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

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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David Robson continues his Chord Company “Cable Doctor” series of reviews, where specific cable combinations are recommended for his system by Nigel Finn of Chord. Previously he has focused on the entry level C Line and Clearway cables but now moves up to the new Shawline series interconnects and digital cable, along with the Epic Twin speaker cable. 

Earlier this year I was asked to do a series of articles based around Chord cables and interconnects. This “Cable Doctor” series was to start with the lower end of the cable market and slowly work up to improving my system sound. I thought what a great idea, to do within a few months what most of us do over several years. Unfortunately the system I started this series with has changed a little due to a slight accident (don’t ask! The lady of the house is still scowling). So I have lost a little in the way of consistency for the articles, but the front end is still the same.

Chatting to Nigel Finn from Chord we decided to put a slight twist to the Cable Doctor idea, that to push my hifi system with the use of the upper levels of cable performance, and a price point that people don’t normally go to in relation to the equipment cost.

Chord Shawline Digital 1m (£200)

The Chord Shawline Digital is built to Chords high standard or workmanship and finish. The bright red nylon woven outer sheathing terminating in shrink wrap, and their Chord VEE 3 RCA connectors which are all silver plated and have the directionality of the cable printed upon the sheathing.

I have found some of the better sounding cables have been made with metal free outer RCA plug. I don’t know if this is just by accident or manufacture process, but better it has been.

The new range of Shawline cables have been designed on the same principles as the top specification Sarum cables utilising the Tuned ARAY methods in their manufacture and design. This design theory has been created to carry as much information that is available with as much accuracy as possible; this gives the DAC less work to do, thus improving the sound, or so goes the claim.

Having had this Digital cable running in for some days the initial sound, which had a slight fuzzy edge to the treble making cymbals fizz a little, completely relaxed and bedded in and lost that unnatural sound. Once the sound had smoothed out and settled, it began revealing a rounded warmth with plenty of detail coming through to my Russell K Red 50 Speakers.

To kick off proceeding I put Fleetwood Mac’s album “Penguin” into the CD draw. The smooth bluesy “Revelation” sprang to life with a good organic and natural sound; the finger drums (I think) are clearly defined. Bob Welsh’s lead guitar hunts out from the speakers, and John McVie’s basslines are clean sounding and tight, and hold the music together with a clear confidence. The following track “Did you ever love me?” has steel drums panging out; the detail in their tone and metallic skin has good resolution with Christine McVie’s silky vocals not being interfered with by anything else going on with the music, the Shawline Digital carrying enough information for the system to keep everything separate and in its correct place.

What I have noticed using the Chord cable is a slight lift in the higher frequency range, this does not come through as sibilance, more a lengthening to the decay of the sound in the upper reaches. This is apparent on Diana Krall’s “Wallflower” album. The recording I have on CD has always left me a little cold, as it comes across a little dull and lifeless. The slight rise in the higher tones gives tracks like “Wallflower” some extra detail and life. The piano in “I’m Not In Love” makes for a more believable reproduction, and what seemed like Miss Krall had been using a cardboard microphone had now a bit of vocal sparkle. These are not huge differences in a night and day fashion, but a very subtle difference between an album that once made me quickly skip tracks, to one where I just let it play through. The duet with Bryan Adams “Feels Like Home” has the pair’s vocal talents separated well within the soundstage, Krall’s deeper female tones keeping Adams gravelly voice in good company. This is possibly the best I have heard Bryan Adams voice. The qualities in the Shawline cable allowing a natural rendition of the singer’s talents and the smooth flow of the music come out to play.

Next up a bit of Phil Collins, “In The Air Tonight” has been in my CD collection from the early 80’s, and although Phil’s music has quite a lot of people split and either love or hate it Marmite fashion, I quite like the varying styles within the album. ”The Roof Is Leaking” starts with atmospheric Cricket chirping sounds, the Shawline Digital enabling the soundstage to wander into the listening area and the chirping sounds giving a surround sound 3d feel. The track then blends in to the next one, “Droned” has an African beat to it, an instrumental, drums are defined and rhythmical and have a nice realism and feel, probably again due to the slight improvement in detail due to the raised high frequencies. There are no real downsides to the Shawline cable, I usually find one or two things that are a negative, but this Chord cable really doesn’t seem to add or leave out anything that isn’t already on the recording. The Album features quite a lot of drumming and drum lead tracks, which you would expect from Mr Collins being a successful drummer himself. They all seem to kick and have the right tightness attributed to them. Other finer details too are not left out of the recordings either. As drumming goes, the title track, which was recently featured in a chocolate advert being played by a Gorilla and is well known in its own right, comes across as  a very “Live”  performance; it has a very atmospheric presentation and as Mr Collins tears at the skins you can feel like your “There”!  time to turn down the lights, and turn the volume up!

Pros.

Great detail and resolution, uncoloured sound, represents good value for money and does exactly what it says on the tin

Cons.

Nothing of note

Chord Shawline RCA 1m (£200).

Having tested and reviewed the Chord Shawline Digital RCA previously, I was looking forward to a similar sound and sonic experience from the Analogue RCA. I swapped around my own Digital Cable for the previous Chord test cable and replaced my own reference RCA cables for several days before then replacing my cables for the Shawline RCA set. Who needs Yoga when you get a full workout messing with the cable monsters!

Like the Digital cable before, the Shawline is virtually identical in appearance, having the Chord VEE 3 RCA plugs which have PTFE insulation and are fully silver plated inside the connector housing, thus giving a very good connection between the cables and equipment. The cables are also marked for direction of signal path. Even on cables that do not have these directional marking, it’s my belief that consistency is always a benefit within cabling and I always mark one end just so I can always have the cable facing the same way. Like the high-end Sarum cables the Shawline uses the Tuned ARAY conductor geometry.

As this “Cable Doctor” series progresses from the lower end or starter “C” series to this the Shawline range and onto the Epic level, this Shawline is probably the type and level of standard that would be consistent with the rest of my system, and be a reasonable cost against performance. Those who frequent Facebook groups will know the ongoing battles between the believers and none believers on the cable debate. Having been lucky enough to try several types of brands from very reasonable to expensive handmade exotica, it’s my belief that most Hifi enthusiasts should be looking to push their equipment performance via use of cables and mains supply products. Asking your local dealer to loan out a small bundle is the key, even to hear a worse sound so that you at least know the differences in sounds and what changes can occur with a simple cable change. If you have a group of friends or a good local dealer, why not set up a “Cable Bank”? where for a deposit you can take away some cables and then bring them back if they don’t suit, or pay the balance and keep?

Anyway, on with my testing.

One of my favorite test albums is The Eagles and “The Long Run” the title track has a bouncy bass line and fine guitar backing. The Shawline has a great positive effect on this type of music, giving a rhythmical and tight portrayal of the track. The RCA doesn’t ever sound congested or cluttered and separation on the sinister “Disco Strangler” which builds from a single guitar riff to the full set of The Eagles crew is excellent. Bass, Cymbals, Drums and Tambourine all clearly separated within the soundstage. Like the previous Shawline Digital Cable there is a very slight rise in the upper frequencies, which is actually an enhancement in quality as it brings even more detail and resolution into the sonic picture without it becoming harsh or frosty and yet remains smooth. This gives the cable good dynamic range as the RCA balances on the warm side but never sounds dull. It has a very accurate sound to my ears.

Going to a similar style of music, but not as well recorded I put “God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise” by Ray LaMontgne. The self-titled track has a wide and atmospheric opening. Electric slide guitar protruding from the silence with a big drum accompaniment then Mr LaMontagne’s husky vocals leaving the speakers with good emotion attached, the Shawline RCA allowing the drums to extend outward, giving a feeling of space and depth to what feels like an outdoor rendition of the song. It’s a pity that some of the finer details in the recording are not as well recorded as some cymbal sounds are lost, this is inherent the recording though. What is great on this album, and the Shawline majors in, is the detail and realism brought out from the recordings. “Are We Really Through” is played very simply with Guitar and Vocal. Ray’s voice plays out with a liquid and smooth honey like texture sprinkled with a little grit. I’m waiting for the feeling of his breath on my skin, such is the inflection and nuances the cable provides. “Beg Steal Or Borrow” has a faster tempo to the track, the Audiolab CDQ usually majors on timing and the this is borne out by the added Chord cable. The foot tapping country music has carried the tuneful verve to the tips of my toes.

