, however.  The Teo's were heard in my system with a couple of my friends prior to buying them and made an incredible difference.  I bought their pairs right then.  If I were you, I'd contact Bill of Acoustic BBQ and see what he can do for you.  He makes them at his house and charges a VERY fair price for them.

Bob  

Chord makes very good affordable interconnects in the chord c-line and clearway. Also, atlas cable's elements and integra line is great. Lastly qed makes the qunex line of cables. 

I really like Silnote cables. Well worth checking out. They were a vast improvement on the cheap cables I had originally

Audioquest. So many choices, So many price ranges. 

Cables are system dependent and should be auditioned in your system. Determine your price range and see if you can borrow a couple different cables to compare at home. Unfortunately, it’s a very tedious process.
" in final stages of upgrade to either Audio Note E, Devore O93 or Joseph Profile)." I wouldn't select any cables until I selected the speakers. 

I like the Zavfino Arcadia MkII OCC cables, and the price is very reasonable.

Let us know what your price range is. If you can’t, then all I can do is recommend going over to Darwincables.com and checking out their discount section for demos, prototypes, and one offs. That, and give them a call and talk to them.

I’ve tried a few levels of their ICs and love how they sound.

All the best,
Nonoise

Cardas cables are a fine recommendation. The Coppertone is also a fine recommendation. Consider the Acoustic BBQ line of cable as well for a fairly priced alternative. Many with your amplifier have found nirvana with the Auditorium A23 speaker cables and interconnects. I have owned all of the above, several versions of Cardas. I find the A23 cables with Leben and Devore to possess a very special connection. YMMV.

You might want to try Cardas Cross which are not a ton of money and Cardas Copper and terminals. I love thr golden ratio Cardas cables. I think the cross ICs are about $399/pr new but I haven’t bought any in a while. Also check thr Audiogon classified there are a couple of $239 used pairsEbay for Cardas. If you prefer a silver soundimg cable I have no great suggestions.

Second Zu's offerings on EBay. 

You can try Zu Audio.
They usually sell older models on Ebay and sometimes you can score a good deal.
Otherwise, you can look at Audioquest. They have a sizable lineup and though they can get pricey, even the lower models are very good for the money.
There is going to be a diverse opinion regarding silver/copper configurations. A lot depends on your system, as well as your tastes.

Bob

Look at the thread on Black Cat Audio's Coppertone cables.