I’ve always been impressed with Transparent interconnects. I have three older Musiclink Supers on my LCR channels on my HT setup.
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Transparent can be wonderful in the right system. A friend runs them and is most pleased.
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I started off with Audioquest Red River XLR upgraded to Colorado XLR now I have AQ Earth (3pairs) for my two channel system and Husky XLR for my subs. The Audioquest Earth was a big leap over the two prior cables.
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Cardas Clear Light. Cables are VERY system dependent. Look at it like the salt and pepper on your food.
XLO Signature 1.1 interconnects from Oppo 105D and PSA DS DAC to CA200 integrated; XLO Signature 3.4 coax from Oppo to DS DAC; XLO Signature Series 3 - 5.1 speaker cables.
Vmax, thanks for the info. It has been 2 months since Brad received the
money, so another 30 days will be appropriate. I will be curious what
your comparison finds out (I am curious if Brad uses a high quality HDMI
end connectors or run of the mill types).
His cables are directional and stiff because of air tubes. Anytime you bend them the silver needs to break in the dialectric. They ends don’t grip like wire world connections but less than the AQ dragon and are a relatively malleable metal looks gold plated. Most Walmart HDM cords grip better than AQ or RAL. I recommend supporting if cable is elevated connection
The sound of the RAL is nice first listen but best after 125 hours if you bend air tubes. AQ Dragon feels like air tube possibly but I am not sure. A little more flexible than a RAL.
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Very interesting that you found the AQ “Earth” to be an improvement on the “Colorado”… 
I sort of assumed that AQ maybe just changed names & appearance, and that “Earth” was basically a repackaged “Colorado”. I’ve used “Niagara” XLR’s for years, and really like them. They’re basically the same as “Colorado”, but with silver conductors instead of PSC+.
Cardas Clear…100%
I believe they replaced the Colorado in the lineup but they are definitely not rebranded under a different name. IMO the XLR connections on the Colorado feel superior to the earth tho the earth is a tighter connection. The difference is better noise reduction. After the Earth XLR the Colorado wasn’t even close in performance IMO. I had my hole system in Earth XLR except the Directstream Sr. When I bought the last pair to place in between the DSD and the BHK Preamp the improvement was obvious and wonderful! The replacement for the Niagara would be either the Wind or Fire.
The funny thing is, I’m actually saddened (not very much…just a little) by the fact that the latest generation of AQ interconnects might just be better sounding that the previous generation… 
I’m planning (any time now…) to go from a stereo amp to a pair of mono blocs, and for that transition I’ll need a longer pair of IC’s than the ones I’m using now. I was actually thinking of trying to hunt down a 2m pair of Colorado’s, or Niagara’s if I could find them. Perhaps instead I should focus on either Earth or Wind.
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I would definitely focus on earth or wind. I used 2m Earth for my M1200 monos. If you need a good price I have a guy!
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I use AQ Mackenzie XLRs for my M700s. Kimber 8PR for the Maggies.
Using Nordost Red Dawn xlrs interconnects and Red Dawn Speaker cables.
I had the Red Dawn RCA interconnects and the Rev 2 speaker cables so both a good deal out of date but thought they were very good. Then got on the cable merry-go-round. Spent a bunch of money on this and that and eventually chose XLO which I still use. They seem to do an excellent disappearing act.
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Hey joe-appierto…For sure there is better than the Red Dawns…howver
the slope on the mountain of price maybe more than me needs to
contemplate…
My Red Dawns disappear very well…sometimes make it hard to find
when I need to… 
Best wishes friend
Didn’t mean to imply that Red Dawn isn’t transparent and true to the source because it is. In fact they reside with my best friend and although he was never much of a cable guy, I doubt I could get them back. Well, maybe.
The XLO Signature series of cables is from the same school.
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No worries friend…You didn’t and I didn’t even see that either…so there 
So ya see there… all good…
All WyWires Diamonds with Platinums for the subs (Alex says Diamonds are overkill for subs). Oh yeah, a PAD Neptune spidf between Oppo and Lampi dac, a PAD USB between cable box and Oppo, and an Audioquest Carbon HDMI between Oppo and HDTV (someone at AQ wrote that was the best in the line when used for video only). What first drew me to WyWires (and PAD) after using PS Audio power cords and MG Audio Design AG2 ICs for some years, is their modest warmth. Probably a bit more with the Platinum line, which I discovered unexpectedly when in the last step I swapped in Diamond power cords to ATC actives. But with a little tube rolling I’ve been able to keep it as I like with the Diamonds. Since WyWires has been running 40% off for the past year, it’s been a whole lot more affordable (and there’s a dealer at Amart and occasionally Agon who is often able to do a bit better).
All of my cables are Nordost.
Speaker cables: Frey 2.
Interconnects and USB : Heimdall 2.
Power cord on the power conditioner: Frey 2.
Power cord on the integrated amp: Frey 2.
Power cord on the music server and DAC: Heimdall 2.
What I like about Nordost is the speed, precision, and nice leading edges of every note. At the same time, it’s smooth and not bright. Although I can imagine it could sound bright in some systems. My speakers are Dynaudio and my integrated amp is tube (Octave V70SE).
(I do have one Audioquest cable, a Carbon HDMI going from the Matrix X-SPDIF 2 to the DAC. It was on sale for $60, I couldn’t resist. I might upgrade to a Nordost Heimdall 2 HDMI next year.)
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