I can add my 2-cents worth here. I recently purchased a Bartok off the secondary market. I could not be happier with how it sounds through a ML 585 integrated amp and Wilson SabrinaX. For interconnects, I collected a selection from friends and TheCable company who have a lending library. Most were Shunyata, so this is a very limited comparison. As mentioned above, there is no substitution for an in-home audition over several weeks. Impressions change over time and the cable with the best first impression may wear out its welcome over time. To summarize the adventure, I found that in my system the Shunyata Alpha X XLR interconnects worked very well. Quality seemed to align with the cost fairly well and newer version of a given cable were improved over the prior generation. Alpha X > Alpha V2 > Delta V2 > Theta. All other cables were “budget” cables that did not work terribly well.