I do not need to revise my previous assessment after comparing the FireBird with the Göbel Lacorde Statement, which is more than 40% cheaper: The Audioquest bi-wiring cable has a slightly warm balance. The low-frequency foundation seems even a bit more substantial, and the high-frequency range radiates more golden than silvery. Also, the FireBird's sound stage seems a touch deeper, and the instrument groups are minimally more tangible. Whether these subtleties justify the price difference, everyone will have to decide for themselves when they listen with the cables in their own set up. However, I now have a new favorite.

This is true even when it's not about Shostakovich and a symphony orchestra: Charles Brakeen's saxophone in "Folk Song for Rosie" on Le Voyage by the Paul Motian Trio sounds minimally less bright with the FireBird, but without losing dynamics and bite. The voluminous double bass of J.F. Jenny-Clark maintains its articulation and precision via the Audioquest. Paul Motian, as usual, elicits a wealth of timbres from the brass of his drum set. If the Ground-Noise Dissipation system in the BASS cable is supposed to relieve power amplifiers, as explained in the white paper, this should also work with the Göbel Lacorde in the mid-high range. No sooner said than done: If the Audioquest FireBird BASS supports the Lacorde Statement and makes the jumpers superfluous, this benefits the low-frequency reproduction and the spatial representation. However, the high-frequency range becomes a bit rougher as a result. Probably, in the end, what was designed together plays best together.