Moving genre to rock, Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame gets an outing. “Hand. Cannot. Erase.” This album has come across a little congested in the past. This annoyed me greatly, and it reminded me of Freeform Jazz (A little pet hate). Playing this album from the beginning for those not familiar with it, track 1 is an instrumental and flows prog-like into track 2. “First Regret + 3 Years Older” the sound effect of a children’s playground moves to a crescendo of guitars and drums firing out of the sound-space between speakers.  There is an extra level of grip on the music that doesn’t castrate or strangle the track, nor does it allow it to arrive at your listening box in a big hit of mush. Each strike or pluck of a string is held in its own company. This seems to make the pieces of music flow and become enjoyable. Track 6 “Home Invasion” starts like what could be described as the intro to some epic Sci-Fi film or a high octane spy thriller. The Chord Shawline cables manage to catch and convey the tension and drama of the piece perfectly, the driving bass drum and rhythms, slap of sticks on the skins crack out with menace and yet doesn’t cloud the delicacy of the cymbals in the background tinging away.

Chords goal for this range of cables was to design a cable that does “Nothing”, this has always been a goal for Hifi enthusiasts and manufacturers alike. To have a cable that does nothing but carry the signal without adding or taking away anything from the original. Well I’m convinced that the engineers have cracked that target. I doubt that Sherlock Holmes would find anything missing from the original recording. I really can’t find anything to criticise, these Chord Shawline RCA cables seem to do exactly what the engineers designed them for, “Nothing”!

Pros.

The very small differences between these cables and my reference ones do add up to provide a great all round performance. The nice warmth and extra little details provide a relaxing and entertaining presentation that I think would benefit most systems.

Cons.

Nothing, just what the doctor ordered

Chord Epic Twin Speaker Cable. 3m. Factory Terminated. (£400)

This speaker cable sits in the upper middle of the Chord range of cables. Price wise it is around that 10% range of my system value, which is spoken about as a ball park figure as a reasonable amount to spend on system cabling compared to cost of your main system. This Cable Doctor series of reviews will later allow me to push past that 10% figure to see how far you can reasonably push performance with regards to various cabling options.

The Chord Epic Speaker Cable arrives in a very nice custom made circular black nylon bag, the cable inside is separated by 3 nylon leaves allowing for 4 cables to be carried at the same time and tagged with cable type, length and termination option. This is a nice touch and the presentation gives you confidence that these hand-made cables you have purchased are a high quality product.

Inside the brown/grey cable the main conductors are 12awg silver plated twisted Oxygen Free Copper and are sourced from Chords Oddyssey cable. Information taken from Chord’s database tells me that the conductors are spaced with a PVC jacket for mechanical damping before a foil and metal braid shielding is applied.  Outer jacket is translucent PVC to provide further mechanical damping. The cable is relatively stiff and is assembled to a high standard. The banana plugs are the single plug with a single sprung bar. These are not always the easiest to fit as the speaker wire that enters the plug is slim and getting a good grip isn’t easy. One (why is it always one?) refuses to go in. It takes a little fiddling with a pair of pliers but it eventually slides home. It’s no big deal as at least you know you have a good solid connection to the amplifier’s speaker terminals.

After running the cables for several days and getting a couple of hundred hours of music through them, I settle back to fully finding out how they fit into my system.

Going to an old favourite The Eagles classic, “Hotel California”, the familiar sound of the lead Guitar and bass initiate with accompanying crisp cymbals followed by the thud, thud of drum. Throughout the song what strikes me is the way the bass guitar is tight and defined, the sound is clearly being transferred well from the CD to the speakers, there seems to be an extra little level of detail from the metallic lead guitar too. In fact there is another guitar that I really don’t think I’ve heard before from the left channel at about 1m43s. Maybe it has become a bit more forward with these Epic cables? I have heard the soundstage a little wider and deeper before with this track, I have also heard a bit more projection from the vocals. Although the track doesn’t seem boxed in or two dimensional either. “New Kid In Town” has a metronomic cymbal tick from the right hand side, with poor cables this is just that, a tick, The Chord Epic has a properly defined metal transient to it. There is only one little niggle for me, some of the drum sounds including the bass has a slightly soft edge to its presentation. It’s not a deal breaker by any means and it doesn’t seem as apparent on the following “Life In The Fast Lane” and “Victim Of Love”; the drums in these kick out like a stung mule, and the punch in your gut feeling tells you it is all there. Separation of instruments is good, with the speakers having that “disappeared” mode to them and music being out there and not too confined between the speakers.

Swapping CDs to some “Ella and Louis” on the Verve label, an album which has re-written my views on “old” recordings. If only all recordings could be preserved this well! “It’s A Lovely Day” has Ella Fitzgerald’s vocals sublimely laid out, and held fixed in the air forward of the speakers. There are fine nuances in that voice, which produces good emotion and feeling. Mr Armstrong’s throaty rumblings seem more closely recorded on the microphone and the Chord Epic allowing the music to portray this technique. Louis’s voice carries and extends the SSSSSSS sounds, again this can sound like the scraping of chalk on a chalkboard with other cables but the Chord Epic has it more like a hot poker being dipped into cold oil – it has a more natural presentation. I do think these speaker cables have a slightly elongated treble that glistens and makes for a more involved sound. I usually shy away from bright sounding equipment as I find it a bit tiring, but with the Chord and I’m happy to listen and relax.

Giving Annie Lennox’s “Diva” an outing which can trip up some set ups I’ve run. This early 90’s album which has deep electronic bass and digital instruments can sound a bit strained and a little too fake at times. What is silkily powerful is Annie’s voice. Track 5 and “Cold” has her vocals held in check centrally at 12 O’clock. Muscular deep noted pulsing away, I feel her performance is a little withdrawn into the rear of the soundstage; it’s also a little warm, which is surprisingly opposite to what I was expecting. It’s possible that the speaker cable doesn’t mask any recording flaws, and this is what I’m hearing. Moving on to “little Bird” which has a big heartbeat and sweet vocalisations, and I think showing Annie Lennox’s pedigree at it’s best. The track is still a little confined, but it’s a better rendition. The music takes more of a centre stage to the proceedings and has strong verve and pace. The Chord Epic does like a bit of a party and pulls no punches with overly processed recordings.

Conclusion

Pros

A sweet sounding cable that’s well engineered. It brings added detail to the overall sound and this helps the Chord Epic to give a great lively performance, with the rhythmical and deep bass this cable really likes to Party

Cons

It’s possible for the top end to go slightly over the top with some recordings and poorly recorded bass can be a little rounded

Chord Shawline Loom and Epic Speaker Cable

Having looked and listened to the Chord Shawline Digital, RCA and Epic speaker cables in isolation, I now have the task of seeing how these cables work as a loom.

In the past, I’d always be reluctant to stick with one cable manufacturer; it just wasn’t in my blood to do it. I’m talking early on in my hifi hobby! Back then the better end of the cable market was out of my reach financially so trying to cobble together cheap cables that sounded well together became a bit of a game. Now I’m in the fortunate position to try out what was once beyond me for real.

I’m not going to go into a track by track review, you have probably had enough of my CD collection by now, what I will say is these cables together work hand in glove with each other. What may have seemed a little foible in isolation seems to be overcome when partnered. The heightened details, fine tempered midrange and rhythmical bass come together to produce a relaxing and musical rendition of your favourite tracks. There is no hiding place though, what comes off your record collection ends up at your ears and your best will sound great, the poor, muddy or scratchy stuff will remain just that. In a market where technology is giving us better and better value for money, these Chord cables are playing a good game, they are a must listen or demo to those who may be looking for an upgrade from the £20-£100 cable bracket. They seem at this price point not to have any compromises that lower priced or lower specification cables have.

The Digital or RCA don’t to my ears impregnate the sound with any voice or fingerprint of their own, they just seem to let the music flow out as it was meant to be. That may be that these cables have the right synergy with my mid-price system. On a very high end Hifi you may be able to detect more, but it’s horses for courses for me, and these work.

David Robson

Balanced Mains Units are used extensively in professional studios and are starting to make their mark in domestic audio situations. Janine Elliot gets her life in balance and plugs in the Russ Andrews BMU 3000 costing £3599.

