On a regular basis I swap out fresh AE cables and they immediately sound great! However, near perfection requires a tad of patience. This is partly because our design is low in signal retention, and mimics the linear wave structure. Therefore, with good recordings it’s pleasant from the get go! With continued use the sound should gain even more smoothness and resolution. Depending on how much distortion is in your test song and system, will be part of the equation to whether you are impressed or hope for more improvement.  It doesn’t take more than a few DB’s of irritating resonance to make someone’s ears uncomfortable.  Unfortunately some music is mixed with the side effect of over-driving your preamp.

* I find Norah Jones 2006 Sunrise album to be a credible reference tool.  Also, listen to pink noise to get a giant snap shot. A soft sound with clarity is a beautiful paradox! Sometimes the brain confuses a hard edged sound as more clarity. If you can avoid this audiophile trap, you will reduce fatigue and increase your years of listening pleasure.

 We’ve done a lot of measurements, and the truth is; cables can drastically change the physical wave, *accumulating over 100 decibels of differential* thus negating or contributing to a huge impact on the resolution and tone of your system.