I was very excited about these interconnects, having heard several favorable comments about them. I mated my somewhat bright CD player to my Luxman receiver and Mission 772 speakers which are wired with Prism bi-wire cable. After 60 hours of burning, I was totally disappointed. While the imaging and definition of the cable was very good, the music became very dull and lost its sparkle. Classical passages that had sounded so melodious on other cables suddenly died on the upper end. To make sure the problem was not coming from some other part of my system, I listened to the tuner and received a wonderful sound. At least the bi-wires are doing great. I rate this one a 5 on imaging and detail and a 3 on dynamics for a 4 star overall. Perhaps they would be much better on a warmer system.

My equipment includes the NAD 314 integrated amp and 512 CD player, and let's face it - while these inexpensive components have a nice musical tone to them, they can still sound a little thin. So I just recently spent the better part of a week auditioning inexpensive interconnects. The 3 that I concentrated on were the Esoteric Audio Streetwire ZN 3.5 (The guy at the stereo store swore by these things), AudioQuest Turquoise, and the Tara labs Prism 22's. All of these cables are under $40/meter pair. I found that the Esoterics did seem to give the setup a much fatter sound, but at the same time made the highs muddy. The AQ's had wonderfully sharp highs, but did nothing to overcome the thinness. Then come the Prism 22's - these thing were great! Straight out of the box I was getting the wonderful highs of the AQ's, but with a nice strong midrange also. At $39/meter pair these are a wonderful bargain!

Value, sound good for the price

None considering the $50 price tag

I am using these between my cd player and preamp for the time being and find that they bring great performance for little money. Compared to my $100 Monster Ref 2's, these win hands down. Sound is more open and clear. In process of stepping up to Axion line.
Good buy for the beginner though
CJ

Similar Products Used:

Monster Reference 2 Interconnects

Excellent transparency for the price. Complements bedroom system perfectly...NAD amplifier, Harmon/Kardon CD player, and PSB speakers. This cable does have a slight treble roll-off when compared to Tara Labs' more expensive cables but the HK cd player is rather bright sounding so the two work well together.
These cables replaced my Monster Cables that were around the same price.


Excellent product, Tara Labs.

Neutral and open cable [in my system], build quality.

Very STIFF [physical attribute only]

[This same review is posted at this website for the AQ Viper also, as it is a comparative test review that I made].

Some interconnect cable comparisons, and how I did the tests.

First – the equipment :
Sony CD-X779ES player
Krell KRS-2 preamp
Krell KASA100S power amp
Chario Academy-II speakers

The Krell KRS-2 preamp has 2 inputs which can be matched to have the same input and CD filtering properties. So the first thing I did was to adjust the DIP switches so that all CD filtering at the CD input was in by-pass mode [as is the AUX input on the KRS-2].
Now I have 2 identical inputs to make instant comparative tests with.
The 779ES player has 2 single-ended outputs, one of which is via the variable gain control. This cannot be bypassed, so one still will need to switch cables between the two to eliminate any disparity due to this.

I connected AudioQuest VIPER from one output and a “non-brand” cheap cable on the other output. Connected each pair of cables to the preamp’s 2 inputs.
Now you can sit in the listening position and have a friend switch between the 2 inputs on the amp’s selector.

The differences between various cables tested was quite subtle at first, but constant switching between them showed the main characteristics clearly.

The Vipers [already burned in for 2 months] were smoother, but with a tendency to show a fatter bass content. The highs were smooth also, but without “bite”.
The non-brand cables showed a leaner bass line but with a muddied mid band and a not too distinct high band.

Replaced the non-brand cables with another non-brand [custom made] silver cable with good quality AudioQuest connectors.
Comparisons showed the non-brand silver cable to have a better upper frequency sheen, the snare drums had natural and open “thwacks” to them, the bass line was tuneful and not “fat”. The vocals were more intelligible and instruments more separated.

Then I tested the non-brand cable against an AudioQuest lapis.
The results were similar – meaning, that the AQ cables seem to have the same characteristic tendency to be [overly] smooth but lacked the transparency that the silver cable is capable of delivering.

Comparing the AQ Viper to the Lapis did not show any great differences.

Last comparison was between AQ Viper and Tara Labs Prism 22.
The Tara cable out did the AQ by a large margin.
The Tara cables were natural and clean. No muddiness in the bass, clear mid band and a shimmering high band. The soundstage was as deep as the AQ cables showed, but the separation and the clarity was much better with the Tara cables.

This in no way is to put down the AudioQuest cables, but more to show how I did the comparative test and what suits MY system the best to my ears!

Anil.
8/20/01.

