Audiogon speaker wire gurus, please help me

Your weak link is the First Sound pre.

01-28-07: Psychicanimal
Your weak link is the First Sound pre.

If the First Sound preamp owned is the Presence Deluxe II (or higher), then I disagree. The First Sound preamps are among the finest preamps built today. The First Sound preamp may or may not be a good choice in the context of the owner's system and goals, but the preamp can hardly be considered a weak link.

When I owned a Presence Deluxe II, I had the largest soundstage (wide, tall) I've ever had in my system...regardless of the amplifier, source or wires used.

However, the Presence Deluxe II is not what I consider a warm sounding component, and neither are the Dali MS4 loudspeakers. Although I haven't heard the combination, I have heard systems with each, and I can imagine how the combination might result in a cold overall tonality.

If the sound the author is after does not already exist to a large degree, then changing wire is not going to accomplish the goal.

If I were you,I will try Kimber select line.

Tcheathertree,
I would have to agree with others on this thread that it sounds more like a component mismatch than a cable issue.
Case in point: I bought a highly rated integrated amp that was beautiful, powerful, and highly transparent sounding.
I wanted to love it but the sound was just too dry and a little bright for my taste. I tried to solve this problem with cables but after throwing a lot of money into cables I realized it just wasn't working.
I hated to see it go but I needed what was right to my ears. Good luck with this tough decision.

Tcheathertree,

Having tried different speaker cables within my system, I will have to say that there never was a difference with the soundstage and air around the insturments. And since those are two things that I demand and matched my amps to my pre for, I too suggest you demo some other preamps.

Jim