I have to admit to not getting too excited reviewing cables; not only do you convince some readers who believe that all cables sound the same, but conversely I have to make every effort to ensure that when I do review something, it’s not the footprint of the hardware itself that’s actually making all the difference.  I have therefore, over the years, put together different hi-fi set ups that I know to be honest purveyors of the original sources that I have mixed myself in the studio or know really well. It is also essential to make sure an over-biased eccentricity created in one wire is not compensated for in another wire along the chain. Therefore, I have my cable favourites and pet hates. Careful placement and material is vital in establishing my audio paradise. Over the years I have ascertained the bland and dull, and similarly discovered the bright and thin. So much depends on the metal, the amount of oxygen in it, the dielectric, and the casting process (called extrusion and annealing) from the master raw material. For example, Silver is the most conductive metal above copper, but it has the tendency to sound bright and thin, which initially can make the music sound more compelling. Whilst that might sound great for bland sources, or those of us who have top end frequency deficiency, what is really needed is an absolutely flat cable that takes nothing away nor adds anything. It must not act like a capacitor or resistor, nor like an aerial and add RFIs. Max Townshend has spent his life trying not to add anything to the music (in his passive autotransformer preamplifiers), and to dampen everything else that tries to get in (with his Troughs, Paddles, Seismic Sinks and Isolation Feet, etc).

So, to be given a cable that has both wires as close together as humanly possible was for me the last thing I wanted to see, and something, to be honest I didn’t expect Max to do. This new cable from Townshend Audio is as radical a move as was his excellent 2002  DCT300 interconnect with its metal sheet conductors side by side in their own PTFE air tubes. This design ensured that 99% of the cable had air as its dielectric. The new F1 uses Townshend’s latest incarnation of enhanced DCT (Deep Cryogenic Treatment), better known as ‘Fractal-wire’, hence the letter ‘F’, and which he guards in strict secrecy, having learnt a lesson from his original DCT technique which is now copied around the world. Indeed, Fractal wire is also used in the windings of his Allegri autotransformer passive preamplifier. The F1, like its precursor, ensures the cable has an absolute minimum contact with the insulator. Indeed, the thin and thick layers of PVC or PTFE dielectrics in 99.9% of cables can add their own distinctive colouration and microphony. Think of the common capacitor as two pieces of metal held apart by some non-conductive material (dielectric), and you’ll see how much your interconnect resembles this major electrical component. Wire Resistance in cables is fairly insignificant, and general 12 gauge house wiring, being  around 0.016 ohms per foot, is sometimes used as a cheap alternative, though this misses out other major ‘parts’ that make a cable and therefore far greater affect the sound.  Having heard so many cables at all price points I can even, more than occasionally, recognise manufacture, metals and dielectric blindfold simply by listening. The differences can be so big that at times the cables can make a bigger difference than comparing different source. Hence, auditioning cables tends to be much easier to do than pieces of Hi-Fi, but that means you really need to know your sources, and full implications of mixing components and cables.  For example, silver can work better on valve than transistor.

Unfortunately many feel that spending a significant amount on cable is a waste of money. And if the dielectric is quite simply air, that payment in the shop or on-line can be even more painful.  The choice of dielectric is, however, as important as the metal itself. Indeed, one of the best dielectrics to use is air, and I recall writing in HiFi News about Abbey Road Cables doing a similar stunt a few years back, using wiring held in place with grommets in air-filled tubing.  In Max’s cable the signal travels through a singular very thin polyester-coated enamelled copper wire, which spirals around a much thicker bare copper ground wire. Because signal and return conductors are so tightly spaced, external electric fields cannot get in. As a result, these cables block radio frequency interference (RFI) and help to stop hum in valve amplifiers. The cable reminds me of Litz cable (incidentally, this is used in their Super Tweeter cabling). Each thin strand in Litz cable has its own enamelled coating, and relies on the skin factor, whereby the majority and faster electrons vibrate at the edge of the cable. In a good conductor, skin depth varies as the inverse square root of the conductivity. This means that better conductors have a reduced skin depth. Therefore there is no need for ‘thicker’ wire – something perhaps more favourable to the wallet-fearing customer.

I remember my A-level Physics talking about energy and electric field in relationship to AC (and therefore audio) flowing in a wire. It tells us that the electric field vanishes inside a conductor, in other words no energy flows inside a conductor but actually just outside. Therefore, the speed of a signal depends on the dielectric properties of the insulation. The best dielectric allows flow of “the signal” at around 70% speed of light. In Townshend F1 the signal conductors only come into contact occasionally with the inner of the two concentric PTFE tubes. Most of that dielectric is air, as I mentioned earlier. The PTFE tubes are in turn placed inside a third, and clear, PVC outer cable. Such a  clever and simple idea. In many cables, linen or cotton can be used to dampen the wire movement inside that cable from vibrations. With the F1, if vibrations appear in the outer layer of PVC, the air dampens it from the next two PTFE tubes. Brilliant. The fact that the two cables are so close together means this is not likely to be a problem. The whole is terminated in the industry best Neutrik Profi RCA phono plugs which have a spring loaded ground collar. There is also a balanced version, which incorporates two strands of the ultra-fine enameled copper conductor spiraled together with a parallel drain wire but no shielding, and again terminated with Neutrik XLR plugs.

I played lots of different music using a selection of sources, both valve and transistor. I particularly wanted to check three areas; 1) depth of frequency range, 2) dynamic range, and 3) how complex sound structures were conveyed from source to amplifier. The first area passed with flowing colours, from lowest bass thumps in ‘Sister Drum’ by Dadawa, to the cymbals in 1970’s LP ‘Feel the Love’ by Love Song was the best I have ever heard. The skin factor, which can limit high frequencies would be off the scale, so no problem there. Dynamic range was not an issue in even the most complex tracks I played; whether Nono, Neillson, Mahler, Sibelius or Britten, or Tangalgo’s energetic ‘La Zucca Barucca’. The complex orchestration in The Pines of Rome, Respighi, (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) was unflustered. This cable could do it all, and with all types of music. Quite simply, this cable was so open, transparent and unflappable, uninfluenced by anything around it, that I was quite taken aback. Nothing added and nothing taken away. I could just concentrate on the music around me; not the cables and not the hi-Fi! The cable, itself, was just not there. It didn’t worry me that it wasn’t the most beautiful looking or the thickest. I actually didn’t want to see it, I just want to ‘see’ the sound in a 3D audio arena from two speakers. And I really could! It worked equally well with Wilson Benesch, B&W or Graham LS5/9s, and with vinyl or CD into transistor or valve amplifiers. My Krell KSS 20i CD is well known for bass emphasis, sometimes overstating the rest of the audio, but it didn’t mask or slow the rest of the frequencies. I have personally only found two other interconnects that don’t leave a musical signature – whether it be tonal or timing –  this F1 was up on the top with them, and much faster than Lewis Hamilton.  I rarely get excited about cables, and having initially expected these to not be anything special, going by the unique design, I have to admit I was wrong. These proved that thinking outside the box can actually be the most sensible thing to do. Something Max does every day.

Janine Elliot

Build quality 8.5

Sound quality 9.1

Value for money 8.7 

Overall 8.77

I rarely get excited at interconnect, speaker or mains cables. There can be such differences in them. But to find one that just doesn’t leave any footprint and makes my music sound as real as it did in these test, is something I really want to shout out about. This is as good as it gets.

Price £899 for 1 to 2m Phono to phono and £949 for XLR. 

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Vermouth Audio are not that familiar a name in audiophile cable circles and have only been founded for some four years or so in 2010, though Hifi Pig did review their Black Curse interconnects back in 2012.  They originate from Bali, which again doesn’t have a reputation yet for producing top flight audio products, but if we take Vermouth Audio founder Mr Hendry’s opinion as valid, then all that is set to change in the not too distant future.  The Black Pearl speaker cables for review here are at the top of a three model speaker cable range comprising the Black Pearl, Black Curse and the Red Velvet, in descending order.  Similarly, they produce a range of interconnects with the same model designations, along with Black Curse and Red Velvet power cords, plus a Black Curse integrated amplifier.

When it comes to buying cables, most audiophiles I reckon will use three simple criteria as their initial  judgements for their intended purchasing decision:

• Firstly, they will use their eyes.   It has to look right and fit for purpose, because more often than not this is how we first encounter our objects of desire, as photographs in various publications or indeed an internet based source.  If it doesn’t look “right” then it’s probably not even going to appear on anyone’s short-list of candidates for audition.
• Secondly, with their ears.  Ears are used to decode how much details and resolution is available from the cable in terms of bass and treble absolutes and that all-important midrange clarity and naturalness.  Does it excite?  Does it offend?  Is any part of the sonic spectrum lacking? Does it suit the hi-fi system and listening environment? Will the overall presentation the cable gives provide long term satisfaction?
• Finally, with the brain which decides whether or not the cable represents an investment in sound quality over the return in terms of cash outlay.

And so, I will attempt to apply those three criteria on your behalf dear reader to the Vermouth Audio Black Pearl speaker cables submitted here for review.

Appearance

In terms of appearance, the Black Pearl cable rates highly in my estimation, better in fact than the majority of cables with any pretensions to being high end.  There are simply stunning carbon fibre shell covers fitted to the plug terminations and some exquisite screen printing denoting manufacturer and model details.  In the sample submitted for review, there are 4mm banana plugs at one end with generously sized spade connectors at the other end, but I understand that either connector array is available to order.  “Cold forging Tellurium Copper Rhodium Plated Termination” as Vermouth Audio’s website proclaims is what the connectors materials are and attachment to the cable itself which measures some 21mm in diameter along the main body of the cable with bifurcated tails of some eight  inches in length of a smaller diameter up to the connectors.  At that junction we find “Anodised sandblasted  aluminium cable stoppers” and very nice they look too.  Internal construction is said to be

10 AWG UPOCC multisize and multilayer conductors with air spacing suspension.  The outer covering is of braided expandable nylon mesh with a silvery criss-cross pattern.  So, on looks alone the Black Pearls score well on the eye candy scale.  It looks very substantial and rather heavy too, which it is.

Sound

With most cables there seems to be a trade-off somewhere, from excellence in one area of the sound at the expense and detriment of another.  A cable can have stunning bass performance, yet the treble can be vague, the midband nasal and muddy (and vice versa), yet we can all easily be beguiled by that bass, mid, or treble  performance at first hearing but overlook, even forgive the short-falls initially, which will eventually manifest itself into the conscious later on and lead to dissatisfaction.  Having lived with the Black Pearls for a while now I can say that this cable is not one of those.  While it isn’t the last word in detail and resolution, by the same token it is utterly even-handed, neutral in frequency response  and never offends or give the perception that it’s holding back on anything either.  I don’t see that as a negative in any way because it means it isn’t busying itself revealing faults with partnering components and recording quality that will irritate and annoy.

For example, while listening to the opening track London Grammar’s excellent ‘If You Wait’ album there is a wealth of synthesized reverberation effects and a deep penetrating bass line to the music, underpinning the female vocals.  The Black Pearls portrayed this track with both the delicacy and power necessary to make it an enjoyable and satisfying listen.  Track two from the same album contains some very obvious and deliberate fret fingering on steel strings from the guitarist and that comes across as crisp, defined and uncannily real sounding.

Ginger Baker’s epic drum solo on Wheels of Fire by Cream has the drum kit close mic’ed during the performance which is ideal for testing transient ability.  Snare drum and tom toms sounded taut and dynamic the way they should be and the cymbals have a polished refinement with no splashiness or tizz.  Kick drum too has a solid “whump” that feels like it’s hitting you in the pit of the stomach as much as you hear it with your ears.

Moving on to Derrin Nauendorf’s ‘Live at the Boardwalk’ which is a live acoustic recording with Derrin  playing solo acoustic guitar and accompanied only by a basic set of drums, the tonality of the guitar’s sound was conveyed realistically and full of natural resonances and timbres.  Every pluck on the strings was heard in great clarity and detail, although I cannot say that Derrin is the best of vocalists, but an enjoyable listen nonetheless.

Treble then is clean and clear, and I was able to pick out minute detail and finer points, even when the music got hectic.  Bass has depth and power, without overhang or delay and is able to react to fast transients in a clear delineated fashion.  Female vocals were up there with the best of the competition.  Play a simple acoustic recording in a live venue and all the reverberation effects and ambience in a venue are delivered with solidity and competence.  They have a balanced and neutral sound with no peaks or troughs to trouble or perturb and it is due to that neutrality I was very pleased with the Black Pearl’s performance.

The acid test for me personally is whether or not I play entire albums or just my favourite “showcase” tracks off albums and secondly, how long do my listening sessions last for, so a very late bed time without realising what the time actually is, is a huge endorsement.  The Black Pearls met those two criteria easily.

Sound Per Pound

And finally, how much bang for the buck do the Black Pearls provide?  Plenty, I say.

Starting at £575.00 for a 1.8 metre pair they are not cheap by any means, but given that they cost considerably less than similar sounding rivals in the marketplace, then they do represent good value in my view.  Oddly enough, they are available in 1.8, 2.3, 2.8, 3.3, 3.8, 4.3, 5.1, 5.4, 5.7 and 6 metres in length.   But, the benefit to that is buying a closer match in length to what you actually need to reach from amplifier to speaker, rather than the standard metre or if you are lucky, half metre increments.

Summary

While the Vermouth Audio Black Pearls are not the absolute best at resolving every last drop of music from a recording, I don’t see that as a negative attribute, rather as a positive benefit because a cable that can and does wring the very last drop of detail will also have the undesirable trait of being utterly ruthless with issues from recordings or systems, resulting in not being able to be listened for hour after hour without fatigue.  That also means they are going to be a good match in synergy terms to a broader spectrum of system components, so on that basis the Black Pearls will, I am sure, easily win many friends and followers.  Having listened to cables costing twice and three times as much for a near identical performance to the Black Pearls, that puts their pricing into context .  As usual, the caveat is seek out a home demonstration to form your own opinion regarding these cables.

Did I mention they look rather tasty too? 

Dominic Marsh

Build Quality               8.3/10

Sound Quality             8.2/10

Value For Money        8/10

Overall                        8.2/10 

Price as tested  £575.00 for a 1.8 metre pair.

Recommended for:  Any system where neutrality is the overriding sound attribute, where extended listening without fatigue is required.

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What’s this, a second bite of the cherry you ask?  As regular Hifi Pig readers will no doubt have already spotted, a review of the Epiphany Acoustics “Atratus” interconnect was conducted way back in March 2012 by our esteemed Jerry.  He more than liked the first Atratus model – he jolly well bought it!  And, judging by the warm reception he gave it then, he was surprised at the price too, costing under £40.  That cable is still available and at an affordable price.

And so we blow away the mists of time and fast forward to the present day to evaluate the latest incarnation of the Atratus interconnect in Mark 3 guise, which sits alongside its stable mates, the Atratus 1 and 2 models.

Construction

Barring the name of course, the Mark 3 cable is a somewhat different beast from the 2012 variant.  Gone from the Mark 3 version are the “bubble” RCA connectors and this particular cable now sports KLE Silver Harmony connectors – a welcome addition in my opinion.  The outer jacket has also upgraded from a plain black with white spiral design to a subtle shade of green with white criss-cross patterned jacket which looks very attractive and I am rather happy to say, also sets it apart from the herd of the plain black cloaked cables and its siblings.

Construction is said to be OCC (Ohno Continuous Casting) Copper conductors with a double shield of copper foil and braid.  OCC, PC-OCC, OFC, BBC, ITV, what does it all mean?  I won’t explain it all as it would take more than a mere brief review to do that, but suffice to say a clever chap called Professor Ohno from Japan discovered that drawing copper wire in a slow continuous draw from the die at a very specific temperature produced less grain boundaries in the resulting wire which happened to sound better than high speed ejection at high temperatures from the die which produces conventional copper wire.  Still with me? No?  No matter, I will just ask you to accept that it is apparently ‘better’ for now and let’s move on to what really counts in the final analysis, the sound.

Sound

If Jerry got somewhat enthusiastic about the original Atratus interconnect he reviewed, I wonder what his opinion would be about the current Mark 3?  Unfortunately I never had that pleasure of hearing the earlier variant, so I am more than content to accept this particular cable at face value and report on my findings accordingly.

For whatever reason I still don’t understand, I conducted my listening sessions with this cable starting with the “torture tracks” first rather than my customary gentle acoustic recordings, moving on to some classic recordings, then onto some easy listening and so on, with the murder music up last to put the cable under review to a real workout, I’m sure you can picture the natural progression I would normally take.  First into the CD player then is Porcupine Tree’s “Deadwing” which sounds either superb or pretty awful and takes no prisoners along the way.  Many a cable with high-end pretensions has fallen victim to this CD and I have become rather ambivalent about the outcome each time I play it with new components in the system.  Well, the Atratus Mark 3 shrugged it off with absolute ease from the first note onwards and this really did get my attention immediately.

It wasn’t the notion of sparkling treble or subterranean bass that captivated me, it was how each and every instrument was clearly delineated in its own space and time.  By that I mean that each instrument had a clear and distinct start and end to its contribution to the performance, irrespective of what anything else was happening around it.  A long low bass note remained fixed in its own space while the drums were playing concurrently during that bass note with their own dynamics and stop-start timings, not to mention the lead and rhythm guitars’ involvement in the musical composition as well, so complex transients were not troublesome at all for this cable.  The silences too drew my attention and it came as a complete surprise when the music exploded from that silence and far from being shocked, I was pleasantly surprised by it. Meanwhile, the imaging remained centre/front and rock steady in position, with plenty of depth and incredibly wide staging beyond the speakers. That’s an awful lot of words I have just typed to convey to you what this cable does, but let me finish that by saying it is only an elite band of cables that can do this effortlessly with highly complex and dynamic music.

I followed Porcupine Tree with Paloma Faith’s “Fall to Grace” album, which is not an album I actually like. Errrrm, what?  Strange you may say, but if a system can lift the sound of this album above the ordinary and actually get me to enjoy what I’m hearing, then that is some trick it has pulled off.   Paloma’s voice to me doesn’t have much tonal range, power or depth to it compared to other singers, which no amount of orchestral backing can elevate from what to me is the mundane.  Sorry if I offend all you Paloma fans. You may be glad to hear I ticked this particular box with no complaints, as the Atratus injected some much needed sparkle and dynamics that make it enjoyable – well, sort of.  I think all audiophiles should also dig out and dust off similar recordings, using them as an acid test as part of their evaluation process, rather than just their showcase demonstration music. Works for me anyway!

A track I will often use to evaluate treble performance is Jack Johnson’s “Staple it Together” from his In Between Dreams album.  The percussion on this track has been recorded with high energy and almost nil compression, so needs very little provocation into sounding overly bright and splashy, quite painful to listen to in fact with unsuitable components.  With the Atratus interconnect in the system, it came so, so, so close to the threshold of being over indulgent with the cymbals, but never actually crossed that line in my own system.  Given that other cables many times the price of the Atratus have stumbled at this particular hurdle, then in all fairness any criticism here (however slight) of the Atratus should be taken in context, but I felt then and now it is a facet of the Atratus which readers of this review should be aware of.  However, if you are looking for a cable with verve, sure-footed lithe dynamics and crisp definition, you have just found it.

