Anyone settled in on Purist Aqueous interconnects?

The two reports of rolled off highs in Aqueous interconnects have come from people who auditioned balanced versions of the cable.

I wonder if the XLR versions were not wired in a manner that corresponded to the pin configuration in your equipment? I have no idea if this would result in a rolled off presentation, or if this would result in no sound whatsoever. However, I do know that I have owned equipment with XLR inputs and outputs in which the pin configurations were different.

FWIW, Aqueous interconnects are so extended in my system that I would never use two pairs together. I prefer a pair of Venustas in combination with Aqueous. Even swapping their placement has an affect on the sound.

When I comparred the cardas gold. ref with a Nordost Valhalla I had exactely the same result. You wil miss a lot of resolution. Because the Cardas filters a part in the middle freq. When we went back to the Valhalla you knew you missed a lot of information

Have you auditioned Purist Aqueous, Leonx? Perhaps I missed that post.

I put some balanced Purist Aqueous interconnects in my system a couple of months ago. I have them between a VTL 6.5 preamp and a pair of Bel Canto Evo 2 Gen 2 amps running in mono. I had been warned by some friends that they require a good deal of break in time. I found this to be absolutely true. When I first installed them, they sounded incredibly nasal. Very tight and rolled off. Over the next couple of hundred hours, they underwent a lot of changes. At first, they opened up on top and got muddy in the mid bass. Then, they tightened at the bottom and got rolled off sounding on top. After about 200 hours, they became much more tonally neutral and reasonably dynamic. Still, they weren't a significant improvement over the Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval that I replaced. It was actually at around 400-500 hours that they turned a corner! They really did in a way I've never heard from any audio component. One day, they just seemed to open up wide and deep. I was almost dizzy from the added 3-dimensionality. My impression that there is something very unusual about the properties of the liquid jacket in this cable which makes break-in so crucial. In any event, I'm now totally happy with the Aqueous.

I'll bring this thread back to life again.

Jppenn, what did you end up with? Do you still own the Aqueous ICs? Care to comment?

Also, has anyone had the Purist 20th Anniv. Aqueous ICs compared to AZ SIlver Ref II and Matrix Ref II interconnects? XLR versions.

I'd be interested to know...thanks