Not only wasn't Boenicke's IC3 CG fussy about ancillary hardware, it elevated its performance with no sonic penalty. To my ears this interconnect was as universal and effective as the matching S3 speaker cable had been. As such it won't counter one coloration with another. It's not tailored for that. It simply assists the connected component to flourish into a superior version of itself without reworking its existing core voicing. This brings us to two mutually exclusive things: synergy and versatility.

Although Sven Boenicke's recent outsourcing could look like a lazy shortcut, far more important to me was his knowledge on how to arrive at the destination, on which path to take and which guide to hire. The S3 adventure already marked his audio house capable of cables whose quality matches his loudspeakers. Today's IC3 CG merely reemphasized that opinion. It's easy to use if a bit quirky. According to Sven, a separate ground leg and one wooden chamber per channel are simply what was needed to get the job done. Without having a non-CG version at hand, I couldn't tackle the add-ons' effectiveness. But having compared his W11 SE and W11 SE+ speakers, if the man says they're elemental to ultimate performance, I won't argue.

Just as its S3 sibling had, the matching Boenicke Audio IC3 CG scored equal high notes on sonic potency simply at a different system juncture. It extracted the very best of all associated hardware without asking for anything in trade. That meant zero drawbacks. Superior effectiveness at elevating a connected component's performance regardless of factory voicing or type was a key strength. While my limited exposure to expensive interconnects is the only reason behind the absence of another award, I will say that Boenicke Audio's IC3 CG emerged as the best of its kind I've yet heard. So compliments to Swiss cable chef Sven for exploiting the C-MARC technology this impressively for the second time in a row!

Boenicke at 2020 hifi show in Bangkok