Next up was a favourite of mine; Joe Satriani’s The Extremist and in particular the track “New Blues”.  This track begins with some solid weighty kick drum and cymbal work from the drummer, joined soon afterwards by a simple guitar riff from Joe, then the bass guitar with string plucks that go deep.  Then a countdown 1, 2, 3, 4 with the drummer crashing drumsticks together in time.  Now that really sounded like wood against wood, not plastic or any other material… it was wood for sure.   That kick drum too has a double stroke, the first softer than the second, which you can feel as much as hear.  The Atratus didn’t quite manage the raw power, energy and depth from the kick drum that other (read more expensive) cables have managed, but it still sounded clean, powerful, above all realistic and a credible showing nonetheless.  The biggest surprise though was at the tail end of that track where the faders are gradually reducing the recording down to zero level, it was the hi-hat cymbals that were the last instrument that could be heard… just.  I am sure during previous hearings it was the guitar that was last instrument to be faded out, but with the Atratus there was no ambiguity.  You live and learn as they say.

Close mic’ed acoustic guitar is I think one of the hardest instruments to recreate faithfully and some people are rather irritated by the guitarist’s fret work, but I find it a rich source of inner detail to test microdynamics.  If I cannot hear the difference between steel, gut and nylon strings being drawn along by fingers, I need to ask questions as to where those sounds have gone.  The Atratus cable had no difficulty in delivering those microdynamics from my reference recordings, nor did it skimp anywhere  on reproducing the timbres and textures from the body of the instrument either.

I haven’t mentioned bass performance so far and it would be remiss of me to say nothing at all about it.  I found the bass to be a trifle ‘dry’ by nature and whilst all the lower octaves were indeed reproduced with no curtailing of frequencies, there seemed to be a slight lack of heft and weight to bass notes. This meant I was listening out for the bass, rather than having it presented to me as part of the total musical landscape which I am used to with my resident cables.  That to me is a better compromise than a tubby, ponderous, or overhung bass that seems to plague budget cables and much further up the cable hierarchy as well if we are to be honest. Bass like that also tends to swamp or dominate the lower midband as a consequence, but on the plus side the sound package the Atratus presents has that lively clean bouncy energy without bloom anywhere in the audible spectrum which I am very sure many listeners will enjoy and relish.

Conclusion

I intensely dislike the term “giant killer” because those cables that have been labelled with that epithet are anything but in my experience.  They lack the detail, fidelity, solidity, finesse and sophistication of true high-end cables, even though they outwardly present a superficial facsimile at first encounter.  A large number of cables on the market can easily provide a clean-ish balanced sound that sounds good tonally with simple uncomplicated music, but give them some fast, complex, multi-layered and diversely dynamic music and they quickly fall apart or collapse inwards on themselves to present what I would describe as a mangled mush of music with instruments and/or vocals crashing into one another.  It would be fair to say the Atratus Mark 3 interconnect is not one of those types of cables as it can keep up with cables existing higher up the performance tiers and price brackets.

It stuck true to itself through it all, thick and thin, a delight to listen to even when the going got tough, where each strand of the music remained separated and clearly defined without masking.  The treble can at times be a tad unforgiving and verging ever so slightly on the uncouth, but only verging mind you, never quite stepping over the line during my own listening sessions, although I’m not so sure how the partnership would fare when paired for example with speakers that have metal treble drivers. Bass is a touch on the lighter side for me personally, but you may love all its positive qualities and attributes to bits and an audition should settle that matter for your own individual tastes and partnering components of course.

The Atratus 3 easily manages to climb up the greasy pole of sophistication in sound that very few “budget” cables can attain, which is highly commendable. When I tell you that they cost £99.99 for a one metre pair, it will perhaps enable you to make some sort of judgement from my outpourings in this review and maybe come to the conclusion that I am not in fact nit-picking or criticising a cable costing many hundreds of pounds, I am actually describing with high praise the Epiphany Acoustics Atratus Mark 3’s stunning performance envelope which I say stands head and shoulders above its immediate rivals and further beyond too.

Dominic Marsh 

Build quality: 8.2 

Sound quality:  9.1 

Value for money: 8.7 

Overall: 9.0 

Price as reviewed £99.99 for 1m pair.

Recommended for:  Systems that would benefit from some treble and midband verve and vitality, or those looking for a more controlled, taut and less dominant bass. 

The Epiphany Acoustics Atratus 3 Interconnect  will now go for second review to see if they will achieve Outstanding Product Award status. You can read the full results of Dan Worth’s second review below.

When I had a chance to listen to the new Atratus Mark 3 in my system, my initial perspective was drawn immediately to how good the soundstage of the cable was. I’ve had a plethora of interconnects pass through my current system over the past few months pertaining high-end status of which many excelled in their huge soundstage but not all…

Being able to layer the performance with great depth is not the same as being able to create what I refer to as a ‘huge soundstage’ being able to have a wide and open soundstage is not like having a ‘huge soundstage’.

The Atratus III gave an open soundstage yes, but after further listening a strong element of the phrase ‘huge soundstage’ was very apparent. Comparing to some of the more exotic and expensive Interconnects which I have had here lately the Epiphany falls a little short but it’s ability to convey 90% of what I’ve heard achieved by some of the very best cables for 5-10% of the costs is simply staggering, giving depth, height, width and three dimensionality that simply belies its price.

As Dom says – the phrase ‘giant killer’ is thrown about too often and there are many fads with cables that soon run their course but the Atratus III has a definite sustainable palpability and presence which I consider to be very grown up articulate, embracing and highly musical.

My own experience with the cable showed the sound to have many qualities and only one real criticism. Assessing the performance of a cable can be somewhat user or system specific and it’s only when comparing notes with other users that a more generalised opinion can really be offered as to the specifics of its sonic signature, anything else is simply how the cable has performed in my system, so having other components and or other systems to use a cable in will reinforce these opinions. So I tried it on three different amps as well as hearing the cable with Dom one afternoon.

Midrange quality is great, clear concise, articulate and layered, the one area where I could grumble is the lower midrange. There is a cleaner, thinner presentation here leading into the upper bass, extrapolating detail but at the expense of some body.mtge undertones of the vocal especially male vocals can be a little leaner with the up the line effect of its also leaner bass line.

Bass is a little dry due to this but I am being picky here. Bass is as a whole, very informative, extended and quick. Treble too has a strong linear extended bandwidth. It remains airy musical and true conveying cymbol work with great texture and appeal.

The amount of detail the Atratus III can muster up is really quite remarkable, I never once even considered the fact that I was missing information in any performance although the lower end conveyed it in a slightly less cohesive way for me and a point which could have been easily missed as it never came to mind whilst listening, never drawing myself to a lack of resolution, dynamics or intrigue into the musical palette.

All in all I think Dom really summed this cable up very well and although I could have simply wrote ‘I agree’ I was enthusiastic to convey a little of what really made this cable for me a fantastic piece of wire and a stellar buy.

Dan Worth

Build Quality – 8.2

Sound Quality – 8.6

Value For Money – 9.3

Overall – 8.7

Recommended for its performance to price ratio.

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There’s no need for an introduction to Tellurium Q – today I look at how the new ‘Complete’ Blue range stacks up in a triple review.

Blue

The Blue is constructed to look like a ribbon and sits at the base of Tellurium Q’s cable range coming in at £17 p/m.
The cable is extremely flexible and easy to twist turn and route in and around the system.

What I admired from the off with the Blue was how it was able to simply convey good strong musical flow right out of the box. Its signature is a little lively but soft(ish) in regards to instrument leading edges, digital music and recording of not the best quality.

The Blue likes to show off without showing off, taking that confident walk with head up and shoulders back, sporting a small grin as it walks past other budget cables in its price range and some of a greater cost in my experience as a bit of a cable nerd.

Now at £17 a meter we aren’t expecting the earth but what we do get is a large chunk of the moon. A realistic take on what a performance means and tries to convey and a good deal of that emotion that makes things more ‘real’.

A sparkly and vibrant top end that doesn’t over step the mark, a transparent midrange with a decent bassline to conclude what I consider to be an established class leader and a best buy budget cable.

The Ultra Blue

The Ultra Blue is also one of the smaller ribbon forms that TQ produce, very different in size to the larger band type cables, but equally as visually appealing with a nice sky blue finish and white heat shrinks.

Ultra Blue is immediately a stronger performer and allows through such a surprising amount of detail it really took me by surprise, how much is this a metre…£31…

There is still that softer edge to it, whereas the Black range of cables has a more neutral and tighter leading edge. It’s a clever little devil in the way it presents information.

Take a brighter sounding chip amp and some bookshelfs and the Ultra Blues will take that grainy harsh edge off of the edge of a note, yet flow through the note’s extension with sparkle and vibrancy, a very difficult trick to pull off, but here it is right here right now doing it in spades.
I’ve heard many cables that can downplay or smooth out a note and be classed as a non-fatiguing and sometimes coloured cable, but the Ultra Blue doesn’t do that at all. What it does do is kinda train the music like a dog getting to the roadside waiting to cross – wait, wait, go on then….good boy.

The detail retrieval really is remarkable allowing me to hear all the small cues, nuances and rubbed strings on ‘Seven Wonders’ by Norah Jones, leaving her vocal sultry with that tiny bit of somber edge that I love so much in her voice but which many find boring… I find it relaxing and the Ultra Blues conveyed all the late night intimacy I love about this track and others from the same album.

The Ultra Blues may not have the crystalline slap, kick and punch to a kick drum of some higher priced offerings but they never lack presence in weight or shape of the bass registers. Listening to a bit of dance music took away a sharpness which can intimidate the listener into turning the volume back a few notches. Instead I was allowed a louder listen with plenty of seering treble, deep bass and the over emphasised soundstage which make dance music sound so good for me. Not as esoteric as it can sound, but giving a definite representation of every frequency without missing any portions of enjoyability due to a lack of bandwidth or potential in conveying convincingly what the recording artist has laid down on the track.

They are actually such a good listen in my system that I could actually live with them and I’ve tried the likes of the Black, Ultra Black and Ultra Silver. Don’t get me wrong, without a budget I could happily drop way more money, but if I had to strip down my system then the Ultra Blues would be a consideration for about two seconds and they would be in the mix.

The Ultra Blue just seem to do something special without even trying, I could definitely declare them as one of the very best budget cables I’ve ever heard. There’s no, I can do this but can’t do that, they just convey a coherence that doesn’t allow the listener to criticise, especially at their meagre price point!

I’ve now had the Ultra Blues in my system for two weeks solid without even batting an eyelid. Normally if I have someone coming around and what with always chopping and changing kit in and out for review purposes, unless necessary for an opinion I tend to put my system back together as I am and have been making gradual changes and tweaks to it, but I can honestly say the Ultra Blues have been stared at, thought about and walked away from thinking, ‘I’ll leave ‘em in I think’.

They don’t warrant a second thought and that’s a testament to Tellurium Q, I’ve always been very fond of their cables, but for me the Ultra Blue stands out because it doesn’t make a scene, it just creates one.

Blue Diamond

Well my enthusiastic self is a little worried now – I’ve given the previous cable so much praise I don’t want to feel in anyway disappointed with the new Blue Diamond which tops the Blue range. I just hope it’s not like the day when your son reaches 16 and says “No Dad, I’m bigger than you and if you want to go outside then we can sort this out like men”.

The Blue Diamond are not of the smaller ribbon type of cable. I always look at the these, the Ultra Blacks, Ultra Silver and Black Diamond as a ‘band’ rather than a ‘ribbon’ due to their overall size, thickness and rigidness.

Routing these bad boys is somewhat trickier. Yes they will route, but you just need to take your time be a little more careful and all will go according to plan in next to no time.

So can the big daddy hold its own against its offspring? Uh, yes! I was hoping that I didn’t have to call Tellurium Q daft as I didn’t fancy going outside as its cold now in November.

The Blue Diamonds are a good step up again from the Ultra Blues and coming in at £170 p/m I should think so.

Listening to London Grammer’s Hey Now produced the deep dropped progressive bass notes in the first paragraph of play that roll across the room and gently resonate the sofa and which puts an instant smile on the face and leaves a bit of intrigue in the mind as to what these cables may be capable of, whilst listening to this slow and somewhat bland track that has good intimate characteristics, yet doesn’t have the zip and excitement that you want to hear from first hearing something new in the system, before the brain relaxes and the music does too as the day progresses on.

A total change of direction and as I was scrolling through my album library I thought as I went towards Nils Lofgren I hadn’t heard the Natasha Bedingfield album for years. Quite poppy but there are huge sections of tracks which offer an interpretation of strong 3D imaging if the systems components are up to the job.

People talk about sound memory only lasting for a matter of seconds and I had this conversation with our latest addition to the Hifi Pig team Dominic on the phone earlier. I personally remember very vividly attributes and aspects of equipment and music, he agrees and he does have ears I trust, so visiting this album was like shaking the hand of an old acquaintance whom I hadn’t seen for some time.

Natasha’s excited vocal had all of her passion and high pitched narrative to the tracks story. The Blue Diamonds seemed to register themselves as a controller of all that is wild without losing the faithfulness of the music and the aforementioned three dimensional, studio generated effects were completely as I remembered them in guises of better days when I’ve heard the album with some truly competent kit.

Not forgetting about Nils Lofgren I later moved onto his Acoustic Live album (for me his best work) I navigated to ‘Keith Don’t Go’ in order to hear some exposed areas of the Blue Diamonds such as top end control, instrument timbre and vocal body.

This track is always played loud when I’m testing or reviewing an item as the guitar solo three quarters of the way through the track gets extremely lively and if not careful ear piecing and fatiguing very quickly.

The Blue Diamonds refinement addressed vocal clarity projection and body impressively. Decay of strings and timbre of the acoustic guitar led into spatial awareness including crowd interaction and theatre perspectives. Yet what I found really intriguing was how the clever top end functioned.

Remember the dog crossing the road? Well this was a little more sophisticated than that. The dog had migrated and matured from a walk around the block and gone to Crufts with a fluffy perm and a rosette! In English what I’m getting at is the Blue Diamonds reflect a note in a manner that allows it to shine, still have that clarity and controlled subtlety to its leading edge, but also allowed for that note to breath and that breath of a note was the key aspect that made this cable a substantial outlay compared to the other blue cables. The son may have grown into his boots but the father had time and experience on his hands and new how to address and deal with a situation.

Soundstage is an area where all TQ cables are exceptionally well versed and the Blue Diamond is exceptional in this category also. I’ve found that with Tellurium Q cables it’s not about how big their soundstage is as they can all spread their wings, it’s about how clean and strong the boundaries of that soundstage can stay, maintaining the strength of the centre stage out to its borders and the Blue Diamond and it’s clever upper end attenuation and presence produces width height and perceived depth extremely well indeed displaying attributes of its internal construction which has obviously been filtered down from the even more expensive and complex designs further up TQ’s range

Conclusion

All three cables are in their own right and price range terrific achievers and more than that stand-out music making aids, and each deserve respect, not just as the link between amp and speakers, but as a key integral part of the whole and never any less.

From Blue to Ultra Blue and Ultra Blue to Blue Diamond, there is an aura of consistency even if the price jumps considerably. But then so does the performance.

There’s no denying that the Blue Diamond is an absolutely stellar performer, but the level of performance to price ratio that the Blue and especially the Ultra Blue exhibits is something of a statement.

I appreciated the Blue range as a whole has a certain sound preference of control and careful explanation of leading edges and top end attributes that puts it in its own class of cable from TQ. I simply suggest not to jump in straight away on the more well known Black range and see your local dealer about trying the Blue against the Black and even the Silver, as each range has a particular characteristic which you may realise that you don’t need until it sits in your system and explains the music to you in your own living space.

Dan Worth

Blue

Build Quality – 8/10
Sound Quality – 8.5/10
Value For Money – 8.5/10
Overall – 8.33

Ultra Blue

Build Quality – 8/10
Sound Quality – 8.7/10
Value For Money – 9/10
Overall – 8.56

Blue Diamond

Build Quality – 8/10
Sound Quality – 8.9/10
Value For Money – 8.7 (sound quality is respective of price and vice versa)
Overall – 8.53

As is customary with Hifi Pig, whenever a product scores 8.5 or more then a second review is called for, so after Danny’s scoring ratings, I have been asked to conduct the follow up reviews. 

It’s very nice (although rather rare) for a reviewer to be asked to review a component or cable that the reviewer themselves has actually owned at some point in time.  Being the curious and fickle lot that we are, we do like to dabble amongst the available equipment on the market, hoping to perhaps make that rough diamond find that nobody else has yet latched onto.  It isn’t curable, trust me!

So it was with me and the TQ Blue speaker cable, back when TQ as a company was in it’s infancy so to speak and a blind purchase if ever there was one, as to the best of my knowledge there were no published reviews to analyse for making an informed choice.  I enjoyed it immensely back then and it was a pleasure to revisit it again wearing the reviewer’s hat this time.

Blue

Built as a flat rectangular ‘shotgun’ layout, it is an unobtrusive cable that isn’t difficult to route and minimize it’s profile.  It can be purchased in off the reel lengths to terminate yourself, or better still TQ will do in my opinion a very neat and professional job with compact 4mm “Z” banana plugs or spade connectors soldered on and heatshrinked to make a solid and lasting connection.

As with all the TQ cable products, there is absolutely no technical specifications supplied regarding construction and materials.  You may think differently of course, but personally speaking I would not care if the major constituent in the construction was cold porridge as long as the cash pounds I paid bought the sound level I have paid for.

Blue Sound

Talking of which then, here is my perception of this cable’s sonic performance.

Given that it can be bought for around £17.00 a metre unterminated, we are not talking bank-busting expenditures now.  It has a bouncy sound but not to the point where the listener is fatigued by it.  Treble is well defined and clean with no nasties, easily picking up details and nuances in the music, presenting them clearly and concisely.   Cymbals have a crisp metallic ‘ting’ to them without unwanted shimmer and without any sting to it, so no concerns at all there either.  Bass is firm and solid, full of articulation, while not the quickest on transients, it’s no sluggard either.  All in all, a great performing honest cable which belies it’s modest price.  Rather short description I agree, but see that as a good sign from me folks!

Ultra Blue

Virtually identical in size and physical layout to the Blue cable, the Ultra Blue has a different (lighter) shade of blue for the outer covering and bright white heatshrink over the terminations.  Price has risen to £31 per meter for the Ultra Blue and the burning question then is can a person justify the additional cost of the Ultra Blue or the standard Blue?  Read on and judge for yourself.

Ultra Blue Sound

A step up in price and performance from the Blue and the differences are rather more than just subtle.  From the first note onwards you can tell instantly it is a Blue by ancestry, but fed on a course of steroids, rippling with energy.  The same fundamental tones with an equally balanced treble and bass palate as hitherto found with the Blue , just a ‘bigger brother’ version with maturity, expansion and power that says “Don’t mess with me”.  I found it excitement all the way and not in a brutish way, hell bent on savaging the senses with it’s presentation, more like a larger or magnified version of the Blue’s sound, similar in fact to selecting a larger font size on your computer screen to make reading text just that little bit easier on the eyes.  When required to, the Ultra Blue was as light in touch as a feather and female vocals exemplified that with a sweetness that allowed what we all love in female vocals to convey richness, silkiness and depth, yet snap into instant dynamics as only the ladies know how to.  The cable could also demonstrate the velvet touch as well, with music that was recorded at very low levels or with a close intimate feel, played back with delicacy, softness and beguiling finesse that left you utterly spellbound.

Blue Diamond 

The construction of this cable moves away from the flat rectangle shotgun style seen in the Blue and Ultra Blue into a widely spaced parallel configuration, not unlike the Ultra Black and Graphite models in the TQ range.  This is in fact a revamped Green model and given it’s new “Blue Diamond” epithet to place it precisely in the product lineup.  It is a stiff-ish cable and less easy to make inconspicuous because it has a propensity to do what it wants to do, not what you want it do.  Still, the serious audiophiles among us bothers not about such irrelevances do they?

