[GeoffW]

After looking for some relatively cheap IC's and reading some good reviews here and elsewhere on Acoustic Research Pro's, I decided to go ahead and order some ($30). When they arrived, I realized after I'd opened them that I had ordered the wrong cables - HT191 (video component cables) instead of the HT130. But I tried them anyway, and was pleasantly suprised. As audio IC's, they sounded much better than anything else I had - very detailed with a nice, non-fatiguing tonal balance, and a huge soundstage. I thought, if these video component cables sounded this good, the HT130's should sound even better, right? Well, I couldn't find the HT130's for sale anywhere, but I did find the PR130's (their Pro-Series II replacement) and ordered them ($20).

Amazingly, I found that the PR130 audio IC's were nowhere near as good the HT191 video component cables! The PR130's were detailed, but had a compressed soundstage and rolled-off highs in comparsion to the HT191's. Also, the tonal balance was more fatiguing and nowhere near as good the HT191's. After doing some research I noticed that the HT190,191, abd 192's were advertised as copper with "silver-centered" cables, while none of the PR series were (including the PR190-93), and neither was the HT130. The HT191 cables were also significantly thicker. Could this account for the big difference in sound? Am I nuts?

Anyway, I liked the HT video component cables so much as audio IC's, that I ordered two more sets. They also seem to work great as digital cables. Even I upgrade to Virtual Dynamics someday, I can still use them in my home threater, right?

Some vendors carrying these cables:

HT191:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/surfremo...rol/ht191.html

HT190:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/sepharus.../recht190.html