Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
barracuda interconnect and speaker cables are great. i would like to strongly recommend you to buy them if you need audio cables. they are relatively cheap but simply excellent. you would feel that there is nothing but sound in your listening room when using them with mid-end system.

Strengths:
dynamic, clear, transparent, deep and three-dimensional.... bass is also good.

Weaknesses:
none.

Similar Products Used:
audioquest, xlo, kimber, etc.

Price Paid:  $130.00 from www.customhousecables.com

Summary:
This review is for the Barrucuda interconnet cable. I find these cable act like a straight wire. They seem to add nothing to the sound, and does not hold back anything your system can deliver. This is the best way to describe the sound of this cable.If you are looking to tweak your sound, then this cable is not for you. However if you want all your system can deliver, then there is nothing better.

Strengths:
Great Bass, Transparency

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Kimber, harmonic tech truthlink, others

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Spearit Sound, www.spearitsound.com

Summary:
Having upgraded my preamplifier and amplifier from Rotel to Krell units, I wanted to upgrade my interconnect as well. Balanced ins/outs on the Krell was a definite advantage, and that is when my dealer suggested the CustomHouse Barracuda Cable. $200 for a 2M pair? Why not - it looked well made, and the price was right.

What great stuff! Mr. Finch is able to keep his prices down because he doesn't have a high advertising budget, nor does he package his cables in a gold plated box :-) Seriously, this is a very high quality product.

I won't get into the subjective sound quality thing except to say they sound great. I would highly suggest auditioing a pair in your home with your system. I don't think you will be dissapointed.

Strengths:
Great Quality, Well Made Product, Great Value.

Weaknesses:
None at this time.

Similar Products Used:
MIT, Kimber, Tara Labs...

Summary:
Monster and Tara's high end stuff have nothing on the Barracuda series. This is Bob Finch's best cable. I use Barracuda bi-wire cables for my MA Silver 5i's, and Barracuda analog interconects for my CD source, as well as a Barr. coaxial for digital. These cables sound sick for the first 100 hours, but after that......watch out! My sounstage just exploded and the musical instruments sounded superb. The voices all came through with no hint of revibrance, harshness or extra sibilance. The bass dropped lower, and became much tighter in the process. These $10 a foot speaker cables just blew the Monster Originals out of the water. Granted, I was now bi-wiring and it was a large upgrade, but the results were nothing less than staggering. My system was already giving me 90%, but now it is giving me 102%. Check out www.customhousecable.com
This is a wise investment if you are tired of all the hype about $50 a foot cables and so on. Whether it be analog, coaxial, or speaker cable, these cables will give almost anything out there "a run for the money!"

Strengths:
Excellent dynamics, crystal clear highs, accurate and tightly controlled bass. Great sonic fidelity.

Weaknesses:
None! $10 a foot?

Similar Products Used:
Monster and Tara Labs

Summary:
Ah...speaker cables...you sometimes can't live with 'em and, of course, you gotta have 'em. For years, I lived in blissful ignorance. I thought that wire was wire and that it really didn't matter what sort of cables one used. I read a lot about cables and became interested in others' perceptions of how one could improve one's stereo kit with gourmet cables and interconnects. Intrigued, I went to my local friendly neighbourhood high-end stereo dealer and asked the head honcho for his recommendation. Custom House Cable was a company that he felt made the best cable for the dollar. He ordered me a set of Custom House Barracuda speaker cables and said that if I didn't like 'em I could return them.
The Barracudas arrived and I gave them a go. My stereo kit is a modest one--Dynaco Pas 3 preamp, Zen by Decware SET amp, Philips LHH1000 CD player, Thorens 145 MkII turntable, Dynaco FM-3 tuner, ReVox A77 reel-to-reel, and Luxman K-15 Cassette deck. My speakers are AR M1's and my powered subwoofer an AMC Ace-Bass B1-20. I listened to my stereo kit sans subwoofer to evaluate the cables. Up until the the Barracuda cables arrived, I was using 1 dollar a foot 12 guage cable with banana plugs. I ran the Barracudas for about a month (at least 120 hours or more) before I ran my comparison: 10 buck a foot Barracuda vs. 1 dollar a foot generic 12 guage cable. First off, I perceived a difference. Cable = cable is a myth. The Barracuda by Custom House Cable offered a livlier presentation, tighter bass, and more pleasant highs than the generic cable; however, the differences were not glaring. Still it was if my stereo kit had undergone a minor upgrade. It all sounded better.

I continued to listen with the Barracuda's in place for another month. Then I switched back to the generic cables. I listened with the generics in place for a few days and noticed that something was missing. The Barracuda's were put back in place. The sound to which I was accustomed returned.

In conclusion, I found that a cable upgrade can improve one's stereo kit's sound. I presume that a cable switch could also have devastating results regarding sound quality. The Custom House Cable Barracuda speaker cables did improve the sonic presentation offered by my stereo kit. What it worth $260 dollars? Yes, it certainly was. Now what I'd like to do is to compare the Barracuda's with myriad other cables. Differences in cables--at least what I've heard--are subtle. I look forward to the day when I will be able to notice glaring differences between competing cables and not just subtle differences.

After I had received my Barracuda's, I e-mailed Bob Finch, the owner of Custom House Cables with some comments on the speaker cable and some questions. Much to my surprise, I received a telephone call from Bob and we had a lovely chat. My queries were answered and I received an open invitation to call him back anytime to discuss cables. On his recommendation I swtiched from an optical to a digital coaxial connection between my CD transport and DAC. This was a major improvement in my stereo setup and my Philips toslink has been replaced with a Barracuda coaxial cable. The difference was astounding. Much more focus, better imaging, more authority, a clearer presentation (less muddy or blurry sound). Wow! Better living through better cable.

Now that my taste has been whetted with gourmet cable, I crave other gourmet cables. I could happily spend years swapping cables in the search for the holy grail. I am very pleased with the Barracuda speaker cables and give them a strong recommendation. They are well worth the audition.