Spkr cbls & IC's-must they be same brand

Carl's experience, which I think was that Audioquest Diamond did not synergise with Audioquest Dragon, proves there are no "golden rules" in this game. But equally, on two occasions I have experienced systems suddenly coming right, when the final cable was changed to match the existing cables. I suspect some manufacturers deliberately voice their cables to work synergistically - but that equally they could not survive unless their cables could stand alone - since this is how they will be listened to very often. My point is that I reckon it is better to find a brand that has an even-handed presentation (in my case I like the neutrality of Wireworld cables) and try a whole set of them to see if they work with your system. As opposed to putting an interconnect cable in your system that is too [insert anything here you like] and then be forced to limit your choice of speaker cable or even components to items that provide the appropriate form of countervailing distortion. I certainly have found that there is a significant benefit from getting a synergistic relationship between interconnect and speaker cables which, if you do not get it, cannot be overcome by playing elsewhere with your system. I have not found the same to be true of digital cables (ie. no real synergy issues with interconnects, for example), and I have found that power cords need to synergise with the components they feed, rather than with any other cable in the system. Hope this helps.

I understand your points Megasam. The issue of "components from one manufacturer" is interesting. In the case of Naim gear in particular I reckon you are wrong. Naim gear never sounds right to me except when everything is as per the Naim philosophy - but even then I am not a big fan. I have found that pre and power from the same manufacturer is usually beneficial, and while mixing and matching can be fine, that there are often problems. The caveat is that often manufacturers are good at pres and not powers and vice versa. But there is usually a synergy that is recognisable when both are from the same manufacturer. An even more extreme case is transport and DAC combinations where using the same manufacturer is almost always better. The point is surely a simple one - some manufacturers (but not all) will spend some time trying to voice their components together, and since they have more variables at their disposal, are likely to have some measure of success that is hard to replicate by random selection from the used components sites. But with the exception of say Naim gear, there is no "must be from the same manufacturer" about it. Carl, I wonder if you are so keen on the T2s because you are getting some synergy with your MIT interconnects (I'm not trying to wind you up, I am just intrigued by your reports on this cable), have you tried them in combination with other interconnects?

Carl, I have been intrigued to hear about the T2 and have been wondering about buying a set. Thanks for the offer, but I doubt you would be interested in the Wireworld cables as they are only about 30 inches long (for my mono blocks). But I need a biwire pair of cables for my other system, say 8 foot and the T2 may be it. I have heard the T2 are on the warm side, and this makes me leap to the conclusion that they will be warm in the way that the Cardas Golden Cross are - which I do not particularly like. I didn't really expect there was any unusual synergy going on, but wondered how a relatively cheap cable managed to perform so well for you. Every rave I have heard about a cheap cable has turned out to be disappointing when I listened to it - great for the money, but not great at all (eg. HT, DH Labs, JPS Superconductor). MIT is not common in NZ and my only taste was a pair of "330 Extended" (or something like that) interconnect, which I don't think you could give away - it was so lacking in coherence.