Several years ago, in an earlier incarnation of my two-channel system, all my wires: power, interconnect, and speaker, were from Element Cable. I had settled upon them after going through trials of literally dozens of affordable cables from more companies than I can recall, and was actually finally pleased with the sound of my system. My Element Cables were, above all, listenable for long hours without getting in the way of the music. I simply didn't hear the cables, just the music. Nirvana? NO. There was a snake in my garden that eventually whispered, " If your system sounds so good now, just imagine what it might do with music if it had those uber-expensive almost magic wires I read about in TAS and Stereophile. So, I swallowed hard and bought two pairs of Stereo Knight X-Link Balanced Interconnects, at $499 a pair.
Were the X-Links better? Yes, a lot better, as it finally turned out. However, after two years of real satisfaction the madness again blossomed: is there something actually still better? I started researching: reviews, websites, everything short of Gypsey fortune tellers. Perhaps it was simply the memory of how much satisfaction I had gotten years before from my inexpensive Element cables, but I made a nostalgic visit to the Element Cable website, and was surprised to find Anthony Wynn had added a new, upscale line of cables, Element Signature. Long story short, I ended up ordering a two pairs of Titan cu "es" interconnects, one pair to connect my cdp and preamp, and the other to connect the preamp and power amp.
The Element Signature Titan cu "es" ICs have been breaking in for a couple of weeks now, and I must say I am stunned at how big an improvement I am hearing in the sound of my system. Suddenly, I have a three dimensional symphony orchestra live and playing before me spontaneously creating live music, or the Dave Brubeck Quartet spotlit in the darkness of the Blackhawk playing "Somewhere" with all its emotional content intact.
Background is silent, instumental timbres sound real, sound is smooth and detailed, dynamics seem unrestricted. What more could I ask?