[marvda1]

I am not a professional reviewer and i am not working for/with audio art but thought i would like to pass a little inside info on to the masses.

I'll start this off by saying run don't walk to your computer and place an order now. www.audioartcable.com He is about to raise his prices.
I will break this review down into three parts starting with my room ,setup, and what i like in a system/music.

Room: 12 x 15 x 8 ft. with speakers on the short wall with some fiberglass panels for acoustic treatment. The speakers are 3'4" out from the wall and 1'11" from the side walls. There is one chair (my throne) 9' away and the speakers are 8' apart and toed in to point at my listening position.

Equipment(before audio art):
Speakers: Usher 6381
Amp: Usher R-1.5
Preamp: Dodd Audio ELP tube preamp
Source: Onix XCD-88
Speaker cables: Gregg Straley Reality cables
Interconnects (cdp-preamp): Elf audio silver copper hybred
(preamp-amp): Zebra cables
Power cables: (cdp) Element cable digital cord
(preamp) Signal cable 10ga.
(power amp) Zebra cable 10 ga.
The Signal cable and Zebra cable cords are the same
design.

After years of buying affordable cables (<$100) and steady swapping them out for one another, I finally realised that I was only doing lateral moves and that there was not much difference in the sound of these cables so I was never satisfied.
In comes a friend who just happened to be demo'ng a pair of Straley interconnects ($225- 3') and boy did they make a big difference. He didn't make it easy as he gave me a pair of Elf silver/copper hybred interconnects free. The Elf's were not far behind the Straleys in sound and checking on the Elf site their current interconnects start at $450 -3'. I emailed Gregg Straley to ask which would make the most difference, interconnect or speaker cables, his reply was that most people thought his speaker cables made the most difference, so I had another friend bring a set of his Straley speaker cables over for a listen. Needless to say I ordered an 8' pair the next day.

Afetr having my eyes(ears) opened I decided on my upgrade path and that was to start with cables. My problem was where was the money to come from without getting a divorce. I started selling off all my other cables to raise funds. Here were my options:
Straley - 6' $270, 3" $225
Sas (Jena Labs) - 6' $180, 3' $140
Then I was reading about Audio Art which got a lot of great reviews saying people were selling their $600-$750 cables to replace them with Audio Arts. The prices were good enough, 2m $109, 1m $89 so I ordered a 2m length since I had determined that the link between preamp and power amp was my weakest.

I know you must think I am rambling on a lot but it is because I am sooo happy with these interconnects.

My second log will be about what happened when I subbed in the Audio Art for the Zebra cables. Almost forgot I will discuss my musical tastes.

My last installment will be about adding the 1m pair in the system between cdp and preamp so bear with me.

thanks,
marvin

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[marvda1]

Part 2 of 3

I’ll start this installment off with my preferences in sound. I like my highs to be clear dynamic and fast with detail but not sterile sounding. I do not like harsh or edgy highs nor do I like rolled off top end. Midrange I like slightly warm sounds lets say on the warm side of neutral, I also like speed here. Bass should be fairly tight and punchy but must be in balance with the rest of the spectrum.

When I replaced the Zebra cable with the IC-3 between the preamp and power amp there was an immediate and big change for the best. I will try to breakdown the improvements in sound that I observed in each area, i.e. highs, mids, and bass.

The highs are more extended with a smooth detailed sound. There is no harshness or dullness in the sound. Female as well as male voices are clear and natural sounding. As a testament to the smoothness in the upper range the IC-3’s made Patricia Barber’s “Too Rich For My Blood” much easier to listen to and if you have heard her Café Blue album you know what I mean.

The mids are rich, warm, detailed and clear, again male voices are natural.

The bass is deep, tight, and is still improving as I get in more burn in

The soundstage is deeper than before and you hear things in layers with each individual instrument or performer in his own space.
Overall the music has a sense of ease coming through the speakers as if you just added a larger water hose.
The sound is dynamic, not in the sense that the cables play loud but that they go from soft to loud in a heartbeat. The IC-3’s match beautifully with the Straley Reality speaker cables.

I now find myself listening to cd’s that I haven’t listened to in years.
I should have 1m pair in Wed. and I just found out there is about to be a price increase of about $20 across the board.
I am also considering getting a pair of the all copper IC-1 and the speaker cables for my second system and as a change up in sound to the IC-3.
I will most likely post part 3 this weekend.

Marvin

[lonewolfny42]

Marvin...Maybe a strange question....but if this is the Critic's Circle, why not post your review here ?

And looking over your equipement...don't think I saw a Polk speaker ?

But...well its late, been a long day...happy listening.

