Wide soundstage, crystal highs, and deep bass.

Insulation must be cared for or it will peal off and look terrible.

I've been using these cables for about six months now. I use them to connect the Pre/Pro outputs of my Yamaha DSP-A1 to my outboard amplifier (Citation 7.1). They required less than an hour of break-in. I find these cables have a greater sense of air and space than the MIT's and more of everything than my low end Monsters. I also find that the bass is just as subjectively low as the MIT's but give a greater sense of space. I probably should try other cables at this link to see if I can make my system sound better, but I find the sound so satisfying that I probably won't.

Similar Products Used:

MIT Terminator 4, Monster (low end).

value

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I received 2 pairs(1.0m, 0.5m)) of this cable three days ago as a replacement for my old AQ Ruby-x3. Connected cdp to pre-amp to amp with Tourmalines on one channel only (right) leaving the left channel connected with Rubies, for the ease of AB-ing, then played a mono recordings. Straight from the box (I'm sceptical about breakin period, when does it stop!)these cables presented an improvement over my old Rubies. Clarity, clarity and clarity. Tourmalines removed that veil, that partly had been blocking the sound. This is what hit me foremost. Clean and clear shimmering highs. Then some boomy sound around 100Hz just disapeared (thought it was my room interaction or speakers vibrations). Bass got tighter and firmer. There is better quality of it now, also seams to be more extended. Mids improved, too. Lack of that veil. Frank Iacone stated that he heard grain in the midrange. In my system, midrange is clear and neutral. Better than through the Rubies. Maybe what he heard was his electronics, not Tourmalines. At this point I installed Tourmalines also in the left channel to see how soundstage changes. Jimmy C. is right. On pop recordings singer seams to be blended with the band. But on audiophile recordings soundstages is 3D. The better the recording, the better the soundstage. Silence is blacker, too. Overall, there are more details, and more air surrounding instruments. Are Tourmalines more revealing than AQ Rubies? No question about it! Tonal balance is OK, too. And all this for lot less, than Rubies. I strongly recommend this cables. Cannot help, but give these cables the highest rating for thier price and value.
My system.
Cdp: Denon-1650AR
Amplification: Aragon-Aurum and 8008ST
Speakers: Von Schweikert-VR3
Speaker wire: AQ Crystal2

Similar Products Used:

AudioQuest Ruby-x3

These interconnects are a real disappointment, considering how good Goertz's speaker cables are. The imaging, sound stage, details, highs, and the lows are all great but there's something terribly wrong with the mids. If you listen closely to female vocals you can hear a very noticable loss on the low end. What that does is it makes the vocals sound thin and hollow. Suddenly the performer is a few feet behind the band instead of in front.
Stick with their MI 2 speaker wires!

I recently auditioned this cable along with the triode quartz. Cheap attena wire with grainy midrange and poor sounstage. This cable was a major dissapointment in contrast to the oher cables I auditioned including lat. silver audio, Kimber hero and silver streak. Dont waste your time on this cable

Unlike Jimmy C., I bought a pair of the Goertz Tourmaline interconnects and generally like them. They are very low characteristic impedance compared to other interconnects. Like all cables, they will sound different in different systems. I found them to be very clean sounding with a slightly improved sense of air and slightly more extended base (compared to Wireworld Gold and Monster M-series) in my solid state system. (Actually, I'm quite fond of the Wireworld Gold for its better dynamics!). I also found the Tourmaline cleaner sounding than all network cables I've tried.
When I used them connecting two devices of moderate impedance (50K or so), I found what sounded like a very slight emphasis in lower treble (5-8K?). Surprisingly, the Goertz silver interconnects didn't have this slight low-treble emphasis and sounded even a little cleaner. Perhaps this is what Jimmy heard in the midrange as a "thin" midrange sound. This seemed to be the difference when I A-B'ed them with Synergistic Looking Glass on a friend's tube system. The Looking Glass sounded slightly "sweeter", but the Goertz sounded cleaner and had more "air". On other systems, the effect completely disappeared (usually those with a higher input impedance).

All of these differences are small and require good ears and a good system to hear them. What I am sure of is that the Goertz Tourmaline is a GREAT VALUE and beats or compares to many other expensive (over priced) cables. Is there a perfect cable? Probably not, but having quality cables makes an important and cumulative difference in soundstage, air, dynamics, and frequency response.

Exceptional sound quality for the price.

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I have read the reviews on these cables and this started my interest in pursuing a set for auditioning. Getting rave reviews at less than $100.00 for a set of cables is odd enough, a paradox no less. The cables are being used to connect the cdp and preamp. I was using Kimble Kable Hero for 2 weeks before the switch. I thought the sound of the Hero was very nice, although expensive for its simple technology. Undoubtedly the WBT's add much to the cost. I'm very disappointed with the Hero since: The Goretz Alpha Core CopperTourmaline arrived via UPS. The difference in sound quality is in the order of a magnitude. I chose the OFC over the Silver; since my experience with silver wire is that the sound is cold and mostly bright or brittle in the midrange frequencies. I prefer the warmer sound of copper, over silver. Although, I'm willing to give the Gortz silver line a try considering how well these cables perform. The cables come in a plastic canister with suitable documentation. The Gortz quality is first rate, attention to detail and build quality are exceptional for a cable in this price range. I installed the new cables and let the system warm up. I was not prepared for what I heard. The entire audio spectrum opened up and took hold. Clarity, Attack and Detail all came together and presented it self immediately. I believe these cables to be very neutral, that is, they do not add or take away from the music, or maybe more importantly mismatch components like allot of other cables will do. I have not noticed any attenuation or exaggeration over the spectrum. These cable are an exceptional value and should not be over looked. Cables have been in use for 7 months.

Similar Products Used:

Transparant Plus MusicLink, Kimber Kable Hero.