Transparent Cables - Worth the money?


Hi all,

I am considering a system upgrade which includes Transparent's Reference XL cables (interconnect & speaker). My current system consists of the following components:
ProAc 3.8, ML 383 & 39, Van den Hul Revelation Hybrid (BiWire) and interconnect VdH MC Gold Hybrid. Does it make any sense to upgrade to this extremely expensive cables? I am thinking modular: my following upgrade will be: Conrad-Johnson Premier 16LS, ML 33H. Any comments welcome!
koen
I just upgraded my system from Analysis Plus Silver Ovals to
Transparent Ultra XL xlr and Reference XL speaker cables
and it's clearly better than AP in timbre, bass, resolution,
soundstage. Not to say that AP is bad, but it's overmatched
by Transparent. The AP sounds congested, and has a midrange
deficiency. Associated equipment Jeff Rowland 8T, Bat VK-30se, B&W N802, Levinson 360s,Perpetual Technologies P1A
resolution enhancement + speaker correction, ASC tube traps,
Aerious bearings for isolation, 2 Richard G, Cobra PC's.
Tubester,I am definately common and I don't live anywhere near California. If you want something you have to work and save for it. It's just a matter of how bad you want it. While they are expensive I don't believe the markup is any higher than other cables out there. You get what you pay for.
having owned transparent super and had transparent ultra in my system (ml and b&w)and now have audioquest sterling in my system and have tried may other cables. Cable differences seem to be a balance trade off between resolution and smoothness.With the audioquest in my system it is like u r in the music venue listening as if u r there!
I find with transparent it is like hollywood sound everything is exagerrated bass mids vocals soundstaging placement of insturments and the sound is dry uninvolving no pace rythem, not really musical just a big dynamic sound with exaggerated sound effects.I guess it just depend what turns your crank but myself i will seek sound that takes me to the hall, recording studio or stage
Ontario, my listening tests from listening to transparent tell me that transparent only sounds as good as the rest of
you're electronics and that the cable exposes any weak links
in that particular system. Listening to my friends system
that consists of Krell FPB 600c, B&W N801, bat VK50se, +
Sonic Frontiers P3 Hooked up with Reference With XL technology only exposed the true character of the Krell
amp. In my system I run the same wires but use a Jeff
Rowland 8t to power my n802 and find the presentation to
be very musical and natural. Airy, not congested, extended,
true to the image, rich in the midrange. As for audioquest
I have never tried, but Transparent in my system is the real
thing.
I have just completed a transformation of my system to use Reference XL throughout. While I, too, feel that the cost of any of almost any cable out there is suspect, there is simply no denying what you hear. In my experience (and I've tried nearly everything - Harmonic Tech, XLO, NBS, etc.) the Ref XL simply makes musical instruments (and human beings)sound more like the real thing, in real space, than any of the others and by a wide enough margin to justify the cost. When you have invested significant $$ in all the other components of the system, it was, for me, illogical to use a lesser-performing cable that significantly compromised the overall sound of the system. In my experience, value, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Because of what these cables do, their cost, for me , was more than justified.