My ongoing WW journey
 

This will probably end up being a long, rambling post, but might be helpful for anyone thinking about making the plunge into higher end cables. To set the stage, I'm a firm believer in spending as much as your budget allows on the highest quality sources and amplification you can afford as that is the best bang for the buck IMO. I've saved cables for the last part of my audio journey. This is less of a review and more of a summary of my thoughts/experiences. Of course YMMV on anything, these are just my eyes and ears in my system.

My first WW cables were Island HDMI cables from Ivan nearly 2 years ago, I remember he was on a flight and offering great prices, so I said sure, why not. They replaced stock HDMI cables, I wasn't expecting any difference and didn't see any. However, they looked nicer and I like routing them due to them being flat, so I was happy with the purchase and they didn't exactly break the bank at $42 list for a 2m cable. If your HDMI cable situation is already sorted and you're happy, I'm not sure I'd recommend changing anything. If you have a video cable rat's nest, it may be worth your time trying these, or another HDMI cable in the WW line, in your system.

For the rest of the summary, this is all without my MEN220 inline. I live in an open loft space with exposed brick walls, very large windows, exposed ductwork, etc so it's a bit of a difficult room to tame.

Last Winter I picked up a W4S DAC-2v2SE 10th Anniversary Edition during their yearly Black Friday sale. I previously used Dan's old DAC2 and wanted to step my game up from my current D100 (which is a great DAC). This was to be my forever DAC, so I ordered a 2m pair of Equinox 7 (list $365) XLRs from Ivan. When I powered up the DAC I was disappointed, it sounded so thin which surprised me since the DAC2 was a great DAC that I enjoyed years earlier. W4S recommended burning it in, but they couldn't tell me what specifically that would do to change the sound. Long story short, after fiddling with the DAC's settings and doing A/B testing vs the D100 and vinyl, I found that the DAC and cable were giving an open, airier top end that made it seem like the bass was lacking. I also heard quite a bit more mid/upper bass both due to the DAC and the Equinox cable. I recently picked up a Series 8 Eclipse ($700 list) from Ivan to replace the Equinox and it was noticeably better from the get go.

During the DAC's introduction I A/Bed the Equinox with a few other cables, even going down to a Monster cable I got at a thrift shop for $2 years ago. It was clear the Equinox, even in blind tests, was superior. Not that "this is better than a thrift shop Monster cable" is high praise, but it was obviously superior to every other cable I compared it to. Tighter bass and as mentioned a much more detailed and airy upper end. I can see cabling my entire system with Equinox and being very happy, but if your budget allows the Eclipse is like going to 11. It's one better than the Equinox and certainly noticeable to me.

A couple weeks ago I replaced the IC on my C2300 to my MC252 with a 1m Eclipse 7 ($450 list) and the results were exactly what I found when comparing the Equinox to my other cables. Now my other sources sounded more similar to the DAC. Even XM radio on my MR88 sounded better, which actually says a lot considering the compression used on XM. The prior cable I was using was a 1m Kimber Hero ($219 list) which is an excellent cable that did well against a cable 2x the cost. I've lived with a full Kimber Hero system for years and was very happy with it, but again the Eclipse proved to offer improvement.

During the DAC transition I also replaced BJC coax cables ($18.25) with two 1m Silver Starlight ($250 list) cables, I need two due to using a W4S Remedy. This is one instance where I broke my rule of one change at a time, so I cannot offer a comparison here. I will say, however, the WWs route easier and are much more flexible than the BJCs. I would not recommend BJC digital cables for short runs. You'd be better off with WW Chroma ($20 for 1m) or whatever the lowest end cable from your manufacturer of choice is.

Next cabling adventures currently sitting atop a box of 45s:
Silver Eclipse 7 1m ($700 list) to replace the 1m Kimber Hero ($219 list) on my turntable.
Silver Eclipse 7 3m bi-wire speaker cables ($4,000 list) to replace my Kimber 8TC ($529 list).
Aurora 2m PCs ($200 list) vs stock cables all around.

Great post. Thanks for the reflection.

My ongoing WW journey
 

These stories never get old to me and enjoy reading them - keep going, nothing but great things ahead, especially with the one cable at a time discipline

Thank you for sharing your journey with cables.
Looking forward to hearing more as you travel down this path.

Fascinating journey, Maks. Thanks for sharing it.

Mine began just under seven years ago with two pairs of Equinox 6 interconnects purchased from Ivan, and it's been a slow but steady progression of Wireworld acquisitions since. A week ago, a set of Eclipse 8 speaker cables arrived at my door, enabling me to assemble my first complete WW loom from wall AC outlet to speaker terminals. Writeup to follow after the "newbies" cross the 100-hour burn-in finish line in a couple of days--but I can already say at this point that it just keeps getting better...a lot better.

Thanks, guys. Don't expect any, "I could sense flowers blooming outside the studio after I installed this cable" hyperbole in what I post here. Just straight forward observations. I'll also try to keep most of the older cables around for A/B tests once everything is settled in. I'm also looking forward to putting the MEN220 back in line, too bad a pair of batteries leaked all over the remote control beyond repair.