Reviewing cables, mains conditioners and balanced mains units is bound to irk some hifi addicts, particularly engineers.  I, like most reviewers, have suffered the displeasure of the few who believe all wire sounds the same and that travelling past your local Homebase for mains taming devices is quite simply a waste of money and petrol. Luckily my ears, like I’m sure yours, can perceive the finite differences in sounds between cabling to see that there is more to creating a good audio set up than tons of flashy lights and chrome knobs. So, to be asked to review the Russ Andrews Balanced Mains Unit coming in at 100 pennies short of £3600 is probably going to cause a few swear words from a few non-believers.

Russ Andrews (and me, too) has had his name bounded about internet forum sites enough over the years to take it all in his stride, as he  – like I – can hear for himself just how effective products like these are in controlling and ultimately upgrading your hifi. And that is it; these heavyweight (23.4kg) boxes don’t profess to do anything other than feed you pure mains. Yes, the mains supply travels numerous miles to get to your house, so why should the last few feet matter at all? Well, quite simply the last few feet make the most difference because of interference from your freezer and hair drier, and God forbid, those of you pushing audio, wi-fi or HDMI around their 13A mains sockets. Whilst you can use mains conditioner to remove RFI’s and EMIs, they are really like Paracetamol; they make something painful a little bit more manageable, but only when you are able to actually replace that defective liver or kidney, will all things be totally well again. And that’s what the Balanced Mains Unit does. For this reason, professional recording studios around the world use balanced power supplies to ensure the purest starting point for their music, speech or video.

In its simplest form, normal mains is single ended, with around 230V at the live terminal and 0V at the neutral. By changing to a balanced unit you can split the 230V mains signal into two halves, putting +115V on the live and -115V in the neutral. These add up to 230V, but any noise or distortion in the mains will have appeared in both legs and will be cancelled out when joined together, similar to the process used in noise cancelling headphones.

The BMU3000 is like the BMU1000 I reviewed a while ago, which I hinted then that whilst being an effective upgrade for your hifi, was limited in only having two 13A sockets. Daisy chaining extension leads will only undo any good you have done. This unit therefore has five, which should furnish all your hifi needs.  With two separate 1500V ‘SuperSilent’ transformers; one for two and the other for three UK or Euro (Schuko) UltraSockets giving a total of 3KVA of power across the five sockets, this should be more than enough for most people.  Each transformer is individually wound on a silicon steel core and all is wired internally with Kimber Kable, obviously.

This heavyweight is actually very good looking and looks petit considering what is inside, and it even comes in a plastic suitcase to protect it all in transit, which you can then use when you go to off to Menorca. It does require a 16A IEC socket to use it, as opposed to a conventional 13A ‘kettle lead’, and so a PowerKord 300 was kindly packaged for my review.  

This unit is in many ways identical to the BMU1000. You can adjust the unit to your incoming voltage without the need for meters, simply by listening to any “hum” caused by mismatching of input to output voltage. The unit comes as standard at 225V but this can be adjusted in small increments with TAP connections inside the unit.  The brown live cable is connected to a grey/white cable, and can be reconnected to purple, black or yellow tappings on the secondary for 240V, 250 or 260V respectively.  At the default 225V setting I found it was too noisy, though this reduced when I set up as 240V. The process for doing this is fairly simple though does mean undoing 12 Phillips screws and pulling out the right-hand ABS plastic top panel. The unit comes supplied with the live brown connector connected to the white/grey cables, so, with the unit switched off and unplugged I swapped the white/grey leads for the purple. This didn’t totally reduce the humming but brought it to an acceptable level, especially when I placed a heavy rubber mat on top of the unit. Whilst I love the ease of access to the top by removing the ABS panel – and they are held fairly tightly in place – they still do vibrate and so it will be a good idea to put something on the top to catch that sympathetic vibration.  ABS is chosen by Russ not to keep the weight down, but due to him and his team finding that it gave a better sound quality than metal boxes. I have always been confused about whether there should be any form of metal Faraday cage to prevent further EMIs in a balanced MU, or indeed whether there was any point, it being self-cancelling. Russ agrees, and the team having done extensive testing on this. The “SuperSilent” transformers are particularly well made with very few stray fields. It actually sounds better without any cage or foil, which is why there’s isn’t one.

“We’ve long been fans of the use of non-metallic boxes for equipment – in terms of sound quality, subjectively the sound becomes more open and spacious, and metal casework sounds rather ‘closed-in’ in comparison.”

Russ therefore chose ABS and I measured no EMIs. After setting the unit voltage correctly there were still quiet hum noises, but these are due to several reasons. Firstly, any object with wire, metal, current and magnetic field is going to act like a speaker. Also, I mentioned in the BMU1000 review that some hum is caused by the fact that the core laminations in the transformer are extending and contracting as they are magnetised, called Magnetostriction, and that this will happen twice in each 50Hz UK current cycle giving a gentle 100Hz hum.  Getting the correct voltage reduces this, though there is still a minute amount of residual hum, but importantly it was considerably reduced further with damping of the cabinet. Placing the unit on a solid base or rack, preferably not of glass, and also placing the unit on more generous rubber feet will absorb any of the vibration from the rack and other audio equipment. Plus, if your hifi has good power supply stages, it almost totally disappears. The unit will look great in the lowest part of a rack with the mains leads from hifi equipment being fed neatly into it from above and this, too, will aid in reducing induction between cables and more important to audio cables close by. But, if the unit is on the rack it is therefore essential that you spend all the time to set it up correctly. For example, the 8 rubber feet on the BMU3000 are less deep than the lower lip of the front Aluminium faceplate, so if you sit the unit faceplate within the shelf, you need to use bigger feet.  In my case I used four 30kg strength rubber semi-circular pods. Also it would perhaps have been better, bearing in mind the anorexic feet, that the 13A IEC sockets were designed fitted upside down, since they would be fed from your components above. Having them with the earth ‘pin’ at the top means the cable exiting the inserted mains plugs is bent around tightly and can touch the shelf, and can therefore act as  a carrier of vibration from the BMU. In an ideal world you should in any case place the unit away from your rack and hifi, though looking as good as it does you might be tempted not to. 

Once I set up the review sample on my own pods all was good and I had no worries about the noise, nor did I need to add my own mains conditioners. Indeed, should you really, really feel the need to add a RA or other mains conditioner – Russ recommends you don’t use any, even though he makes a number of them – then you should only use them before the BMU3000.  Also, the unit is fitted with an internal and resettable thermal breaker on each of the transformers. If the unit trips, then you need to unplug everything, get out a Phillips or Pozidrive screwdriver and unscrew 12 screws from the back panel to get inside the unit and reset it. I still wish a thermal breaker unit could be fitted to the rear of the box.

With its twin 15000VA transformers, totalling the 3kVA for the five sockets, I had no fears in winding up my power thirsty Krell power amp and connecting the multi power supply equipped KPS20i CD player. Wow, I always thought the KSP20i was one of the best ever CD players, and still very analogue and musical playback, particularly in the bass, but connected to the BMU3000 showed me why I needed to have a balanced life. The extra detail, speed and most important, the extra bandwidth of sound particularly at the top end was quite extraordinary.  The difference between this and the 1000VA version was really evident in my power-thirsty American kit. Where a lower specified unit could cause the audio to sound a bit compressed or even to add mechanical noise, this was like an over-specified engine in a car; there was always something in reserve when you needed it. Playing vinyl the result hinted at better speed accuracy and an increased excitement and improved timing. Everything was tight, controlled, and exact. Interestingly, whilst the sound was more clinical and flatter, the lowest-frequency pedal organ notes when playing Saint-Saens Organ Symphony (Jane Parker-Smith, LPO, Serge Baudo) through my Wilson Benesch Torus subsonic generator as indicated by 2 blue flashing lights was greater through the BMU than solely through my own designed mains conditioner which showed just one blue light, but which appeared to have the greater lower bass. The BMU quite simply made the sound clearer and more accurate. And then, connecting up my old Quad 303/33 wired up to my aged iconic Chartwell LS3/5a’s for use in reviewing the new Graham Audio Chartwell LS3/5 I couldn’t believe just how deep that bass could get.

