Alright, I wasn't expecting much.
After all, these cables just transmits 1's and 0's, right?
Wrong!
Switching to the 15 times more expensive Audio Note AN-V (A.N.'s netry level silver I/C) fitted w/ Neutrik interconnects from an Ixos 105 proved to be a very interesting experience.
First a note about the cable. No one in his right mind would buy it based on looks alone. Pricey cables tend to look stiff, be big, with truly heavy terminations. The AN-V is it's anti-thesis. Let's put it this way: the Neutrik terminal seem heavier than a 1 meter pair of these cables.
What was lent me was really an analog I/C but since all A.N. silver cables (don't know if all copper I/C also) can be used in digital applicaitons, I wasted no time A-B-A-Bing vs. the Ixos 105.
W/ the A.N., sound was more delicate, more articulate, more passionate. Oh my, I ran out of adjectives that end with "-ate." There's more inflections, more (just learned this on this board a few weeks back) tonal shading.
Pretty much what the A.N. front end brought to my system is what this digital interconnect did, literally inject more A.N. character.
I wonder how the AN-Vx, AN-Vz or Kondo's versions would sound like, the latter was said to be "more elegant than AN-UK's."
So many cables, so little money.