Tonearm wire selection

When I got my SME312S tonearm it came with Vandenhul wire. I thought there was something wrong with the SME until my dealer strongly recommended I swap out the Vandenhul with a Graham IC-70. Huge difference (This coming from someone who is extremely skeptical regarding spending big $ on cables). Given my poor experience with the Vandenhul I'd suggest not buying that brand unless you can demo in your system first.

I second the vote for Discovery wire. I used it to rewire my ET2 with excellent results. I have also used the Vandenhul, Cardas, and currently the Audinote wire. Yes, I have rewired the ET2 three times over the years (!). The vdH and Cardas wires could not be more different sounding. I didn't like the Cardas' closed in, and dark sound; very smooth, 'though. The vdH which my ET2 came wired with, I found to be a little zippy sounding, and not particularly refined sounding. The Discovery was just how Thom describes it, very extended on top, but also very full sounding, with a very open, and dimensional sound. Most recently, however, I rewired my ET2 with the AN, and it is my favorite, by far. Incredibly detailed, but also very refined, clean, and with fantastic soundstaging. You have to be a glutton for punishment to want to work with the stuff. It is maddeningly thin, and VERY difficult to solder. I use a continuous run from cartridge clips to preamp.

I strongly recommend the Discovery Cable. It's the cable of choice for both the Tri-Planar as well as the Durand Talea.

In addition to being wonderful wire, Joe de Phillips is a joy to work with - much as our dearly departed Garth Philipe of Incognito was.

One caveat - the Discovery has a much more extended top end than the Incognito (which is Cardas based wire). If you have any top end nasties, the Discovery will not lie to you.

You can link to the Discovery Cable website from my Galibier site.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier