Deep extended bas, well defined treble and mids, lots of detail.

Revealing, if you CD-player sounds poor it sounds really poor with this cable. On the other hand it lets the fine CD-player do their job.

A great interconnect cable....lot's of detail and a deep well extended bas. This one is very revealing and is tonal a little bit to the warm side. Voices are clear, and drums is delievered with force and accuracy. This cable will remain in my system for a long time.

Similar Products Used:

Ixos Gamma 1002

I would have to say that I didn't care for the Tara products, especially this one. I finally auditioned this cable after several recommendations for especially the spacial quality or openness of this cable. After auditioning it, I didn't find any major faults with the tonality of the cable, but I did find that the cable had a airy feeling about it. At first it was pleasing, but after listening to it for a while, I came to feel like it was unnatural and the images seemed to be lacking focus. It just felt like it was doing something that wasn't natural to the music.

Simply fabulous

none

After trying the network cables thelocal stores carry I borrowed a pair of the Tara Master G2 interconnects from a friend who swore by them.

WOW is the only thing that can be said.

I think that the MIT's and transparents choked the sound, sure bass was big but at the expense of detail. The Master is very well balanced in my system.

Listen and decide for yourself.

Similar Products Used:

MIT, Transparent

excellent imaging, good low-end punch

Like Raymond said, the sound is not entirely neutral (they're a touch warm)

I have just recently purchased two pair of these cables for my system. This was a future investment, meant to run from my cd player to my pre, then another pair for my main left and right channels. At this time, I'm using it on my cd and dvd players. Right out of the box, I noticed that the bass was much more punchy, with better pace to it. These are pretty amazing cables, I'm hearing room ambience for the first time! After burning them in, I did some AB with my old setup, and there were considerable differences is sounstage depth, detail, dynamics , and overall smoothness (i.e. lack of grain). I can't say enough about the construction quality of these excellent cables, and their sound is amazing! I feel that the master gen II's will remain in my system for a long time, and I couldn't be happier.

Similar Products Used:

Monster M550i (This is not really in the same league).

I really never thought I'd spend $285 for a pair of interconnects, but after I listened to these cables (Generation 2) I HAD to have them. I am a midrange freak and these cables really made the sound NATURAL. I bought them and never looked back. I read about how they work but who cares--they sound GREAT! Used with a Rotel 975 and a Yamaha 100W channel amp.

I have been listening to the Master Gen2 interconnect for a few months now and love the sound quality. I use it between my SONY XA7ES and Krell 300i. It's the best cable for my setup and money. Bass is deep, taut; midrange is crisp, clear; highs are smooth and musical (non-grainy). Excellent cable for the money period. Highly recommended, I rate it 5 Stars.
I also owned 2 pairs of Silver Streaks. Excellent cables too. But, I prefer to use them with tube pre-amp and amp combo like Conrad Johnson PV10A and MV55 because bass emphasis is less. Midrange and highs are so sweet with those combo but lacking deep bass.

My recent task was to replace two pair of Straight Wire Encore interconnects in my system, a 0.5 meter pair from CD-->preamp and 1.0 meter pair from preamp-->power amp.
Equipment:
CD: Micromega Stage 2 (much maligned here, but mostly for malfunctions)
Pre: Audio Research LS-3
Amp: Bryston 4NRB
Spkrs: Magneplanar MG 2.6/R (real ribbon tweeter)
w/ Audioquest Cobalt speaker cables (the next thing "to go")

Other cables auditioned:

Brand Model Comments
------------- ----------------- ----------------------------------------
TARA Labs RSC Master Gen II The big winner! (and not by a nose)
Kimber PBJ Not discernably better than Encore
Silver Streak Ditto
KS-1010 Better, but not sufficient to warrant
replacing existing cables
Transparent Musiclink Plus+ See KS-1010
JPS Labs Superconductor Runner-up, many strengths and few
weaknesses except compared to TARA
Synergistic Kaleidescope Ph1 A substantial measure of magic, but
all instruments from the midband up
seemed to have a "white powder" coat
on them (very, very fine grain)
NBS King Serpent II Much more expensive than the others,
plus I auditioned King Serpent II
speaker cables at the same time; total
MSRP: $4500! Not fair? Don't worry,
they didn't even make the finals

I did a combination of extended listening, casual listening, and A-B type comparison listening over a couple month period. I find the benefit of A-B checking occasionally is that it is like instant replay in the NFL, it can confirm or deny suspicions and sometimes even dramatically expose a condition though to be subtle (try it when auditioning cones!).