Blue Diamond Sound

Surprisingly, the Blue Diamond manages to create a smooth silky understated sound that isn’t at all lacking in detail and refinement. Don’t arrive at the conclusion though that it is laid back or sluggish, far from it, it does transients and dynamics, but not in a spotlit manner that waves a flag or draws attention to itself, rather going about it’s business efficiently and diligently as a great cable should do.  This cable also does imaging and soundstaging you can almost walk into and around the musicians and vocalists, the effect is so palpable and real.  The word “holographic” does tend to get over used these days but describes the effect perfectly and I searched for ages for a better word to use and failed, so you are stuck with it I’m afraid.  Nevertheless whatever word we do use, it adds another layer of listening pleasure to be derived from this cable and a live recording really does come alive and a smoke filled room with the clinking of glasses comes flooding back to the memory as you listen to some good jazz music.  Microdynamics are another forte of the Blue Diamonds and during my listening sessions I noted many instances of  subtle tonal textures and nuances that I had heard before in the recordings with other cables of a similar performance level, but not with the same degree of absolute accuracy, so a gently struck triangle for example would ring with better clarity and detail and for a much longer duration as well, then fading away to silence in a delicious way.  With that also comes treble content that is completely under control.  Think about it, that is a bold statement to make about a cable’s treble performance.

I am a lover of fast transients and not ashamed to admit it.  A snare drum MUST have a sharp “crack” to the sound so you are under no illusion whatsoever it was struck with anything other than a wooden stick for only the briefest of moments, with a razor sharp defined start and stop on the proverbial sixpence.  When evaluating the Blue Diamonds I played a direct cut recording on Sheffield Labs by James Newton Howard ‘And Friends’ which isn’t  that enervating or involving in a strictly musical sense, but can certainly puts a system through its paces and unerringly finds the weak spots in a hi-fi system like a Cruise Missile.  The track from the album called “L’Daddy” starts with a three beat countdown with the drumsticks and then some intense strikes of the snare drum that simply EXPLODES at you to catch you unawares, because the previous track called “She” has a quieter more relaxed pace and flow.  The point is that the Blue Diamonds relished those fast transients and delivered them with realism and sure-footedness, with that anticipated sharp “crack” delivered rather impressively, equally so with deep articulate bass laden with well defined and executed timbres and textures found on this album recorded impeccably as a bonus.

Conclusion –  Blue

The Blue speaker cable is a good example that good sound on a budget is within easy reach.  It is not a finicky highly strung cable, but a good all-rounder with no vices to speak of – at least I couldn’t detect any and I humbly suggest that I am rather accomplished at that task.  It has a bouncy sound that pleases with it’s vitality and I would suggest it will find many admirers of it’s performance.

Conclusion – Ultra Blue

Effectively, this outshines the Blue in what the Blue does best, so it really has a strong kinship with it’s sibling and no mistaking it is the better cable of the two by a good margin.  More detail, more definition, more bass and a cleaner midrange not only sets it above the Blue, it sets it well above a great number of other cables in the market at this price point too.  In terms of price and performance, the latter is greater in value to you the listener than the former.  In other words it offers huge bang for the buck, so rightly deserves the high praise I give it.

Conclusion – Blue Diamond

The lineage is less clear here between the other two cables in this review, but I believe it is allied more closely to the Blue range than any other and fits here logically. The  construction is completely different to the other two cables under review and hence that will be reflected in it’s cost, so that factor negates the progression in price we have seen with the Blue and the Ultra Blue.  While there is no denying the cable is capable of top-notch performance, we the reviewers must also balance out all the factors like price versus performance and that of course affects the “Value For Money” rating.  Having said that, if price tags don’t faze or give you the shivers, then who am I to argue?

Dominic Marsh 

TQ Blue

Build Quality – 8/10
Sound Quality – 8.8/10
Value For Money – 8.8/10
Overall – 8.53

TQ Ultra Blue

Build Quality – 8/10
Sound Quality – 9.1/10
Value For Money – 9/10
Overall – 8.7

TQ Blue Diamond    

Build Quality – 8/10
Sound Quality – 8.9/10
Value For Money – 8.6/10
Overall – 8.5

Picture the scene . . . . . . . . You hear a knock at the front door early one morning and you open it to find a person you have not seen for years.  Thankfully, you like this person, so you invite them in without any hesitation and spend hours reminiscing about the great and not so great times you’ve had together in the past with your old pal.

Pretty much the same happened to me when I was given a pair Van Damme Blue Studio speaker cables to evaluate.  Van Damme Blue and I had a glorious time together once long ago and it was just like meeting that old friend once more. But this time I didn’t open the door in my pyjamas.  Silly place to put a door.

Also included in this review is Van Damme’s 6mm model in the UP-LCOFC Hi-Fi speaker cable series.  I sure as heck am not going to type that lot in each time I make reference to it, so for the sake of brevity I will simply call it “Hi Fi” with the clear inference it is the variant aimed at the domestic market listener.

Construction (Blue series cable)

The Van Damme Blue speaker cable under review here is some 6.00mm squared per conductor plus the PVC insulation of the
conductors, plus a substantial rubberoid outer jacket, means we are talking about a seriously built cable at 14mm in diameter.   It has to be, as it’s design brief is to survive being manhandled and abused in the professional music arena, ranging from the recording studio and often out into the tour circuit, set in venues where build up and strip down is not done at all with kid gloves on by the technicians.

Van Damme also manufacture a Tour Grade version of this cable which is even more robust with a more resilient outer sheath, plus a “Hi Fi” variant too, more suited to the gentler home audio environment – more on this cable later in this review.

Van Damme also manufacture the Blue series design of cables with smaller diameter conductors ranging from 0.75mm, to 1.5mm, 2.5mm, 4.00mm and of course the 6.00mm we are discussing here, so the range of gauges caters rather well for various applications.

The cables arrived supplied with 4mm banana plugs supplied by Van Damme, similar in style to Michell screw down banana plugs which easily accepts large gauge cables.  My one reservation about these connectors is the knurled ‘bolt’ works itself loose over time so needs regular checking for tightness.  In fact one plug had worked loose during transit, but soon tightened up again by hand.

Conductor material is said to be high purity copper of 0.20mm per strand, 189 strands per conductor, so there is a lot of metal in there giving a commendably low resistance reading of 3.2 Ohms per kilometre.  No inductance or capacitance measurements are provided.

Sound (Blue series cable)

Taking into account this cable was deemed to be unused and fresh off the reel, it required some running in to let it settle down.  It took what seemed to be an exceptional length of time to become listen-able so I would advise new owners to be a little bit patient when first installed and not to make hasty judgments at first hearing.

Given that the Blue is not considered to be a “hi-fi” cable in a domestic setting and aimed more at being a rugged studio workhorse, it was evident from the sound that refinement is not at the top of this cable’s priorities.  I wish I could point out to you where exactly its strengths and weaknesses lie, because one CD track where I was listening to it would sound fine, another less so and variations in between, so I will try and pick out the reliable consistencies that I experienced.

Midrange was certainly congested sounding, with female vocals having a lack of air and grace that I know is there in the recording.  Treble had a slightly steely edge that was prevalent with cymbals in particular, while bass didn’t have the rich fullness that a cable of this diameter should be delivering with ease in my opinion.  It is a listen-able cable nonetheless and I wouldn’t condemn it out of hand as I know there are many folks out there that own and enjoy the sound it makes for them.

However, the next cable to be evaluated happened to be the Van Damme LC-OFC 6.0mm “Hi Fi” variant, so let’s see how this cable fares . . . . . . . . .

Construction  (Hi Fi variant)

This cable has a completely different geometry to the Blue series, arranged in a parallel “shotgun” arrangement, in a clear slightly tinted outer sheath nicknamed “clear”.

Once again, supplied fitted with the Michell style 4mm banana plugs and I have already stated my reservations about these plugs.

Sound (Hi Fi variant)

As we have black and white, ying and yang, so it was with the Blue and these particular cables.  While the Blue failed to impress on a sonic level, the ‘clear’ cloaked Hi Fi variant certainly was a breath of fresh air by comparison.  I was immediately impressed by the bass, which simply flowed out the speakers in copious amounts that fair took me by complete surprise, it was so unexpected.  That isn’t to say though that the bass was bloated or overbearing, far from it in fact and the best way I can describe it to you is the sonic difference between an eight inch bass driver and a twelve inch bass driver, there was simply MORE of it in a powerful, extended and coherent way with terrific solidity, lushness and texture.  Bass guitar acquired a background ‘growl’ to it, sensed rather than actually heard, instead of just a standalone vanilla bass note, kick drum too had a real “whooomph” to it, underpinned with a firmness and control that I haven’t heard in quite some time, even from some esoteric speaker cable confections. Anyone who has heard a Tannoy fifteen inch driver in full song will know what I am saying here regarding the bass energy level and how it makes it sound ‘bigger’ than it actually is. The icing on the cake for me was that lush full bass I was hearing didn’t intrude further up the frequency band to taint the upper bass/lower midrange region, as some cables are prone to doing. My one concern is how this cable would perform in another hi-fi system with someone else’s hearing acuity, but an audition prior to purchase should answer that query.

Treble too was transformed from an unsophisticated fizzy sound the Blue was providing, to a startling sweetness and clarity that enthralled.  Instrument separation was good rather than exceptional and the mid-band was slightly coloured but not excessively so, manifesting itself on male vocals in particular which tended to slightly lose the innate silky warmth the male voice has. Being picky here so don’t add too much credence to this remark.

To put that into context, I played Fink’s “Biscuits For Breakfast” album on CD and that really did emphasize what this cable was doing.  I like the album because it has a slow precise pace to it and a great frequency palette despite it’s simplicity which I find to be a great analytical tool.  Bass literally filled the listening room and worse luck did excite the awkward corner bass nodes I have, so the volume turned down a notch or two alleviated that problem. I envy the people who can hit number 10 or 11 on the dial with impunity.  I was stunned at just how much tonal texture actually exists with a bass guitar when you listen closely, plus that sound lived in perfect harmony with the percussion from the drums, a defined separation between the two. Cymbal crashes and top hat beats are recreated accurately with a detailed metallic ring so highly convincing and palpable.

I hope you have gathered by now I liked these “Hi Fi” cables because that’s what they are, with one small exception.  Transient attack was not as fast, refined and polished as I would like, with leading edges seemingly having a slower rise time, so losing that keen knife edge excitement and the semblance of muddling at high volumes crept into the sound. For those of you that have read some of my other reviews, you will know this is my own personal hobby horse I am a tad fastidious about and regard as an essential hallmark of cable performance.

Conclusion 

Despite being the long serving darling cable of choice for budget conscious audiophiles, I don’t think the Van Damme Blue speaker cable should any longer be accepted as such.  Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding of the whole design ethos of the Blue cable is to live in the professional studio environment with all the challenges that location presents.  It’s raison d’être is more about survival in that environment within a given budget being the primary objectives, rather than aimed at absolute sound quality, even though it has a very adequate performance in that role.  Yes there is a budget involvement because wiring an entire studio or concert venue with anything substantially more expensive would result in an installation invoice containing more zeros than the Starship Enterprise’s odometer.  It belongs where it belongs and long may it continue to do so.

However, Van Damme with their Hi-Fi consumer orientated “UP-LCOFC Hi-Fi speaker cable series” certainly have created a speaker cable aimed squarely at the domestic user that performs far better than I had anticipated and at a price that has left me in awe at Van Damme’s accomplishment within that parameter.  A full rich bass, a more than competent midrange and a treble with clarity and fluidity make up an attractive package at an enviable price.  Ignore my remarks about transients that only an obsessive fusspot would even dare to mention.  A recommended buy verdict from me then.

I do have one complaint though, I wish Van Damme would put their thinking heads on and  promulgate a better product designation than “UP-LCOFC Hi-Fi speaker cable series” because acronyms mean something only to the people who know what it means. Even the name “DA KABLE” is a lot easier to remember and so much less of a brain teaser and tongue twister than “UP-LCOFC Hi-Fi speaker cable series”.  If you use my suggested name, Van Damme, then kindly remember who the copyright belongs to!

Dominic Marsh

BLUE 6mm SPEAKER CABLE 

Construction               6.5/10

Sound Quality             7.0/10

Value For Money        6.00/10

OVERALL                    6.5/10 

UP-LCOFC Hi-Fi 6mm speaker cable 

Construction                7/10

Sound Quality              8/10

Value For Money          8/10

Overall                          7.6/10 

Recommended for: This cable should have universal appeal and application amongst the audiophile and music lover fraternities.  An audition prior to purchase is advised though regarding bass performance suitability.

Toshiba originally created TOSLINK to connect their CD players to the receivers they manufactured, for PCM audio streams. The software layer was based on the broadcast audio standard AES3 and was adapted as the “Sony Philips Digital Interconnect Format” (S/PDIF) which varies from AES3 only in voltage level.

TOSLINK was soon adopted by manufacturers of most CD players. Early TOSLINK systems used the raw PCM data from the CD player; the SPDIF standard has now become nearly universal for audio streams. It can often be found on DVD players and some game consoles to connect the digital audio stream to Dolby Digital/DTS decoders.

The name is a registered trademark of Toshiba, created from TOShiba-LINK. Variations of the name, such as TOSlink, TosLink, and Tos-link, are also seen, while the official generic name for the standard is EIAJ optical.

Although TOSLINK does not suffer from electrical problems such as ground loops or RF interference its application still has its limits. A typical plastic core cable will only comfortably transmit signals across distances of up to 10-15m without losses but a glass fibre core will transmit signals over far greater distances without damage to the signals integrity and is the material of choice for Telecom companies. Both applications are fragile and a kink or sharp bend in the cable will damage its internal fibres and render the cable unusable.

The JIB ‘Digital Glass’ from their ‘First Line’ range of cables is just that, I have no specifics on the internal construction of the cable but we can assume that its glass transmission cores are centralised in a bundle of supporting cores which are all coated in acrelyte, aiding the cables flexibility yet never interfering with the refraction of the light.

Outer jacket is thick and overall gauge looks to be a good 6-8 gauge with a fantastic eye catching finish which set off by the rhodium and gold connectors makes a serious statement for an optical digital cable.

The Sound

Playing Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ album through the Digital Glass was a revelation in new found inner information and naturalness compared to my favourite plastic optical cable. Strings rang free of the percussion of other instruments holding foreground positions alongside the vocalist with the drums a good six feet or so to the off side rear. Whilst timbre was a stand-out point, upper-end clarity was as strong a factor, seeming more effortless in presentation, relaxed, efficient and proud.

Dominic, another Hifi Pig review team member, brought around his ultra-rare Sting ‘Live from the Royal Albert Hall’. I could pick so many aspects of this album which excited me showing how very different listening to Sting Live is in comparison to a studio produced album and I really gained a new respect for the artist.

Many live albums can be imploded with hash from the surrounding crowds interaction with the venues acoustics. There is a little of this here, but the recording is strong none-the-less. What I admired with JIB’s portrait of the album was how well defined and dealt with each portion of the sound was displayed.

For instance, whilst Sting was giving small solos and the crowds ambient levels would flutter, there was never any crosstalk masking the higher notes and adding a grain to the sound, there was a hash of some sort but this was reflective of the crowd and remained specific rather than inflicting on the band.

Dynamically with instruments and electronic music the Digital Glass has a fullness of impact, a delicacy of flow and a responsiveness that adds an organic texture which I have simply not heard another optical cable achieve before. I have experience with one Glass optical cable (and a very well constructed one at that) but I would imagine as it is a great number of years old its implementation is not as up to date as the JIB and the lack of its overall size in comparison could well suggest that structurally and mechanically the JIB is superior.

Although the Digital Glass from JIB Germany is a bit of an Anaconda in a goldfish bowl its looks can be deceptive. The beautiful tones of Loreena McKennit conveyed a delicacy that was clean, incredibly articulate, sibilant free and natural in reflective tone to the artist. And the current pop favourite Ed Sheeran reflected this approach from the tonal balance of the cable from a male perspective.

Worth mentioning again is how impressed with the cables ability to handle separation, whether it was between instruments, depth of the field or width and height perspectives in the room, there never feels like there is a void in the sound and its coherence is great but there are pockets of blackness and areas of air that paint an extraordinarily good picture of the performance.

Conclusion

It’s no doubt obvious from this experience with a glass based fibre optic cable that the implementation is of a considerably higher standard than plastic based cables, although there will be exceptions to the rule. I’m sure my favourite plastic fibre based cable will be better than a poorly constructed glass version. So it’s not just about the technology it’s about the attention to the implementation.

JIB have no doubt constructed this cable using extremely highly polished Quartz glass and have adopted the very best of techniques to ensure that its implementation, light transfer stability and mechanical precision is nothing short of the best they could achieve and with its final fit and finish the Digital Glass exudes this.

I have always been more of a fan of Coaxial or AES/EBU over optical, although dependant on the implementation of the equipment one can never be 100% sure which digital interface will sound better.

JIB bridges the gap for me, offering a cable which is a true contender with electrical SPDIF based cables making the decision no longer as simple as I thought it once was. I’m extremely impressed with this cable and can highly recommend it over any plastic fibre option.

Dan Worth

Build Quality – 8.5/10

Sound Quality – 8.4/10

Value For Money – 8.5/10

Overall – 8.46/10

Price at time of review – €79 for 2m length

Recommended for fantastic value for money, exceptional sound quality over plastic fibre cables costing similar prices and great fit and finish.

Anyone who thinks reviewing Hi-Fi components is an easy job, let me persuade you otherwise.  Firstly. You have to entirely switch off all your own personal preferences and be neutral minded to begin with, lest preconception and bias sets in – no easy task for sure.  Secondly, all the emotions and gut feelings have to be well locked away and for you to remain detached and dispassionate. Part of the review process is also to study what the manufacturer has to say about their product, usually swathed in plenty of Marketing wrapping and dare I say it, pseudo-scientific babble as well and also disentangling their emotions and passions which may be included, from pure fact. It pays to find out how long they have been in business and what their design criteria aims at for the reviewer to weave into the resulting review. I have seen enough new ways to slice bread to make it the best ever and washing powder that washes whiter than white, to last me a lifetime so thankfully I am immune to all that. The purpose of writing this seemingly useless paragraph is to tell you that there are some components you evaluate that throws it all straight out of the window and you think to yourself “Oh, what the heck” and to enjoy what you hear on a personal level and set aside the review until later. Other times you can tear your hair out when the partnering components are simply not gelling together and this review is one of those, needing different amplifiers with different qualities to come to a conclusion, plus a heady cocktail of cable changes to serve a particular purpose. Intrigued? Read on . . . . . . .

And so we get back into dispassionate mode and study what the Audiomica Laboratories Erys Excellence interconnect and Celes Excellence speaker cables have to offer.

Audiomica hail from Poland and are one of the growing band of cable makers that are moving away from the familiar standard co-axial type cable construction and really looking into what makes a cable tick.They say a lot of research and development has gone into their cable designs and to their credit, they do provide plenty of somewhat variable documentation to support their claims for all of their cables, which is quite an extensive range I believe. You either accept or reject what they say of course. Personally, it bothers me not.

ERYS Interconnect 

Construction

This interconnect lies mid-range at number five in a series of eight in the Audiomica interconnects lineup and this particular cable sports a DFSS “pod” situated along the cable’s length, which I believe is an extra cost option above the ‘standard’ Erys cable. It is deemed by Audiomica as one of the “Excellence” series which shares the same bright red outer sheath colour as the “Red” series (Yes, it also confused me too). Be aware too that Audiomica constantly refine and improve their product ranges, which did lead to some misunderstanding over which cables I was actually reviewing, as they had incorporated one or two changes to the review sample.