Conclusion

So, would I recommend the BMU3000? Well, it’s a bit like choosing between Sainsbury’s Basics custard or Birds. Whilst both will work well with mum’s apple pie, the latter taste better and has more goodness.  But it is more expensive. Ouch.  So it is too with the BMU3000. Yes, some engineers and non-believers will suggest going to the local DIY or electrical store, and yes, you will get a knockdown price and it’ll be okay. Most likely the internal engineering won’t be so exact, the amount of effort put into its design and suitability for audio/visual probably won’t have been in the forefront of its build, and – for me very important – it won’t look so drop dead beautiful in its rack-friendly 10mm thick anodised aluminium front panelled box. Perhaps their 13Amp sockets won’t be as classy as the five SuperSilent’s, but most importantly the cabling and cores probably won’t be as good, and there is an awful lot of wiring in these toroidals. Each of the two transformers within the unit use 77m of wire on the primary and a total of 80m of wire on the secondary. That all adds up to a total of 314 metres, meaning the BMU3000 costs just over £11 per metre, which in context actually isn’t an awful lot. As Russ explained to me;

“The wire is carefully chosen for its performance – the primary wire, for example, is of a type that allows 11% increased density than conventional wire, leading to better performance and a quieter operation. The secondary wire consists of two trifilar wires (ie six in total), again chosen specifically for its performance”

I liked the BMU3000 more than I thought I would. The amount of extra information, precision, depth of sound and frequency extension at the extremes that I got from my kit was audible, and should be considered as a very cost effective upgrade for all your kit. If you are spending a lot on your hifi, that probably means your cables as well, so it should also include your mains taming. But, if you still are sceptical, buy one from Uncle Russ and if you still aren’t impressed he gives a money-back guarantee.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: High quality build throughout but would have preferred better and more substantial feet

Sound Quality: A significant improvement with more detail, speed and bandwidth in evidence

Value For Money: Not cheap but then not cheap to build

Pros:

Speed and detail of sound

Lower noise floor and a cleaner sound

Excellent components including mains sockets and wiring

The best looking mains adapter

Cons:

Expensive

Some will still need converting to the benefits

Price: £3599

Janine Elliot

The efficacy of cables, and in particular USB and digital cables, is a much debated subject in the audio world. However, Dan Worth, Hifi Pig’s resident computer audiophile is convinced of different cables’ bringing benefits to the overall system. Here he tries out The Chord Company’s Signature Tuned Aray USB cable costing £400 for a 1m length. 

The market today is awash with USB cables from various companies. It wasn’t so long ago where people would turn their noses up to the idea that a USB cable could influence the sound quality of the protocol when running a PC or dedicated streamer into an outboard DAC or clock. The hobby still contains its usual sceptics of cables, but many of those with the foresight and open mindedness to try different cabling and make their own relative decisions have concluded that cables, and more to the point USB cables, can have a profound effect on overall sound quality and performance of their systems.

With such a wide range of USB cables readily available, where does one start?

The simple answer is within your budget. At each level or ‘pay grade’ there is a range of electronics, speakers and cables to suit budget. So don’t be shy, go to your local dealer or hit the secondhand market and start trying a few to gauge where the sweet spot in the price range strikes a chord.

The Chord Company with their extensive knowledge and years of experience with cabling have a good range to suit the end user’s budget. With a company such as Chord you can rest assured that build quality and the all important value for money is at the forefront of their expertise. Yes they do offer cables with a price tag that would make your dog weep but then these cables are produced to cover the top end of the spectrum, supporting systems running into the hundreds of thousands of pounds. Back here in the real world they still have an extensive range of cabling in clearly designated ranges to guarantee excellent performance for even the most basic and modest systems.

I myself have been on a long journey with cabling in hifi, starting off many years ago hooking up equipment with whatever I could lay my hands on – bell wire, power flex, joining odd pieces of cable together to increase length and getting a few shocks along the way. When more specific (to audio) cabling began to be more plentiful I began to experiment and soon found that cabling had a quite profound effect on my systems and it soon became an integral part of the whole.

When computers first started to become a more useful tool in music playback within the hifi system, mainly due to Apple Music and streaming services, I was already a very long term user of computer based music, using Mac and PC for many years, hooked up via various sound cards using spdif to DACs, but it’s only been in recent years (since 2009) that USB has become the main protocol for this method of playback.

One of the earliest USB DACs I remember using was based around Phillips’ TDA1543 chip, using the Dir 9001 USB chipset which was shared with optical and the two would require switching dependant on input. At the time there was absolutely no USB cables around apart from the typical ‘printer’ cable, so that’s what I used. Being a firm believer in the importance of cable in a system I trawled the internet time and time again searching for anything that would (on paper) have superior conductors and geometry, there wasn’t anything.

Back to today and the vast availability of USB cables on the market. What makes a USB cable good? In my experience of creating my own designs, it’s not an easy standard to get right. High or low capacitance plays a big role in chip compatibility, extensive or no shielding, separated for data and power with dedicated power supply and conductor type and size, like any cable, play a huge role and more crucially so where digital is concerned in my opinion.

In Chord, I think we can trust that what they have to offer is going to be of excellent construction and vigorously tested for quality control and performance, so we could say – it’s not a bad place to start. From the C range, through to Shawline, on to Signature and finally the range topping Sarum, Chord will accommodate the budget conscious as well as the larger spenders with their range of USB cables.

I’ve already reviewed the Sarum Super Aray USB, stating quite openly that it is the very best USB out there today, to my knowledge and I’ve tried most. Today is the turn of the Signature Tuned Aray, second to the top of the range and coming in at £400 for a one metre length, a respectable middle of the road price, not as expensive as the £1000 Sarum Super Aray and I suspect there margin in expense will soon be filled by another option under the Indigo Plus banner? Admittedly £400 isn’t exactly budget, but it’s a middle of the road cable with superior performance making it a worthwhile cable for closer examination.

I will endeavour to obtain USB cables from the other ranges from Chord in due course, but for now after my glowing review of Sarum and the Signature being based on Aray Technology, sharing key construction aspects with the Sarum it’s something I personally wanted to try next. I have had very positive initial listening tests with Signature Tuned Aray and need to assure myself that Sarum Super Aray is worth the extra outlay.

Fit and Finish

Chord have paid particular attention to the strain relief of the conductors on the ever so delicate USB plugs, which is the cable types nemesis and I am shocked that nobody has had the foresight yet to redesign the plugs specifically for more sustained use in the audio world, where more complex and heavier gauge cables are apparent. The overall finish of the cable is neat and visually appealing, keeping in line with the designated red colour scheme of the new Signature range. Packaging is very strong and protective with nice visuals, not that it’s makes much of a difference as it’s a cable after all, but still nice to see that Chord offer good attention to all aspects. 

Sound 

Wth the Signature Tuned Aray (STA) in my system between Mac and Hydra Z, replacing the Sarum Super Aray (SSA). Relaxing into a live Derrin Nuendorf album, the sonic signature of the STA clearly speaks volumes of similar design techniques with that of the SSA. What really stands out well about the SSA is that its retrieval of ambient information maintains a realistic flow to the music, Signature TA offers an intelligible and informative amount of spatial awareness reflective of its extremely low noise floor through Aray Technology also which makes live music very convincing in naturalness and clarity.

The acoustic guitar work of Nuendorf is often commented to be let down by his vocal, but for me, I enjoy the duet. Derrin produces very complex string work, lots of very small string rubs, small tweaks and raps on the body of the instrument which, without an extremely low noise floor smear, masking depths of decay with layered leading edges. Signature TA has a fantastically black background which in turn increases breadth of soundstage.

Playing some big band music allows for that typical cliché of individual placement of band members and space around instruments to be denoted, but what surprised me more at this lower price point in comparison to my SSA was how fluid and fulfilling the music cohesively sounded, whilst still being able to determine individual placement well throughout a soundstage that was large and palpable.

Layering of instruments during more conventional four to five member bands such as Fleetwood Mac covered great depth and forefront layering, whilst keeping individual tonality and instrument timbre very true and really quite natural, falling short of Sarum’s abilities by not too great a margin at all in main information conveyance, allowing for vocals to stand strong and projected without over-masked clarity, forwardness or liberal interpretations of unrealistic tone. SSA does give a larger a more intimate soundstage with the finest micro details and dynamics concluding the ultimate in realism of a performance.

To break down each tonal area of the cables sonic signature is something which I generally find very easy to do, however with Sarum and Signature I would hesitate to call neutral, it would be easier to convey what they offer to an individual performance or piece of music, but then we all listen differently and have different systems and rooms. I think the most informative way to describe STA is to say that it has hardly any bottleneck on the frequencies of all music types I’ve listened to with it in my system. If Sarum Super Aray was to have extremely minimal resistance on signal, then Signature Tuned Aray has a performance that will in fact leave Chord scratching their heads a little when or indeed if they were to produce a USB cable that sits within the Indigo range between the two.

