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Originally Posted by jimtranr

This is anecdotal, so consider it as a for-what-it's-worth.

About two or so years ago, I upgraded the ICs from my DAC and to my power amp and got what I considered a nice bump in performance. Each of my more recent successive noise-reduction PC upgrades for my DAC (first a Venom NR v10, then a Delta NR v.1) yielded a considerably greater sonic improvement than what I experienced with the IC upgrades.

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

I'm in full agreement with Jim on this one. NR PC's provide a significantly larger degree of improvement than upgrading ICs. It's not even close in my experience.

In the last year, here's what I've learned about the "hierarchy" of which cables make the biggest impact:

Power cables (most significantly NR PCs for components) > digital cables (not the least of which are Ethernet and USB cables) > speaker cables >> interconnects.

My experience mirrors yours, actually, though a long time ago I went from Linn speaker cable to Tara Labs RSC and the difference wasn't subtle. But to be thorough I'm considering both options, PC and IC. I've heard from Shunyata and waiting for a specific recommendation from Transparent, who asked for my complete system so as to make better recommendations. I haven't heard from Furman yet.

Shunyata recommends the V14 for my LD player, and while the V12 is ideal for sources, they say their customers and dealers report the V10 is better. Either one is a great option though, and my budget should decide.