Looking for really fine cables at really low price

Almarg you are gold!

Jim Smith has asked Siedy Abee to clarify his remarks. Hopefully Abee will respond soon.

Al,
Thanks for your comment/explanation. Unshielded wire and natural fiber materials fit the same category as NFB (no negative feedback). By that I mean the principle(simpler and less complex) of their use and effect seems to yield positive sonic results more often than not. However it's difficult to attribute their apparent benefits in isolation. Yes they appear to improve the sound quality when implemented but other variables are very likely in play. NFB benefit will certainly be dependent on speaker characteristics.

Bill, Jet or Sal, how about making ICs with natural material and another with synthetic dielectric and compare? I know, easy for me to say.
Charles,

Thanks Al! Very well done. Yes, it did remove a ground loop issue that only this amp seemed to have in my system. It was indeed a 60 htz hum through the woofers! I have had this same issue with other tubes amps and love the fact that a shielded cable removes this potential nagging issue.

I agree 100% with the un-shielded cable giving the perception of more air and top end extension if you will, when perhaps it is really high frequency noise. The absence of noise is a startling thing in a stereo system and something our ears have to get used to. Very interesting point/speculation Al.

I do notice I can turn up the volume with these shielded cables with no negative impact on my tinnitus. I cannot claim the same thing for past un-shielded cables of both copper and silver variety.

Charles, I will build a nude set of WE IC's and compare once it has fully burned it. I will use this one between my dac and preamp.

It may react differently in my system vs. another's based on Al's comments above.

Al, Thanks so much in particular for this comment.

"Regarding natural vs. artificial materials, it stands to reason that the characteristics of the insulating materials surrounding a conductor can affect the sonics of a cable in various ways. But I would be (very) hesitant to draw any general conclusions about natural vs. artificial without extensive and carefully controlled comparisons."

Folks, forgive the rant of a professional chemist and amateur philosopher. Nothing exists physically that is not made of chemicals or elements, which in turn are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Stated in philosophical terms, chemicals (and their constituent parts) are the material cause of all that exists, whether they be made by sentient or nonsentient efficient causes. Protons, electrons, and neutrons or their derivatives don't think. They do not know what or where they are, or how they came to be. Cotton is almost pure cellulose, which is a chemical. Cellulose does not know if its efficient cause is biosynthetic or not. It does not know or care how it came to be. It does not know if it was manufactured by people in a chemical plant or by "natural" means in a cotton plant that grows in the ground. The same is true of silk or latex rubber.

If one inherently rejects anything "artificially made," then what are you going to do for a conductor? The tin plated copper wires don't grow on trees. They are manufactured by humans in factories. The music we listen to is largely synthetic, coming into existence by the deliberate design and execution of human beings. Not many of you, I'm guessing restrict your listening to the songs of humpback whales. Nor do many of you, I think, travel by means of an all natural wooden wagon pulled by all natural mules. The outer jackets of your vacuum tubes are made of glass, not of silk.

Shall I go on?