I wanted to dress up my XLR cables a bit. Not expecting a sonic miracle over my BJC XLRS, they sound great. I am only dealing with 1M cable runs, so the Monoprice were moderately priced. After looking at the pictures someone posted on amazon, it looks like they are well shielded and soldered. I always prefered braided cable and these have better flex than the Blue Jeans Cabless. Don't know if there if any sonic difference, but they are much more attractive to look at :D Amazon.com: Monolith XLR Balanced M/F Audio Cable - 1 Meter, with 24K Gold Plated Connectors, Oxygen Free Copper, Professional, Premium Home Audio: Electronics Matches great with my Parasound, but still look nice even with the ATI LOL