For digital cable, if you use single ended cable then search my site. I use a cheap cable, do not remember name but there was something in that which call it Platinum. It is ridiculously good cable, they are many years out of production but they do show up on eBay for literally a few bucks. It has ugly blue color. 

I did not know is that you know Bud Purvine. We used to talk a lot and I like him. I have some of his litz cables. Unfortunately you are absolutely correct, for whatever reason they are incredibly boring. It is actually quite remarkable how it's possible to make a cables which completely suck out all life from sound. It would be very interesting to see into it cheaper and to recognize why his cables do it as I feel should be some kind of underlying principle behind it and maybe using this principle would be possible to moderate the "boring" of the cables.

One way and another, get better, Poul. We all going to be there...

Happy 2026! Looking back on 2025 hi-fi, it was all about integrating and developing new speakers for “more stereo”. Naturally (this being hi-fi), as my stereo improved my mono has slipped by comparison. Not to say the mono is “bad”, rather all the terrific stereo “soundstage” significantly overshadows what I get out of mono. I have not yet played much trying to “bring up” the mono, but I have observed that some more modern “mono” records are more “open” played with the K&K knob set to “stereo”, while old mono recordings just sound better on “mono”. I have in mind some things I want to try with mono recordings, but I am not ready to give up the great stereo I enjoyed in 2025, and I will not intentionally take a back step there to showcase mono.>>

Paul S

Wojtek wrote:

with available technology. Aliens have to give it to us. It's hard enough to have a decent sound playing one genre of music or particular part of the genre music like chamber or solo instruments. To have something which plays  well most of genres requires a new technology and not a rehash of 100 years old ideas and pissing on the speaker cone. Good boombox is not so bad to sweeten up a "crushing sense of defeat"I think we should devote 2026 for boombox development All the best

Wojtek wrote:

My heavy metal favorites are closer to aluminum in heaviness rather than a hairy chest metal...Lost may hair by the age of 18 hence I put all my eggs into "intellectual music" . (Quickly learned that the only sure way to a pantyland is fist full of $$  Everybody in business knows that nothing beats 8 track system in a rear wheel drive , even a boombox I hope pink noise let you fall asleep after years of nerve wrecking insomnia inducing system tweaks   Paul , I had several of those dorm "all in one" systems passing by. I sold them all thinking  I can do better. Yeah