I tried all three speaker cable materials. I had the SPTPC the longest but sold them for OFE
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When I tried TPC cables it seemed to place the mids and the mid bass too far forward. Perhaps because of my line arrays and they do not roll off like a point source 6 dB at my listening position. The SPTPC gave a more natural depth dimension and kept the presentation closer to lifelike on the stage in front of you and back behind speakers. One wasn’t looking at the tonsils of the singer nor was the guitar amp driver flapping your pant legs. Yes the TPC it sounded cool and left a wow factor. but it felt too surreal and felt false compared to live performance and messing up spatial cues.
I knew SPTPC was getting things right in my system listening to a broadway musical and the sax player aligned to position on a balcony and set back from vocalist just like live musical stage was set up. Also notable with piano staging relative to orchestral pieces.
Why the copper differences did that with the line array was a bit puzzling and unatural.
Exactly what I heard, as well, with planar electrostats.
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This is cuz you guy’s speakers suck.
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Kidding aside (admittedly a rare occurance for me) there is no substitute for Firsthand Experience in Your System.
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If they didn’t suck so bad, it would have saved me some significant bucks on cables. But to fix the suck I’d have to join the Magico thread, which ain’t happening anytime soon unless that Powerball ticket hits… 
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And as a testament to the former statement - the OFE was like a blanket over my system (at the time) and the SPTPE, for me - as Baldy noted “just never sounded “right” with all music.”
I think all those who have weighed in recently are not mistaken. I think that a given flavor of cable works in your system with your taste - or not.
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Definitely, and Galen has given the same advice.
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It is really nice that they will let you keep all 3 variants for as long as you need to make a well informed decision in your room with your equipment.
Of course if you change one link in the chain then you might need to change a few more links to get back to where you were. 
It is also very nice of them to offer to send you another set of what you don’t have to see if they might be “just the ticket!”
Someone here once called them “Iconoclastic” and it fit perfectly.
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Sorta the Only Thing I am interested in at this late stage in my Audiophool life, is someone’s subjective experience. SO MUCH BS with people speculating based on other’s opinions and measurements in the absence of experience. YES, I know that subjective experience is only One Man’s Opinion - and I can do that Math. But I value it above the opinion of hundreds of those who have no Firsthand Experience. How could you not? Just bear in mind that it is one Vote. This strikes me as one of the ongoing issues in this sphere - as with measurement - which adherents cleave to by virtue of its seeming application to All Things. Measure all the f**k you want. How does it SOUND? To you - in your system. There is no Absolute Sound.
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Very true we are lucky to have the choice at no cost to trial the options.
I haven’t felt the need to swap speakers since I got these maybe because I searched five years to find a pair even to buy. I do say the Iconoclast gives up nothing on detail makes every other system change standout. I would have bought TPC variant over any other brand of cables had it been the only iconoclast copper choice.
I do love the amazement on any music lovers face putting them in the 7 foot wide sweet spot and handing them the Roon control. Then hearing comments like how can this sound this good, and the real band is right there, and if I had this at home I would never sleep. Those moments are priceless.
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Yes the speaker make a difference for sure. I feel your pain so I BOUGHT a set of CLX with stereo BF212 subs AND a pair of T+A Solitaire CWT 1000-40 carbon speakers, too. I also have two different amplifiers, a MOON W-8 and T+A M40-HV mono that are CLASS A and CLASS AB, both. Each is very different./ The MOON use feedback, the M40’s are zero feedback and tube input stages. Absolutely equipment changes your choices.
I am trying to hear what you do to better help you decide what to trial with two sets. The two sets will vary with the speakers you use. Expensive to try to work the ends of what people will use? Yes, but you are all worth it to spend my money on. My task is to hope we all hear and enjoy what I do designing them. Something like this should be sold.
Nothing said here is wrong as it is indeed what you want to hear and what seems most right for your ENJOYMENT. Some don’t like a live sound as that is actually far, far warmer than speakers are as the highs roll of really fast away from the stage. Your speakers? You sit right there six to ten feet away!
ICONOCLAST tries to improve the sense of stage placement of the musical events such that they are spread out in from of you in a more natural dimensional setting. The copper does change that some too. But every ICONOCLAST will enhance the sense of a stage properly placed in front of you. That is the first thing I heard in the early development trials. And WOW, is that hard to be without after you hear it.
All cables are good enough at frequency response, the timing issues vary a bit cable to cable as the slope of the Vp differential changes so much through audio;
Low inductance for PHASE and a more linear Vp differential bu using smaller and more numerous wires does the trick if you know the tricks. Phase is how well the stuff is lined up at the start, and Vp differential is the filters (cable) distortion(s) added to the time base. Some call it group delay as the frequencies spread apart in time as they go down the cable. Even if phase is set perfectly into the cable, it won’t stay that way.
And, I tell you what those tricks are. Each cable will vary based on how well you can adjust the Vp slope with EM field cancellation and capacitance mitigation and control. The design of ICONOCLAST, speaker cable especially, allows me to set the L and C much better than any other design I came up with.
So there is the math but as Bad Beef says, who cares about that as that’s what you pay me to do. What you want from me is the performance and I get that.
Also note in the graph what IMPEDANCE does with frequency. Yep, it goes UP markedly, and for all cable. And no, it is not flat with frequency or even close to eight-ohm to match any speaker’s impedance. I know people say it is, but if you measure the cable open/short to industry standards for low frequencies it won’t look much different than the curve you see above. I can improve the slope, but in no way can you eliminate it. That’s the physics at work. As Vp falls with frequency (it is in the equation denominator) and Xc capacitive reactance rises (more resistance to AC as frequency drops) the impedance has to go UP.
The important attributes my studies says we hear are the time base errors in the cables. There is a choice of math to optimize that, and that’s what I used. Stay tunes as I tell all in future COPPER magazine articles. None of this is a secret, how you get L, C and R to behave is indeed patented as THAT is not easy to do.
We can’t get perfect at all but we sure can make it better than zip cord.
Have a nice Xmas everyone. I like Greg Lake - I Believe In Father Christmas song every year I hear it. So beautiful and something we all want to be for someone special. Never stop, it’s worth it.
Best,
Galen Gareis
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Merry Xmas! Love my Iconoclasts.
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Proof that Santa is an audiophile! 10AWG for my P20 and amp and 12 AWG for my preamp and DirectStream.
Early impressions, overall better control, bass has more slam and instruments are better articulated. These cables are also dressed to kill! Glad I upgraded from the stock cables.
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They are really good quality, value and performance for the money.
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Galen’s Podcast with SFAS. It is good to put a voice and face with all the posts and emails
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Hurray - thank you Galen, for sharing your very impressive experience, knowledge and genius!! Your XLR interconnect and OFE speaker cable has been my reference cables for the last 2+ years, because no other competitors’ cables have even come close.
At the end of the SAS presentation you teased everyone about Gen2 Iconoclast power cables being finished for the design and BJC is now figuring how to make them.
When can you share design specifics with performance measurements?
Thanks!
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Hi V,
Design for pre production cable trials is a long way from done. Lots of tweaking.
I there are also usability updates on IC cable too. Those are also in the cards to leverage a little better flexibility into them. Criticism on XLR stiffness acknowledged. The RCA are OK, but I’ll hit both designs anyway.
We’ll see how much I can improve the bending moment. Performance has to be first, still.
Yes, I am making nip and tuck changes and new products like the BAV power cord where we had no products at all.
Thank you for having confidence in our matter of facts designs.
Best,
Galen
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