Bass guitar sounds full, playful and bouncy with great extension. Midrange is solid, transparent and has enough clarity to really engross me into sultry vocals and ‘see’ through the soundstage. Top end performance reflects great ambient information and interacts organically with tonal qualities befitting the material played. I still don’t like to say neutral, as for me, a lot of the time neutral can be boring or lifeless, the Signature TA is the total opposite, it allows the digital signal to resonate with the listener in a non digital way and allows the music to effortlessly flow and ride the waves, hanging ten at opportunities of aural excitement and doing equally well with intimate detailed listening at lower volume levels, maybe we could say it’s less resistive and allows more information throughput, the systems tonal balance remains but it’s abilities to communicate more increases.

Conclusion

We have to remember that most things in life are relative, although there are always exceptions to be had, the general rule of thumb is you get out what you put in and the whole is only as good as its weakest link. You wouldn’t put a lorry driver in an F1 car or wooden wheels on a carbon fibre bike; skill levels, quality of parts and implementation is key and most usually relative.

So, would I take the Sarum still over the Signature? Yes I would, but only if I had the funds to allow that choice to be a choice in the first place and my system was really quite high-end. If my Sarum was to leave the building would Signature keep me so engrossed in the music? In my main system I would notice what I’m missing, this is mainly in small special cues and the smallest of micro and macro detail, but it’s what I’m used to after all. Placing the STA into two other lower priced systems I have here really brings them to life and Sarum was unable to obtain more due to the nature of the limit of the electronics, which are still very good. There needs to be some seriously resolute equipment in the system for Signature TA to cause any resistance to musical information and what it achieves will give the majority listeners absolute pleasure.

If I hadn’t of heard the Sarum SA I would say that the Signature TA is up there with some of the very best USB cables I’ve heard.

In fact I’m going to buy the review sample for my active system as I’ve now realised that the setup has more to offer after this review.

AT A GLANCE 

Build Quality – Solid, with great strain relief and attractive styling

Sound Quality – Extremely well tailor, transparent, effortless sound

Value For Money – Price/Performance is great for a cable

Pros – Exceptional sound quality, with very low background noise and a transparent and effortless sound

Cons – Er…

Price: £400 / 1m

Dan Worth

The £280/m Experience 680 interconnect from British manufacturer Wire On Wire is an interesting concept in that is able to be ‘tuned’ by the owner. Dominic Marsh tunes in for Hifi Pig. 

When you have had as many cables through your hands as I have, it takes something either exceptional or really off the wall to get my immediate attention and this Wire On Wire interconnect certainly did that when I first opened the packaging. 

Wire On Wire kindly sent me two cables to evaluate, one that was “naked” without any spacers and another with the full complement of adjustment variables having all the spacers installed.  At first look it looks like something a drunk spider has fabricated after a generous glug of some home brew with what appears at first sight to be a haphazard weave pattern, but look past that and you find a cable that obviously has a great deal of attention paid to its construction.  Any idiot can do a simple three strand plait weave blindfolded, but this cable is a lot more complex than that and according to the designer Chris Bell it took an inordinate amount of research and experiment to arrive at this final design.   The resultant geometry is called “REDpurl” and I understand that a patent has been applied for and is pending (GB1602578.5).

Most of us will (hopefully) know that  resistance, capacitance and inductance are all traits inherent in any speaker or interconnect cable and whilst resistance remains fairly constant dependant on wire metallurgy, tamper with capacitance parameters and inductance falls victim to that and vice versa.  Some designers rely on those two parameters to shape the final sound, but it is fixed once the cable is manufactured into the final product.  Wire On Wire decided that there was an opportunity to manipulate these parameters in their favour and also allow the end user to do likewise by a simple yet ingenious method of adding or subtracting spacers to vary the geometry of the weave pattern.  These spacers are not introduced randomly; they are allocated at predetermined intervals or “nodes” along the length of the cable.

Construction

Wire On Wire have chosen silver plated copper conductors despite this configuration having a reputation for having a sharp edgy treble performance, but that is mostly earned by cheap silver plated copper wires and many leading cable manufacturers also use this combination of silver plating and copper core to good effect, so that reputation is rather too generalist, applied with a very broad brush and perhaps not applicable to all silver plated copper wires.   Although not actually measured, the conductors themselves appear to be of different diameters, some with a red outer insulating jacket to preserve polarity for termination.  Insulation is by PTFE.  Capacitance is quoted at 69pF per metre which of course is variable depending upon spacer configuration.

The cable is fitted with good quality and genuine WBT- 0114 RCA locking connectors.

There is the option to have the cable covered in an expandable outer mesh sleeving.

Price is £280.00 for 1 metre pair at time of testing, with other lengths available to order.

Sound

I spent a considerable amount of time familiarising myself with the sonic qualities of the cable without the tuning spacers, before delving into adding/subtracting the spacers to tune the sound.  I am fortunate that my latest CD player acquisition has two line level outputs so comparing cables with instant A/B switching  by source selection on my pre-amp makes comparisons so much easier, although I still prefer using my ears as the arbiter.

To put it mildly, I was stunned at how good the “naked” Wire On Wire cable sounded when put head-to-head against my resident interconnect cable which has a price tag of £2,000.  Yes there were differences in presentation but they were fractional and as a result, very subtle and had to be critically listened for.

Into the CD drawer went Fink’s “Wheels Beneath My Feet” live album and that has many cues that puts any Hifi components through their paces for me.  The first is the ambiences recorded at each venue of Fink’s European tour, where each has its own unique reverberation and of course, each audience too has its own signature in the way they cheer and applaud the performance.   I would expect to hear each as unique and the Wire On Wire cable performed this with ease, so you could easily tell the volume of each theatre by that ambience.  Imaging, width and depth very good, with steady instrument placement in the sounstage.  Bass however was just a fraction behind my resident cable and didn’t quite have the power and energy, nor did the Wire On Wire cable muster the sheer definition and shape of bass notes the resident cable can portray down in the lowest registers.  Midband was equally as clear and lucid, male and female voices too for that matter was certainly on a par between the two cables.   Put into context then, the Wire On Wire cable at £280.00 fared very well against a £2,000 cable and there wasn’t much outclassing going on unless one is being hyper critical. I went through most of my CD collection over a period of two weeks and then I felt the time was right to introduce the full ‘spacered’ up variant of the Experience 680 interconnect.

The sound to me was a chasm away from what I heard from the “naked” cable;  a tad thick sounding and bloated in the bass, the treble to me had lost its polish and refinement and the midband acquired a chesty quality, so it shows just how critical conductor geometry spacing is with this cable, indeed with all cables.  Thankfully, Wire On Wire provide a handbook that shows how to tune the cable by subtracting and adding their plastic spacers to the cable, the nodes being numbered and counted off from the source end, no matter which way round the cable is initially installed.

Above is a chart copied from Wire On Wire’s website explaining the effects of adding or removing the spacers has on the perceived sound.  Being the thick idiot that I am, whenever I took a spacer out I placed a square of masking tape onto the loop the spacer was removed from so I would know the exact place it came from.  The combinations and permutations of spacers installed or not runs into the thousands as Chris Bell pointed out to me, so it would be rather unwise and indeed pointless typing out the results that I got during the evaluation, as in all probability none would match those obtained by buyers of this cable in their own systems and of course meeting their own listening preferences.  What I can tell you is all the changes were subtle rather than manifested in clearly obvious amounts.

CONCLUSION

Wire On Wire’s website has an anecdote about Chris Bell’s cable which says their product HAS to sound good or the man will be locked in the shed until it does.

In the final analysis, I much preferred the “naked” variant above the cable that had the spacers installed, no matter what combination and permutation of spacers I took out and put in with my current system as it stands.  Readers should not be concerned by this statement as I am more than certain your results would probably be at complete variance with mine anyway.  To me the spacers were an optional extra and of course the price remains the same with or without the spacers so that is a good value proposition for the asking price.  Obviously the planets were aligned just right for the unmolested cable to sound just right for my system and I don’t know whether that is a good or bad thing for the purpose of this review and I make no apologies if you wanted a full autopsy of my many spacer swapping trials, but I still went back again and again to the sans spacer cable.

