Its nice to dream. Galen has no interest in producing ultimate cables. Not his business model Though he could kill giants if metallurgy was his strategy.
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I was enjoying listening to the Iconoclast Gen 2 Balanced interconnects. But when I switched to the top of the line Stealth Audio cables the truth was the Stealths let the music through transparently. The Iconoclasts affect the sound quite a bit in comparison. When I told Galen this he wrote me off immediately as a kook. @minnesotafats was with me when we made the switch and it was so very obvious.
1m Balanced Iconoclast is approximately $3k
1m Balanced Stealth V17 LE $27,600
For me it is worth the money.
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Al, fats, some more info on what the Iconos did, by comparison, would be interesting to hear.
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They colored the sounds. Some frequencies were subdued, bass dramatically. Some were more pronounced, mids. The soundstage was reduced in width and depth. When listening to it everything sounded fine except for a near absence of bass. The overall impression was positive except for the bass. But when we switched to the Stealth Audio cables, veils, many veils were removed. Clarity was striking. The soundstage was amazing.
One hose restricted, the other did not.
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Thank you sir!
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At $27,000., I’d have to be able to put my guitars and amp in the back.
But I do absolutely get what you’re saying; my cables mayhaps to a lesser degree; one fifth the price lesser.
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I remember specifically that cymbals and percussion sounded more real, live, and full.
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I should mention I had to drag @minnesotafats into finally buying Stealth Cables. He has one AQ Dragon in his setup. I predict he swaps it out for a …….
(The nagging you certainly will principal)
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right and wrong at the same time
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Dream V16 Speaker cable. I have a pair of them, I’m not using them so I could loan them out. 2M. They seemed nice. The Dream 18s quite a bit nicer. It sucks as they make better than the Dream 18.
They look like this:
I knew what they cost but it slips my mind. It’s a lot.
(Al, they are $63,000 for a 3m pair, $27,000 for each additional meter)
One point five meters long. 127 pounds. Liquid cooled, magnetically levitated.
Safe for children but not Bunnies.
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good to know
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a boa constrictor?
Everything flows through that unaffected by real life. It’s guaranteed.
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That would be a great tag line!
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The stealth cables remind in Inakustik air in feel except the Inakustik are more flexible. Plus come with tuning. They both like silver and large conductor separations. The stealth are very very premium priced.
The Referenz description
The AIR technology is a milestone in our more than 40-year company history and is causing a worldwide sensation in the hi-fi industry. The approach sounds relatively banal: Physical losses must be minimized in order to transmit the original music signal as unchanged and neutral as possible. And AIR technology comes closer than ever to lossless transmission. It leads to significantly better sound reproduction, which is not only subjectively audible, but also objectively measurable. The insulation or dielectric of the AIR cables is almost perfect thanks to the air insulation and hardly influences the sound any more. The construction, dimensions and arrangement of the conductors are optimized and fully exploit what is physically feasible. In order to set another sonic highlight on this basis of audiophile perfection, the developers at in-akustik have now focused on the conductor material of the cables. Copper of the appropriate purity is a very good conductor. A superconductor that does not resist the current would be perfect. However, the superconducting properties of the material require low temperatures of at least minus seventy degrees. Silver is currently the most conductive material under real conditions. At 61.35 S/m (Siemens per meter), its conductivity is about six percent better than that of copper. However, the precious metal is about 100 times more expensive.
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I have long been a fan of Inakustik! Bang for the buck hands down winner.
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Al quite the Boa Constrictor you have there, perhaps even Anaconda.
We like the stealth of Python Regius (Ball Python). Tropical temperatures in The Netherlands, pets get to play outside the terrarium this afternoon.
Not compatible with sharp teeth of bunnies too, or of our lovely dog for that matter.
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These Stealths are a beauty! I can understand how transparant and neutural they can be. Even my lowly V10 is a great sounding cable. It is hard to imagine that Iconoclasts UPOCC is “colored”, but I understand. I will never find out though, and I do not want to find out!
Cables make so much difference! Last time I check my cables/PC is close to 80% cost of the gears (excludes speakers), and I may need to go to 1 to 1 ratio to dig-out more from my system. What a crazy idea! 
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Didn’t someone mention the 10% rule for cable to component before? That was perhaps before the market discovered what we madmen were willing to pay for. Today they tell you. “This is not just any cable, fuse, pad…you have to see this as a component in your system” Greetings Andrew