Another cheaper alternative to the Audience: Speltz Anti-cables. The Antis, if tightly twisted together, are very similar to the Au24: The Antis are slightly fuller with slightly larger images, a slightly deeper soundstage. The Au got across more details and had slightly better microdynamics and timing.
I went back in forth over a couple of months in two different systems and in the end decided that I could not justify the cost of the Au24 in my affordable system. Your experience might differ but the Anti are worth checking out. Also, if you do a search on the archive you will find that several people liked both the Au24 and Anti and quite often replaced the Au24 with Anticables.
Anyway, good luck!
Rene
I went back in forth over a couple of months in two different systems and in the end decided that I could not justify the cost of the Au24 in my affordable system. Your experience might differ but the Anti are worth checking out. Also, if you do a search on the archive you will find that several people liked both the Au24 and Anti and quite often replaced the Au24 with Anticables.
Anyway, good luck!
Rene