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Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $340.00 from LAT

Summary:
There may be better interconnects, but not a better value.I first used the 200MkII on my old system and was really impressed with it's overall proformance. However, it wasn't until I upgraded to my present system of; ARC VT-100 Mk III,ARC LS-2B ( modified by Great Northern),Cal audio CL-15 CD,Soliloquy speakers that the essence of these interconnects was evident. Open sound stage, you can locate every instrument, brightness heard in other cables has disappeared. Sound levels can be increased and throughly enjoyed. If you want a cable that will not add nor detract from the source this is your answer.

Strengths:
Great sound, great value

Weaknesses:
Haven't found one yet.

Similar Products Used:
ARC, Kimber

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
First off, let me state that the technical summary for this cable listed here is incorrect. This cable is not "silver cladded" or "silver plated". It in fact uses a "silverfuse" material, which is a proprietary process and not the same. You can read more about it on the LAT website. What is for certain, is that this must be instrumental in explaining this cable's performance. Which is phenomenal. This cable is far superior to any other interconnect I have ever tried in my system (which consists of a Naim CDi cd player/Rega P3 TT/Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 phono stage/Bryston BP20 pre-amp/Bryston 3B-ST power amp/PMC FB1 speakers). I currently have the IC-200 interconnects between my CD->pre, and the balanced XLR version between my Bryston pre->power amps. In general, I agree with what has been written by others before. This cable is outstandingly neutral and perfectly balanced. It is extremely detailed, with terrifical tonal colour and accuracy, great bandwidth, superb transient speed, superb dynamics... everything, really. I strongly suggest you demo some LAT cables in your system. The simple and obvious reason why LAT cables get such glowing reviews on sites like this is because they do indeed deliver. A genuine case of real substance with no hype. Given their _genuine_ giant-killing performance, is it at all surprising you never see them advertised or featured in Hi-fi magazines! There is little point me discussing this cable in detail compared to others I have had in my system; it is just simply better, by a very considerable margin. It is far better than my previous, more expensive solid silver interconnects, and comprehensively beats it in every department, including low level detail resolution and impact, two areas where solid silver designs traditionally excel. Above all, this cable is the closest I have yet heard to the holy-grail of "no cable". If it has a character, I have yet to find it! Give it a go; you haven't got anything to lose, since LAT offer all their cables on home-trial basis. They do take a fair while to burn-in properly (around a month to reach full performance), so do make sure you are not too hasty to judge them!

Strengths:
Oustanding detail, clarity and resolution; outstanding tonal evenness, purity and colour; outstanding dynamics and weight; outstanding speed, transients and timing; oustanding level of build, fit, finish and aesthetics. Superb VFM.

Weaknesses:
Might be too revealing/honest for some systems. Is totally uncoloured and will ruthlessly reveal any weaknesses. Patience required for burn-in (as with most decent cables, though).

Similar Products Used:
Hificables.co.uk solid silver interconnects; Chord Co. cables

Summary:
In my review below I stated

"
They are not the best interconnects around, but they are a fraction of the cost of cables they sound as good as and thats why you should all go out and buy some! :-))
"

I still feel these cables are as correct and as neutral as
cables like the wireworld gold eclipse III and are a tiny fraction of their cost and in the same ballpark / almost as good making them a bargain at the price

However...

I have since discovered the best interconnect on the planet at any price (the coincident cst-1) and as that is only $49 more than the LAT's I have since replaced all my LAT's with coincident.

I applaud LAT for making a cheap sonicly neutral cable that maintains a flat frequency response as almost all cables out there add tonal coloration, however where superior cables beat the LAT is in phase response which leads to much better body and focus, the resoloution of the coincident cable is also utterly shocking, leaving even the wireworld gold eclipse III for dead.

Strengths:
totally neutral and correct frequency response

Weaknesses:
body and focus

Similar Products Used:
Wireworld gold eclipse II, coincident

Summary:
I must apologise for mentioning that I thaught other reviewers were saying these cables were too bright and in fact it was just their components.

I thaught I read such a review in this column and it was that review that I was refering to but it seems to have been deleted?? hmmm

Anyway a similar point can be made on the krell amp below, krells dont do top end, thats why you think its rolled off :-) (its not)

Summary:
I wasn't as excited about these as some others. I had tried the original IC-200's, as well as the "D" version. They were indeed very nice, and not too expensive. But I found I could do better for the same or even less money.
They had a smooth overall sound, but softened the highs and rolled the lows too much. The mid's were fairly detailed, but also seemed lacking in dynamics (especially female voice, piano, etc.).

Imaging and staging were pretty good, comparable with other cable in the price range, or perhaps slightly better. But overall, I found the Kimber KC-1, DH Labs BL-1 Mk II, Van den Hul D-102 Mk III Hybrids, Synergistic Research "Ted's Hip Cable," and several of the lower priced Nordost better in most aspects. And all are/were the same or lower price than the IC-200D.

FYI, electronics at the time were Meridian digital (200/563), Krell KSP-7B preamp, Krell KSA-50 MkII amp and KSA-50S amp, and Theil CS1.2 or Legacy Classic Kevlar speakers. Speaker cable ranged from MIT to FMS, with several Audioquest models in between.