I'm normally a pretty even keeled kind of guy. I've heard a LOT of audio gear over the years. It takes a LOT to get me beyond comatose when it comes to a new audio experience..... no more....
System:
Oracle Audio CD1000 (soon to be CD2000 when I sell off the CD1000)
Tact Audio RCS2.0S (stock... can definitely be improved)
Butler Audio A-100 Monads (my babies
hehe)
Usher Audio Be-20 (really should be priced higher than they are given their performance!)
I'm going to preface this by saying that I've been spending some time recently with John's new Statement One power cords from Black Sand Cable.... they are really stinkin' good power cords, btw.... I've really enjoyed the improvement over Silver Ref MKV cords I have used in the past.
I've been wanting to look at another cable line. Usher Audio's US distributor has added JPS Labs to the lineup and I've heard from a couple Usher dealers that really like the way JPS works with Usher speakers. So I worked out a little arrangement with Joe at JPS Labs and completely outfitted my system with his Aluminata line of cables.
I've added the following to the system this evening:
3 Aluminata power cords (one for each Monad monoblock and one for the Tact)
1 Digital AC power cord for the Oracle transport
1 single 1M XLR Aluminata digital interconnect
1 pair 1.5M single ended Aluminata interconnects
1 pair 8 foot Aluminata speaker cables
and then fired everything up and turned on a disc and hit repeat. I had intended to let the system play for a while before sitting down to have a listen. I never left the room.
In all my time in audio I have never, and I mean NEVER heard the kind of change these cables have just made to this system. Anyone who is a cable non-believer needs to hear this system and then let me swap things back to my previous setup of cables (which was damn good in its own right). It's not even close how much of a change there has been.
This system has gone into the stratosphere as far as performance goes. I have never heard violins sound more real. Detail like you can't begin to imagine. These things are ruthless in their ability to portray and resolve every little pin drop on the recording. Real, 3 dimensional presentation of... well.... EVERYTHING!
I'm so floored, I don't think I have words. I've never been so excited about listening to music before......
I know you can buy a really nice car for the MSRP price of the cables listed above. I know it's the newness factor to a certain degree and I will definitely spend a LOT more time doing some comparisons. I'm also anxious to pull the power cords out and compare them with the Black Sand Cable Statement One's (which worked wonders of their own in the old setup). But for now, in nearly 20 years in this hobby, I've never had such a dramatic, real life musical experience from a stereo as I've had the past couple hours.... and to me, that's saying a lot....