FYI - I went back to the DH Labs speaker wire for now. It's a better all-around wire. The CAT 5e cable ended up being too lean with the bass. The heavier gauge wire gives the music a certain "fullness" and "richness" that I like very much. As I said before, I think a simple, solid, rather than stranded, teflon-coated OFC copper wire somwhere in the middle of the CAT 5e and the T-14 might do the trick. The T-14 loses just a bit of detail at low listening volume (70dB), but really excels and kicks in once up around 80-85dB. Probably a combination of amps and wire.
By the way, I've heard that the first few watts of a SET amplifier is where you get the best sound. Push-pull tube amps supposedly give there best later on their power range. Where's the sweetspot, so to speak, with the VMB-1s? Based on my listening to date, I'd say it's not the first few watts. They come on strong somwhere after the first few watts and kick in at a very comfortable listening level. I don't like excessively loud music. That being said, these amps play cleanly with ease at 90dB-95dB with peaks into the 100s (based on Radio Shack analog SPL). With my drivers (89dB), I'm pretty much done at around 105dB to 106dB, I think. I don't need anymore given my room size. The whole experience is awesome and very non-fatiguing despite the listening level. Midrange and vocals are oh-so-smooth and never break up. And, the bass is clean and tight.
I've got a good thing going here...
Thanks,
Jim