However, being the inveterate box swapper that I am, there might come the day that the spacers become an essential tool in tuning the sound to my personal tastes when one of my myriad of blind purchases has an acute attack on ‘non-synergy’ when introduced into my system – as has happened in the past.  At that precise moment it would be comforting to know that I have to hand an easy method of accomplishing that fine sonic tailoring instead of hunting around for a completely new cable to match, so the Wire On Wire Experience 680’s versatility and adaptability earns my recommendation.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:  At first glance it looks a right tangle and a bit fragile, but looks are deceptive in this case.  The inclusion of good quality and genuine WBT connectors is a welcome sign.

Sound Quality:  Gave a pair of £2k high end interconnects a surprisingly good challenge. Says it all.

Value For Money:  I rated it well without the spacers installed, but the day might come when they earn their keep with their tuneable options as the spacers adds no additional purchase cost.

Pros:  Great quality sound with the ability to be customised to your own listening tastes.  At £280 a metre it represents good value too.

Cons:  Not the prettiest cable around.  If it bothers you then an outer mesh sleeve is available.

Price: £280/m

Dominic Marsh

Tellurium Q make a wide range of speaker cables, interconnects and other audio cables at prices to suit most pockets. Here Stuart and Linette Smith take a listen to their range topping Silver Diamond speaker cables and interconnects. 

We don’t do many cable reviews here at Hifi Pig Towers because we tend to find what we like, place it in the main system and leave it there. The last such cable to find a permanent spot in our main system was the Ultra Blacks from Tellurium Q. We’ve a hundred and one different cables we could have in the system, and which we do use when we put together and review more modest systems, but time and time again we always found ourselves going back to the Ultra Blacks in our reference system…until recently.
I say recently, but truth be known we had the Silver Diamond cables probably before anyone else, but I like to get a proper feel for a product before spouting lyrically, or otherwise, about it and so these cables have sat in the main system for months and months and I’ve no desire to take them out and substitute them for anything else. I’m going to speak about the cables as a whole; that is speaker cables and interconnects as a loom, simply because that is how I’ve used them.

Construction

The interconnects are pretty straight forward affairs with a relatively modest thickness cable in black sheathing connected to very nice quality XLRs. There’s little to say other than that; they look straight forward and nothing particularly flash. If you are one of those people who are looking for glitz and glam over what comes out the speakers then move along, there’s nothing to see here. That said, the presentation box the interconnects arrive in is rather nice in a “ I’ve clearly bought something that’s quite lovely” kind of way, but again it’s nothing overly flash or “look at me”.

Likewise the speaker cables. They’re a similar construction to the Ultra Blacks in that there are two, it has to be said pretty thick cables (much thicker than the Ultra Blacks), separated from each other by about an inch or so and then hidden in a black braid. Tellurium Q have added a metal block where the sheath ends which adds to the overall quality feel of these cables and they are terminated with good quality spades with what looks to be a silver coating. The speaker cables are pretty heavy beasts but once locked in place they don’t go anywhere.

That’s about all I can tell you about what goes into making up these cables as, as with all their cables, Tellurium Q aren’t particularly forthcoming with specifics…understandable given the number of copy cats out there ready to pounce and make a fast buck on the work of others.

Sound 

There’s always that moment of anticlimax with cables in my experience. Truth is cables don’t really excite me in the same way that a new preamplifier or pair of speakers do. What I’m trying to get across is that my expectation is that cables are much of a muchness…or this was my thinking up until a few years ago when I actually bothered to experiment and listen closely to the differences cables could have on a system….though they still don’t enthuse me overly. I’m still very wary however, and treat much of what is said about the magic properties of some cables with a rather large pinch of salt and I’m well aware that when a cable rep’ starts talking about their cables that I’m being sold to. Geoff Merrigan arrived chez nous with no such bluster and little more than a “plug them in and tell me what you think in a few weeks” attitude. I’ve read the Tellurium Q website and all their chatter about phase distortion and what not and to be honest that all goes over my head; it doesn’t interest me, something either does its job or it doesn’t…end of story!

I’ve had conversations with Mr Merrigan over the last few years and he has a theory that all cables act as some kind of filter and the job of the cable manufacturer is to make that filtering as unobtrusive/negligible as possible. I have issues with the whole filtering concept but that’s a different story and for another time.

Our system has been put together very carefully over the years and it is there to do two things: First of all it has to play music in a way that we enjoy and secondly it has to be resolving enough to be used as a review tool. Nothing gets in the system if it doesn’t meet these two criteria.

Plugging the Silver Diamond loom into the system was greeted with an immediate, and somewhat surprising “Oh, this is actually better in many ways”. Actually it was more of a “F%3k, where did that come from?”  

There’s a feeling of more of everything. More involvement, more toe tapping…more musical enjoyment. OK, let’s back off for a while and just leave the system to play for a bit without listening too much as I don’t want to get into that whole “ well it’s certainly different, but is it better” situation…but it is better and there is no doubt about it! There’s better separation of instruments, better and bigger soundstage, more fine detail in the mix and just an overall picture that you are getting closer to the music in a very real sense. This is not subtle either! There’s speed, slam and everything that makes music exciting in spades and it’s quite something. Daft Punk sum this cable loom up pretty much spot on in their tune ”Faster, Better, Stronger”. Veils lifted, inky black backgrounds…insert audiophile reviewer babble of choice! They really are that good in this system!

OK, perhaps it’s a synergy thing and so a more modest system was thrown together…and you know what, you get the same effect; more of everything. Fine detail is the thing that really comes to the fore; little clues in the mix that you knew were there but took little notice of suddenly become more apparent. Fleetwood Mac’s Songbird is a case in point; there’s a real palpable feeling that you are sat about ten rows back in an empty concert hall with all the atmospherics that that conjures…the same track on the main system is a real close your eyes and you’re there moment.

OK, popping the Silver Diamonds into a crap system isn’t going to elevate it to the level of the upper echelons of audio nirvana, but it is like you’re playing with much better kit throughout.

Conclusion 

These are the best cables I have used in my system… period… and I do not say that lightly! They have been in and out and compared with other cables we have to hand and every time they are taken out there’s an immediate “nope, get them back in” comment from Linette or myself.  What they do is difficult to put your finger on exactly; there’s a feeling of rightness and a sense that you are getting closer to the feeling of the music in an emotional sense. There’s more detail, more space…and they just sound right.

There’s an elephant in the room that I’ve not mentioned as yet. Yep, these cables cost as much and for some more than a serious electronics upgrade. The speaker cables are £895.80 a metre and the interconnects are £2292 for a 1 metre pair (XLR). That’s serious money of course and I’m not going to make light of the fact that this review is going to upset a lot of people who will moan about the price of a bit of wire.

I also won’t make light of the fact that these cables are a game changer in terms of what they allow our system to achieve. Yes, they are relatively expensive… there are MUCH more expensive cables out there should you care to look… but they do offer a considerable and tangible upgrade and as such could be seen as being good value for money in the context of a high-end system. In a less high-end system then you would need to be the judge, but do not dismiss these cables as being out of your league before hearing them in your own system. Mine are going nowhere and I have no hesitation in giving these cables an outstanding product award of which we have only awarded six in the last year!

AT A GLANCE 

Build Quality: Nicely put together cables but they’re not going to impress those looking for glitz and glamour

Sound Quality: These cables bring you a sense of reality and excitement I’ve previously not experienced in our already fantastic system

Value For Money: In the context of a high-end system these cables offer very good value for money. 

Pros:

More of everything in the mix, particularly fine detail. What these cables do is difficult to put your finger on but you will know it when you hear it

Cons:

I’m genuinely struggling here but they are quite pricey when looked at out of context

Price:

Speaker cables: £895.80/metre

Interconnects: £2292 

Stuart Smith 

It was Tellurium Q that first really opened my eye’s to the fact that cables could make a difference to the sound of a system, with their Ultra Black speaker cable which we have had in the our hifi since we tried it back in 2013. Since then I’ve definitely become a ‘cable believer’ (I know, in some folks eyes it’s like being in a loony religious cult) and I can hear differences, not just with speaker cable but with interconnects and other cables (I’m going to stick with speaker cables and interconnects for now rather than get into a USB-cable-based-brawl with someone). I’ve discovered that ‘different’ is not always better. Some cables go into the system and then out again because I don’t like the sound. I’ve also discovered that the cables that I like best seem to strip back rather than add anything to the sound, if that makes sense.

