Okay, I just have to share some first impressions here because the Ares II 8-wire is all kinds of awesome! I had some fun with the Custom Art Ei.3 and Rhapsodio Saturn while I wait for my Phantom to come back and it is such a great sound I am getting with both. I always love listening to the Stones' album Blue and Lonesome because it has a great atmosphere to it (think smoke-filled blues bar) and with the Ei.3 and the 8-wire it sounds as real as I have ever heard it. And I am not yet talking about technical accuracy, but just the image as a whole. It seems like the 8-wire manages to retain the 4-wire's characteristics really well, while expanding the stage, extending at both ends and adding tons of air to create a very clean but organic image.
If the 8-wire can do this to the Phantom, I think there is going to be one hell of a shootout between it and Lionheart to see which ends up permanently attached to them. ...and darn I wish I still had the Zombie lying around!