I've been trying a number of different phono cable. I have a Kontrapunt A cartride, jelco LMT tonearm and a Sonagraph SG-3 turntable(modified Sota comet). Which is the weakest link in my system. Downstream I have a Thor MC phono stage, C-J Premier 16 pre and Premier 11A amp.
I started out with the Cardas Neutral Reference and for the price they were exceptional, detailed and open but not as much as I sought. Went on to the XLO 3A/2 and Kimber H-TAK and found that they gave great midrange but for my ears little else was defined and guickly went on to Cardas Golden Reference, which were more open and detailed than their Neutral ones but not significantly worth more to me, went on to Purist Audio HDI and loved the detail, resolution and outfrontness of its sound. Am now trying the Hovland and it is a much more laid back sound, with more openness but no lack of detail. It makes the Purist Audio sound etched by comparison. It seems to be a cable I can easily live with and may well mark the end of my search. At $795 I sure hope it does. If I had to pick a favorite other than Hovland it would be toss up between the Purist Audio at $630 and the Cardas Neutral at $294. Hope that helps