Similar Products Used:

AQ Viper

They look good

Harsh, bright, distorted(even my girlfriend noticed immediately)

I bought these to brighten up my system. I listen to a pair of older B&W's, which are less than zingy in the top end. The TARA's seem to ignore the bass and distort high transient information. This may be perceived as brightness to some, but to me it was crap. I preferred the radio-shack style things to the TARA's, because tinny, smeary top is totally unacceptable.

Similar Products Used:

MIT, AUDIOQUEST, MONSTER, FACTORY GARBAGE

Good looking, improves sound while not being ridiculously expensive.

They still are a bit expensive.

I thought I would get rid of the thin little black RCA-cables that came with the CD-player (Marantz RCD4000), and get a higher quality signal to my newly-bought Denon AVR-1800. Since my expenses limit right then was $50, I, after some consideration and discussion with my local dealer, went and bought the Prism 22's at 2 feet lenght, which cost exactly that much. I listened to a few records with my old cables for reference, then switched. The difference was not half of what I had expected, but still there. The sound was clearer, sharper, more dynamic and less distorted, but I did not find the difference worth 25% of my CD-player's value. I let them burn in for approximately 30 hours, and the sound improved. But I am not entirely happy with them anyway. Better sound - yes, but at a high cost. If they would have been cheaper I would recommend them to anyone who wants better interconnects but can't front a lot of money, but now I am not certain of their actual value. So to end it: sligtly disappointed with the money it cost, but happy with better sound.

Similar Products Used:

none on the same sound-system.

Tonal Balance, Mids, Smooth, A good light touch of Warmth

In absolute terms: Stage depth, Dynamics, will congest on busy heavy passages

Prism 22's are good old friends of mine. They are good looking! and they also have their limitations, yes I admit to that, but hey for this price range, these cables make me smile. These are definetely entry (very basic entry) level. They lack in many respects BUT they give you the first glimpse of what 'musicality' is really all about. Tonal balance is tops, I Love the way the 22's present human voice both male and female and most musical instruments (except the acoustic ones.) With such warmth, articulation and presence just as the big cables. I use these to feed my numb $200 SONY "Pro-logic" receiver from the VCR. (I don't care about a DVD player yet. Not really a HT fan.) They work great there! The tonal balance and presence can be at times so precise it fools you! Is that my phone ringing or is it in the movie?, is that my doorbell or is it the one in the movie? You can hardly tell them apart! A Great feat for the humble 22's! For HomeTeather (HT) where mostly all (and the fun part) of it it's its dialog, crashes Booms, Bangs and Roars I think this cable it's in its domain. Also for a second system like I said it brings musicality to it. Oh and the top end is ever smooth never harsh. If you hear it harsh, something's got to be wrong w/your system. Where the 22's start falling short is that their soundstage presentation is only two levels deep. Width seems to be ok. Soundstage depth it's Front, Back and that's IT. There is no air, no space any further than that. And the back it's lightly fuzzy. The front is always so gracefuly and elegantly clear though. Microdynamics are cut off short, like you don't get to hear that last 20% of decay in the string of a guitar. On heavy musical passages with a lot of instruments playing at the same time it tends to sound congested, as if it reached some sort of "saturation" level and it sounds strained. Then again, if your system is an entry level or is as numb as my Sony Receiver, and doesn't have the resolution you will never know the difference but will welcome and enjoy this interconnect's musicality and "realistic (tonal balance) presentation" so to speak. Definetely much better sounding, refined and satisfying that the black cords that come w/mass products (and they look darn good too!) Despite their shortcomings, for their price range I think these cables are overachievers and I love them for that. Manufacturing quality is tops, and the long ride they give you for your buck and the smile they always bring to my face I give them five stars. In absolute sound terms they would be like a 3.8 . In value, yeah, they are pricier but hold their very own - so musical - virtues, so I give them also a five.

Related Equip: You know my "numb" Sony Reciever at the bottom of the list (it's not really as bad as I portrait it.) And where I gaged it's absolute sound attributes was on my main system between a (back then) Sansui ELITE class single CD Player connected directly to a Carver TFM-55 power amp. It hardly gets a whole lot more transparent than that folks.

Sorry for the long review, but I hope you find it informative and useful. And Remember it's not all about "Perfect Sound" it's about the MUSIC YOU LIKE and the way YOU Like IT, and HAVING TONS OF FUN WITH IT!

Happy Listenings!!! & Drop me a line, I love to hear from you. (I hope I don't regret saying that later! ;) ... )

If you are an audio publisher off or online and liked how I said what I said, yeah I would love to write more for you for a reasonable fee. (The rest of you, please don't hate me for saying that. You benefited already! and I need money too like all of you!) (and a litle bit of a poet too.)

Similar Products Used:

Monster 350's, RCA's Interconnects (both these are cr...p)