Audiomica say the DFSS pod contains filtration components designed to address distortion with what I understand to be ferro-magnets and spacers placed for accurate gap and alignment, which they term as “Double Filtering Signal System”. What that means to you and me is neither here nor there, provided it delivers the sound we expect from it and for the more curious amongst us to pay a visit to Audiomica’s website which should provide you with the technical information, although the translation from Polish to English is quite challenging to assimilate.

Outwardly, we see a smart bright red outer woven sheath, the DFSS pod situated some 30cm from one end of the cable and silver locking RCA phono plugs all round. Conductor material is said to be pure copper with a copper screen. None of the WBT locking RCA connectors have a polarity marking, so connecting up is a bit more considered when doing the “over rack pike dive” hunched over to connect it all up in a poor light. Even a quarter inch piece of red heat shrink band at each end of one cable in the pair would cost pennies and make connecting up less of a blind fumble. The cable supplied for review at 1.5 metres long has a price tag of €958.00 and that puts it squarely into a fiercely competitive territory within the circa £1,000 bracket of the interconnect market.

CELES Excellence Loudspeaker Cable 

Construction

Cloaked in the same bright red outer sheath as its stable mate the Erys interconnect, it lacks any “pod” in its construction and is said to be multi-stranded copper of 99.99999% purity.   The main body of the cable is some 18mm in diameter bifurcated into two ‘tails’ of around 20cm in length, the junction masked by black heat shrink with the Audiomica Laboratory name printed on it.   Silver (plated?) “Z” banana plugs were fitted to the review sample which do an admirable job of gripping the sockets.  Reassuringly, each of the tails is coloured red and black with the correct polarity for installation, unlike the Erys  interconnect which isn’t marked for polarity.  Priced at €980.00 for the 2.5 metre pair supplied for review. 

Sound Quality 

My first report will be the Erys Excellence interconnect paired with the Celes Excellence speaker cable and then partnered with another brand of speaker cable. This will hopefully determine what the Erys’s performance is for those that are looking to purchase the interconnect on its own, or conversely, for those interested in the performance of the Celes speaker cable alone, so other interconnects will be substituted into the chain.

The ERYS and CELES Pairing Sound

My first impression of the Erys and Celes paired sound was generally very good indeed, with fast crisp dynamics, excellent separation, a terrific sound stage with plenty of depth and height. Clean concise midrange and a powerful bass also greeted me as well, so all green lights are on so far.  When it came to the treble, this presented a paradox; it was very much clean, crisp and highly accurate, but recessed somewhat. Cymbals sounded further back in the mix than I was accustomed to, seemingly slightly out of balance. At the time they were connected to an amplifier that had been loaned to me which I was not wholly familiar with, so back into the system went my resident amplifier, which of course I know intimately.

Now, the sound was full of energy and giving me a ‘big’ sound at normal listening levels.  Explain yourself Dom. Yes I will. The term ‘big’ here means that the sound rose from a zero baseline of silence to a perceived amplitude in excess of what I would normally expect at a given volume setting, which suggests a higher dynamic headroom. How these cables accomplished that is beyond my understanding or even speculation, but hear it I did and did cause a bit of an upset during my evaluation. The treble too kept accurate track with the bass and midrange now and the recessed nature of that frequency band was now in perfect alignment, placed equally within the total sound landscape so I no longer had to listen out for it. I was enjoying this sound so immensely, I almost forget to put my dispassionate reviewer’s hat back on again. Bass was thunderous and weighty, yet still under control. Mid-band, particularly vocals, had a silky richness with crisp inflections that enhanced rather than detracted from the performance and that TREBLE, oh yes, that treble was the icing on the cake. I have not heard such exquisite treble for a very long time and with such clarity and precision too. No splash, no fizz, no tizz, no nasty artefacts, so rich in textures and palpability, that married very well with the mid-band seamlessly too, so I will say it again, it is accurate almost down to atomic clock level.  I think I am in love.  Stop it Dom.

So to translate these observed sonic snippets into some music some of you might be familiar with, I put Supertramp’s “Crisis, What Crisis?” in the CD drawer and pressed play to hear my favourite track on the album, ‘Lady’. This track has raw edges to it that comes straight at you in a direct way, which was not unexpected. However, when the music got somewhat hectic with the volume turned up, some of the finer details got a bit lost, yet everything held together fairly well. The vocals sounded like they were recorded elsewhere like in a cavern, there is so much echo and reverberation added, but they still sounded yards deep throughout the entire track, while bass and drums are recorded to the foreground and form the underpinning of the track. Kick drum was solid and tangible almost, cymbals are represented by hi-hat beats which never vanished into the mix even when the band was playing at frenetic levels. The last one third of the track is comprised of the bass guitar in a 1 – 3 repetition, the hi-hat beat, clicking of fingers and simple vocals.  Delightfully simple, but not exactly challenging either, so I suppose it is part of that track’s charm. Track 8 is another favourite on this album called “Just a Normal Day”. A slower pace perhaps, a touch on the melancholy side as well, but the track has piano, saxophone, violins and a haunting vocal that either touches your emotions or leaves you rather cold, depending on how well it all hangs together, which it did with the Erys and Celes pairing.

Next into the CD drawer went Fleetwood Mac’s live album “The Dance”. Track one “The Chain” starts of off with solo kick drum and various other percussion instruments in the background. This kick drum beat set the floorboards off in my listening room and could feel it with my feet the same time as I was listening through the speakers, nor did it diminish during the entire track and remained consistent. With a live album of course we also get to hear the audience clapping, cheering and whistling and that is quite a challenge to recreate accurately without sounding like paper tissue being torn and crumpled up. Clapping in particular can all too often be tainted with a “shoosing” sound, but not so with the Audiomica cables it wasn’t, each individual hand clap of what seemed like hundreds and more all around you was eerily recreated with realism. Track three on the album called “Everywhere” has a pounding kick drum and Maracas playing throughout the track so I could follow both with ease, whereas there have been many cables I have heard that simply couldn’t accomplish this. However, that slight muddling manifested itself once more   at high volumes and I was starting to become perturbed by this, as I half expected it with the Supertramp recording with its raw energy but not with Fleetwood Mac’s recording which I know so well. Puzzlement has set in now.

So, on to the next step and see if there is a star performer out of the two, or are they the inseparable match?

Sound Quality – ERYS Interconnect Alone

I then paired the Erys interconnect with a pure silver speaker cable and straight back to the Fleetwood Mac album. Being constructed of silver rather than the copper of the Celes, I was expecting a different ‘flavour’ of sound from the silver speaker cable. The kick drum now had a small measure of additional solidity, plus a modicum of extra weight to it, but not to a large degree and just didn’t sound right with a darkened midband. Treble though acquired a misty veiled sensation to it, not as crisp and realistic as I had with the Celes speaker cable in situ.

In for a penny, in for a pound they say, so a real left field choice now with the TQ Blue speaker cable, simply because it was there available to hand rather than digging about in the cable cupboard, so not really a conscious choice by any means. Seems the Erys   interconnect won’t jump into bed with just anybody.  Bass was not as solid, it was ponderous and loose by comparison, midrange had become a bit vague and yet the treble had plenty of sparkle and vitality although not with the same accuracy and fidelity as with the Erys/Celes pairing.

Sound Quality – CELES Excellence Alone

I tried a SLIC Innovations Eclipse C interconnect with the Celes Excellence speaker cable and that fared much better with a close match to the Erys in overall sound. Good solid bass, clean mid ranges and a whisker away from the Erys’s treble. It might as well have been a mile to be honest. Still heartbroken. Hold on a minute, where has the muddling at high volumes with the same setting gone to?  Aha, time to investigate further and found that my resident amplifier and the Erys interconnect were having a bit of a synergy clash going on, so at least that particular mystery was solved. I installed another amplifier and there was no muddling whatsoever from then onwards.

I then paired the Celes Excellence speaker cable with the Epiphany Acoustics Atratus 3 interconnects (Recently reviewed in Hifi Pig) to see if love could blossom between these two. Nope. Biggest loss was bass power and dynamics, but midrange and treble stood up well, although where has the object of my desire gone – THAT treble? Treble was crisp and clear, but that stunning corporeal touchable realism was not there as it was with the Erys interconnect.

At that point I was coming to the realisation that it was probably futile to proceed any further along that particular avenue, because it seemed that just like Laurel and Hardy or Morecambe and Wise, the Audiomica pairing were a really great act together and no true solo performers in their own right without the other.

Conclusion

The things us reviewers do for our craft and your enlightenment dear reader. After a lot of back breaking dives leaning over the rack and repeatedly plugging and unplugging cables and amplifiers, I am shattered. Still, I hope that you are forming your own opinions about how the Audiomica Laboratory cables sound from my writings and perform together superbly as a duo.

So, to sum up then, the pair produced a powerful and solid bass with articulation and  resolution aplenty, a liquid transparent midrange that had clarity and sophisticated enunciation, natural and detailed, not forgetting the exquisite treble qualities that got me wanting it’s babies, it was that good.

To follow on from that, I don’t really know how much seriousness I should attach to the ‘loudness’ in sound I was hearing with the review pairing at high volume levels – and I mean really high. I recall that these cables produced a high dynamic headroom right from the start, which no other cable partnerships did, so was it a case of input overload somewhere in my system? Probably. Maybe nobody else is as crazy as I am in winding the volume control that far round? Certainly! As it turned out, it was my amplifier which wasn’t gelling well with the Erys interconnects, as another two amplifiers I used were just fine. It is rather unusual for my resident amplifier to behave this way, but I will dust off the usual faithful get-out clause reviewers use and say that an audition will determine the outcomes for your own personal circumstances, as I would be very loathe to unfairly blight  these cables from my time with them, because I think their performance together overall is very, very good indeed, so I will give my recommendation to them.

I would have them just for that treble and midrange quality alone and teach myself some disciplined restraint with the volume control. Some hope. There, I’ve said it and the pleading note addressed to Santa Claus is winging it’s way to him as I write this.

Dominic Marsh 

Build quality:  7.9/10

Sound quality:  9/10

Value for money:  8.5/10

Overall:   8.4/10 

Note:  Scored as a pair. 

Recommended for: Sounds best as the pairing as described above, in a system capable of tonal accuracy.  Audition is advised. 

Prices

Erys 0,5m – €730
Erys 1m – €828
Erys 1,5m – €958

Celes 2,5m – €980
Celes 3m – €1198
Celes 4,5m – €1415

Overview

Simply Audio hail from the Netherlands, specialising in bespoke hand made cables and the Cadenza range they have created

encompasses an RCA interconnect, a screened RCA “phono” interconnect for turntable  connection, loudspeaker cables, biwire terminal jumper cables, power cords and a USB cable, all of which I am given to understand to be made from fine stranded pure silver wire.  The outstanding feature is the small diameters of all their Cadenza cables, far smaller than the vast majority of cables on the market.  They also say they can also  build custom cables to customer’s own specifications.

Construction

Submitted for review is an RCA interconnect, a set of speaker cables and a set of four biwire jumper cables.  All of them have a diameter of only 4mm including the outer sheath, which initially causes some consternation at first sight, but I have owned a Crystal Cables Piccolo interconnect which has a diameter of only 1.3mm and that is a lot tougher and a lot more robust than it looks.

The interconnect consists of a twisted pair of conductors forming the signal and return respectively, with no outer screening at all.  Connectors are Audio Note AN-GP-AG silver plated plugs.  There is a “phono” version of this cable (not submitted for review) which is screened, aimed specifically at turntable connections where screening is almost mandatory to protect the delicate output signals from a phono cartridge.

Conductor material is said to be pure silver with a Teflon dielectric.  No further details regarding construction have been supplied.  The same construction and sizing also applies to the speaker cables and biwire jumpers, but the twisted pair wires are joined together into one within the connecting plugs.

The speaker cables are supplied as four individual identical runs rather than packaged into two pairs for left and right as you would find with ‘conventional’ speaker cables.  These cables were fitted with silver plated 4mm banana plugs with “leaf spring” type of contacts which didn’t grip the sockets particularly well and experience tells me they may tend to lose their springiness over time.  Thankfully, Simply Audio have stuck a red dot onto the connectors of two of the four cables enabling correct polarity to be maintained when connecting up. The review pair submitted were three metres each side and once or twice I managed to create a wonderful bird’s nest of tangles with the one metre of surplus cables laying on the carpet unused behind the rack.

Similarly, the biwire jumpers mirror the speaker cable layout, with a 4mm banana plugs at one end with spade connectors on the other end, again with the conductors doubled up together into a single cable.

Sound Quality

Initial impressions were very good, with an open uncluttered sound that was rather pleasant to listen to.  The sound was full of detail and small nuances, bass was full and rich, although the mid band seemed a little clouded and therefore coloured a tad.  During one of our recent discussions with fellow Hifi Pig reviewer Dan, we talked about bass content of recordings and especially kick drums whereby we should not just hear the kick drum itself, we should be able to hear the beater actually striking the skin, able to tell if there is a soft or hard face doing the actual striking.  We played several solo drum recordings to demonstrate that and I decided to add this listening criteria to future reviews.   Having just said that, the Simply Audio Cadenza suite managed to recreate that on several recordings I now keep for that purpose.

I played London Grammar’s “If You Wait” CD and the vocalist’s voice seemed a touch hoarser than I am used to, which matched my earlier finding of the mid band sounding a little recessed compared to other cables I have evaluated lately.  Mind you, these “other” cables have a considerably high price tag than the Simply Audio cables reviewed here so take my comment in context.  Imaging seemed to expand no  further out than the speaker boundaries, yet the perception of depth was conveyed very well.

Moving on to Peter Gabriel’s live album “Real World” I was pleased to note how realistic the audience sounds were, with clapping, whistling and cheering portrayed in a very clear concise way, so good marks there.  Again, this is another one of my benchmark tests which is quite a tough challenge of a cable’s  performance.  Treble detail was extraordinarily good, clean, vibrant and without fizz or splashiness.  The sound stage and imaging were not as wide as I would have liked, although the depth perception was impressive, particularly so with the sounds from the audience.

So, on to the real workout known as Porcupine Tree’s “Deadwing” album which either sounds sublime or dreadful, depending upon how everything in the system (including cables) synergizes together.  The title track is full of rawness in the recording that takes no prisoners, so it is either a pleasant listen or a long wince to contend with as the music collapses into itself and almost turns into a cacophony of noise when the system is not hanging together as it should. At the start of the track I would expect to hear the sounds of an underground train pulling into a station and the Simply Audio cables managed to convey that well.   However, when the music became more hectic then I did hear blurring of the instruments with one mixing into all the others and becoming less distinct, so were much harder to follow.  At around 6 minutes 40 seconds into the track a long low bass guitar riff should roll and flow out of the speakers with both power and a defined ‘growl’ to it and these cables did that rather well. While the music remained at a sedate pace the music came across as detailed and lithe, it was only when the band was at full tilt that it became a bit fuzzy and raucous.

Next, something with a gentler pace, namely Loreena Mckennitt’s “An Ancient Muse” album which has plenty of midrange content to hear although unusually very little treble. I noted that bass content was solid and powerful, but could become loose and with diminished grip at times, especially so with the heavy drum beats contained within several tracks, making it sound a trifle ponderous.  Loreena’s voice sounded slightly deeper than I was used to hearing and imaging seemed fixed between the speakers, with almost a two dimensional sound stage with little real depth.

I then played a selection of chamber and choral music which was delightful to listen to and really showed up the Cadenza cable suite’s true forte.

Conclusion

One would have expected a lightweight bass performance from these cables due to their small diameter, but not so and that’s one myth dispelled.  Bass was certainly full and powerful, sometimes a bit overblown too, losing absolute control at times.  Treble performance on the whole was very good, although as we moved down into midrange a cloudiness could be detected which affected female vocals, lowering the tonality of their voices.  Not hugely, but there nonetheless.  While being fed with simple uncluttered music they performed very well, yet fed with something a bit more raw and hectic, then there were small signs of distress with the music beginning to blur. Let me add that other cables that didn’t show any of these attributes cost three or four times more than the Simply Audio suite and that puts my comments into context.

Given that they cost from €299 for a 1 metre set of interconnects, €389 for a 2 metre set of speaker cables and €149 for a set of speaker biwire jumpers, made from pure silver wire too and Audio Note connectors no less, then it puts the price fairly and squarely into the middle of the marketplace where we do not expect “perfection”, so accordingly their price reflects the available performance which is well balanced in that respect.

Dominic Marsh

Construction:               6.5/10

Sound Quality:            7.9/10

Value For Money:       8.00/10

Overall:                       7.46/10

Recommended for:  Listeners who enjoy simply recorded music.  Audition before purchase for system suitability is advised.

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I am quite fanatic about my mains. I have mains conditioners on every piece of my hi-fi, and numerous zapperators, filters, chokes and surge protection. Indeed, for a very short time in my life I helped in the design of mains conditioners for a UK manufacturer. The question is, though, why clean up dirty mains when you can start out with perfect mains in the first place with a transformer? Indeed, Russ Andrews advise you not to mate the BMU 1000 with any kind of mains filter, and certainly not on the balanced (output) side. The Balanced Mains Unit 1000 is exactly what it says on the (plastic) tin; a balanced nominally 1000VA transformer, which splits the voltage to 115V on live and 115V on neutral, as opposed to 230V live and 0V neutral.  The advantage of this is that noise on the positive half of the signal is cancelled by that on the negative side. Having worked with balanced mains circuits in broadcasting and recording studios, I can vouch for hearing the benefits of reduced hums and buzzes. As hinted above, the 21cm x 29cm x 9cm box is made of ABS with a 10mm anodised aluminium front panel. Russ found it gave better sound quality than solely metal boxes, and which also helps keep down the weight to 9.82Kgs. This is a very heavy unit for the size and needs a sensible and secure placement, preferably not a resonant glass cabinet, because as a transformer it vibrates.

Indeed, the degree of vibration depends on matching to the house voltage. The unit is supplied as 225V, and mine hummed at 100Hz pretty badly unless I damped it on a surface such as a carpet or cloth. The hum is caused by the fact that the core laminations in the transformer are extending and contracting as they are magnetised, called Magnetostriction, and so this will happen twice in each 50Hz UK current cycle. Because there are more windings at 250V than at 225V, less current is drawn and therefore has less flux and less vibration. It is therefore important that the primary side of the transformer is set to the same voltage as what is feeding to it, otherwise flux will increase, meaning it could get excessively hot and make noises. The good thing is that you can change the output voltage to 240V, 250V, 260V in order to reduce that hum. These are simply different TAP settings on the transformer, connected by mating a plug at the end of the brown live cable with one of a choice of colour leads with insulated sockets on them. Obviously you need to do this without the unit connected to the mains. This really is a suck-it-and-see task. Mine worked best at 250V, as my voltage supply is usually around 244V. The transformer is made using “innovative” core technology, with high quality materials to help to reduce transformer noise and DC, offering very low mains impedance and giving the most stable supply possible.  Whilst a little effort is required to get inside this unit to make these changes (7 screws), it also has a resettable thermal breaker tucked in the corner which can be pressed to reset the unit if it fuses, though perhaps this could have been on the outside, even under a flap, like in many industrial grade transformers. The unit has an aluminium metal front and is generally well made, though the supplied rubber corner feet are smaller than the lip of the metal front (see photos), and therefore of not much use unless it overhangs the platform on which you place it. For demonstration I placed the unit on Iso-pod sorbothane feet supplied by MissingLink Cables.

