SuperG

Liz- I was also skeptical on USB cables as I am an electrical engineer and theoretically data transfer should not be effected by the wire however , I must say the KIMBER SILVER USB did make a marked improvement over the stock USB that came with my Benchmark DAC PRE HDR. The detail especially in the upper mid and treble has a little more sparkle that i was missing with the stock USB. I also added a little tweak applying some ferrite cores I had on both ends, the bottom line is limiting RFI/EMI and good ground path and noise separation . That I feel is what allows some micro dynamics to come thru on the audible side. Bottom line is for me at least this $125 cable upgrade made my listening more enjoyable, and at the end of the day that is really what this hobby is all about. Summary: Better overall musical presentation, more decay and resonance around the instruments, sparkle on cymbals system : Dynaudio special 25s on brass tip toes/granite Signal Cable silver rev speaker cable McIntosh MC275 mk V w golden lion KT88's Kimber Hero XLR Benchmark DAC PRE HDR Kimber Silver USB MAC mini w Seagate 1.5TB hard drive ( files are all apple lossless & some 24/96WAV) Wadia 170i IPOD Touch w remote appl Signal Cable power cables APC conditioner