I've installed the Grover S cables into my main rig at home, and I've been running audio through them (and listening normally) for only about 8 hours at this point, and I've got enough experience with breaking in cables (and Grover cables, specifically) to know that I don't yet know the fullness of what this cable will deliver when its sound fully stabilizes with use. However, I also know that the first impressions with Grover's cables do NOT change - just that all the great characteristics heard up front get better. So, here are some things I CAN say at this point.
I've been running the Grover UR6 and the Bogdan Gold Silver Spirit since March - and have been truly savoring the diaphanous sound of the Bogdan IC (which fills in at the center to deliver more solidity as it settles in) and the more earthy, visceral sound of the UR6 (which becomes airier at the edges to deliver more irridescence and shimmer as it settles in). Both amazing cables delivering downright generous value. In my rig it is very easy to switch between them when my ear craves what either does best.
I was expecting the S cables to be another step in quality along the, to date, earthy, solid Grover sound - and it is, PLUS:
The Grover S cable takes a very nice step toward one IC to do what my ear loves best from each of the previous Grover cables and the Bogdan GSS. My first real impression from the S cables is that they deliver the most delicious wash of temporal and harmonic structure from the sounds that I love that my ears have ever savored. For example, each note in a melody composed of skillfully coaxed electric guitar strings conveys the nuances, complexities and temporal development of a gently undulating, subtly shimmering sonic curtain. And all of the notes taken together form the most gorgeous harmonically and temporally rich sonic structure that my ears have savored, ever. This S cable, so far, has neither a fixed "earthy" nor a fixed "celestial" or "diaphanous" sound. Earthy sounds like unadorned human voice are quite palpable and viscerally present. Unearthy (or even other-worldly) sounds like transporting electronic constructions can be amazingly diaphanous - like the sonic version of laser holography through a vapor phase medium. One of my favorite tracks for the juxtaposition of the earthy and the unearthy is the Track "Eternal Odyssey" from the Delerium album "Chimera". It starts with the sounds of both faint electronic chimes coming from the distance, AND the sound of heavy raindrops falling languidly upon flagstones on a cool summer day. With the Grover S cables, at the same time that I'm locking onto the visceral sound of the raindrops (with the associated sensations of feeling the cool, moist air on my face and smelling the flagstones), the electronica is transporting me to faraway mythical mountaintops where mystical chime sounds waft from an unearthly monastery - one can only imagine the consciousness-altering disciplines practiced by its inhabitants - it's a mini travel vacaton in a track. Just an amazing experience - that the same cable can provide so much, simultaneously, of the combined listening experiences of my previously favorite TWO cables. I'm not comparing the sound qualities of the Grover S to the Bogdan at this point - since the S cables are so new to my rig - but I'm comparing my listening experiences with the two - since these are early impressions, very subjective and reflective of my listening idiosyncrasies, I'm sure. I have to say that, so far, I'm really impressed in ways that I was not expecting to be.