The TARA came off as the clear winner in the whole thing. I feel pretty confident saying that -none- of the other cables bettered it in any respect. I did initially feel that the JPS Labs had stronger, deeper, clearer, smoother bass by a small margin, but repeated comparisons showed that the TARA's bass was comparable. The JPS Labs' bass was perceived to be superior initially because it is slightly rolled off in the treble compared to the TARA.

The TARA's particular strengths? Smooth, natural presentation at all frequencies. Strong, deep, well-defined bass. Lack of glare of grain. A soundstage full of detail and body, yet lots of space between the voices. The JPS Labs was a truly worthy second (at lower cost), but seemed "laid-back" by comparison. I was tempted to say "veiled", but that's not really accurate; the JPS may be the better cable if some high-frequency restraint is needed. Actually, that last statement demands a little more explanation.

TARA Labs touts each higher model in its line as being more revealing, while each lower model is described as more "forgiving". Given my combination of solid-state electronics and the ribbon tweeter, I was concerned up front that my system might be overtaken by a steely glare and I had Adcom electronics long enough to fear that. In practice, the extended, "revealing" high frequencies just gave everything a more open and natural sound rather than bright or screechy. After I had listened to the TARA for a while, all of the other cables sounded closed in by comparision.

Rational consumers expect (demand?) more when they spend more. Apart from the wild card NBS cables, the TARA's were the most expensive in the spread and were worth every cent. I am eagerly anticipating replacing my speaker cables and you can bet that the TARA Labs RSC Master Gen II will be on my audition list.

For the price, I must say that Tara's RSC Master Gen 2 interconnect is without equal. I auditioned many cables (not worth mentioning), and the RSC Master was one of the least expensive, yet managed to clearly identify itself as the superior product. Between my PS Audio CD to the PS Audio Pre- and then onward to my Threshhold amps, the Master Gen 2 swept away the cobwebs from the unheard, unseen corners of my soundstage and evoked nuance and subtlety from my old favorites, making them new again. Bass, treble, mids...they were all there, all accounted for, all part of the whole, not too strident, not too sweet. To sum it up, I will testify that the RSC Master Gen 2 was the best money spent on my audio system to date, and at the same time, nearly the least amount spent. You can't do better than that. Five stars, to be sure.

I recently bought the tara Master gen 2 interconnect and speaker cables. They are very smooth but still have good detail, as well as imaging and soundstage They are much smoother and less fatigueing than the Transparents they replaced. The locking RCA connectors on the interconnect, were a pain to use, but will never come loose.These cables are a bit stiff, but the sound is worth it. Are they the "best"? Of course not, but they are competative in their price range.Jack

A great cable in taming bright systems. Impressive clarity and bass dynamics.

None.

I've been using many cables, trying to find the perfect interconnect between my Roksan pre and power amps. I was looking for a cable that could smooth the edginess from my bright recordings but without losing any of the low-end tightness. After quite a futile search -- about three years -- I must say I've found the perfect cable in the Master Gen 2 (the only other cable I hadn't tried but wanted to is the Cardas Golden Cross... perhaps one day). This cable took away all the hardness and fatiguing treble from all my pop CDs. What's best is that well recorded CDs suddenly had a fuller bass, without any loss in clarity and soundstage. The excitement and speed in fast music was still there.
The Master Gen 2 is a cable on the warmer side of neutral. Midrange punch is excellent. Most jazz and dance recordings seem to have added muscularity I've not heard before. This cable has no apparent weakness and represents great value. A superb cable at a sensible price.

Similar Products Used:

Nordost Blue Heaven, Nordost Black Knight, Sonic Link Vermillion, Straightwire Chorus, Cable Talk 2.1, Harmonic Tech Pro Silway II, Magnan V, JPS SuperConductor