The unit came as standard without any IEC plug to connect it to the mains and surprisingly needing a 16A IEC connector as opposed to the usual 13A IEC kettle lead, not that I’d ever suggest using one of those. So, having spent £1,599, a further outlay would be needed before you could listen to anything. Lucky for me Russ sent a Powerkord-300. The 1m £240 power cord with Kimber weave and the new WattGate EVO IEC plugs is quite a sexy looking item with a thick girth, and my cat (bless him) would have enjoyed chewing away at it (as he does with all my own cables when he wants food) had I given him the chance. No, I protected both these classy looking items as I would the Crown Jewels.

On first listening even my cat sat up and listened; maybe all those extra frequencies from my Townshend SuperTweeter. I could hear a new clarity in all that I played, with pin point precision in all frequencies, not just the very highs. Cymbals in Dave Brubeck ‘Direct Cut Disc’ LP were of a new order of clarity and realism, and the trombone played by Chris Brubeck filled the room with bite and zest. Even on vinyl the greater noise floor was immediate and stunning. Music was easier to engage in, and my Krell power amp was like a stallion tamed for young children to ride. It wasn’t that it was slower, just not so impatient and with a far greater authority and more open to enjoy all the frequencies. The greatest awareness of change in my listening tests was of the extended and weightier bass frequencies, even from my bass-generous Krell KPS 20i CD player. Who says CD can’t be fun. The talented Yes guitarist Steve Howe was clearer in the excellent “Masterpiece Guitars” album he did with Martin Taylor (p3 Music Ltd). In ‘Two Teardrops’ the two guitars were distinctly separated left and right with Steve or was it Martin breathing between the phrases on the left speaker, as if he were in the room with me (I wish). The double bass in ‘No Pedestrians’ was clear and extended. ‘Harpnosis’ was hypnotic in in its clarity and poise, and showed CD to be what was claimed it could be in the early eighties. A myriad of plucked instruments from around the globe knitted together with clarity and authority and I was whisked away to another world, where in other systems the track could be a traffic jam mishmash of unconnected noises. The repeated C-diminished and C-major phrase wasn’t boring and I felt I was there amongst the musicians. Turning to classical music I heard more detail in the Naxos Brahms 1st Symphony (BRT Philharmonic orchestra). Not only was stereo spread noticeably improved, but front to back detail was clearer, meaning there was better separation between first and second violins, something which can be hard to pick out. Indeed, I could even pick out edits in the recording such as at 05’52” track 5 in the Brahms ‘Haydn variations’, something I usually only detect on headphones.  Playing some of my own 24bit/96kHz recordings using basic X/Y stereo configuration allowed an even greater natural depth and accurate imaging than without the mains unit.

If I have any gripes against this product it is that it only has two outputs at the price, meaning daisy-chaining further extension blocks in order to connect more than two units, and possibly introducing RFI. Yes, there is the 1.5KW BMU1500 but this still has two outputs (though with two transformers, one for each socket) and the 3KW DMU3000 has five outputs and twin transformers, and is at £3500. For me the DMU, which ever one you decide on, is the purest way to upgrade your Hi-Fi to how it should sound. Having it connected to my own hi-fi for this review gave me nothing but smiles on my face for every second that I used it. This was the quickest, and effectively the cheapest, upgrade to my home audio, and when connected to my TV gave me greater colour and sharper definition to boot.

Conclusion

This might seem like an awful amount to pay for a mains double adaptor, but once you get past the fact that this is much, much more, and feed this to your prized Hi-Fi or TV, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. It might be very expensive but the change it makes to your music and video is exponentially greater than the sum of its cost.

Sound Quality – 8.7/10

Value for Money – 8.2/10 (there are cheaper balanced mains units, but the cheapest aren’t tailored for hi-fi, nor made so well)

Build Quality – 8.6/10 

Overall – 8.5/10

Janine Elliot

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I have often wondered what they feed thoroughbred race horses with.  I bet it isn’t carrot tops and potato peelings, that’s for sure.  Nor would I imagine they fuel Formula 1 racing cars with petrol from the local
supermarket either.  The same goes for Hi-Fi systems; feed them on a poor mains supply and they are not going to run at their optimum performance.

What does a “mains conditioner” do then?  In simple terms it gives the electricity supply a jolly good tidy and smarten up, taking out surges, spikes and fluctuations, removing noise and induced radio frequencies, neutralising them so they don’t enter your Hi-Fi components.  “I don’t have any of that” some may say, but you would be truly shocked just how much the electricity supply various in voltage and sometimes frequency too, plus these days the National Grid is being used for digital data transfer, not forgetting either that many home broadband systems operate via the mains in the house wiring, not confined either solely to the house itself that has it installed, because some will leak back into the supply lines.  Thermostats and motors found in fridges, washing machines and central heating controls are notorious for causing unwanted clicks and whirring which can be clearly audible through a Hi-Fi system.  If you live near an industrial estate or a farm you might get all sorts of nasty artefacts reflected back into the mains supply.  Add to that some DC offset where direct current voltages appear within the AC waveform, imbalances where either the positive or negative cycles are curtailed (this happened in my previous house) and as you can see, a mains conditioner clearly has it’s work cut out standing sentinel over what can be transported inwards via the mains supply.  Therefore I don’t regard a mains conditioner as an accessory or a luxury, I regard it as essential and hence have had one in my own system for a number of years and wouldn’t be without one now.

However, I have also heard some mains conditioners in the past that managed to squeeze the life out of the music and suppress dynamics to a marked degree, so I will be paying particular attention towards that trait during the evaluation.

Construction

Built into a substantial case, this is a solid piece of engineering.  Measuring 444x85x305mm and weighing in at 9kg it is the right size to slot into a standard sized rack.  When powered it has just two small faint blue LEDs in the central backlit panel which are not distracting, so it’s rather nice having a power indicator lamp telling you it’s switched on, rather than TELLING you it’s switched on with a glaring light – a nice touch.  The power switch and safety cutout is underneath the chassis just off centre to the front right.  It is a bit of a fumble getting your fingers in beneath the case to locate the switch, but given that the unit should be permanently powered up then it isn’t such a major issue for the rare times you may need to reach underneath for it.

On the rear of the unit is six 3 pin UK mains sockets, two of which are deemed high power outlets for use with components such as amplifiers and power amplifiers that can deliver 3,680 watts continuously per socket and the remaining four are for lower current draw units like CD players, DACs and phono stages, etc., able to supply 1,150 watts continuously per socket.  The sockets are of good quality and grip the plugs well.  IsoTek say that each individual socket is monitored for power consumption and are isolated from each other so a heavy current demand on one socket will not detriment the others.

Power inlet is by a 3 pole 20 amp C-19 IEC connector.  IsoTek thoughtfully provide a power cable suitable for the role with the Aquarius and it isn’t just any old power cable of indeterminate or generic parentage plonked into the box, it is one of their own products, namely an Evo 3 Premier.  As it is included as part of the Aquarius package I will give a brief description of it here and Hifi Pig’s own Jerry did in fact carry out a brief review of this cable back in December of 2013.

The Evo 3 Premier is only supplied as a 1.5 metre length, which should be more than adequate to fit the majority of installations.  Conductor material is 40 strands of 99.9999% OFC silver-plated conductors with Teflon (FEP) dielectric with a 2mm² diameter.  Connectors are custom made 24 carat gold plated and to IsoTek’s own design, which is a refreshing change from the norm.

Retail price of the IsoTek Aquarius Evo3 as detailed here is circa £1,200.00.

Sound Quality

Or rather, how it doesn’t sound.  The sound quality heard through my Hi-Fi system wasn’t directly attributable to the IsoTek Aquarius itself, more the profound effect it had on the performance of the other components attached to it and allowing them to work unhindered by mains borne pollution.  Because of that the “Sound Quality” rating I have given at the end of the review is only a notional figure, as it should be by rights much higher if it was a standalone sound producing component, as opposed to affecting other components in the chain as mains conditioners are wont to do.  Even so, it is still given a 9.1 out of 10 rating, a more than respectable scoring nonetheless, given the context of it’s function.

The Aquarius was tried with 3 different amplifiers; a valve amplifier, an all digital amplifier and a conventional transistor output amplifier, plus two CD players too, so all of them benefited immensely from the cleaned up mains supply it provided, so practically any device should derive gains from using the conditioner in the system.

Background became totally silent, with not even the tiniest amount of hiss when the amplifier’s volume was cranked up to maximum, whereas it was there before the Aquarius was introduced.  I heard no hums  or buzzes either.

Of course, part of my brief was to analyse whether or not the Aquarius was compressing any of the dynamics and I would be paying particularly close attention to that, given my previous experience with other mains conditioners.  Pleased to report that I couldn’t detect any compression effects at all, in fact the system was even more dynamic than hitherto without the Aquarius being installed and never once felt that it was running out of available power at any time.

The sound just opened up and flowed with absolute ease from the speakers, fine details had acquired a polished refinement, presented in an endless stream of new found details, so it was no effort at all to hear all of the tiny nuances in the recording without having to strain to hear them.  Bass too acquired a palpable firmness and solidity without any trace of boom or overhang at all.  Drums and bass were immense in scale yet under perfect control at all times.  Of particular note however was the sound stage and imaging which really was holographic in every sense of the word and it was effortless in placing musicians and instruments into fixed points in space with an ethereal quality to them, being surrounded and enveloped by an inky blackness.  In short, I believe the IsoTek Aquarius simply unshackled my system and let it do what it does best, with the benefit of having what the Aquarius doing what it does best, forming a perfect symbiotic partnership.

Conclusion

So, would you feed that thoroughbred race horse with carrot tops and potato peelings?  Would you fill up a Formula 1 car with supermarket petrol?  No you wouldn’t answer ‘yes’ to either of those questions and the same goes too for your Hi-Fi system with the mains quality you feed it.

I will say it again so there is no doubt, I believe a mains conditioner is an essential component and provided the conditioner you choose doesn’t compress or curtail the dynamics and lets the music flow out your system without any hiss, hash, mush, or extraneous noise in effortless and untroubled ease, then the outlay is worthwhile in sound quality gains.  On that basis, the IsoTek Aquarius Evo3 easily meets all of those important performance criteria and I am convinced that IsoTek have also sprinkled some “Ingredient X” in there as well, because it performed for me way better than I had expected it to, comfortably beating my long term resident mains conditioner with aplomb.

Therefore I give the IsoTek Aquarius Evo3 mains conditioner an unequivocal recommendation.

Build quality:              8.9/10

Sound quality:            9.3/10

Value for money:        9.1/10

Overall:                       9.1/10

Recommended for:  Any Hi-Fi system, enabling it to perform at it’s best.

Dominic Marsh 

As is customary with Hifi Pig, whenever a product scores 8.5 or more then a second review is called for, so after Dominic’s scoring ratings, it was handed over to Dan for him to conduct the follow up review. 

I’ve had many mains products in my time, ranging from simple basic to more complex filters and conditioners, regenerators, balanced power transformers and isolation transformers.
What I look for in a mains routing system is a unit that imposes no sonic signature on the sound and simply allows the equipment to work closer to its full potential. The Aquarius is a product that gets a tick from me.

The unit is extremely well made, has a substantial aluminium case and great looks to match. Available in various socket output types it will cater for all, regardless of plug choice or country of origin.

In the box, accompanied with the unit is an EVO3 Premier mains cable with gold plugs, an extremely welcome addition over a stock throw away cable which comes with most units regardless of price.

I ordinarily use Schuko sockets so a quick change over to some MS HD Power plugs and the Aquarius was easily swapped into my system and fired up ready to go.

My initial take on the sound was very pleasant and music seemed to be able to breathe very well indeed giving a spacious and 3D soundstage with a black background listened for an hour or so until I had other things to take care of that day and appreciating and anticipating an even better result from the unit later that evening once it had the time to settle in and warm up etc.

Later that evening I returned to the music and played some acoustic material I was very familiar with. I can’t really say that I felt the sound was much better than earlier the same day. The sound was spacious and engaging, the soundstage was definitely carved out from the black background and a sense of effortless prowess was a stand out feature of the Aquarius in my system, easily giving the impression that the unit was allowing my equipment to work more efficiently.

Imagine a calmness over the sound that can be definite, solid, bass confident and delicate and you are on the right track to understanding how the Aquarius works in the system.

Listening to vocals, especially female vocals triggered my brain to note that the upper midrange was less forced than using a direct wall or simple mains extension to power the system and other cheaper filter type units which generally always have a sense of compression or squeezed dampening of the dynamics, contrasted very to the Aquarius’ sonic appeal.

The dynamic range obtained with the equipment being fed by the Aquarius was very exciting, dramatic and enthusiastic.  Orchestral movements had vigour and explosive expression, Electronica was very beat driven with slam and subtle more intricate dynamics of delicate acoustic work was sublime.

It was easy to be seduced with what the Aquarius was achieving in the system and when the review was discussed with Keith Martin GM at Isotek, we discussed sending an extra power cable that could be seen as an upgrade to the already included Premier.  Keith suggested we take a look at and a listen to the EVO3 Optimum with a Furutech 1363 (G) and Isotek’s own copper 24ct Gold plated Furutech style IEC connector.

Plugging the Optimum into the system wasn’t a revelation but it was for sure a strong upgrade that was easily discernible over the Premier. Where the Aquarius allowed the equipment to work at a greater potential, the Optimum allowed the Aquarius to work at a better potential. Was there a different characteristic to the sound? Yes, there wasn’t a different tonality or sonic signature but there was definitely a better characteristic. The most standout addition to the overall sound field for me was an increased openness in the midrange, vocals had better projection and were a little smoother and controlled, allowing male vocals to be more masculine and female vocals to command more power and delicacy.

Bass notes also gained a degree of stability and shape, mellowing the upper bass to come through with a little more detail, giving a perception of more strength to the undertones of the midband. Treble remained much the same yet had an addition of smaller micro details being a little more easily depicted especially when the music got busier. The Optimum isn’t cheap but it’s combination with the Aquarius did allow for a further improvement to the overall feel and dimension of the sound.

Conclusion

The Aquarius is a strongly made unit which offers all the benefits of a shelf sat extension block in a sleek looking package. But that doesn’t mean anything if it’s performance isn’t strong.

The Aquarius offer no sonic signature of its own, simply put it will allow the system components to work much more towards their full potential, allowing for better sound staging a quieter background and more ease, control and strength to the overall sound.

The included EVO3 Premier power cable is a fantastic touch and works incredibly well with the unit. Adding a better mains cable though such as the EVO3 Optimum as tested in the review will rep further benefits again.

Build Quality – 8.7/10

Sound Quality – 8.9/10

Value For Money – 8.8/10

Overall – 8.8/10

Recommended for an ability to enhance the overall performance of a system without imposing on the equipment’s sonic signature.

Dan Worth

The Black Diamond speaker cable from Tellurium Q is their top of the range speaker cable coming in at £630 per metre including terminations which many would confuse for WBT but they are in fact TQ’s own design.
Yes they have an ergonomic styling similar to the WBT’s which is a testament to the design and usability of them.
TQ’s version of the 4mm banana is constructed from tellurium copper and is gold plated, the barrels are a metal alloy which are nickel plated to give a nice shiny finish and feature some nice surface grips for easy tightening of the locking design.

The cable itself as always is a mystery, all I can determine from looking at and handling the cable is that it is fractionally wider than the Ultras and where the Ultras have the conductor in a rounded cavity to each side of the cable the Black Diamond has a different shape to its borders feeling as if it has separate chambers of cables running through its length. The cable is finished in a mesh and comes in a very nice satin black box.

Routing the cables into the system is trickier than the thickest of the previous TQ cables. The band of the Black Diamond is thicker and slightly stiffer. It just takes a little care and time if there are a fair few components and angles to navigate and the job is far from impossible.

The Sound

Sting’s ‘Seven Days’ from the Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2000 album conveyed a deepness of soundstage which reflected being sat about 6 rows back. I could clearly discern all band members and their stage arrangement. The depth of the performance was very true and details were exquisite from trumpet to high hats.

The cable had taken a full 24 hours to settle in the system after its burn in process on the Blue Horizon Proburn. The Black Diamond likes to be plugged into the system and just given time to relax and settle moving it’s slightly initial forwardness in the midrange back a touch, increasing natural tone, timbre and breath.

Once settled the results are simply stunning, the delicacy and refinement in the top end especially is sublime, I could clearly hear all micro details in Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Everywhere’ and ‘Seven Wonders’ leaving nothing masked and conveying everything with a textured flow, a complete harmonious rendition of frequencies floating gracefully around the soundstage like fireflies over a moonlit pond.

Micro dynamics were absolutely effortless and more to the point, natural. There was no over-emphasis on power just a keen respect for precision and timed just so well.

Derrin Nuendorf’s ‘I Won’t Hold You Back’ has a soft cymbal work in the background, ticking away like a clock timing each section of guitar string work which has a crystalline and prestigious edge to each note, entering the fullness of the note and decaying with timbral vibrancy and scale which gives an impression of size to the guitar. The same is true for Derrin’s vocal which clearly comes from a foot or so above the guitar giving the impression that he is sat and somewhat hunkered over the instrument.

Soundstage width and complexity has a way of expressing its abilities even with the most stripped down music allowing for small venue interactions, reflections and acoustics to convey their ambience and scale in a most holographic manner. Whilst busier quartets, orchestras and studio recording generated larger complements with attack with slam, large scale and drama bring the performance to life with an inner energy and grip of realism.

When listening to some various recording by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, double bass fluidity and the dynamic slam of percussion was incredibly intense, I would refer to the sensation as a sound wave or pressure field which is closer to a live performance rather than a synthesized punch and drone.

I wouldn’t say that I felt the Black Diamond’s bass in my system was devastating, huge or bold but I can confidently state that it has an entire shape and skill that can be fast, slow and expressive, delicate or rhythmic.

Touching on my last word of explanation of the the Black Diamond’s flexible bass characteristics ‘rhythmic’ and moving through some varying genres of pop, dance, folk and R&B the lower end took on a new found enthusiasm for me that just the natural alignment it possessed with acoustic and classical music.

To hold a good flow to the music a system needs to have a good bass-line, a strong undertone and a bottom end to support and carry the music along and the Black Diamond’s were very even handed in respects of being able to deliver particularly great mid and upper tones with a strong chassis to stiffen everything up giving strength and stability.

I would say that my own reference cable the Audioquest K2 has a hugely detailed, refined and somewhat relaxed top end. The Black Diamond has an exquisite top end, it’s highly polished, crisp, controlled and transparent and integrates down into the midrange flawlessly which is very liquid.

Any male vocalist I played from Ben Howard, Ben Harper, Jo Savoreti, Sean Lakeman and many many more had a reflection of their individual tonalities that sounded extremely true and effortless, the K2 in the midrange is just a marvel and to give any other speaker cable high praise in the same sentence calling it organic and expressive of all midrange characteristics and potential flaws is a testament to its designer.

Equally poised were female artists, the projection of the upper mids could be so intense with the Black Diamond and still remain controlled and not suffer with peaks of eye shattering wincing was remarkable, many high end cables use networking boxes to attenuate this frequency but the Black Diamond simply takes it in its stride and adds no unwanted nasties or even begins to try and hype up the signal its receiving, it’s more like a gentlemen standing to one side to allow the lady to comfortably pass by.

Conclusion

My time with the Black Diamond speaker cable has been extremely enjoyable, I have praised its attributes very much. You could argue that the price is a draw back but I don’t hear cables that performed as well as the Black Diamond costing any less and I listen to a great deal of cables frequently.

In fact my own Audioquest K2 although differently balanced does not walk all over the Black Diamond and some may well argue that system to system their preference would swing one way or the other. The Audioquest is staggeringly more expensive also.

With exquisite treble, beautifully fluid midband, expressively detailed bass and a dynamic range and soundstage which explores every performance in a most natural and involving way the Black Diamond from Tellurium Q is a masterpiece of cable design.

