Almost everything

Ugly

I bought this interconnect on a hunch that it would be a good cable since I owned the Symphony for a few months. This cable really does sound real and the highs sound more extended. The bass really solid and the midrange is really good.

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest Turqiouse, Monster cable, Symphony 2

Very clear midrange, great sense of depth

Some cables (albeit very few) have a more clear-cut sound and better bass

These are great cables, which I have used through most of my system for the past 5 years. They have a superb midrange response, and the sense of depth is hard to beat. All in all, I am very pleased with their performance and have no intention of replacing them. The nice thing about them is that they fit in almost any system, thanks to their great neutrality.

The only downfalls that I could think of is that some cables in the same price range (some M.I.T cables for instance, or the Monster Cable Sigma series) have a tad more presence in the lower frequencies, and sometimes I wished the sound was less mellow and a bit more clear-cut.

In conclusion, these are great cables, and anyone buying a high-end system should check them out. You might regret it if you don't!

excellent bass, smooth midrange

not the last word in detail or soundstaging

this speaker cable is a bargain. i believe its articulate smooth sound may be due in part to the fact the copper strands are individually teflon-coated. i find it lacking in harshness, w/ excellent midbass and deep bass, a bit like an xlo cable (the ultra or 5 or 5.1). compared to my mit term 2's, it is more "natural" sounding, perhaps less rolled-off. imaging and soundstaging are acceptable. i recommend a trial for any but the most expensive system. i have dynaudio contour 1.3's and aragon amp, muse preamp, msb digital; audioquest opal and hovland interconnects. five stars in its price class.

Similar Products Used:

mit, synergistic, many others

FULL BASS & MIDS

I tried a pair of RhapsodyII spkr cables on the advice of a Cable Co rep from fatwyre.com. They were, and are, very impressive. Strong, full bass & mids with a smooth tonal balance. After purchasing the spkr cables, I decided to replace my Tributaries SCA-300 interconnect with the RhapsodyII ic. Well, I'm afraid the interconnect did not work near as well as the spkr cables. The mids are now a bit murky, and the highs are slightly rolled. I think I'll go back to the Tributaries SCA-300.But, I will definately keep the RhapsodyII spkr cables. Rating is for the spkr cables only.

Very classy looking, sound quality

Yoke plugs very narrow, cable are heavy

Bought these from a factory rep new, when I worked at Buzz Jensens Sound Advice in Arizona. Love the cables. The only bab part about them is they are only 6 footers, could use a pair of 10 foot cables, and the fact that is you have a pair of speakers lacking in any way these cables will show it and stick it in your face. Highs are smooth and detailed. Same across the whole sound stage. VERY HAPPY with them.
***Anyone with a pair of 8-10 footers for sale? If so e-mail me please, reasonable price hoped for.

Similar Products Used:

monster wire, kimber cable

I had been using a combination of Vampire, Monster and Tara Labs RSC wire and interconnects. My system consists of a Krell 300i, Cal Audio CL-10 cd changer, and a pair of Dynaudio Audience 80's. Before hooking up the Straight Wire Rhapsody II speaker wire and interconnects I had been assuming that my system was pretty well configured and that I was getting great sound. Boy was I wrong. There are those that claim wire makes no difference. There are those that state no double blind study has ever proved there was a sound difference between wire. Poppycock! I may be gullible some of the time, and I might have too much of an open mind most of the time, but when it comes to being satisfied with a product I'm no fool. If I hadn't heard a major difference in sound quality I would have taken these wires back the next day. So, was there an improvement over my old cables. WOW! Was there ever. The first vividly noticable difference was in the soundstage. Not only had it widened significantly but it took on the dimension of depth that I'd never experienced before. Next noticable change was in the bass response. This was so significant even my non-music lover wife remarked on it. Bass was present before with my Dynaudios no doubt, but not like this. I felt each thump of the bass drum right to my bones. Next change, and this was major for me, was the mids. Before they had seemed almost too sterile. There was an "air" to the male voice that I felt was missing in my old configuration that I'd heard on other systems. Well, that air was back, and even more dynamic than I'd thought I'd been missing. As for the highs, they were crystal clear, although they had been so in the other config. also. I didn't have the old wire to do an a/b with, but I think the main difference was perhaps a bit more quickness with the guitar. And that's another major difference I noticed with these wires. Fast baby, very fast. Sometimes on my acoustic cd's, especially guitar works, I felt the pluck of the strings was somehow slowed down, not life like in it's presentation. This is now confirmed by playing those same cd's with this wire. The rhythm had definitly picked up and now sounds more real and on pace.
I haven't done alot of wire auditions other than the old stuff I had, that I mentioned above. Doubt I'll be doing any more as I am very satisfied with what these Straight Wire Rhapsody II's have brought out in my system. They were worth every penny I paid and then some. The interconnects, 1 meter pair, were $150. The speaker wire was somewhere around $200 for a 6' pair. I highly recommend these if your looking for both wire and interconnects to audition.

