"Great RCA interconnects under $100?"

Marco, You are really sharp on tube stuff as well as IC's, cables, etc. Got a question.

I'm facinated by the flexibility of a system that has lots of tubes. I just changed to some different power tubes in my amp which really smoothed out the highs nicely, but bloated/muddied the bass a bit. So I put in some more neutral drivers. That really helped with the bass but now the sound was revealing some upper mid-range roll off, so I went into the CDP and changed the tubes to some more neutral tubes. Now its pretty smooth and balanced. Do you think I should try to improve the system by finding cables which may help me improve the system further. Assuming of course that I can? I fear if I find a more 'neutral cable' it will reveal some shortcoming in my 'matching' and I have to start all over. :-)

FWIW, your choice of watch selection analogy is really more on point than any other, I think. I belong to that group that wants an 'old fashion technology', outstanding performance, and a low cost. I settled for a mechanical chronometer/chronograph in a stainless steel case. A divers type watch and clunky. Loses less than 1 minute a month and cost me $850. Love it! The same mindset drives my audio hobby. I also like my VW Passat a great deal for the same reason. Do you think that these posts are about 'valadidation' more than anything else.

Tomorrow I'm going to start reading War and Peace again! :-)

I chose a battery Omega Seamaster after my Seamaster chronometer was stolen. The battery version keeps outstanding time, unlike its chronometer brother, although the battery version isn't as secretly sexy.

The most accurate watches I've ever owned have been Timex.

Oh yes, under $100 interconnects? My opinion is they all mostly provide the same performance in this price range provided one is comparing similar construction (i.e. shielded versus non-shielded, copper versus silver, etc.), so toss a dart and pick one.

Do you think I should try to improve the system by finding cables which may help me improve the system further. Assuming of course that I can? I fear if I find a more 'neutral cable' it will reveal some shortcoming in my 'matching' and I have to start all over. :-)

Well thanks for the high praise, Newbee, but I think there are folks here far sharper than I with the tube gear. Boy, without getting very specific it sounds like you probably shouldn't play with something that's good already...or is it? Is there something still missing? I'm betting you're gonna' play some more, just by the fact that you asked the question. The old adage, "...if it ain't broke..." just doesn't apply to audiophiles. I'm all for experimenting if you have the time and patience, but then when do you stop and say it's good? Gee, that was a big help, wasn't it? One of the very basic things I've noted time and again about materials is that silver seems to me to be fast and revealing and seems to not be great in the bass region. Copper seems to be slower, but does bass betta'. Probably old news to you and anyone with much experience here. A broad generalization at best. FWIW, in my own last fiddling about with wires in my tube system, I kept ending up with silver wires between pre and amp, and copper between source and pre. I kept trying different permutations and always ended up back there.

As for watches, I still wind mine too...I like the ritual. Chrono too; vintage military, yet quite elegant in its simplicity. Oh, and my wife drives an older Passat - great car. Toilet paper? I like Charmin cause of that Mr. Whipple dude. I think he wore a Timex.

Marco

Never thought I'd start a "what watch do you wear" thread, but there you go!
Just for closure, I wear a $150 Casio (big bells & whistles model) that only gains 4 second per month; not bad huh?
Time to go listen to some music I think...

$100.00 is not really enough to even build your own SOTA cable. Four quality RCA connectors start at $50.00 and up.