Build Quality – 9/10

Sound Quality – 9.2/10

Value For Money – 8.5/10

Overall – 8.9/10

Recommended for being a truly high end performer, a tribute to a system rather than just a means to conduct music. Sound quality is simply stunning.

Dan Worth

As is customary with Hifi Pig, whenever a product scores 8.5 or more then a second review is called for, so after Danny’s scoring ratings, I have been asked to conduct the follow up review for this cable.

Herewith is my follow up review of the Tellurium Q Black Diamond speaker cable.

This cable is awesome.  What?  You want MORE?  Oh well, if you must.

Construction

This is some serious heavyweight cable, larger in fact than the other “wide banded” TQ cables like the Blue Diamond, Ultra Black and Graphite.  Unlike the other cables however, this model has special locking 4mm
banana plugs very similar in principle to WBT’s 0644 classic straight connectors, but manufactured to TQ’s own design brief with Tellurium Copper bodies plated in gold.  They do grip very well to binding posts which helps considerably, given the weight of these cables.

I recall my comments about the Blue Diamond speaker cables (Reviewed recently in Hifi Pig) which noted that they were not very easy to make inconspicuous due to their size and propensity not to lay flat readily and the Black Diamond is no exception to that observation either.  Not that anyone in reality is really bothered by that, are we?

Priced at £630.00 per linear metre they are not exactly cheap, nor are they the dearest on the market either.  Value is a sliding scale however and given that we all strive for the “perfect” sound from the pounds we invest in it, then we expect a fair return for that outlay.

Sound 

As you can probably imagine, us reviewers do get a goodly number of cables passing through our hands as part of our function to appraise hifi components and not forgetting either we play with our own personal cables as well for good measure, so it takes an exceptional cable to really get itself noticed.

From that first few bars of music I heard through these cables I knew they were something rather special. It was a kick drum in fact and it hit me square in the pit of my stomach is was so clean and powerful, it fair took me aback.  The CD I was playing was only a warm up track I play to get the system warmed up ready for some serious listening and wasn’t paying too much attention to be honest because of that.

Anyway, after hearing those first few moments I quickly changed the CD to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and the next hour and a half or so was a complete revelation.  No, make that three hours – I listened to it again just for the sheer pleasure of it.  When I say the word “helicopter” you Pink Floyd fans will know exactly what I am talking about now and I have never heard that sound better in 20+ years than I have with the TQ Black Diamonds in my system.  If I shut my eyes I wouldn’t know any better than having this machine hovering less than 50 feet above me with the vortexes spinning of the tips of the twin rotor blades, making the classic whistling sound.   When the children are singing during the title track it can hurt your ears a bit with the volume turned right up, but not at all this time.  No muddle, no hash, no moments to make you wince, smooth as silk and bursting with refinement. I even got the sonic impression of how many children were singing in the chorus, it was just so palpable.  The list was endless of all the extra details I was hearing and I must have heard this album many, many hundreds of times over the years since it’s first release and hearing it this way has set a new benchmark for me what sound lies buried in there, never heard before, but now has been heard for sure.

Next into the drawer was Yello’s “Flag” album and that also got two hearings, with every single track on the album a total pleasure, again another album I believed I knew intimately what it sounded like until I heard it through the Black Diamonds.  Those that have heard this album will know that is has a powerful propelling bass line right throughout the CD and the sense of power, precision and timing with the Black Diamonds was never in any doubt.  “Otto Di Catania” from this album is one of my favourites and the imaging and sound staging are exemplary, with depth, height and width well out beyond the speaker boundaries.

Next into the CD drawer is my preferred “murder track” from Porcupine Tree’s “Deadwing” album, which really does sort out who’s who when it comes to components – especially cables.  The title track has all sorts of squeaks and screeches in the initial minute of the track and I was always puzzled what the sounds were, but not now.  The TQ Black Diamonds have let me clearly hear the sounds are from an Underground (“Subway” to our transatlantic cousins) train pulling into a station, with people disembarking.  This is both good and bad news, because there is now a danger that other cables that pass through my hands are going to be thought less of after hearing what the Black Diamonds could do with Deadwing.  Fear not readers, I will be as unbiased and dispassionate as ever towards all that follow.

I think Dan has done a pretty good job of describing all the finer points of the Black Diamond’s performance, so there isn’t that much I can add to it in truth without repetiton, so perhaps if I summarise what the cables don’t do just to add another dimension to this report to give you a clearer picture of this cable’s capabilities.  They don’t boom or overhang at all anywhere in the bass.  There is no cloudiness, haze or congestion in the midband. Treble is not harsh or fizzy, no sting, no unpleasant artifacts.  They do not have a flat two-dimensional perspective to the imaging and sounstage, nor are they curtailed in width or height.  Dynamics and transients are not slow or slurred.  They are not at all forward sounding or brash, nor are they recessive or muted in sound either.  My evaluations always concentrate on these attributes in great detail and if there were any issues found then be assured they would certainly be included in this review.

Conclusion

£630.00 per linear metre terminated.  Let’s get that out of the way first, because some of you will have a frowned expression while reading that figure.  Many of you will already have tried this, that and the other cables during the ownership of your hifi systems and nobody can escape the losses incurred while on that journey of buying and selling.  If I said to you the TQ Black Diamonds just might be the last speaker cables you will buy, then suddenly the price isn’t as vexing as the figure might at first suggest, so in a perverse way they could actually save you money by ending that endless search.  What you will hopefully be auditioning is a cable that has so little wrong with it, it just sounds so RIGHT in every way imaginable and you could probably count on one hand the number of high end cables that could be claimants to that particular crown and the TQ Black Diamond costs much less than it’s immediate rivals.

My time with them has been a total joy and a learning experience too, in that I have heard so much more  details from my CD collection that simply have not been manifested for more years than I care to remember and some of them have been listened to hundreds if not thousands of times, played on some esoteric high end systems no less.  I will listen to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” album in a completely new light from now on.

The real acid question then is, would I buy them myself?

How much would a Kidney fetch these days I wonder?

Build Quality – 9/10

Sound Quality – 9.3/10

Value For Money – 8.5/10

Overall – 8.93/10

Recommended for being probably the last cable you will need to buy.  Stunning performance.

Dominic Marsh

When asked to review these cables, I pointed out to Stu that I have always been a bit of a sceptic about audio cables and have always been disinclined to shell out very much on them, to the extent that I often make my own out of nothing more exotic than recording studio wiring and a bit of rudimentary soldering. So being asked to review a £20,000 pair of speaker cables could be interesting. Review them anyway, Stu said.

(I specifically asked Peter to do this review knowing his healthy scepticism of cables making huge differences – Stu)

At the outset, let me say that I am happy enough to accept that purer conductors and better engineering can lead to better signals than rough kit and sloppy practice will. And, obviously, different materials may have different sonic characters. I can also buy arguments about better euphony from certain materials but I struggle much beyond that to get excited by the whole subjectivist/objectivist cable debate. I simply do not believe that which can’t be measured does not by definition exist. So, I approached the task with an open mind but we are not going down the double blind testing route etc – this is, as usual in HiFi Pig, a simple subjective review.

Shortly after my exchange with Stu, I duly received from Norway a pair of Skogrand SC Beethoven cables in a rather snazzy protective case. I guess it emphasises the care taken in ensuring that these handmade cables arrive exactly as they are supposed to. On inspection, the design of the outer jacket of the cable appeared to be a snake or alligator skin (it’s not) with beautifully finished heatshrink and gold spade terminations at either end. They certainly look the part in a slightly Rod Stewart sort of way. But there is no doubting the craftsmanship put into these.

The cables were very thick and felt solid and rather stiff, but they were also reasonably pliable and I had no problem to speak of in hooking them up to my spare amplifier and speakers for burn-in (although the spade lugs were not quite widely separated enough for my Sonus Faber binding posts but I found a workaround).

Knut Skogrand recommends about one hundred and twenty hours of settling-in before they are ready for full fat listening, though stresses a burn-in machine should never be used. These cables were brand new and had not been “burnt in” by someone else, so I was in for the long haul. They sounded OK from the off but after about a week of continuous musical input, they seemed to have loosened up somewhat and were sounding rather as I imagined they should. A week later, they were sounding even better. A week after that, and I think they were suitably settled.

Once these cables had been burnt in in my system, the sound they delivered appeared to me, rather than adding anything, simply to be revealing better the true nature of the material, the source and the amplifier. There seemed to be less hash and fewer artefacts in the background.

I hooked them up to the McIntosh MA5200 I was reviewing at that point and to several pairs of speakers in turn. I also gave them a run on a couple of modern Naim amps and on my old Audiovalve Assistent. Each of these amplifiers I know well, including their limitations. In summary, I doubt that Skogrand SC Beethoven can improve what comes out of a bad amplifier or speakers. Indeed it is more likely to show them up. It is also likely to show up poor recordings. Rather tiresomely, the improved clarity goes as far as reproducing a bit of sound bleed across grooves on a couple of LPs which I had never heard before.

The baby McIntosh has many virtues but the Skogrand highlighted more than other cables the tendency to extreme treble and bass roll off that this amp shows, although it is highly unlikely that one would pair a £20,000 pair of cables with a £5000 amplifier, and if one did all other £5000 amps would likely come off just as badly.

The Audiovalve amp seemed to benefit most from the cables, where all the valve goodness shone through especially in the midrange. The cable also seemed to allow more bass through than I had heard before with this amp. Another give-away with the Skogrand was that I could go louder than usual on my Naim amps without them setting my teeth on edge.

What I got from these cables was a sense that more of the source material was getting through in better order – there was removal of congestion. Swapping between my Electrofluidics or NACA5 cables and the Skogrands, I could hear a more open and clear sound, with transients rather better defined, too. I was also getting more detail, more harmonic texture and tonal colour. There was also less grain. But, of course, neither other pair cost even a tenth of the Skogrands (although those who argue the cables make no difference can’t really argue that that matters…).

My hunch seemed supported by the use of the Spendor BC 1s – these BBC-designed monitors from the seventies have a fabulous mid-range but the bass is a bit loose for modern tastes. Listening to a variety of music through the Skogrands, including cymbals and brushes courtesy of Dave Brubeck, confirmed that the speakers’ reputation for an absence of sibilance, good imaging and a realistic soundstage is well deserved. They were well matched, too, with the McIntosh. The Skogrands let it all through and highlighted the slightly woolly bass. The same material through the Bastanis had the bass fully present. Equally, any programme put through the Sonus Faber added no colouration that I could discern beyond that already inherent in the voicing of these speakers.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, the Skogrand SC Beethoven cables excel at allowing a good system to reproduce music in what appears to be an authentic sonic manner – it comes as close as I’ve heard to the old Shredded Wheat slogan – nothing added and nothing taken away.

Whether they are worth spending £20,000 on is another matter. I don’t have that kind of money so the question is entirely academic for me. But I would certainly be tempted keep these cables if Skogrand forgot to ask for them back! If you have the money you should give them a listen.

Build quality: 9.0/10

Sound Quality: 9.0/10 – I don’t think I’ve ever heard better.

Value for money – 7.4 (with the caveat that the cost of the cable should be proportionate to the cost of the system it is deployed in. There is no point spending this much on sub-optimal products…but we are in real “should I buy these or my seventh Harley instead?” territory here.)

Overall: 8.47

Peter Stanton-Ife

Audioplan is a long established hi-fi manufacturer from Germany founded in 1981, with a history of producing excellent sounding speakers and now ancillaries are also added to their portfolio, including cables and supports, plus the PowerStar power distribution block and the Finefilter conditioner/filter unit reviewed here.  I am more than surprised that Audioplan don’t have a greater presence here in the UK, although I have seen the Kontrast loudspeaker advertised on several occasions throughout the years and tempted more than once to buy a pair.   Perhaps we are being a touch too parochial with home grown products when there is a plethora of products waiting across the Channel that has real merits for adding to an audition shortlist.  Arguably, we have the likes of Atoll, Advance Acoustic, Focal, Cabasse and Triangle from France that was instantly recalled from memory without any effort, but I truly struggled to recall any from Germany apart from Audio Physic.  Shame on me and I bet I am not alone in this.

I regard a mains conditioner as an essential rather than a luxury or a frivolity, so my system has one permanently installed and wouldn’t be without it.  I pay particular attention with any of these devices under review, as to whether or not the conditioner or filter squashes or curtails dynamics, so that benchmark test is high on the agenda when I evaluate any filtering/conditioning device.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand and let’s find out what the Audioplan PowerStar and Finefilter are about.

CONSTRUCTION

The PowerStar mains distribution block is a huge change away from the often found “strip” type of  power block arranged in a gang of four or more outlet sockets mounted in a straight line.    Nothing actually wrong with that arrangement per se when implemented correctly, but it is not uncommon for the internal bus bars to be made from brass, which means there can be a slight voltage drop and/or loss of power between the socket nearest to the inlet and the furthest one away.

The PowerStar “S” device is a flat drum shape measuring 12 x 8,5 x 22 cm (WxHxD)  made from 5mm cast aluminium which looks like black machined Delrin material.  There are seven power outlets arranged in a radial pattern of six around the perimeter with the seventh outlet located in the centre.   The review sample was fitted with seven 3 pin 13 amp UK sockets, but Schuko and other sockets are available to order I believe.  Power inlet is by way of a C19 20 amp high power IEC socket.  Power rating is 16 amps continuous with overvoltage protection.   The unit is supported on 3 round feet which can be unscrewed if so desired and Audioplan have bored a keyhole type of aperture for wall mounting.  It is wired internally in a “star” arrangement, the theory being that all sockets are equidistant from the inlet and hence no voltage or power losses between sockets can occur.  The “S” suffix denotes this is the deluxe version with silver internal wiring.

The FineFilter “S” submitted for review is a plain looking black painted box with a hard wired mains inlet cable attached.  The inlet cable named “PowerCord S” has a UK 3 pin 13 amp plug fitted to the review sample and of course other terminations are available, plus the lead length can also be specified when ordering.  The conductor wire is 4 x 2.6 mm² and made from pure copper with silver plating.  External appearance of this cable is rather attractive with a mult-coloured mesh sheath, finally encased in a clear outer shroud.  There are two toggle switches fitted to the filter box which cater for a “Ground filter” setting  for one of the switches, plus another 3 position toggle switch denoted as “Presence+”, “Neutral” and “Bass+”. 

Linking the FineFilter to the PowerStar is a supplied flying lead with a UK 3 pin 13 amp plug at one end and a C19 20 amp IEC connector at the other end.

The FineFilter S retails for £485.00, the PowerStar S retails for £435.00 which also includes the PowerCord S.    The PowerCord S is available separately at £175.00 for a standard 1.5 metre length and other lengths with commensurate prices are available.

SOUND QUALITY

Or rather, what it doesn’t sound like, because it doesn’t have a sonic signature of it’s own.

However, the first obstacle I had to overcome was where to place these two items.  Being a large cylindrical construction and having a separate filter box to contend with meant I had to make some choices about location when installing this combo.   They wouldn’t fit under the rack and not behind either, having them to one or the other side of the rack wasn’t an option, unless I wanted my good lady wife to offer me a large dose of ear bashing for my sins and also running the risk of damage from vigorous vacuuming from said spouse , so I sat the pair on the top shelf of my rack out of harm’s way.   Now, if I was the owner of these items I would be very tempted to remove the 3 feet from under the PowerStar unit and wall mount it out of sight, then pop the smaller Finefilter unit somewhere else.  Having a total of seven power outlets though was very much appreciated, because every component in my system was ably catered for.

Right then, on to some listening to gauge how effective this pair is.

There was no “WOW!” moment from the outset, instead everything sounded just so solid and tangible but in an understated way.  Treble definition seemed to be noticeably clearer, with ambience especially giving a more detailed and resolved sonic picture.  The entire audible sound palette was just THERE in full detail, unfussed and uncluttered with no shortfalls I could even begin to mention.  It wasn’t that I was unenthusiastic, it was more that I was secure in the knowledge that the improvements were right across the board from the upper treble right down into the lower registers, but never once in an in your face floodlit style – very subtle in fact.  Separation between instruments was noteworthy, without showing any clashing or crashing into each other during hectic music passages and sound staging too was crisp and concise.  I couldn’t hear any squashing or suppressing of dynamics with the combination under review.

Live albums especially had vibrancy and “aliveness” that really made you feel as though you were sat in the venue maybe four or five rows back from the stage, hearing all of the music clearly and being right in amongst your fellow audience members.   My recent purchase of Fink’s “Wheels Under My Feet” live album recorded in different venues around the world exemplifies that feeling of just being there each  time when the tracks were actually recorded.

I took the opportunity during those tracks to experiment with the toggle switch positions on the FineFilter unit.  Try as I might, I couldn’t find any perceptible differences with either one of the switches on or off in whatever position and I count myself fortunate in having good hearing acuity.  That was as much attention as I paid to that pair of switches and thereafter left them in the OFF position for the Ground Filter and in the NEUTRAL position for the “Presence+” and the “Bass+” toggle switch for the remainder of the review period.  You may find otherwise of course.

Most components that don’t provide that initial WOW factor from the start and are laced with subtleties  throughout generally only make their true presence felt when they depart and the Audioplan pair did exactly that when I took them out of my system.  The palpable weight and strength in the bass departed with them, so did the top end detail resolution, as did the midrange power, in fact the system sounded a tad thin and anaemic afterwards and that was with my resident mains conditioner installed once more.

CONCLUSION

I would say that the final paragraph in this review above sums up my time with the Audioplan FineFilter and PowerStar pairing perfectly and it would be totally superfluous to add any more here.  It takes living with them full time to appreciate their true worth and if there is any doubt, then I suggest disconnecting them for an hour or so to prove that point unequivocally.  For that reason I give a full and deserved recommendation.

Build quality:              8.4/10

Sound quality:           8.4/10

Value for money:       8.4/10

Overall:                      8.4/10

Recommended for:  An understated performance, delivered in an unassuming manner.  Price is good value too, so should undoubtedly be on your audition wish list.

Dominic Marsh

Along with the DFPC Signature and DFPC Reference power cables that I had in for review last year I also had the DFPC Originals. Costing a fair bit less than the other models coming in at $595 for any length up to 2
metres and only costing a small amount more for longer lengths. The cables can be terminated with standard or high current IEC’s from Oyaide and are available with any variation of power plugs from Oyaide or a Furutech 1363 (G) for the UK and Japan.

Geometrically, the DFPC Original has a 3 core plaited construction and like other LessLoss power cables is extremely well made and solid in construction. Flexibility of the cable is very good due to its geometry and is more easily routed than first perceptions would leave one to believe as its size is slightly toward the larger size.

The DFPC Original is constructed from 6mm2 copper conductors with a level 1 ‘Skin Filtering’ technique applied to them. DFPC Signature has level 2 and DFPC Reference a level 4 Skin Filtering, more on LessLoss’ Skin Filtering is available from their website pages but needless to say the processes are time consuming processes which has an effect how long it takes to produce the power cables, taking many days in some cases claims LessLoss.

THE SOUND

I have been incredibly impressed with the DFPC Signature and DFPC Reference cables, each being a defined step up in performance from the previous. The DFPC Original though is a truly fantastic cable at a very reasonable price which has a firm relation in performance to the other two ranges.

The DFPC Originals promote delicacies in the performance very well and Ed Sheeran’s guitar strings really came to life during his ‘Tenerife Sea’ performance conveying intricacy and naturalness. The black background I was used to in my system didn’t seem to have changes at all proving that the Originals didn’t allow for any airborne nasties to be introduced into the system and Sheeran’s vocal was on the money for me with a great range of tone.

