Over the last couple years I've taste tested a bunch of cable, all over the price map (nothing ridiculous though) and most very well reviewed albeit maybe not very well known. From DH Labs, Mapleshade, Z Cable, Zu Cable, Kimber, TMC, to name many. What I settled on was Zu Warmouth and Zu Wax for IC & speaker respectively. I was always impressed with the amount and quality of the information they passed and how there wasn't really anything they added or took away, they just sounded the most right, natural. So being like we pretty much all are I decided to try something new! Mostly because cables are pretty harmless, easy to A/B for the most part and readily resellable. What really got the ball rolling was a listing for a 20ft run of Groneberg TS premium on audiogon. This Groneberg TS Premium is apparently their top of the line speaker cable. According to the web site (Gronebergs) it lists for 1,800 Euro!! Which seems damn steep unless it does dishes and washes my car too!! I had it sent to Klaus after asking him about it so he could cut it into a 12ft and 8ft pairs. I got it a couple weeks ago and have had a chance to give it a listen. Actually I've had the IC's for about a month now.
I can say that I noticed the attributes I'm about to describe when I replaced the Warmouth with the TS Premium IC however it was magnified, amplified, whatever with the speaker cable in place as well. When I compared it to the Wax, my wife and I both agreed, fuller, richer, more detail, more real sounding and a lot less bright with more bass than the Wax. And I REALLY liked the Wax! The bass rounded out, had more weight and seemed more natural. Highs that were sometimes shrill before (i.e. crowd noise or clapping on Hotel California live) were now bearable and actually real sounding at normal volumes. My wife's response was "the first ones (Wax) sound fake compared to the second (Groneberg)." There really must be something to that synergy Klaus keeps talking about
They are pretty thick blue industrial looking - but cool in a SPROCKETS kind of way - if you remember that Saturday Night Live skit - "touch my monkey..." So, as I sit here, things are sounding better than ever, one little upgrade and tweak at a time.
