Just came across this thread, and wanted to add in something I wrote a couple of months back in my local forums.
Through the kindness of William at Audiosound, I was given the opportunity to try out Tchernov Cables.
I first heard it at a demo session with his Ground Zero speakers and a pair of Rockports, and being in the market for new speaker cables due to a change of set-up, he very kindly offered to home loan a pair of the Classic and Ultimate series speaker cables for me. Admittedly, the intrigue and sense of mystery of giving a try to cables made in Russia with cables pulled in Russia did add to my fervent curiosity.
So what did I hear after plugging them into my system, fronted by a pair of Marten Coltrane Tenors?
Now, this is not a "heard things I have never heard before" kind of experience, but instead I felt that I am hearing...more.
For example, on the track "Misty" by the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto trio, the decay of the piano notes, the tapping of the foot pedals, everything seemed to linger just a bit longer. I know that these parts of the track existed, but it become much more evident, without being too forward and fatiguing.
Another one of my findings was that it really could help in discerning component changes.
I was very lucky to have been able to try the CH Precision C1 DAC in my system, in place of a much older Weiss model. Before the Tchernov cables came in, I could tell that there was a difference in terms of the way the sound stage was being presented, but not much more. It left me wondering as to why the CH Precision was considered such a digital tour de force. However, that changed when the Tchernov cables came in. The layers and depth I heard in the various tracks with the introduction of these cables, allowed me to understand what the CH DAC was really capable of (might be the subject of a seperate post).
What about moving up from the Classic to the Ultimate? Unlike some brands where moving up the chain gives almost an entirely different sound signature, the main takeaway for me was that it opens up the sound even more, comparable to watching something on a 21 inch tv, to a 42 inch. I could live with either one happily.
In conclusion, to cut a long story short, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience with the Tchernov cables. If I put it into food terms, it enhances the entire experience like spices, rather than changing the original flavour by adding a new ingredient.
While I am still in the process of changing some components around, I do think that the Tchernov cables will be something that will be high up on my shortlist when I finalise my system. I do recommend giving William a ring if you want to know more (great and knowledgeable guy too) , and I hope I will be back for them in the future.