Tice Audio Speaker, IC's & Power Cords Any Good ?

I put balanced IC-1A between my pre and power amps (15') and a bi-wire of 416 to my speakers (6'), and I am very happy. If value is a priority, these wires are fantastic. I'm sure there are better, but only at multiples more money. Me, I hate to overpay, even when I could afford to, and there are lots of opportunities to overpay for cables. I chose Tice wires over Kimbers and Cardas of comparable prices (and more). I have some better Cardas IC's on my source components, but only in 0.5m and 1m lengths, as the longer IC's and biwire speaker cable would cost thousands. Make sure you run in the Tice wires fully. The solid cores and dialectrics take quite a while. And as with any solid core cable, handle them very gently. I find their strengths to be bottom-end extension and control (can't have too much of either) and a huge, deep soundstage. They're a bit warm and sweet, with lovely mids and uppermids; just the thing if your system has any of the highend etch or hyperdetail. I actually think they sound similar to Cardas, even though they have a completely different design (Copper rules, by the way). Of course, they are much less money than the Cardas Cross or Golden Cross. I have found that simple design with good materials and workmanship is a combination that will deliver excellent results, and that description fits the Tice wires like a glove. I think Tice's marketing is over the top, and that hurts his credibility, but the fact is his products are great, and the wire is no exception. I can't help with the PC's as I haven't tried them.

I can tell you that Tice Audio is a highly reputable company, and that George Tice is a wonderful person to deal with. As with many high-end companies, Tice Audio is a small operation with about 6 employees, so there is a lot of pride in the workmanship that goes into their products. To give a generic recommendation or endorsement for their cables over the broad universe of other choices out there without knowing the details of your system and listening environment would be foolhardy. Yet, I do agree with your friend's basic premise that the Tice cables (to my ears, at least) do offer a very high value as compared to most other cables in their price range. This is especially true if you're looking for a "neutral" sounding cable - i.e., a cable that does not draw undue attention to itself or add any significant coloration to your system's sound.

My personal experience: I've used a pair of Tice bi-wired 416A speaker cables for some time and find that they mate well with anything I've thrown at them. This includes Newform Resarch R645's (which have a ribbon hybrid design) as well as Martin Logan Aerius (electrostatic design) and Talon Khorus (dynamic design). For the Khorus, I prefer using Kimber Kable 8TC, and for the Martin Logans, I prefer using Monster Cable 2.4s, but the Tice 416A cables are a perfect choice for my Newforms. So what does this tell you? In my opinion, Tice 416A speakers cables work fairly well with nearly all speaker designs because they are so neutral - yet, by doing comparisons to similarly priced cables, I've found that it's very system (and speaker) dependent, so it's hard to generalize.

I've also used Tice interconnects with good results (this includes a 25' balanced pair of IC 1A as well as several shorter runs of IC 1A that are not balanced) but have not done any close comparisons to other interconnects. I have not used the Tice infinite speed power cords, mostly because I'm so happy with the Virtual Dynamics Power 3 cords, which are a great value.

In my HT system, I use the Tice Power Block III C (HP version) which is their flagship line conditioner, and I also use a Tice Solo A/V line conditioner in a smaller system. I find that the Tice TPT treatment process has some intangible, but definitely noticeable effect, especially in video quality.

You can learn more about the company and their products by visiting their website, or by reading what others have said about their cables and line conditioners. Do some general searches on Google and in the archives here at A'gon, and then take it from there.

One final point. When buying cables of any kind, always, always, buy used! It's hard to mess them up so the used ones are as good as the new ones and half the price! Plus it keeps the A'gon sellers happy...

I have the Tice Powerblock HPC and 2 Infinite speed power cords. My amps, Classe 301 and an Anthem for the rear do sound better through the Tice, however it is a slight difference, not a knock, just want to give you a reality answer. As far as the Infinite Speed, definetly betters the sound of the Classe amp vs stock cord and an Audioquest 20amp upgraded Hubbel that I own. There is one really bizare benefit to the Infinite speed, and that is whatever circut you plug it into, it cleans up the circut and improves whatever else is plugged into the circut. It is more noticeable with video, but my RPTV , using the original cord from the tv, looks better when plugged into the same circut , when their is an Infinite speed on that circut. Something about the cord cleans up the circut, probably has a similar effect as say an Ultimate outlet.Hope this helps.

I had the infinite speed power cords on my Martin-Logan SL3's and sold them for TPC power cords by Orlando under the power cord section of Audiogon. His cords are superior to most of the Exotic cords including Electraglide.

I use Tice interconnects, power cords and an A/V Solo power conditioner in my system. Results are exactly as posted above. Amazing performance for the money--no doubts about it.

As a matter of fact, In have sent a Tice power cord and a set of interconnects to Dan Wright for evaluation. He's modding my Swans M1 mini monitors and I want him to listen to them with my Tice products. He'll let me know what he thinks.

I second the TPC Powercords by Orlando on this site under power cords. These cords are just awesome. They will make your amp sound like you installed a bigger transformer.

I used Tice ICs and speaker cables exclusively in my system until recently replacing everything with Luminous Audio products. The improvement was substantial, more like a component upgrade really. You owe it to yourself to check them out.

Oz

What ever happened to the Tice clock?

steve

I have swapped stuff in and out of system for a while. I now use Tice power condioner, power cables, and speaker cables, digital cable. Doubt I'll change it. Biggest surprise -416A. All clearly were my favorites and lower price was a bonus. And George has been very helpful. Also the Solo Video is grrat for video, No clue why.

I just acquired a pair of Tice Audio 416 speaker cables and physically I have not seen a speaker cable that can equal it in terms of difficulty to manipulate. These cables are thick and rigid. I'm still trying to get the hang of routing them. The spade connections have slipped off an amp I had that had Cardas binding posts. In another instance after connecting it to a speaker and then trying to route it they managed to turn the terminals. I'm still giving them a little run through and then I'll sit down for a listen.

Has anyone ever re-terminated the Tice 416 speaker cables? I'm hoping to change the spades to banana plugs. If so how did you do it and what banana plugs did you use? I can't imagine removing the plastic sleeves and putting a banana plug on such a thick cable.

Thanks in advance.