Sounds familiar Vern! I also have to listen while the wife is sleeping or at work!
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Dagago has an ICONOCLAST review.
The feelings are very consistent to all the user comments found here. No changes there other than a new set of ears that enjoys what the cable’s can bring to music.
Our preferences do have decided boundaries and ICONOCLAST definitely rides well into the resolving and quick sound with a large sound stage. For those that enjoy this presentation they do extremely well.
Read it and see how it matches to your actual in-use feelings. Be interesting to see if the descriptors are mutual across all our users and how we would describe the “sound” ourselves. That isn’t easy to do.
This is why we have the 30-day trial. We know it only when we hear it. A review can be a gentle sorting mechanism, but it doesn’t do the selecting, we do that.
Best,
Galen Gareis
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This is one looong review. I read fast, but this is quite a haul.
But it is interesting, thorough, with some good observations.
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Elk,
The review pulls a lot of, “oh you know what” information into the fold. About when it seems to go off topic, it gets pulled back around. I also think we have lost the art of reading comprehension if it gets too involved or too long. I know I have to learn to re-think actual READING verses quick “posts”. Reading involves far more comprehension and memory through the article to keep the dots in-line and connected. We also can get lazy with multiple thought processes running parallel. Ya I know, I %$D*& about it, too.
The take-away is Douglas enjoys the cables across MANY different systems and speakers and that the sonic pre-cursors remain largely the same and favorable through the review. The final choice remained the same and he suggests they are his current favorite, especially at the price.
The price and performance is where we worked awful hard to trim them down based on volume. We cut the price 50%!! going through Blue Jeans if you note the initial price. I am a stalwart on VALUE as I did purchase at MSRP prices alternative “performance” cables at $$$ numbers. I didn’t want ICONOCLAST to be in that price crowd so unless we could reach a value for the performance, we can’t really be, in my mind, competitive.
I think that the reviews are helping to recommend the product and define the VALUE, but we as customers still get to pick them from a field of alternatives. So as we evaluate opinion in reviews the value of the product line gets a proper comparison so your job get easier sorting the performance you can afford and yes, we want to save money but not if that means losing performance. I think ICONOCLAST gets you more performance at a lower price. That was also a part of the project. Do really good cables have to be priced like they are? Hard to say but we chose a different route.
Your voice as a customer has to be the right one, though. “I” think the value is there compared to other similar products but do YOU? PS Audio asks you the same question every day. They are the same kind of market model. Keep the price well below the performance comparison(s).
Best,
Galen Gareis
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I am a huge fan of your cables.
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That was absolutely the weirdest review I’ve ever read. He jumped from soapbox to soapbox and damn, is there not an editor there??
On a positive note, he really likes Iconoclast cables (as do I).
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Galen I think he stated that you do not believe cable break is necessary, did I underrated that correctly?
magicknow
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Good question! I thought to ask the same question. Thank you @magicknow
I think the review lost me at Whales the species not the geographical destination. At least he said up front it was the best cables he ever used.
Depending on how he answers, will that change your experience based on your own listening? E.g., if he says it matters, you’ll think, “I guess I can hear it changing”, or if not, “Galen said it doesn’t matter, so thank God, I don’t need to think about that”?
That may sound like a dickish question, but I am curious about how people think about listening, and the degree to which prior held thoughts and the opinions of others can override or determine direct perceived experience.
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Or @magicknow may just be curious as to Galen’s opinion. 
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Nelson Pass has said that “burn-in” is all in one’s mind. All that matters is warm-up.
I’ve had and currently have many of his amplifiers and he’s wrong about that point.
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Very true - not trying to cast aspersions. Just as I am honestly curious as to magicknow and paul172’s opinions.
I find 30 seconds in the microwave saves a lot of time. Although all of the disconnecting and reconnecting of cables gets tiresome.
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Hmmm. Only my little tube amp will fit, but I’ll try it.
I suggest starting a separate thread on your topic so as not to derail this thread so early in its life.
Apologies - never mind. I withdraw the question, your honor.
Wait - March 2015 is early in life?
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With respect to Elks request to not derail this
I was surprised how adamant the reviewer was about Breakin being BS, my experience is that it certainly is real to me, as an extreme look at the DirectStream and how much buyers remorse happened in the early days of ownership, I mean a whole new “don’t worry it will get better support group” was formed.
So I am curious when Galen is on this subject and I don’t expect his view will change mine.
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The current topic, the recent review, was just posted. Let’s discuss it rather than start a separate topic.
(The degree to which prior held thoughts and the opinions of others can override or determine direct perceived experience is a entirely valid topic and great for its own thread.)
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Hi all,
My experience is that the cables sound good to me, or not, straight away.
I have not heard directionally (this is AC) and switching the cable ends a few time is free. There are only four combinations to try. Due to the way the cable is made, all the “wires” grains are the same. So mark your ends and switch away.
Amp warm up matters some as the bias is set with a stable DC resistance circuit and temperature can effects the voltage. Modern stuff is far less problematic than it once was, though. My M40 - HV amps sound better once warm. But it isn’t very long. Ten minutes or so and, half of that is the electrostatic panels on my CWT 1000-40 speakers settling in after being off. So we have that.
But strictly on break-in I can’t say in my systems it is apparent over the amps warm-up and panel voltage stability being reached and neither of those is more than a few songs in. Bad beef is right, too, that WE break-in. What song was initially played, good or bad fidelity and all that.
Cable break-in isn’t important to me at this point as there is zero harm in working with break-in either way or even cable directionality. If it matters, I don’t need to be the one to “make it happen” any more than identifying directionality. The cable should do it if it is real in your system and you’ll hear it.
I haven’t seen any measurement I know to make that drift with old or new cables that isn’t outside of gauge R and R test repeatability. So no help there. Wire DCR will change with temp to a known equation but it is a very small change in a room you’ll want to ever stay in for long! Maybe amp bias voltages drift to the desired settings, I don’t know. Need to ask the people who make amps.
In my system it is the speaker panels that take a minute or so to work is what I hear.
Best,
Galen
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