As I said, we have been ‘Ultra Black’ in the speaker cable and interconnect department for some time, they have seen off many contenders, but since then Tellurium Q have developed their cables further and their ‘Top of the Pops’ speaker cable is now the Silver Diamond. At just under £900 a metre it isn’t cheap, but in a high end system, where thousands have been spent on the electronics and loudspeakers, it certainly isn’t out of place…in fact, compared to some brands, it is quite modestly priced. The cable looks the business, not some over stuffed python of a cable (yes, we’ve all seen ‘those’ kind of cables at shows, lurking behind the gear like they swallowed a baby goat) it’s very nicely finished, purposeful looking and very well made.

So, to the sound.  Is there a noticeable difference? Very much so. Sometimes it is very difficult to put your finger on just what it is about what a new system component or cable does to the music.  It’s like a name on the tip of your tongue that evades your brain the more you try to remember it. I could get into ‘veil-lifting’ type Hifi Reviewer clichés here but there really is no need.  What the Silver Diamonds do is strip everything right back to the music. They don’t add anything, they just seem to focus the sound so that what you hear is clarity.  I’m not suggesting for one moment that you should go out and get some of these for a low or mid end system and expect angels to start singing to you, these are cables, not magic beans! (To be fair if you are in the market for something more affordable you should try out some of the TQ ranges priced below the Silver Diamond). They work their magic when you put them where they should be, with quality electronics into a quality pair of loudspeakers.

If a stealth-crew of Hifi Ninjas came and put the Silver Diamonds into your system while you were out, you would come back and listen to music and try for ages to put your finger on just what exactly had made things improve. In my mind, that’s an outstanding cable.

Linette Smith

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

Ziro is headed up by Adam Fairless but he’s not letting on what’s inside the little black box on his Disclosure power cable. Dominic Marsh and Dan Worth attempt unravel the mystery of this £900 power chord. 

Ziro Audio is a new company who say they have spent a lot of time and money on research before launching their products onto the market.  So when Adam Fairless at Ziro Audio sent me one of the best one-liners I’ve had so far in an email by saying “I will let the cables do the talking” it was a sure sign he had confidence in his products. 

There is no such thing as the “perfect” cable and my approach to the subject is to work from the bottom upwards by observing that an upgrade cable that sounds “better” is in actual fact “less imperfect” than the cable it replaces.  If your starting point is the ubiquitous given away for free three ampere rated IEC computer lead, then substituting a “better” sounding lead as a replacement, only means it is “less imperfect” than the lead it has just replaced and that applies to all aftermarket mains leads in that broad scale, whether they cost £10.00 or £10,000 the principle is exactly the same when applied logically in the way I suggest.

There are many hundreds of cable manufacturers in the marketplace all claiming to be the best ever and my job as a reviewer is to put that assertion to the test, so herewith below is my perceptions of the Ziro Audio Disclosure mains power cord.

Construction

Standard length of their Disclosure power cord is 1.25 metres and the sample supplied for review was that same length.  The actual length of the cable itself was sufficient to easily reach from the wall socket to my MS Audio distribution block, but there is a rather large and heavy oblong aluminium cased module situated half way along its length.  My mains sockets in the listening room are around a metre off the floor so either the module was suspended by the cable, or I had to support it in some way.  I found a sturdy cardboard box which supported the module and relieved the strain on the cable.  I am advised that the module can be sited anywhere along the length of the cable which should be clearly specified when ordering.

I have reviewed cables with modules built in (Audiomica Ness Excellence as I recall) before and if the manufacturer deems it wise to reveal what’s inside their modules then all well and good, but if the manufacturer decides not to reveal the internal workings, then I don’t ask and I don’t tamper with anything either, it remains a mystery then and so the Ziro Audio Disclosure power cord remains in that latter band.  As long as it works as claimed, then it could contain cold porridge for all it matters to me.

I suppose though the closest competitor to the Disclosure power cable is the Vertex AQ Roramia which has an outwardly similar design.  Neither manufacturer though is giving anything away regarding their construction details, so it’s a moot point whether they compare directly or indirectly in price or performance terms so I will not dwell on this.

The cable itself is around 14mm in diameter and surprisingly flexible for its size.  Conductors within the Disclosure models are said to be 3 x 2.08mm of high purity silver in a twisted configuration.  The cable has an outer sheath covering of a multi-coloured fabric weave pattern.  At either end of the module the cable enters and exits via metal gland fasteners.  With regards to terminations, the review sample had Furutech connectors at each end, with a bottom entry FI-UK-N1G 1363-L  3 pin UK plug fitted, with a FI-11 IEC socket at the component end.

Price at time of review:  £900.00 for the standard 1.25 metre length.

Ziro Audio also produce the “Tranzient” range which has a similar outward appearance to the Disclosure range, but use copper and silver plated copper for their conductors and substitute Wattgate connectors instead of the Furutech connectors.  Naturally, the Tranzient power cord costs significantly less than the Disclosure power cord equivalent and is priced at £370.00 for the standard 1.25 metre length.

Sound Quality

When I received the Disclosure power cord I was stuck in a quandary while evaluating a pair of loudspeakers, which I couldn’t quite summarise accurately and was rather perturbed by that.  I don’t normally add new components to my system during an evaluation in case it confuses matters and what drove me to it is still beyond comprehension, but in this instance I did so and I am very pleased that I made that decision.

What was to me a vague, loose and indistinct bass from these particular speakers suddenly became  perfectly controlled and I mean PERFECTLY controlled in every sense.  Treble acquired a stunning realism, with copious amounts of inner fine details and macrodynamics not heard before and as for midrange, that was free from any congestion or bloom whatsoever, bass both powerful and highly communicative, a total joy to listen to.  I simply had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t imagining what I was hearing and to be sure I swapped back to my resident power cable several times to check – I might add and there was no comparison.   I could actually hear shapes, timbres and textures from every single note from the Disclosure cable and trust me, I have never heard ANY mains cable do that to this degree before now.  Yes, I have had a touch of firmer and tighter bass before with a lessening of boom, perhaps wider and/or deeper imaging too, yes I have had a cleaning up of midrange bloom, a quieter background and perhaps a touch more definition in the treble regions from other (read expensive here) mains cable confections, but never all of these factors added together as a whole and never to such a degree as the Disclosure cable was giving me.  I fell in love instantly.  With a mere power cable?

The sound became so natural, effortless and accurate but not in a sterile or monotone way.  Dynamics and transients maintained superb contrasts and acquired razor sharp acceleration.  I might have  expected some sibilance artefacts or some intolerance of poor recordings, but even that wasn’t manifested, at least not exacerbated because a bad recording remained so, just it seemed to irritate me less than at any time before.  Now that was impressive to say the least.

To illustrate this point I played Porcupine Tree’s “Deadwing” album which has plenty of raw edges to it and can often induce some real wince moments at high volumes.  It was no different with the Disclosure power cord installed, it sounded even more wince inducing, but strangely enough found some content I had not heard before that took me completely by surprise in the form of hearing each guitar string during the rough chords and the drummer stayed clearly focused throughout the title track which my experience says is very hard to achieve.  At 6 minutes 42 seconds there is a long low bass note that goes way down the registers and seems to roll out of the speaker and advance across the carpet towards you in a rolling motion, but in this listening session it was even more accentuated than I have heard before.  None of this album was rolled off, masked, or muted by the Disclosure power cord.

Of course I also played my reference CD in the form of Fink’s “Wheels Beneath My Feet” live album.  That was a real feast for the ears with a constant stream of newly revealed details and a powerful, deep and articulate bass that left me utterly bewitched.  I could have listened to the same CD all night long, it was that enjoyable, overflowing with vitality yet still non-fatiguing.

At that point though some questions were beginning to run through my mind; was this some sort of chance event only happening with my system in the current configuration?  I had to find out more.

