Hi MorganE
I recently picked up a Transparent USB Performance cable after auditioning at a dealer. I know there are lots of strong opinions on whether USB cables make a difference, and I don't want to provoke any of those emotional debates. I would just say that I heard a positive difference instantly compared with the generic USB cable Vinnie provides - you and others may or may not.
My perception was that the music became more three dimensional, smoother, with fewer sibilants and more natural sounding, like live music, to my ears ( I attend live music events about monthly and try to replicate, as much as possible without mortgaging the house!, that ambiance in my home music reproduction system).
For the modest investment of about 100 bucks (in line with Kimber, Wireworld, Audioquest, etc) and much less than the higher priced offerings (which I have not heard myself so can't compare) such as Synergistic Research, Locus and Ridge Street, I found it to be worth the money. I use it in my system of Isabella with DAC, Sig 30.2 driving either WLM Diva Monitors or the newest model Harbeth C7 with a JL Audio F110 sub to very nice effect.
As an aside, I did borrow some mid level (Link Plus and Wave Plus) Transparent Audio interconnects and speaker cables, to try at home with my RWA system, thinking I might get some synergy in having the entire cable "loom" from one vendor and design bias, but did not find them to be an improvement over the ALO built, RWA cables that Vinnie sells. In contrast to the RWA cables, I found the Transparent cables to improve bass, have similar midrange, but to be inferior in the higher frequencies - e.g. not as coherent across all frequencies as the RWA cables - too bass biased for me. Again, this is in my room, with my equipment and with my personal hearing bias. I liked the RWA cables better listening back to back.
I guess that just confirms once again that the RWA stuff has a natural synergy when grouped together. My only other components are my Macbook, non RWA speakers and the new Transparent USB cable - all else RWA. I hope that Vinnie will find time to finish his Phono Pre sometime in the near future while he juggles his time with the new LFP battery push, so I can add a vinyl source and keep my my system RWA coherent.
Hope this helps.
Jim
