System #1, Office system: Aurum Cantus Volla Mk IIs speakers (large ribbon tweeter 2-way), B&K MOSFET amp, Schiit Saga+ preamp, Ayre QB-9 DAC. The “Kloud 9” has smoked the Wireworld Equinox, 6 nines copper cable which sounds dark in comparison. The Kloud 9 has greater presence, depth of soundstage, resolution, etc. Very agile, without a hint of hardness. Very nice balance!
System #2, Speakers- restored Acoustat 3s (upgraded HF filter caps (Mundorf Evo oil, Jantzen Supreme and Duelund copper foil/oil bypass – no electrolytics) driven by an Audio Research Ref 75. Network: SoTM 10G Ethernet switches in series (connected with copper, no SFPs) / linear PS and an Ethernet isolator between the last switch and PC. Front-end is a SoTM USB regenerator with linear PS to a Schiit Yggy DAC (Unison card) / Freya+ preamp with RCA tubes.
*For the comparison with the Kloud 9 RCA cable, I used a Cardas Clear RCA from the DAC.
The Kloud 9 cable was right up there with the Cardas Clear RCA in terms of frequency extremes, smoothness and resolution. The tonal balances were a little different. The Kloud 9 being a touch lighter, airier. I really liked it on acoustic jazz and small ensemble classical. Where I thought the Cardas had the advantage is in complex music, one cut clearly illustrated the difference, ironically “Cloud Nine” by Mongo Santamaria. The Litz network in the Cardas seemed to deal with all the instruments better with less confusion. In this system, I also preferred tonal balance of the Cardas Clear RCA which gave more of a recessed mid “holographic” effect.
The Kloud 9 is a great cable overall, extremely smooth, musical and engaging. As usual, system dependent.