Allow me to tell you a little story about how I got to use my current IC's .....
I replaced my Audience Au24 IC's about a year ago with .... you will never believe this ..... A$11/pair shielded IC's from .... you won't believe this either .... Bunnings!!!! (for readers outside Australia, Bunnings is a chain of large hardware stores).
I'd always had a little hum through my speakers when music was not playing, not audible from listening seat but a little annoying nonetheless. I'd played with grounding, cable dressing etc etc etc and had no luck in reducing it. I began to wonder if it was induced hum into my unshielded Au24 IC's. But, I'd read that shielded cables can be bad as they make the sound dull and closed in. To prove or disprove whether the hum was entering my system via the unshielded IC's I decided to buy a couple of pairs of cheap shielded cables to use for the test then they could be ripped out and put on the TV/VCR etc. They were NEVER intended to stay in my system.
I found some well constructed, shielded IC's at Bunnings and bought 2 pairs. I popped them into the system and powered it up ..damn ... the hum was still there. I stood up to rip them out as planned then, for some unknown reason, it crossed my mind to play some music and listen to these cables for a laugh. I umm'd and agghh'd for about 10 seconds on whether to waste my time and thought "why not?".
With no break in whatsoever, they sounded slightly veiled and closed in but I was astounded at how good they sounded. I decided to let them burn in a little and listen again before ripping them out ... nothing to lose. I listened again after about 10 hours and the veiling was gone. These cables were better than any IC's I had ever heard.... better than my Au24's! They have remained in my system ever since. I recommended to my father to buy and try a pair. He thought I'd gone completely bonkers until he did so and they have remained in his system since then too. Next was my uncle, Dad's brother, they are now fixed in his system too. They keep joking with me about when am I going to find them some incredible $11 SC's to go with them.
Just this week another friend from here on AC replaced his Hologram IC's with these IC's and cannot believe how much better they are.
It was a sheer fluke that I stumbled across these cables and I VERY nearly didn't even bother listening to them. I have no twitch to investigate IC's any more.
Cheers,
Darren.
PS. For those whose interest I have piqued, the IC details are as follows:
The brand is: ANTSIG PREMIUM (Model AP221)
They are called: 'Premium 2 RCA to 2 RCA Audio/Video Cable'
Available in 0.9m, 2m.
They are in the electricals section near coax & other AV cables. They are dark blue in colour. They have a little rubber thing near each end that holds the two conductors together but if your component has the RCA jacks a fair way apart (eg. the AKSA amps) just use a sharp blade to slice this down the middle. As a bonus, these IC's are quite flexible too.
I hope they work as well for you. Be sure to give them a good 10 hours burn in, this seemed to be enough.
