IB,

How do the BJC & CableSolutions cables compare on price? Do the Beldens really sound better, or just different? Of course, being only 2' cables makes the comparing a little harder than if the cables were 20'.

Feanor,

I've read a lot of stuff about those fuses, but let's be honest, there is no way in heck that a fuse could possibly cost $60 to produce - there's a little too much greed in that formula. I realize that $60 is still not much for many of us, but I still have to believe that they are a rip-off. A fuse is about as cheap a component as there is. Couldn't it just as well be that the HFT fuse sits just slightly tighter in its socket and thus improves connectivity enough to be audible?

Sorry to be so cup-is-half-full about it, but I really think there's way too much snake oil in the whole cable argument. I've been using Mapleshade speaker cables of late, expecting to hear at least something different, but there is no audible difference. I'm sorry to say this Mr. Sprey, but I'm not hearing that "everything improved, [or that] the music seemed to be a lot closer to my ears and my heart." I happen to own DSOTM, as you recommended, on CD, SACD, as well as LP, and I still can't say that "the opening heartbeat sounds [more] supernatural" than with my other speaker cables. I'm going to keep the cables, but only because I need them and I like the fact they are thin and hardly visible, but they are just cables to me.