I was curious about higher-end cables as well, so I auditioned a pair of Teo Audio ICs ("Game Changer"), their entry level IC ($500). Teo offers a money-back guarantee and are located in the same city as I live, so I figured if it didn’t produce any noticeable effect, I would only be out my time spent critically listening to my system (never a wasted past time).
I hooked up the Teo ICs between my preamp and amp.The improvement was dramatic and immediately noticeable. The decay of notes became much more distinct and individual. I was not prepared for such huge improvement. It was night & day.
I have since replaced all my ICs with Teo Audio Game Changer.
Likewise, I recently upgraded my speaker cables from Grant Fidelity SPC-2.5 5n ($95) to Pierre Gabriel PGS-L2 ($1,200). While the change wasn’t as dramatic as with the Teo Audio ICs, there was still a noticeable improvement.
Would $5,000 speaker cables provide that much more an improvement? I dunno? I have a modest mid-fi system (listed below), so the law of diminishing returns will probably start to kick in right away. I would like to try a pair of $5,000 speaker cables at some point, just to see if I could hear a difference.
My mid-fi system consists of:
Golden Tube Audio SE-40 Special Edition monoblocks (highly modded)
Esoteric DV-50S SACD
Roksan Xerxes turntable (rebuilt plinth and external power supply)
RB300 tonearm (with Incognito re-wire, Audio Origami SOFC external cable and Michell technoweight)
London Decca Super Gold cartridge
Croft RIAA phono stage
Gustard x20Pro DAC (modded)
Singxer SU-1 USB DDC (modded)
Asus VivoPC (running JRiver)
Martin Logan Spire (w/BC68 power cords)
12 ga. DIY power cords
I hooked up the Teo ICs between my preamp and amp.The improvement was dramatic and immediately noticeable. The decay of notes became much more distinct and individual. I was not prepared for such huge improvement. It was night & day.
I have since replaced all my ICs with Teo Audio Game Changer.
Likewise, I recently upgraded my speaker cables from Grant Fidelity SPC-2.5 5n ($95) to Pierre Gabriel PGS-L2 ($1,200). While the change wasn’t as dramatic as with the Teo Audio ICs, there was still a noticeable improvement.
Would $5,000 speaker cables provide that much more an improvement? I dunno? I have a modest mid-fi system (listed below), so the law of diminishing returns will probably start to kick in right away. I would like to try a pair of $5,000 speaker cables at some point, just to see if I could hear a difference.
My mid-fi system consists of:
Golden Tube Audio SE-40 Special Edition monoblocks (highly modded)
Esoteric DV-50S SACD
Roksan Xerxes turntable (rebuilt plinth and external power supply)
RB300 tonearm (with Incognito re-wire, Audio Origami SOFC external cable and Michell technoweight)
London Decca Super Gold cartridge
Croft RIAA phono stage
Gustard x20Pro DAC (modded)
Singxer SU-1 USB DDC (modded)
Asus VivoPC (running JRiver)
Martin Logan Spire (w/BC68 power cords)
12 ga. DIY power cords