Audience Au 24 Cables

Richard Smith's diminutive coaxial Audience Au24 cable system provides the most natural and relaxed presentation I've ever experienced in my system, yet it sacrifices nothing in detail. The words resolute and detail are often used as code meaning "bright." None of that here: every detail is present, from a front seat cough to the acoustic signature of the recording space. I have never heard such resolve without that "in your face" glare or forwardness. Moreover, their ability at resolving detail down near the noise floor is breathtaking. They are both darkly quiet and explosively dynamic, making them unrivaled in my experience at the rendering of microdynamic shadings. Macrodynamic presentation is equally spectacular at 50dB or 90dB playback levels. Listen for this attribute with other cables. Typically, dynamic scaling diminishes right along with the volume setting.

Their timing is near flawless. They offer no obvious disparities across the entire spectrum. Everything arrives coherently, yielding an unbelievable sense of "pace" and "drive." To that end, they have an almost organic balance, as their interpretation of timbre is astonishing in its naturalness. They have the ability to recreate a full and realistic soundstage, not disproportional or exaggerated. They are simply the most "honest" sounding cable system I have yet to experience in my own system. More than any other cable system I have encountered in my home, they get out of the way and effectively communicate the inherent message of the music.

I have used many brands of cable over the past three decades, including, but not limited to; Monster (the entire gamut of their products), Fulton, Polk, Cardas, JPS, D.H. Labs, Kimber, MIT, Audio Quest, Straight Wire, Herron Audio, Transparent, Goertz Alpha-Core, Silver Audio, Silver Circle Audio, Analysis Plus, Harmonic Technology, and now, the Audience Au24's. While I am able to note the differences every cable makes when inserted into my system, the Au24 marks the most fundamentally musical shift in performance I have yet to experience. In addition, that transformation has been universal in my experiments across equipment with price tags ranging from $200 to $8000. Don't let these skinny little blue cables escape your attention. These are world-class cables that, given the price tags of some of their portentous peers, represent an excellent value as well.

The Grand Prix Audio Monaco Modular Isolation System

The Monaco's affect on overall system performance is, in a word, breathtaking. The improvements it wrought were so significant, it sounded as if I had upgraded every component in my system. We are talking about a scale of performance enhancement I would have, prior to its insertion, believed unattainable by merely changing or adding one component. Its benefits come in three primary categories; resolve, timbre and space.

The noise floor is significantly lowered, presenting music from a "darker," quieter backdrop. Musical speed improved to a remarkable degree as well. Transients and microdynamics are recreated with a greater deftness and alacrity. Individual instrument attack and decay becomes ridiculously clear and accurate, recording permitting.

Soundstaging and imaging improved in both size and specific focus. I could clearly hear further "into" a performance, with recordings now offered with a much more expansive and clearer sense of the space and air around instrumental voices. Performers and instruments are further liberated from the speakers, creating an even more vivid sense of "being there." To use a photographic analogy, it was as though I had moved from a Kodak Instamatic to a Leica.

Timber became more truthful in a number of manners including reduced stridency, diminished grain, and greater stability of pitch. Pounding pianos, blatting trumpets, resounding drums, plucked and bowed strings all carried a renewed sense of "rightness" about them. Combined with the improvements found in resolution, this more balanced timbre allows for greater musical clarity and a deeper view into the musical message of any source I played whether that be vinyl, Redbook CD or any manner of hi-rez aluminum (DAD, DVD-A or SACD). Though no one could mistake this gorgeous looking, sonic stunner as cheap at $3,795, in my opinion, there is no other way to attain the dramatic degree of improvement it offers for a similar investment.