Chris

[marvda1]

the reason i posted it there was because the guy i sold my old cables to asked me to after i told him about the audio arts and rather than paste it in different places i just cross referenced the original thread.
Lonewolf, I'll post it here as I will probally get better feedback.
Marvin

[marvda1]

bump

[Nick B]

Marvin
I checked out the Audio Art website and it is very nicely done....very professional. Seems like there are lots of good choices out there for less expensive cables like Signal Cable, Guerrilla Audio etc. I have the Straley stuff throughtout and it's quite good. Did have a problem with a bad solder which he fixed right away. So I'm glad you are enjoying and thanks for putting out another choice for me in the future when I get into HT.
Nick

[marvda1]

Hello Nick, I also have the Straley speaker cables and realized that i needed to also upgrade my interconnects.  Having had Signal analog 2, Zebra cables, Aural Thrills,  and listened to Element twisted pair,  I was constantly switching back and forth between them.  Having heard the Straley interconnects I knew that was the sound for me but the cost was getting out of my range as I would need a 6ft and 3ft pair($495) so I started to search and ran across an Sas (Jena labs) recomendation ($320) it was starting to get close to what i could afford then i started to read some of the reviews of the Audio Art stuff ($203) and said what the hell and ordered a pair since they have the 30 day refund policy.
Believe me, you would be highly mistaken to think that they are just a good option for "Home Theater"
And yes I would have all Straley if I could afford it.
marvin

[lonewolfny42]

the reason i posted it there was because the guy i sold my old cables to asked me to after i told about the audio arts and rather than paste it in different places i just cross referenced the original thread.
Lonewolf, I'll post it here as I will probally get better feedback.
Marvin

OK Marvin....thanks for your reply....

Chris

[marvda1]

Final Assessment

  When I got the 2nd pair of ic-3’s in and inserted them between the cdp and preamp replacing my Elf audio interconnects (silver/copper hybrid), I thought the Elf’s had more detail but it turned out the Elf’s were brighter and the ic’3’s had just as much detail.
Now that the 1st pair of ic-3’s have burned in the bass surpasses the Elf’s.  I had the 2nd  pair burned in at Audio Arts.

Here are some of the notes I took:

1)  black background
2)  well balanced presentation
3)  smooth airy highs, no harshness
4)  natural mids, male/lower female voices
5)  punchy lower mids/ upper bass
6)  good 3d soundstage, increased depth
7)  cables directional, small arrows on the cable
  great match with Straley speaker cables
9)  takes some time (100hrs) for the bass to come around, you can get them burned in by Audio Arts ($5)

Some of the interconnects I have had in my system that the IC-3’s outperformed are:
Mas blue
Mas grey
Element twisted pair
Signal analog 2
Aural thrills black axiom
Zebra cables (belden cable)
I have had the Straley interconnects in and they do sound better but are $225 - 3ft pair.

Someone asked if I was connected with Audio Arts, NO I am not affiliated with them nor do I receive any payments from them.

MY MOTIVATION FOR WRITING THIS REVIEW:
1)  I was asked by someone whom I sold my old cables to when I told him what I felt about the IC-3’s.
2)  We all read reviews everyday and in the back of our minds we want to do a review.
3)  I really enjoy these interconnects and since they saved me a lot of money I thought I would pass this on to others like me.  If you have the resources by all means buy the $1300 interconnects.

I may try the IC-1’s and SC-5’s speaker cables for my second system.  If I do I will report back.

If anyone else tries the Audio Arts cables, I would love to hear your impressions.

That’s all for now,
Marvin

[fredgarvin]

Hello Marvin, I was wondering if you have tried the "anti-cables"? I'm not a real cable guy but a lot of folks seem to be praising the Spleltz'.

[marvda1]

no i haven't tried the anti-cables but someone i trust a lot had the anti-cable speaker cables in his system and said they sounded too thin and i know the sound of his system even though it is ever changing.

[Zero]

Mardva1,

So Mark finds them thin, big whoop. Try em for yourself. If you can afford these Art cables, you can afford the anti cables. Do a shoot out.

[pearsall001]

I just finished a bi-wired pair of speaker cables made out of the 12ga magnet wire with the red varnish coating. I am extremely impressed with the sound quality these cables bring to my system. They are far, far away from sounding thin. Just the opposite for me, very dynamic, powerfull bass & just downright musical. I couldn't be more pleased with my DIY project. On a side note I have a very large spool of the wire. If anyone is interested in trying a DIY project I am selling it for .35ft & a flat fee of 3.00 to cover shipping costs. Trust me I'm not getting rich with this offer. I'd just like to see others try it & am making it very easy at this price. If interested send me a PM.
Phil   

[marvda1]

what's the best way to get the varnish off the ends?

[marvda1]

anyone else tried any of the audio arts products?  if so let me know what you think.

[brj]

what's the best way to get the varnish off the ends?

I've heard that you can burn it off with a lighter, but I haven't tried it myself.

[pearsall001]

what's the best way to get the varnish off the ends?

A plain old dinner knife scrapes the varnish off nicely. Just get it back in the drawer before the wife finds out. I'm telling you straight up - the 12ga magnet wire bi-wired pair that I made for my AAD 2001 monitors sounds absolutely fantastic. It doesn't hold back on anything. Also the Audio Art IC'3 that I have are also stellar performers. I am now set as far as speaker cables & IC's are concerned. Boy that's a nice feeling not having to spend any more money on these items.