Dave, thanks for allowing me to take part in your cable tour. Here is my review of the D3 ICs and 14-gauge SCs. First, a little background. My system includes: speakers - Salk HT2-TLs, preamp - Modwright LS100, amp - Bryston 4BSST2, source - Cambridge Audio 840C CD player, current ICs - Kimber KS1116 and 1121, current SCs - Kimber 12TC. My wife is a classical pianist and, not surprisingly, we listen primarily to classical music. So the CDs we used most for the audition were: (1) piano - Chopin Nocturne Op. 48, No.2, with pianist Fan Ya Lin (an IsoMike recording entitled Emerging - spectacular sound quality and an excellent performance BTW); (2) choral - Ockeghem's Deo Gratias from Utopia Triumphans by the Huelgas Ensemble (Sony); and (3) symphonic - Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Yoel Levi and the Atlanta Symphony (Telarc). The comments below reflect those of both me and my wife - we tend to have the same preferences, but she can explain what she's hearing in different (and more musically astute) terms than I do.
First, let me say that Dave's cables are a pleasure to work with - extremely well made, very flexible, and with high quality connectors. His cables were very listenable, with a bit softer/more relaxed sound than my Kimbers. The tradeoff, to our ears (more pronounced in the SCs than in the ICs), was that Dave's cables sounded somewhat less open/live/present than the Kimbers and with less detail (YMMV - we might be viewed as detail freaks and what sounds more present to us may sound too forward to you). For example, in the Chopin Nocturne the D3s had a lovely delicate sound, but captured fewer of the piano overtones and less dynamic color (my wife said the Kimbers allowed the piano to "speak" better and better transmitted the "core" of the sound). In the Ockeghem choral piece, the Kimbers seemed to allow more space around the voices, making each individual voice more distinct, and to better capture slight rhythmic changes and a greater dynamic range. The Stravinsky piece was a somewhat closer call, however, partly reflecting the strong (but not at all boomy or muddy) bass heard with Dave's cables. And we would describe the differences we heard as subtle, rather than dramatic.
While cost is not always a good indicator of sound quality, the fact that Dave's cables sounded as good as they did for about 35% to 65% of the cost of the Kimbers is a real testament to what Dave has achieved. Indeed, from memory I feel confidant we preferred them to several other well-known (and higher-priced) ICs we have auditioned in our system in the past, including Audience, Analysis Plus, and Wireworld. In fact, it made me very curious as to how his 11-gauge SCs and new D4 ICs would have compared in my system. Especially if you find your system too bright or prefer a slightly more relaxed or laid back sound, I definitely would encourage you to try Dave's cables.
Thanks, Dave.