I just got these cables for my speakers and have had a pair of interconnects for my cdplayer, I cannot say anything else other than they sound AWESOME. They have made everything sound smoother and more natural and they look good too :)
My systems consists of.

Sherwood Newcastle seperates
Newcastle 20 bit cdplayer with DTS
Rhapsody wires
CDM-1SE speakers

I've had some Straight Wire Rhapsody speaker cables in my system for quite a while (one stick). I originally got an 8' pair for cheap, but hacked it down to about 4' in hopes of improving dynamics. It did just that after a considerable burn-in period. I'd say the virtues of these are -- good dynamics, good bass capability, speed (!) -- recently bought some Transparent Musicwave Plus 8 foot, and the Rhapsody beats them in quickness of response, also apparently in bass response although it's close. Of course the Transparent has better image separation, a bit more air, a better tonal quality. But speed and bass (and dynamics) for me in the end may be worth more than that stuff. I haven't finished my comparison yet, but it's worth putting in a plug for the Rhapsodies if only because they cost a heckof a lot less than the Transparents. The Rhapsody shows its best stuff in short lengths, I'd say. Rating is for price/performance.

Excellent tonal balance

Not super transparent

I purchased some Rhapsody II interconnect in bulk from a high end car Stereo installer/dealer together with straight wire phono plugs. The wire was pretty difficult to solder properly as the copper strands are coated. The coating had to be removed with sand paper before soldering. I used WBT silver solder. At first the sound was very veiled and filtered until I treated the RCA plugs with Caig Pro Gold contact cleaner liquid (I suspect the plugs had been lying around for some time). This improved the performance tremendously

The tonal balnce is excellent, not too bright (AQ Turquoise), not too dry (Kimber SS). There is no harshness and the sound is very smooth. Soundstage is very good. The only criticism is that they are a bit veiled and not absolutely crystal clear / transparent

Used between TPC DAC 2.5 and Adcom GFP750 preamp

Similar Products Used:

Audioquest Turquoise, Kimber Silver streak

tight bass, litle more detail in hi freq, wide soundstage
I got it (if I decide to buy it-new one) very-very cheap $68 / 8 feet with Taralabs spade (whooa, you must be suprised do you? If you want to buy a cheap goods, come to Indonesia :) )

sound too revealing in some system, too 'stiff' sound
I've try it after burn in process and I found same .

I feel hard to listen a song through this cable, after I play music through T14 and Cardas, I found this cable couldn't make my sistem singing, it's hard, sometimes harsh, too open in mid freq, but have a good punch bass.
the detail in hi freq little better than T14 but more harsh.
I not recomend this cable for whom seek a smooth cable (trust your ear not this all review below).
T14 in shotgun mode even better than this cable and with Cardas Hex 5, I found the best sound comes out from my system.
My system is:
- Nad T550 dvd player
- Parasound D/AC 800 d/a converter
- Audible Illusions Mod 3 pre amp
- Cary Audio 807 Signature power amp
- Adcom GFA 545 power amp
- Technics SB-RX50 loudspeaker
- Vifa DIY floorstanding loudspeaker (I named it "Monolith")
- Apogee Wydeeye digital cable
- Cardas Microtwin 300B & Hexlink 5 interconect
- Taralabs RSC Prime Gen2 interconect
- DH labs BL1 inteconect
- T14 & Hexlink 5 speaker cable

Similar Products Used:

DH labs T14 (shotgun), Cardas Hexlink 5, Audio Technica (a cheap one),