Whilst not exploring the vast open and extreme airiness of say the Reference cable in upper frequencies I felt that the Original traded off the absolute refinement for a little bit more of an edgier aura of excitement and pizzazz with rock and dance recording where absolute refinement takes away the fun in these types of genres, in fact they were pretty much on the money.

Not taking away from how good the Original is with ‘proper’ music violins and cymbals were very palpable and the cables didn’t seem to restrict spacious decay bringing a sense of realism that was clearly noticeable during playback.

Listening to Urban Species ‘Blanket’, bass notes were full and allowed for the tracks large lower end to be truly conveyed with all of its masculine weight and extension which never over-shadowed the sultry vocal conveying all the appeal of the dark smokey back street bar the track was set in.

The Originals seem to strike this wonderful balance where gritty meets sultry, rough meets smooth and tight meets loose, the overall presentation has a balance which I could refer to as very universal and the cables could be an extremely easy integration into most systems especially where a range of genres are listened to often.

I replaced the power cable I was using from the wall with a DFPC Signature as LessLoss’ Louis Motek suggests that if making a single cable upgrade to use that cable from the wall to the distribution block.

Effects were well received, the cables have and had a clear synergy and refinement increased allowing for upper end micro details and micro dynamics to become more apparent and bass notes had more upper bass information. Where ‘Blanket’ sounded full and a little loose with great extension, now the upper bass registers had more definition and detail.

Overall soundstage width with the Originals in place was as vast as I’m used to although some of the borders intricacies had been masked and their ‘firefly like’ bouncy nature had become slightly intoxicated. DFPC Signature sobered them up a little and they began to sound a little more playful in comparison.

CONCLUSION

Using DFPC Originals throughout a system is a sure fire way of fitting excellent cables which I believe to be great value for money, (the plugs alone are really quite expensive) that will wow the listener and not have them drawn to any particular aspects of the music in a critical manner, they just enthuse the music and across a vast range of genres have a good tonal balance.

Introducing a DFPC Signature will enhance smaller details and refinement but in turn draw the listener to other aspects over a period of time in a more critical manner, this is a constant threat with equipment and cables alike in high end audio and is definitely not a factor specific to LessLoss, so don’t get this statement confused.

My bottom line is the DFPC Originals are the baby of the line but what they may lack in ultimate refinement and detail retrieval they more than make up in musicality, balance and flexibility of synergy with equipment and music alike.
Build Quality – 8.7/10

Sound Quality – 8.4/10

Value For Money – 8.6/10

Overall – 8.56/10

Recommended for their price/performance level and flexibility of synergy with musical genres and equipment.
As the cable under review here has achieved a score greater than 8.5 out of a possible 10 marks, our policy at Hifi Pig is then to forward it to another reviewer, in this case Dominic, who casts his views about the product.

Lessloss hail from US and produce a number of power cables, interconnects, speaker cables, digital interconnects, a firewall mains conditioning unit and digital source components (A streamer and DAC).
Here under review is their “Original” power cord which lies at the bottom of their 3 tiered power cord range. The Signature cord was reviewed by Hifi Pig in January 2014 by Dan Worth and the Reference was also reviewed by him in June 2014, both of which won his approval.

CONSTRUCTION

Outwardly, the Lessloss Original appears to be a plaited 3 wire weave of equal sized conductors and clothed in a black expandable mesh covering. It looks very simple, but getting the plait weave to this level of accuracy and consistency is not easy by any means. The review sample was fitted with a Schuko  mains plug from Oyaide at the ‘input’ end while at the ‘output’ end there is a large bodied Oyaide IEC connector, which by the way are genuine Oyaide connectors. Other terminations are available to order.

No other details about construction was supplied directly to Hifi Pig by Lessloss, so I spent some considerable amount of time ploughing through the copious amount of information on the Lessloss website, yet at the end of that I am still none the wiser regarding conductor metallurgy or insulation materials. A vast amount of explanation about “skin filtering” but even then not explaining how that is implemented within the cable itself, not that Lessloss are obliged to inform any of us of course, so that makes what is written there rather irrelevant with regards to this review, especially so when I disagree with some of the statements being made there.
No matter, whether the cable is made from spaghetti or any other material, what concerns us here is the actual sound produced by the Lessloss Original power cord, so herewith is my perception of its performance.

SOUND QUALITY

My first impression of the sound then can be encompassed within only one word – SOLIDITY. From that first note onwards everything sounded solid and complete, wanting for nothing obvious in the sounds I heard. The sound seemed almost constructed of granite, so that the shape of notes was defined within an envelope that had textures and layers within too, with the power and weight that should be there, was there, yet never once excessive or overblown, with not a trace of overhang or muddling. It was that same absence of overhang that gave the impression that the music had slowed down, because once the bass note ceased, I was greeted by a swift silence between the notes so the end of one note and the commencement of the next seemed longer because of that brief pause. That silence was indeed ‘silent’, as background noise just wasn’t there, a dark quiet that shows the cable itself isn’t introducing hiss or hum into the system.

Talking of silence, I then played no music at all and cranked the volume right up to full for my noise test. This is to see if there is any hiss, hum or other unwanted artifacts being introduced by the cable itself and none was heard at all in my system, which is sensitive and will show these faults immediately.

When it comes to fast transients however, this cable wasn’t quite as nimble and agile as others I have heard. Snare drum hits slightly lacked the crisp razor sharp “crack” from the leading edge of wooden stick striking skin and couldn’t quite convincingly convey the sounds coming from the shell of the drum itself heard immediately behind the strike either. It still sounded like a snare drum being hit with a wooden stick though nonetheless. Kick drum was recreated accurately and I could clearly tell if a soft or hard face was being used on the beater, with the weight and power of the strike easily discernable so the full power was there to be heard.

I found the treble to be very natural and organic which is my own personal preference, rather than being spotlit and etched sounding, as over illuminated treble really does make me wince. Cymbal strikes had a crisp metallic “ting” to them with the decay shimmer of the instrument heard clearly and the high hat was very easy to follow with any genre of music, particularly so with high energy or frenetic rock music which often drowns out this instrument.

The mid band too was also a pleasant organic natural sound, so female vocals were clear and uncluttered, soft and beguiling with soft undertones easily heard. Male vocals had the throaty bass growl where needs be and in particular Mark Knopfler’s voice had it’s gravelly texture as it should be too, so this cable met all my standard sonic benchmarks.

Moving on to some music, I played Porcupine Tree’s “Deadwing” album which for me sorts out who’s who when it comes to cables. The beginning of the title track has various screeches and squealing noises for the casual listener which is in fact the sounds of an Underground train arriving at a station and passengers alighting. Cables not quite up to the mark gives only the screeching and squealing noises, omitting or muffling the other sounds and leaving the listener rather baffled as to what the sounds actually are, so the Lessloss cable left me in no doubt that all the sounds were present and correct. The track then picks up pace and can sound rather raucous and frenetic, instruments crashing into one another too, unless it’s under perfect control so all the subtle layering is unfolded. At 6 minutes 40 seconds into the title track there is a long low bass note which must ‘roll’ outwards from the speakers and that is the best way I can describe the sound, because there should actually be a wave shape of sound. With the Lessloss Original all sounds were conveyed as anticipated so another plus mark from me here.

Time for some gentler music perhaps with acoustic sounds, so in to the CD drawer went Derrin Nauendorf’s “Live at the Boardwalk” CD which is recorded live, close mic’d with only a simple drum kit accompaniment. Derrin’s voice on this album leaves a lot to be desired in places (no offence Derrin fans – which I am one), but it’s his superb guitar playing that compels me to listen to him performing again and again, so I do favour the instrumental parts of the album rather than the vocals I must admit. Derrin’s guitar plucks, strums and finger work on the frets was recreated with startling reality and I could clearly distinguish between steel and nylon strings on his guitar, with the rich tones of the instrument’s body also shining through. There was never a clash either between drums and guitar, so the whole performance remained cohesive and very easy to listen to.

CONCLUSION

All in all then, a fine performance from a mains cable that does what it says on the tin – allows the system to breathe and perform at it’s best. It really is a product that you set to it’s task and it will quietly and efficiently give a solid uncluttered sound without drawing attention to itself, so it is truly a “fit and forget” component – which I nearly did until I realised it had to be returned to Lessloss following the review!
Construction: 8.6/10

Sound quality: 8.6/10

Value for money: 8.3/10

Overall: 8.5/10

Recommended for: Providing a no-nonsense, powerful, and solid sound.

Price at date of test: $595.00 including shipping

Supra’s EFF-I is a 75Ohm stereo pair interconnect made of silver plated Oxygen Free Copper of 0.5 mm squared cross-sectional area, within a centre core of Polyethylene (PE). Both conductors are individually screened for use in balanced or semi-balanced configuration. The ISL prefix is pertaining to the plugs used, ISL being the locking plug version, IX being standard phono plugs and IXLR obviously applicable to the XLR balanced version.

‘These look nice!’ Supra’s trademark light blue jacket runs from plug to plug on their budget £100 interconnect, a very tough price point to position a cable in today’s market. Apart from not being boring old black though the Supra’s have some wonderful looking plugs, they are a WBT type style locking plug but are more familiar to the lower mass TQ incarceration of that style and are well constructed and feel extremely nice. Now I for one know that having the Supra’s on a stand in amongst all the other cables will automatically draw a potential buyer to them when shopping around in store. Yes looks don’t mean anything, it’s the sound that matters right? You will be surprised how many music enthusiasts still shop with their eyes, so can Supra cover both areas? Looks and sound?

THE SOUND

Instantly the Supras made an impression . Their calm, detailed and weighty sound was a different experience to that of say the RFC Pluto and Epiphany Acoustics Atratus III which in comparison were very much brighter and livelier sounding. The EFF-I in comparison were showing a wealth of confidence when reproducing electronica and music with a little more mayhem in the mix, conveying great dynamics and good strong stable imaging.

Upper end detail was not a prominent as the other two but it was certainly all there, the Supras would no doubt be a cable of great compatibility with a lot of budget gear that can sacrifice overall tonal balance with emphasis on top end detail. I had connected the EFF-I to a couple of mini T amps and with some small bookshelf speakers and some silver plated copper speaker cables in place forward and bright would have been the flavour of the setup if it was not for the assistance of the Supras. Now don’t imagine that these are miracle workers, the sound was still awfully clean and don’t imagine for one moment that the cable is boring, droll and lacklustre. It does have great balance and a smoothish quite refined top end but £100 does still get you a big handful of detail and a good portion of midrange transparency.

Listening to Finks ‘Wheels Turn Beneath My Feet’ album conveyed small acoustics and venue interactions in my big system with the EFF-I in place and the cable unlike some others had a better take on the Live nature of the performance than that of other similarly priced cables in being able to allow for a little more of a forgiving nature to any hash or graininess from the venues recording.

This led me to think about some Spotify music I could play. What with being 320 MP3 and knowing there are some pretty ruthless recordings out there I set about trying to trip the Supras up. Not in the way you may think, I wasn’t trying to reveal how forgiving they ultimately were I was curious as to how much crud they could let through.

Why you ask?

Any cable can be as revealing or as forgiving (ultimately coloured, smooth and boring) as the designer wishes it to be and as the Supras had charmed me with their way of filtering out some of the nasties  (but still retaining good levels of detail all around with some previous music I was listening to) I wanted to hear where their boundaries were and what the limit was if they were causing a unreasonable bottleneck which would harm good recordings.

I ended up spending an long time with this so I won’t bore you with every step, just an overview. I went backwards and forwards between a couple cables from various manufacturers who’s prices never exceeded an around about £100 mark. I played recordings that were bright with female vocals, live recordings and just plain bad ones!

Where the majority of the cables in play were able to show a greater emphasis on the much more finer upper end details, on the boundaries of the soundstage this also highlighted more graininess and hash around the soundstage and left the leading edges of instruments with a harsh blur and a noisy background. Likewise female vocalists required a lower volume setting than that of the Supra cables, which although transparent enough to reflect the bad points of these recordings, managed to just calm them down a little and find a good balance between right and wrong. I concluded this test happy in the respect that the EFF-I didn’t cloud the music, they simply engaged it a little better to be ultimately more ‘forgiving’.

Back to some full resolution material and Nils Lofgren. I liked the way the Supras were able to hold a stable note, from the first edge of a plucked string to its decay. During ‘Keith Don’t Go’ about two thirds of the way along is the solo. The pace that Nils plays this solo has a range of tempos and I was very pleasantly surprised at how well these cables kept up with things, I didn’t perceive any particular blurring from one note to the next, over decay or areas of bleeding which would make things all mushy. A particular quality of this little test was that the Supras had a nice masculine quality to them, a denseness which was reflected in the guitars timbre.

So what can the EFF-I do in the bottom end, a far bit of right – kick drums will sound a slight fraction more muted and softer than a bunch of other cables in this price range as these are not in your face clean cables which a good kick likes but what they will offer is weight, expression and extension with ease.

CONCLUSION

There’s no real effort or struggle to be heard with the Supras, they almost know what they are designed to do and never try to be something they aren’t, this in turn makes for a frequency range that dips down as low as your speakers go with a most pleasing musical appeal.

Their overall performance is great, it’s really very well detailed and vocals are clear and concise allowing for male vocalists to sound chesty and females to wail away without the harshness in the upper midrange so commonly associated with cheaper cables. On good and not so good recordings alike the EFF-I performs admirably and retains a constant of musical appeal, scope and insight into the music producing a soundstage which is clearly defined and really quite open.

In the realms of what they will be used with kit wise they are one of the more satisfying cables on the market today and will still keep in line with more expensive system updates before its felt that a cable upgrade will be a worthwhile experiment.

Build Quality – 8.3/10
Sound Quality 8.2/10
Value For Money – 8.7/10
Overall – 8.4/10

Recommended for being another option for a slightly more balanced and refined sound to the current market leaders in this price range.

Dan Worth

The company name “JIB” stands for JÜRGEN ISAAK BAUER, making cables in Berlin since 1990 and who produces a range of audio cables spanning both analogue and digital products.

Here under review here is their 600 Euro USB digital cable with the epithet of “Silver Arsenic” from their range topping “BoaAcoustic” line-up.  

CONSTRUCTION

This is a fairly substantial cable measuring some 14mm external diameter in the main body of the cable, tapering down to approximately 8mm near the connectors.  The outer sheath is an expandable mesh weave in a black a black and white “tartan” style pattern which looks rather handsome.  Connectors are custom made male type A and type B USB connectors which have gold plated contacts.  Conductor material is said to be ‘S-OCC’ which is Silver Ohno Continuous Cast with a claimed 99.9999% purity.  This has not been verified by Hifi Pig.

Shielding is said to be three layers of aluminium foil and conductor insulation is by Teflon PTFE. 

SOUND QUALITY

I compared the JIB Silver Arsenic during the listening sessions with two other USB cables of reputable pedigree and similar pricing, and a generic USB cable used to connect my printer no less, not to actually conduct a head-to-head shoot out to see which won or lost, but to satisfy my own curiosity as to how a cable relaying signals in a USB digital stream COULD actually affect the final analogue sound, not that I would then go off on a tangent looking for an objective explanation why.  Plenty of experience with TOSLINK, CO-AX and balanced AES/EBU cables which I know all demonstrate audible differences , but not via USB.  It simply had to manifest itself, as my current system makes no provision for digital streaming via USB and my experience with the medium is not quite as complete as others obviously are.  Not that I am a Luddite of course, it’s because a recent computer system upgrade has resulted in some of my old programs not working any more, that I would hate to think my entire music collection was similarly inaccessible after another “upgrade” has managed to trash it all.  “Compatibility” is the four letter word in the world of computing I have discovered.

First impressions of the JIB Silver Arsenic USB were very favourable, with a clean coherent sound that seemed to have great musicality.   Subtleties and textures within the music were clearly evident at first hearing, but having nothing else to compare it against, was that the norm or the exception I was hearing?

Time to find out, so in went another USB cable to compare, with the sceptic within me making some distant grumbling noises as I was doing so.  Switch the system back on again and press play on the CD player.   Yes, there was a difference and decidedly so, that Cable “B” as I shall call it came across as certainly on the bright side of neutral, with treble having a razor sharp leading edge that had a sort of ‘ringing’ artefact to the sound too which seemed to swamp the midrange because it was domineering the sound completely, so out it went – smartish.

Cable “C” was a different animal altogether, with a smooth overall presentation that simply failed to engage in quite the same way the JIB cable did, so bye bye to Cable “C” too.

Cable “D” the printer cable, sounded just lifeless and dull, yet it would print an A4 page of complex graphics with no bother at all.  I know what you are thinking, did I try any of the other bespoke USB cables for printing an A4 page of complex graphics to compare?  Nope, I have better things to do with my time thank you very much, but maybe one day I might just do that . . . . . . . .

Having carried out that brief exercise it enabled me to concentrate on what the JIB cable was doing, now I that had a handle on what level of performance to expect.  Back to the JIB then and to put it through it’s paces.

As I said earlier, the sound was very clear and coherent, so I had no difficulty at all in discerning the subtle cues from any CD I was playing.  Bass was firm and solid with no boom or overhang, dynamics were lithe and taut and in complete control, vocals in particular having a delicate airiness with female vocals and male vocals too had the sonorous undertones they should have.  Certainly had my feet tapping which is unusual when I am doing serious evaluation listening.

CONCLUSION

Given that this review was my first foray into USB streaming directly from a computer and given too my scepticism about digital data maybe sounding “different” or “better” than an analogue signal, I am pleased that I have carried out this review and reached the summary that I have.  What is missing from that is comparing these expensive cables to other less expensive ones, but Cable “D” may have partially answered that question for me.  Out of the three cables I tried, the JIB outshone the other two by a fair margin with it’s natural and organic presentation, free from any flaws that might intrude into the musical enjoyment I was experiencing.  It managed to get my feet tapping which is notoriously difficult to do when I have my reviewer’s hat on.

Build quality:              8.4/10

Sound quality:             8.6/10

Value for money:         7.5/10

Overall:                        8.2/10

Recommended for:  Top class USB digital streaming

Dominic Marsh

Price at testing:  €847.00 including VAT

Arriving in a cool and well packaged carton, branded and statically protected the iSO-CAT6 from Korean high end computer based audio company S O t M is a device which I have not got around to testing before. There are a couple other brands which provide this sort of hardware so when I was contacted by the lovely and bubbly May Park from S O t M a true enthusiast about testing their recently released isolator I was very happy to take on the task as the unit is something I have been considering as possible value in my all streaming based system which consists of a modified Mac and PC, as well as a modded Pro-Ject Stream Box DS which also transfers data via Ethernet.

Many will have serious doubts about Ethernet cables, especially making a difference to their system, although the signals transferred through are error corrective by their very nature my experience is after playing with a handful of various types/brands and configurations, shielded or unshielded is that they do play a role in overall system sonics.

Generally the camp that states ‘they cannot make a difference, it’s just 1’s and 0’s’ don’t have a complete grasp on the transfer of digital information and this leads to preconceived ideas which are incidentally incorrect. Now there’s no need to get into a debate or a technical stand off. My job as always is to simply use my ears to listen to and convey my findings to you the reader.

Remember not all items we receive for review get published, we work very hard to review and publish items of interest, sound quality and innovation. So on that note lets just knuckle down to what is being tested here today – S O t M’s iSO-CAT6 Ethernet cable filter and the companies posh CAT6 Ethernet cable.

The unit itself is made from a translucent polycarbonate which allows for a frosted view to the internal PCB and surface mounted components. Printed on the unit is the companies branding and two directional arrows to distinguish which cable should go where as this is an in series device. That’s it! No moving parts, flashing lights or theme tunes.

