I also enjoy the Audience AU-24 speaker cable annd I/Cs. They are not as "fast" as the Nordost Red Dawn ll but had a fuller, richer sound. The Straightwire Virtuoso has better mid-bass than the Audience but I prefer the treble of the Audience cable. I have also tried AQ Clear and StraightWire Serenade in my system and the Audience cable is my favorite. I ended up bi-amping my speakes with Audience for the treble and Virtuoso for the bass.
Review: Audience & Shunyata AU24 Speaker cable
Category: Cables
I just finished comparing the Audience AU24 8' single run speaker cables to the Shunyata 10' single run speaker cables. Both cables are excellent. The Shunyata was slightly more forward, had tighter bass, slighly more natural sounding, slightly wider soundstage, with a little more bass impact. I did feel the Shunyata's were more open do to a slight uptilt towards the higher frequencies (for lack of a better description) which may have a fatiguing long term effect, maybe. The Audience on Pat Barbers Cafe Blue had a darker background, so it may sound a little slower, less forward sounding, but I thought that on some of the piano notes, the higher keys sounded excellent with more weight than the Shunyatas (not sure how much these keys should sound) but some of the lower keys got a little muddy sounding, less detail than the Shunyata cables. The Shunyata has slightly more bass emphasis but did not sound boomy in my system because the bass was very detailed. Which is correct, I dunno?
I did have some DIY cables on hand that Marty from Bound for Sound told me to try, and believe it or not, my wife and I preferred them over both of these cables. They had the better characteristics of both cables, a very natural balanced sound, very dynamic, smooth and detailed sound. Just saved myself $1000. BUT, I just brought home the AZ Hologram cables so I will try them out and post my findings in a few weeks. Interestingly, I read a recent article in BFS where Marty said that his DIY cables worked on some equipment better than some other expensive cables he was auditioning. For $.28 per foot, they cannot be beat IMHO.
Associated gear
Sony SCD-777ES, AZ Sil Ref ICs, Pass X-1 preamp, Pass X-250 power amp, B&W matrix 803 speakers, JPS digital AC, JPS power AC, AZ Tsunami power AC.
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DIY 6 awg speaker wire with gold spades
I just finished comparing the Audience AU24 8' single run speaker cables to the Shunyata 10' single run speaker cables. Both cables are excellent. The Shunyata was slightly more forward, had tighter bass, slighly more natural sounding, slightly wider soundstage, with a little more bass impact. I did feel the Shunyata's were more open do to a slight uptilt towards the higher frequencies (for lack of a better description) which may have a fatiguing long term effect, maybe. The Audience on Pat Barbers Cafe Blue had a darker background, so it may sound a little slower, less forward sounding, but I thought that on some of the piano notes, the higher keys sounded excellent with more weight than the Shunyatas (not sure how much these keys should sound) but some of the lower keys got a little muddy sounding, less detail than the Shunyata cables. The Shunyata has slightly more bass emphasis but did not sound boomy in my system because the bass was very detailed. Which is correct, I dunno?
I did have some DIY cables on hand that Marty from Bound for Sound told me to try, and believe it or not, my wife and I preferred them over both of these cables. They had the better characteristics of both cables, a very natural balanced sound, very dynamic, smooth and detailed sound. Just saved myself $1000. BUT, I just brought home the AZ Hologram cables so I will try them out and post my findings in a few weeks. Interestingly, I read a recent article in BFS where Marty said that his DIY cables worked on some equipment better than some other expensive cables he was auditioning. For $.28 per foot, they cannot be beat IMHO.
Associated gear
Sony SCD-777ES, AZ Sil Ref ICs, Pass X-1 preamp, Pass X-250 power amp, B&W matrix 803 speakers, JPS digital AC, JPS power AC, AZ Tsunami power AC.
Similar products
DIY 6 awg speaker wire with gold spades