To my ears, the Consummate reduced the tunes' energetic scale even on something as simple as Anna-Marie Jopek's Minione. Her billowy voice compacted a tad around the edges and a fine sense of breathy freedom curtailed as though elements of pace, rhythm and timing took a minor hit. This was independent of whether the cable's plug occupied the spare coaxial input or the analog RCA out. Still upstairs, I reshuffled electronics for a second attempt. This time a Jay's Audio DAC2-SE converted digits and Bakoon's puny AMP-13R amplified the results in the current domain. Speakers remained unchanged.

Consummate unplugged between the speakers for size reference.

This became a rerun with enhanced delta, likely because Bakoon operate at more intense resolution than Pass. Again I sensed that energetic damper inserting itself to compress things slightly. On belting male vocals, I even heard a certain grunge and grit like pixilated edging which went away when the cable unplugged. At least in this system, my 2nd-opinion request had backfired. Glen's laudatory results didn't duplicate for me. It was time to hoof it downstairs for a trial in the big system.

Upstairs I didn't have a near-enough wall outlet so the Gutwire had to plug into the same passive Furutech power distribution box as the rest. Downstairs I had one a foot off the ground. The weight of the suspended cord so torqued on the outlet that the power plug unseated itself unless I used a long kitchen utensil to support it just so. For my highest chance at hearing even a small benefit, I set up the Cube Audio Nenuphar widebanders without crossovers powered from a Gold Note PA-1175 MkII in low-damping mode.

Then I spun up the title track from the old Dulce Pontes Lagrima album, with the Consummate attached to a spare input of the Wyred4Sound preamp.

How this is recorded and performed mean that on a highly resolving system, her voice walks a virtual knife's edge. Even the tiniest electronic boo boo translates. With the Gutwire, the unfettered immediacy of the fadista's vocals obscured just a tick whilst I observed nothing new or better to take its place. Once more the sense was of an invisible damper which had clamped itself on the open radiation of energy. It was just a mild 'counter gush' effect to put a label on it but in my book not really desirable. Of course our Vibex AC/DC filters are the most effective of their kind I've tried. Less polished power delivery might have made that audible difference I was chasing?

No matter, I shall further look into this external grounding subject with a forthcoming review of the CAD GC1 grounding box. At $2'300 and meant to treat two components with the two requisite umbilicals included, it'll be priced very much like two Consummate cables though given far thinner links, far easier to set up without taking up two spare power sockets. Today I simply feel self conscious for having troubled Herbert Wong for this loaner only to inadvertently fail at duplicating Glen's results. But I'm clearly in the serious minority or Gutwire by now wouldn't have three different cable models for this particular approach to lowering signal-ground noise.