Price: $820
Website: www.bluecircle.com
Roger said: Although the 18X Sillycone Filter won’t win any beauty contests, like Blue Circle Audio’s other components stuffed into ABS pipes, it offers performance beyond what you’d expect. Having now used a couple of them, I now can’t imagine my system without at least one of Blue Circle’s high-value power-conditioning products hooked up to it, and the 18X Sillycone Filter would be at the top of my list.
Read the SoundStage! Access review.
The gist: If you care more about clean power than a nice chassis.
Price: $3350 per 2m cord
Website: www.dynamiqueaudio.com
Hans said: Deeply resolving and full of high-quality components, they look, feel, and, most important, sound like the reference-caliber products one should demand at these prices -- prices that are still only fractions of what other companies sell their reference products for.
The gist: Hans said these were basically perfect.
Price: $2199.99 per 3m cord and $2999.99, respectively
Website: www.essentialsound.com
Howard said: Chances are that the ESP products will substantially improve your system’s sound. Undoubtedly, they’ll make you realize, for the first time or the fifth, that you overlook the benefits of good AC power at your own risk.
The gist: Solidly competitive with the rest, but not cheap.
Price: $600/1.5m cord
Website: www.siltechcables.com
Jeff said: If you want to throw open the window on your music and let the light shine in on it, these cables might be just what you’re looking for. When you combine their sonic performance with their exceptional build quality, along with a brand name that will invite pride of ownership and good resale value if you ever want to move up the line, it’s hard to imagine anyone going wrong with the purchase of the Siltech Explorers.
Read the SoundStage! Hi-Fi review.
The gist: Less than you’d expect to spend for Siltech quality.