THE SOUND

From the very moment I installed the iSO-CAT6 into my system I could here differences in the sound. Primarily more bass heft, a better weighted punch with a little more definition on the texture. Upper end notes seemed to increase in speed and dynamic flare and the midrange had more freedom of expression digging deeper into the depths of the soundstage and releasing more inner detail allowing for a more transparent and lyrical experience.

I must admit I expected a cleaning up of background noise and leading edge definition but I wasn’t ready for the extra clarity and poise the unit gave. The background in my system is already very quiet and influences passages of acoustic music very well conveying a great acoustic chamber and recording venue characteristics. With the S O t M in place the background was more alive. Black as before but what I first thought was a touch of graininess in the sound after closer inspection proved to be room reverbs that were on the recording. Added decays of notes and smaller non mic direct environmental nuances. It wasn’t that I had to concentrate to hear these artefacts it was that I wasn’t used to inner detail being, remaining and participating singularly from background depths and boundaries as much as they now seemed too.

I had recently been playing with some new monoblocks and I only mentioned to my brother last night that I felt the sound was a little slow and lumpy, I attested this to the pre I was using at the time. I moved to another preamp this morning and things were better after a good warm up period but they still gave me a few doubtful moments during some music. With the Lan Isolator and S O t M Lan cable in place practically all of my concerns were eradicated although I could have changed a cable or two to suit a little better.

The addition of the review products brought out all the speed and intensity which I love so much in a system and my reason for buying these specific monos. There’s nothing worse than a lazy amp that just plods along making sounds, I like my music to be accurate to the tempo, a very important characteristic that many sacrifice for tonal balance and the S O t M’s allowed for a clearer and more uncluttered pathway to the speakers and me.

Sound staging is also extremely important to me, I meet many enthusiasts who are not ‘soundstage freaks’ that’s fine, I smile – as they still find so much enjoyment from music which is the point! For me though, in order to get a more accurate reproduction of the feel or intensity of a piece of music the almost ‘live in the room’ nature has to be there and this for me can only be achieved by a more complex image, separation and individual presence of artists, instruments and artefacts.

The S O t M iSO-CAT6 and Lan Cable furthered the appeal of my systems by allowing for more space around instruments which applied better timing and a consistent musicality to the overall sound. I had a better impression of independent dynamics coupled with three dimensionality of the transient flow.

With acoustic and stripped down music this effect is gracious and embracing, with faster music such as electronica its exciting and enthralling.

To balance things out there must be a somewhat negative point to make regarding the unit and associated cable – right?
Yes, when playing less than adequate (and I do mean really under par) recordings the unit will clean up some background noise but not all of the nasties, this leaves you with a bunch of more acute etched artefacts and grain in the background rather than just an area of white noise which can mask other nasties. Now the Isolator doesn’t proclaim to be a miracle worker turning water into wine or lead into gold, so if you really have to play a recording of the most horrid nature than enjoy the music rather than the sound!

Singling out the CAT6 cable against the Meicords I am used to listening with also gave nice benefits in upper end resolution although the two cables do present a slightly different presentation to each other and I could live with both. The Meicord is slightly smoother and rounder whereas the S O t M is cleaner and slightly more revealing which in turn sculptures the soundstage in a more three dimensional manner, depending on my choice of source at the time I can see each playing a role in tonally swaying presentation.

Especially crucial to note about the Alan cable is that harmonics become more prevalent and three dimensionality increased a few notches allowing for more foreground separation and sculpture which leads into the depths of the soundstage obtaining ,ore realism from the performance.

CONCLUSION

Whether using a cheaper integrated amplifier, a far more costly integrated or pre and power of a higher price the ISO-CAT6 performed excellently, yes with the higher precision more expensive gear with better material had significant improvements but even with average recordings and an average system the benefits were clearly heard and benefited overall reproduction to a degree that in my all streaming digital system which is NAS based was truly beneficial. Whether using the Mac, PC or standalone streamer I feel the iSO-CAT6 to be an interesting and worthwhile experiment for anyone with a similar system setup and with each of these sources being mated with a range of amplifiers at varying costs, increased levels of performance were clear to be heard.

Depending on who you speak to, what their individual experiences are and what they have used to explore system tweaks in the digital domain, some can conclude it impossible to effect sound reproduction. I am doing these sorts of tests very regularly and have an enough of a revealing digital front end to ascertain a confidence in hearing any changes in tweaks and accessories to clearly stamp the iSO-CAT6 with a ‘must try’ certificate.

My advice is to try this sort of product out for yourself rather than being subjected to a more main stream mentality of misinformed technical information. This isn’t 1976!

S O t M’s own dCBL-CAT6 cable which accompanied the unit and is sold separately (a short one is included to connect to the source from the filter) also has great attributes when singled out against my usual Ethernet cables and substantially against any stock type cable.

Think of Lan cables as another critical digital cable just like the USB or SPDIF and you are now beginning to comprehend what benefits can be achieved in overall system performance.

Build Quality – 8.3/10
Sound Quality – 8.7/10
Value For Money – 8.410
Overall – 8.46/10

Price at point of review:
iSO-CAT6 – $350

dCBL-CAT6
Standard ver.    High Grade LAN port
1m :US$200    US$350
2m :US$250    US$400
3m :US$300    US$450
4m :US$350    US$500
5m :US$400    US$550

Recommended for having the same attributes as any digital cable and for proving that Ethernet truly is a crucial connection. With expression and imaging at the forefront of its characterises the iSO-CAT6 from S O t M excels in pace and detail retrieval.

Dan Worth

Kimber’s Hero interconnects are constructed from four of their highest grade copper conductors ‘Hyper Pure Copper’ and utilise their GyroQuadratic™ four weave structure and Dual fluorocarbon dielectric insulating technology. Terminated with Kimber’s Ultraplate RCA plugs there is also the option to upgrade to WBT’s Nextgen plugs for superior performance. The set reviewed here are the standard Ultraplate versions.

Construction wise the cables, made by hand, are very well finished, seem to possess good strain relief and the branding on the heatshrink is stylish looking giving a good fit and feel to the finished product. Packaging is a plastic transparent snap together carton.
There are many interconnects offered by Kimber and I have heard a fair few of them during my time, although I haven’t heard the Heros, so when they came through for review I was pleased that it was for a cable to which I had no prior experience with.

THE SOUND

First impressions of the Hero are extremely positive with a vibrant yet silky top end that conveys excitement, drama and poise. The midband is clean and clear and bass is tight and detailed.

After a 48 hour session on the Blue Horizon Proburn cable cooker levels of coherence increased as well as instrument separation.

My listening tests with artists such as Christina Aguilera’s powerful range, Loreena McKennit and Diana Krall conveyed terrific emotion and projection of vocals which had outstanding balance and poise for a cable of this price. What struck me as a point to note was the space that vocals imaged from. Instead of the midrange sitting inbetween the speakers and throwing forward a tolerable clean sound I was impressed by how the sound emerged from a deeper space and grew to compliment the pitch and tone of the artist.

Male vocalists were much the same if not a little thinner in the lowest registers where the Kimber Hero remains tight and controlled other more advanced cables will allow for more body and presence without bloating the sound.

Strings and piano also fell that tiny bit short for me for the same respect, although higher notes sparkled with great clarity but then as my speakers are tight and controlled anyway there was no need for the extra control from the Heros, although when I placed a set of single driver 1/4 wave transmission line speakers into the system the Kimber’s were fantastic at adding a more reference type informative sound in the lower regions taking the bass to another level conveying perceivably more information, especially in the upper bass.

The overall sound character is very well controlled and detail is rich and vibrant, there’s not much the Hero will not put across in its coherant and lively manner and for speakers that would normally accompany a consumer buying cables at this price I can see them being a treat to have in a system. My mind immediately reflects on B&W’s and PamC mid priced speakers…

With an Arcam rPac Dac into my Focal CMS40 active desk speakers the vibe I got was extremely engrossing and somewhat intoxicating. The Kimber’s livened up the Arcam somewhat and gave a emphatic punch to the actives as well as producing a beautifully silky top end that made for hours of enjoyable near field listening.

Dance music with each system really gave the impression of solid soundstaging, mixing electronically symphasized music always allows for the benefit of manipulating and showing off a system when it comes to three dimensionality and the Hero’s as well as giving their signature excitingly lively sound breached the boundaries of the room without becoming vague.

CONCLUSION

The Hero seems to be a staple for Kimber, at a price point that doesn’t clear the bank account and a level of performance that makes it extremely listenable and somewhat exciting, it’s no doubt that sales are already strong for this cable.

Not mentioned above was how well the Hero deals with Rock music, their silky top end takes away over-shine and their controlled bottom end eeks out all the detail of the lowest notes.

So, all in all I was very happy with the way the Kimber Hero integrated into the systems I tested it with and the fact that I felt compelled to try them in another system and with other speakers is a testament to how happy I was with their sound and performance.

Build Quality: 8.3

Sound Quality: 8.4

Value For Money: 8.4

Overall: 8.36

Price at time of review: £188 per 1m stereo pair

Recommended for its silky top end, lively and exiting performance, control and balance. 

Dan Worth

I recently reviewed the Clearaudio Performance DC turntable and arm combination, even attempting some mono LPs; something I very rarely do. To make it all more acceptable to my stereo ears I used the new Ecosse Tru-mono turntable interconnect. This weird looking combo creates a summation of the Left and Right legs and comprises a combination of stereo RCA sockets (to connect to the turntable arm interconnect) which are joined into a single output itself terminating in a mono RCA plug, which in turn connects to an RCA socket which then duplicates the new mono signal to a pair of RCA output plugs. So Tru-mono turntable interconnect is indeed a cable of two halves, and available in three choices; the Premier, using the red Baton Mk2 cable, the Audiophile, based around the Master Reference, and the Ultra Audiophile, based round The Legend Interconnect. Prices are £80.00, £449.00 and £1450.00 respectively. In the Premier version they use their proprietary MACH1 RCA deep copper plated plugs together with gold plated over brass sockets. In the Audiophile version they use their proprietary Monocrystal™ Copper MACH2XS RCA plugs together with Neutrik gold plated sockets, and the top line Ultra Reference version Ecosse use their Monocrystal™ Copper MACH2XS RCA plugs together with DH Labs ultra gold-plated pure copper sockets. All the versions come complete with plenty of shrink-wrap to hold it all securely in place. The total length of 18 inches means that it is all easily hidden behind your equipment, where it should always be, anyway. Ecosse prides itself more on the sound quality than on simply making it all look pretty, which is an enviable quality I believe. Their Big Red mains lead looks like it has been cut off a lawnmower, but it is the best mains lead I have ever had the pleasure of testing.

For this review I chose the cheapest version of the Tru-Mono, and luckily owning a pair of red Baton cables I was able to ensure the same cabling all the way to my Manley Steelhead phono-stage. Obviously for reasons of this review I refrained from pressing the mono “sum” button on the Manley, instead relying on this cable to do all the work. Whereas a mono button on a mixer does more than just joining the two legs, rather ensuring constant impedance and preventing sum and difference frequencies, this cable just joins them. Let me explain. At university studying for B.Mus I composed a series of pieces under the acronym SINOLIMI “Sines NOn LInearly Mixed”. In my compositions if I joined 500Hz and 800Hz signals, I also created 1300Hz and 300Hz artefacts, otherwise known as heterodynes, which coloured the sound and gave it the timbres and textures I needed. I did a similar experiment with these cables before commencing listening to vinyl. The artifacts were certainly there, but not so much as to stand out and colour the sound.

In theory, then, this cable shouldn’t work, but please do read on. One of the results of adding the left and right signals should mean that hard left and right information should cancel out. This famous trick is often used in reverse to get rid of the mono middle voice in those “Karaoke” buttons on Amstrad-esque MIDI hifi players, and later in the Audacity “vocal remover” setting. By adding together the record clicks on the left and right legs, which are never perfectly phased, the end result is a reduction in sound. I remember at the BBC gramophone library back in the 80’s having an aged Garrard scratch remover, using a different technology of reducing sudden peaks, the crackles, which made for much easier listening. What would make for even better listening in mono now, though, would be having mono clicks. Listening to a mono recording with crackles appearing everywhere other than where the music is, is like turning up to a wedding in a black suit. It just doesn’t feel right. Now, listening to my aged and moulding Capital Records “Further Studies in High Fidelity”, complete with its comprehensive 12 page introduction by Charles Fowler from High Fidelity Magazine, I was suddenly cast back to the 1950’s and equally suddenly the music started to make a lot of sense. Surprisingly I didn’t hear artefacts from the heterodyning. This £80 cable genuinely made the music come alive. Chavez Toccata for Percussion was easier to understand. Only very tops from the glockenspiel were slightly subdued. Charles talks in his introduction that “while we know great deal about [hi-fi] there is still much to be learned. In many ways, sound recording and reproduction seem relatively simple by comparison”. Whilst he might have been confused by what he was writing, this music certainly wasn’t. My 1964 7” Louis Armstrong disc gave much more musicality now than my Dansette from the 60’s ever could. The sound focussed in a way it cannot do in stereo. Scratches just disappeared to a level where they were either covered up by the music or I could just simply ignore them. I really couldn’t imagine mono to sound this good. My only concern was increased hum, though I was able to make a few connections to reduce this. The 4 trumpets and 5 saxophones in YMO Sumac’s rendition of Bo Mambo took me back into a world of taffeta, nylon, rayon and shellac. Arthur Gleghorn’s flute in Saint-Saen’s ‘The Aviary’ (from Carnival of the Animal’s conducted by Felix Slatkins) was superbly clear and William Pittsburgh conducting the Pittburgh Symphony Orchestra in the Stravinsky Rite of Spring was equally compelling, and forceful; the decreased noise-floor a welcome addition to the music. I didn’t worry that the music was mono; I just enjoyed the music because it was much more focussed.

Only when turning back to playing my mono records in stereo did I hear an apparent greater dynamic range and slightly improved top-end, but those horrible stereo crackles returned. Whilst I am fortunate in being able to press the “sum” button on my Manley phono stage, doing so also still took away some of that ‘top’, and anyway this £80 cable will be a cheaper solution than having to buy a new phono stage complete with a mono switch. So, should I take this cable seriously? Actually, I think this is a clever and original product, and the sort of thing you might see presented on Dragon’s Den. But, would I cast it alongside the single glove that you buy put on your right hand when you travel abroad to remind you to drive on the correct side of the road, or the roller skates you strap to your knees to help you going from one kneeling job to another at high speed? Probably not. Perhaps if the cable had a mono-stereo switch built into it so that if you happened by chance to perhaps play anything in stereo then you could do so without swapping cables over, now that might be something I’d invest in. The quality of the cables is not in debate here. Ecosse produce some of the most amazing and modest looking cables, and if you really wanted to spend £1450 to play mono then I certainly wouldn’t argue with you. But £80 to stop your mono discs from being played in stereo, now that really is a good idea.
Sound Quality – 8.4/10

Value for Money – 8.4/10

Build Quality – 8.0/10 (built to last, but a bit DIY for my liking)

Overall – 8.27/10

Janine Elliot

I enjoy reviewing products that stray slightly off the beaten path of conventional design and Hi Fi In Touch have managed to create something that has form, functionality and dare I say it, beauty. 

CONSTRUCTION

The HiFi In Touch mains distribution block reviewed here isn’t built from the usual plastic or metal enclosure, oh no, it’s casing is fabricated from good solid wood no less. Oak to be precise, fabricated in their own workshops and there are no exposed joints, brackets, nails, or screws to clutter up the external appearance either. There are no user serviceable parts inside, so in the unlikely event a problem should arise with the unit it should be returned for their expert repair.

It is available in 2 way, 4 way, 6 way and 8 way which have the outlet sockets mounted on the top face of the unit and appear to be of good quality, once again with no visible screws to be tampered with, looks rather appealing too. Underneath were fitted four rubber feet. The unit supplied for review had 4 outlet sockets.

Internally, it is wired with Teflon coated silver plated copper wires with a high current rating in a Star wiring configuration so that no one socket takes priority over current demand, as they are all wired equidistant from the inlet socket.

At one end of the unit is mounted the power inlet socket. This can be either a standard 10 amp rated male C14 IEC connector or a high current 20 amp male C20 connector. The review sample was fitted with the high current variant. Both types are connected with silver solder as standard. The unit is sold without a mains input lead, although HiFi In Touch produce a suitable inexpensive mains lead if you so desire for around £9.00 I believe. Prices of the block alone then at time of testing are:
£99.00 for a 2 socket unit
£199.00 for a 4 socket unit
£299.00 for a 6 socket unit
(These are introductory prices valid for 12 months)

SOUND QUALITY

While any mains block is not capable of producing a sound of it’s own, they can nevertheless have a profound effect on the sonic palette of any hi-fi system connected to it. Naturally, one of the first things I listen out for during a review with all mains related products, is whether or not I can hear any suppression artifacts or if the dynamics are being compressed in any way.
I will begin the review though with stripping out all the upgrade cabling and conditioner normally installed in my system, so it has more relevance and meaning to those readers who are considering installing a better block and mains cables into their own systems. In went a generic no-name 6 way block purchased from a local DIY store for the princely sum of £4.99. Made of black plastic with a 2 metre captive input cable and a moulded 3 pin 13 amp plug, it made my system sound bland and lifeless, with sluggish transients and overhung bass. Not having one of these installed in my system for a good many years made me realise that I have come rather a long way since using one of those. Out that one went – smartish.

Next in went a nice looking 6 way block from Brennenstuhl. This is an altogether more substantially built item with an extruded aluminium body and sockets with end caps moulded in plastic. The body and end caps are shaped so you can coil the cable around it and plug it into a vacant socket, so it is neat and tidy when not in use. It has an illuminated on/off switch. Expect to pay around £18.00 for the 6 way variant. The sound of this was only marginally better than the £4.99 generic one from the DIY store, although it does look more the part.

On then to the Hi Fi In Touch block with the £9.00 HFIT supplied mains lead and the difference was immediate and unequivocal. Bass content never once sounded slurred or muddy, kick drum was conveyed with power and authority, while both the snare and tom drums had delineated stop and stop edges with immense crisp energy in between, not lacking at all in the delivery. The remainder of the audible spectrum was fine, with no adverse comments at all noted on the performance and I did listen out for any with close scrutiny.

I can happily report that the Hi Fi In Touch mains block showed no evidence of compression, the music flowed completely unencumbered and the dynamics were delivered with all the power and energy demanded of it.

Little more I can add to that really, except just one more thing. I have a resident mains conditioner in my system of course which has been there a fair while now and I was more than shocked that the Hi Fi In Touch mains block managed to see off that component without any difficulty. My confidence in that device has waned considerably since, so the search starts soon for a replacement. This hi-fi caper has unexpected consequences sometimes.

CONCLUSION

A good no-nonsense performer then, with a lot going for it. No compression effects on the sound quality, real solid Oak wood for an outer casing and at a price that is hard to resist as the icing on the cake, especially so at the introductory price and holds good until the price is eventually finalized by HFIT. The scoring below indicates that the cheaper HFIT mains cable was used during the review.
Construction: 8.6/10

Sound quality: 8.3/10

Value for money: 8.5/10

Overall: 8.46/10

Recommended for: A good quality, good sounding, good looking even mains block that won’t break the bank.

A higher grade mains cable built entirely using Furutech wire and connectors is also available. Prices start at £130 depending on cable length and connector requirements. I did evaluate the block with this higher priced cable but the scoring above was made before this cable was introduced, so of course the values were affected, with a higher sound quality score offset by a lower value for money rating – this more expensive option virtually doubles the price of the block/cable combo I had under test.
Dominic Marsh