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First a tiny bit of background. In about the last 18 months I've made some significant upgrades to my system bringing it to a level that quite honestly, I never thought I could achieve. I've been very lucky in that regard. I have a system that surprises me, delights me and is revelatory to me every time I play it. It's one of the best systems I've heard, and I've received that comment from most people who hear it. I don't say that to be braggadocious in the least, please believe me. I'm just trying to set the framework for where my head was at when I started down this path. I certainly was not sitting around thinking, "Geez this sucks, I sure wish I had better speaker cables." In fact, I thought the speaker cables I had were quite good. They were custom made with Furutech 12 Gauge Alpha-PC Triple C wire w/ Locking Banana Furutech CF-202 R - Carbon Fiber Series (straight) Banana Connectors.
Then Kingrex posted about trying some Inakustik speaker cables. When I looked them up and saw how they are made and what the design concepts are behind them I was intrigued. I contacted several people who had purchased them and could find not one stinker in the bunch. So I took a chance and ordered a pair of the LS-4004 Air. There is a bit of a wait to have them made. While I was waiting I was challenged by a member here who is known to have pretty good ears, to try a pair of Mapleshade speaker cables. Not being all that much money I thought, "What the heck?" and ordered a pair of them too. There wasn't much waiting for them at all, they were here within a week.
What a shock! First was their ergonomics. Tiny stiff wires with the personality of a Slinky. I have to admit that I developed a bit of a negative bias just by how they looked and felt. I know that was wrong but I couldn't help it. But then I hooked them up. Without ANY break in period at all there was an immediate eye opening, . The music just opened up. I don't have the experience that many of you have. I have a harder time being able to be descriptive of what I DO hear than I have of being able to readily identify when something is gone or different, and whether I like it gone or different. I had never considered for a minute that my Furutech cables were holding anything back or guilty of veiling anything. But they were, pure and simple. I just got more music with the Mapleshade than I did with the Furutech. I lived with the Mapleshade for two more weeks before the Inakustik arrived. During that time I swapped the Mapleshade in and out a couple of times, and never changed my opinion.
Then the Inakustik arrived. I didn't pay much attention to them for about 40 hours or so of running on a loop. They say they need 2-3 times more than that to really come into their own, but we all know how my patience is. So I queued up my first serious listening piece. Jumping Jehosaphat and Mary Mother of God. If the Mapleshade had cracked open the door of what more music was available to me, then the Inakustik just flung WIDE open the floodgates and my world was changed forever. Music is delivered with so much more authority, clarity, precision, body, attack/sustain/release/decay, jerk your head to the side holographics. Imaging to die for, soundstage deeper, wider and taller. They are better in virtually every metric I can think of. If these things really do get better, I may not be able to contain myself.
Then Kingrex posted about trying some Inakustik speaker cables. When I looked them up and saw how they are made and what the design concepts are behind them I was intrigued. I contacted several people who had purchased them and could find not one stinker in the bunch. So I took a chance and ordered a pair of the LS-4004 Air. There is a bit of a wait to have them made. While I was waiting I was challenged by a member here who is known to have pretty good ears, to try a pair of Mapleshade speaker cables. Not being all that much money I thought, "What the heck?" and ordered a pair of them too. There wasn't much waiting for them at all, they were here within a week.
What a shock! First was their ergonomics. Tiny stiff wires with the personality of a Slinky. I have to admit that I developed a bit of a negative bias just by how they looked and felt. I know that was wrong but I couldn't help it. But then I hooked them up. Without ANY break in period at all there was an immediate eye opening, . The music just opened up. I don't have the experience that many of you have. I have a harder time being able to be descriptive of what I DO hear than I have of being able to readily identify when something is gone or different, and whether I like it gone or different. I had never considered for a minute that my Furutech cables were holding anything back or guilty of veiling anything. But they were, pure and simple. I just got more music with the Mapleshade than I did with the Furutech. I lived with the Mapleshade for two more weeks before the Inakustik arrived. During that time I swapped the Mapleshade in and out a couple of times, and never changed my opinion.
Then the Inakustik arrived. I didn't pay much attention to them for about 40 hours or so of running on a loop. They say they need 2-3 times more than that to really come into their own, but we all know how my patience is. So I queued up my first serious listening piece. Jumping Jehosaphat and Mary Mother of God. If the Mapleshade had cracked open the door of what more music was available to me, then the Inakustik just flung WIDE open the floodgates and my world was changed forever. Music is delivered with so much more authority, clarity, precision, body, attack/sustain/release/decay, jerk your head to the side holographics. Imaging to die for, soundstage deeper, wider and taller. They are better in virtually every metric I can think of. If these things really do get better, I may not be able to contain myself.
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