Gabriel Gold IC's are they really this good?

I think member budburma's description of the sonic character of the Gabriel Golds was extracted directly from my brain. Respectfully here's his remarks if you missed them

" To my ear and in my experience, the Gabriel Golds are the best cable on the market. I realize that's a bold statement, but I have had them in my system for a couple of years and have no intention of ever changing them. They are the most accurate, neutral, and perfectly paced cables I have heard. The extension and detail offered are absolutely grainless and full at the same time; this is, in my opinion, their strongest suit, although I can find no faults in any area. The bible black silence of the background is adorned with an accurately portrayed soundstage with mesmerizing 3-d characters....this fully rounded image is another of their strong suits.

I have the Extreme's and have not heard the Revelations. If I wax and gush it's because....well. I wax and gush over them; they are what I have been looking for in an interconnect for 15 years. They give me a goofy grin just thinking about them and they are the only part of my system I never consider changing in all of my ever curious and obsessive participation in the madness that is this hobby. Prior to having them in my system it seemed I was always trying to make up for a shortcoming in one cable with a different cable in another position in the chain. The GG Extremes are now the only cable i have in my system (4 pairs).

I have found that I really appreciate the sound of amalgams over pure metals whether flying solo or in combo (i.e. a copper hot and a sliver return). When properly alchemied, the amalgams seem to offer all the best of the pure copper, carbon, silver or gold cables without their individual shortcomings. To that end, I have long been a fan of Siltech, especilaly with my amps of choice, Plinius. Other cables that i have had include Stealth PGS (_XL, _3D) and Metacarbons, Analysis Plus Solo Crystal and Golden Oval, all of the G3 Siltech incluing SQ88 and FTM4sg, all manner of Cardas. Harmonic Tech, Acoutic Zen, DH Labs, Empirical Audio, Discovery, Zu Cable..anyway, those are the ones that I can recall without squinching my eyes and rubbing my templews with tiger balm or something like that."
"There's magic in them there cables"

When you read Bud you've said it all(weiser)

Jmcgrogan2, Have you tried the new Tesla Acoustic Reference and Precision Reference cables yet? I would love to hear how they compare to PAD and Jade.

Wow! I wrote that? I sound good on paper. Having written all that, I still stand by it....and hate tiger balm at the temples as it really burns the eyes... BUT, I will be upgradng the the Revelations anyway!. I can't resist the temptation forever and all the songs of praise sung on high in this thread finally pushed my button hard enough.

While I am at it, I think I should terminate the retermination question raised by my own meanderings. If I had read the Eichmann website more carefully and applied the hairdryer technique, I probably would've saved a thousand bucks or so and at least as many hours. But, i learned a lot and got to know some very interesting, engaging, knowledgeable and generous people along the way so I have no misgivings or regrets at all. And, I still have the Gabriel IC's which are another prize.

I have had Gabriel Extremes terminated by Steve with the original Jelco silver and both silver and gold/copper Eichmann Bullets. I have also had them reterminated professionally with the pricey Bocchino B3's. So, those represent the 'versions' in mind and above mentioned by John. I personally like the sound of both the Bocchino's and the copper Bullets a lot. And, while the down under group are obviously populated by extremists, in the end I fall into the 'less is more' camp and really prefer Steve's choice of the gold/copper Bullets. Interestingly, both of those terminations use plating techniques over copper that don't require or use a nickel base....I personally think that's a big deal offering a very large sonic advantage.

Back to the beef on the bone....the second pair Extremes I bought were silver Eichmann terminated and just didn't sound like i expected them to. The first Jelco terminated pair (standard issue at the time) I purchased had definitely raised the bar and I had already come to expect quite a bit. I decided it must be the Eichmann's not grounding properly....In the end, I didn't understand the design well or read their site thoroughly enough (as I mentioned earlier). I ended up reterminating with the Bocchino's and loved the sound! I reterminated them all with Bocchino's! Wow! Sounded amazing! Had to be the Bocchinos!

It was the Bocchinos...but WITH the Extremes. To be the complete and inquisitive audio junkie, I thought I should be able to compare the different termination and provide a complete review with solid a/b comparisons. So, reterminate one of the three to Jelco and buy one more with Eichmann gold/copper bullets....then compare contrast switch position.

In my system, to my ear, etc. silver is anathema.....even in small amounts plated onto terminations. In the end, all hail Steve's choice, the designer makes the best choice for his own cable. Surprise!

So, now I have all re-reterminated cables from Steve....I have put my ear and wallet out there to be counted and I stand by my experience. Now, I only have to sell the Extremes (now at about 37 inches in length...) to get some Revelations.

The madness is the fun. And I thin I may be approaching certifiable. I hope my recount was a fraction as enjoyable as the experience.

Peace! And, enjoy the tunes!

I know many members think it is heresy to mix cables, but I'm still using my Synergistic Research Tesla and GG Revolutions in sequence and love it. The image, 3-D staging, tone, detail, upper and lower frequency extension is amazing.

I like both the cables, but they have slightly different qualities and complement each other very well in my system. The GG is a bit sweeter with better frequency extension, and the SR Teslas are more three dimensional. Both have excellent clarity and detail.

06-27-07: Joeyboynj
Jmcgrogan2, Have you tried the new Tesla Acoustic Reference and Precision Reference cables yet? I would love to hear how they compare to PAD and Jade.

No, I have not heard either of the two cables you mentioned yet. I cannot say that I have plans in the immediate future to do so either. I have other non-audio (re: family) issues that are tying up most of my free time and money at this time. I'll look into them, but probably won't get around to trying them for another 6 months or more. I am currently comparing power cords with what little listening time I do have. Right now I'm comparing the PAD 20th Anniversary p/c with my Stealth Dream p/c. Both are very, very good, though I have no conclusions at this time.

Cheers,
John