Speaker cables to go with Pass Labs XA160

TBooe - I would have to say Purist as well, BUT - the Aqueous Anniversary speaker cables fit this system perfectly and are a much better sonic match than the Venustas. The Au24's are going to be too wamr and soft in the lower frequencies, which is NOT a good characteristic with Pass amps. Go with the Purist Aqueous - you'll be very, very happy with the results and they fit your budget!

Go with the Purist Aqueous - you'll be very, very happy with the results and they fit your budget!

According to Tbooe's System Page, he is already using these cables. Which leads me to my question: why change?

I played with the Purist Aqueous Anniv (AA) spkr cable and found them to be way too non-linear vs. the Purist Opus spkr cables. The AA spkr cables had a very prominent and wide peak in the mids that quickly became too fatiguing for me. A return to the Opus and tonal coherency was back. This was with CAT JL-3 amps driving SoundLab A1 speakers. The rest of the system at that time was Dominus PCs throughout and all Dominus ICs with the exception of an AA XLR cable from an Aesthetix Io to Callisto.

If you are looking to compensate for the slight warmth of the Pass amps, my suspicion is that the AA spkr cable is the wrong direction.

Thanks everyone for the response.

Boa2, yes my system has changed considerably. I will be updating that soon.

Nsgarch, the XA amps are smooth sounding but definitely on the warm side of neutral which is a bit different that their SS amps.

jafox, your comments are very interesting. Can you explain what you mean by non-linear? So the peaks in the mids give the AA too warm of a sound? You think the Opus is more neutral?

I agree w/ Jafox about the PAD AA. IMO, it's a step down from the Opus and Venustas (which are basically identical in my mind -- but don't tell Albert I said that ;--)

I haven't heard much of anything about the Purist Anniversary which is EVEN MORE than the Dominus! Has anybody bought them?
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