Yes, QED are reported as poor by various people. It was a two or three year hype bonanza for WHT when they came out, they then moved on to Chord Carnival Silverscreen, which you hear nothing about these days.
At low cost, you'd do far better with the oft-recommnded, vfm and no nonsense Van Damme. Dealers like Purite North will sort some out for you terminated at very fair prirce (no home loand sadly),
From there, you can start to experiment, if you have the inclination. Remember, given the very nature of a blind test (everything sounds the same - it's just bloody music, it's a magic trick dressed up as science, which ball is the cup under, say "Yes, Paul!"), you will not notice any difference when swtichng cables. However, and many find this unacceptable, when a set of cables have been in your sysyem for a few days, you may start to notice the kind of subtle details often attributed to them (of course, in markerting speak,and in reviews, these differences are apparent the moment you plug them in. Simple fact - they're not). If you notice and appreciate the differences,(you may not, depends how familiar you are with your kit) then you either demo more or pick according to whether having a "loom" bothers you or whether you're matching amp-speaker according to manufacturer's recommendation (e.g. NACA5).
Since the guys at Roksan have launched into some pretty esoteric cable designsby the name of Vertere - some cheapish (<£100), some astronomically expensive (>£2000 iirc), you could well start there.
Equally, you could buy Van Damme for a few quid, and put the money towards up the range MA GX speaker, or whatever takes your fancy. The VDH will of course work fine with that.
You can go around in circles trying the get a "definitive" answer, the fact that you're asking, ableit in a "I'm a bit sceptical me but I still find my certainytly easily underminded by groupthink and marketing", it would appear you'd like to try some others. I think i've laid out a route that includes suggestions from both campsm("believers and non-belivers).
Onee important caveat - stick with what you have for at least a month, then any changes you make will be far more arent. The whole "instant switching/abx" thing can only reveal the most gross of differences. You bought it to enjoy it, stop fretting, watch your cable anxiety melt away and come back if it still seems important.
EDIT: I didn't know I was replying to a three or four year old thread. I hate it when people dredge those up, you don't start conversations with people that ended three years ago. Start a new thread. Anyway, my points stand.
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