Straight Wire "Maestro"

They used to be the top of the line for Straight Wire. In the early 90s they were general considered to be a reference quality cable. They are somewhat system sensitive; they can be overly bright if mismatched.

The cables are only as good as you think they are. It depends on your system. I have always found StraightWire to be in that "more forward" group of cables, along with Kimber. Fine for me, but not for someone who leans toward solid state electronics and metal dome tweeters. In the last couple of years, StraightWire has lost much of their magic. I guess only because they have not been as aggressive as many of the newer companies. But, that has no bearing on how their products sound. I remember friends raving about Maestro in their systems. Plug it in and try it, if it sounds good to you, keep it. If not, try some other cables as comparison.

Previous responders sounded good to me, but the Maestro cables in my system definitely did not! Quad ESL 63's and, at that time, a Classe DR3 VHC power amp. Not known for overemphasizing highs, but the Maestro's turned jazz symbols into annoying fizz. In other systems, maybe they're okay. But my guess is that they're no longer a serious contender in any system, that at a minimum their day is past.

I have a 15ft pair of Maestro-I speaker cables between a Mark Levinson 335 and NHT 2.9 speakers, and they sound fantastic. I tried Maestro-II balanced interconnects between my Sony SCD-1, Mark Levinson 380 Pre and Mark Levinson 335 and did not care for them, in stead got Madrigal Gel CZ-2 balanced which sound very nice to me. My suggestion would be to try the cable and see what sounds best in your setup...