Out went the evaluation speakers and in went my resident speakers which of course I know their performance intimately.  Same result, they took on another dimension of neutrality, refinement and exquisite detail, the bass became much more powerful and communicative.  I had toyed with the idea of replacing them soon, but they are staying now I have experienced what their true capabilities are.  On I pressed, connecting up a pair of Roksan TR-5 stand mount speakers which I have the kind use of courtesy of Roksan and they too moved up a gear or two in sound quality and a pair of Audiovector QR-1 stand mounts also gave more performance than I ever heard from them before.  As I write this review I have a pair of Melodika BL40 floorstanding loudspeakers submitted for review, currently playing Peter Gabriel’s Real World album and they are sounding utterly sublime, way beyond expectations and almost rediscovering the whole album from scratch.

This was of course just one Disclosure mains cable alone fitted to my mains block feeding the entire system and another question that will haunt me now is how would another 3 more Disclosures fitted to my CD player, pre-amp and power amplifier bring to the party?  Past experience suggests more gains and I would relish the opportunity to put that to a test.

The Ziro Audio Disclosure mains cable had an even bigger challenge than any of this to face which is, can it impress my fellow reviewer Dan Worth?  Dan has a more sophisticated system than I have, plus he has mains enhancements that I don’t have in the form of dedicated mains spurs and balanced power supplies. We meet regularly so I took the Disclosure cable over with me during one visit and I will let Dan give you his verdict in his own words.

Conclusion

If you are not convinced that an upgrade mains cable can have a truly profound effect on a hifi system’s performance then I have no wish to debate the issue because I have heard first hand what this cable’s real capabilities are.  If you are open minded and a true music afficianado, then I do urge you to audition one and then decide for yourself.  I reckon you will be equally as impressed as I am.

I have over the years both heard and owned a vast range of power cords into the many hundreds in number, ranging from just a few pounds well up into the five figures league.  The overwhelming majority have given pretty small improvements in sound quality ranging from the barely perceptible to easily heard improvements in different areas of the audible spectrum.  Some have given a firmer bass and sweeter treble, a lower noise floor too, better sound-staging and combinations thereof.  What I can say for sure is the Ziro Audio Disclosure cable is a top notch music making component which leaves others way behind and you should set aside your own scepticism at least long enough to give it a hearing.  If my editor ever asks me to nominate my personal Product Of The Year, this could well be it for me, as it had a major and highly profound effect on the way my system sounded and I am still reeling from knowing that a mere power cable had achieved that.

The big question though is would Dominic put his hand in his pocket to buy it?  Without any hesitation is my truthful answer.  I will be haunted for eternity by that magical sound when it is returned to Ziro Audio, so if I don’t buy one I will surely rue the day of not doing so.  Building a special shelf behind my rack for the module to sit on is but a small price to pay when this much performance is on tap.

It isn’t cheap, but anything that has this much quality never is and I’m sure I will live well without one of my kidneys to raise the necessary cash, as my street busking skills are truly appalling.  I jest not.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:  Good rather than exceptional, but the connectors make up on lost ground here.

Sound Quality:  In one word; Peerless.

Value For Money:  Given the performance level available, it is very good value. 

Pros: 

Phenomenal sound quality and there wouldn’t be much incentive to upgrade either.

Cons:

The module is a pain to house sensibly because of it’s size and weight.  My own solution would be to put up a special shelf to accommodate it behind the rack.  Minor inconvenience.

Price £900

Dominic Marsh

While Dominic appears to be impressed by the performance of the Ziro Audio Disclosure power cable, to be even considered as nominee for an Outstanding Product Award by Hifi Pig, any product must pass the scrutiny of a second reviewer, in this instance Dan Worth puts the Ziro Audio Disclosure to the test and here is his verdict:

Dom has been wonderfully accurate with the vague description given to him of the Disclosure power cable from Ziro Audio, however I was able to dig a little deeper, well in a continued manner of vagueness. The cable is constructed using a few carefully selected diameter strands of ultra pure silver which is softly annealed to allow for a very finely tuned frequency response and tonal balance. Which in turn allows for better flexibility of the cable to its single overall gauge counterpart. Conductors are wrapped in natural materials rather than man made plastics and the connectors are by Furutech,

Adam Fairless will allow customers to specify specific Furutech plugs of their preference as he does the position of the magic box. Personally I prefer the non-plated versions of the Furutech plugs and after Dominic brought the Disclosure power cable over for my attention I promptly ordered three more with all Cu plugs fitted – I find them to be a more cohesive listen with less of a ‘wispyness’ in the upper frequency extremes over my years of tweaking.

The magic box itself (or whatever you wish to call it) has a three pronged topology applied to it, what these topologies are will not be revealed and rightly so, if I had spent a few years developing a product that has a lot of money invested into it, and of course time, I wouldn’t be eager to divulge its implementation to the masses, so no hard feelings there.

Overall build Quality is very nice indeed and the soft cottony feel to the cable is a little more luxurious to the standard nylon braids regularly used, overall presentation of the product and its packaging is really nice looking.

The Sound

As for the sound of the Ziro Audio Disclosure power cable, I was extremely impressed and after Dom and I had our first joint listening tests, we both whole heartedly agreed that we would be inclined to pursue the cable further on the basis that an Outstanding Product Award was very likely to be awarded by us.

Performance in my system and his was exemplary and in this world of Hifi very reasonable price wise.  I have been very intimately drawn to the characteristics of the cables performance and attributes. A refined, effortless, smooth and detailed presentation ticked all the boxes for both myself and Dom.

I have never in all my time heard a pure silver cable which sounds so natural, smooth and detailed; there’s generally some gripes with any silver cable which becomes a trade off to other positive aspects, but I don’t hear this in the Disclosure cable.  Needless to say after Dominic left on the Friday afternoon’s listening tests I spoke with Mr Fairless to arrange a few more samples for my system.

I initially placed one from my balanced power supply to the wall socket and changed it out to the amp, then after further listening added another to the BMU again. The effects of one, especially on the amplifier was more profound in my system than the additional, yet further power cables only seemed to enhance system qualities and firm up my registered feelings on performance, giving real solidity to bass and allowing the soundstage to increase in size and texture.

Bass notes are firm, expressive and wonderfully extended. During initial burn in of say 48 hours if I was to be critical there was a slight smearing between the lower mids and upper bass but this soon cleaned up to reveal the skin of the drum being hit on London Grammar’s “Hey Now”.

Generally  when auditioning cables an initial focal point is the top end, too bright, too rolled off, thick or thin, how spacious etc., etc. The Ziro requires no focus as it simply lays out incredible amounts of definition and air to the listener with a beautifully sweet treble which is satisfying from the outset, I was truly impressed straight out of the box with the treble response, allowing the listener an ease of appreciation and for the sound to blossom over the burning in period, which surprisingly isn’t as long as most cables, or maybe it’s just that they sound so good out of the box that satisfaction begins immediately and the distraction of analysing becomes replaced by the enjoyment of the music.

Midrange transparency is also very natural, the cable allows the performance to remain somewhat truer to the recording and can really determine a clean, warm or gritty tracks soul very well, especially with vocals, I don’t hear any colouration in the midrange at all and it’s neutral yet full nature is very accurate and has great substance, cohesively integrating surrounding frequencies without masking inner details or focus.

As a whole and I think Dom would agree, sound-staging really is a strong point with the Ziro, large and complex, even front to back and the rhythmic nature of a system is never lost in an over manufactured overly clean display, everything sounds just so effortless and engrossingly musical, which has to be the deciding factor surely when buying any piece of Hifi equipment or accessories. The attachment to the music is paramount and the Ziro Audio Disclosure power cable doesn’t just tread the line between Hifi and musicality (which is often lost in translation) it does an awful lot to help define it, so well done guys, it was a pleasure.

Sound Quality: One of my most favourite power cables to date resulting in me ordering a couple.

Build Quality: very good indeed, substantial, sturdy and flexible.

Value for Money: this is Hifi, so in that respect I say really very good indeed, the quality of materials is right up there, I see cables costing many times more that probably don’t cost even half to make.

Pros:

Unmistakably natural coherent musical sound

Beautifully sweet treble

Great build quality

Cons:

Inline box can be a little unwieldy so measure and order the cable with placement of the unit in mind

Dan Worth

Chris Sommovigo is an American based relocated to Japan where he makes finished audio cables and the wires inside them by hand. Here Dominic Marsh takes a listen to his Ghostwire Silverheart speaker cables costing $239.95 for 1.5m pair and $349.95 for 2.5m pair.

When I was assigned to carry out this particular evaluation, I took it upon myself to read fellow Hifi Pig reviewer Dave Robson’s review of other Chris Sommovigo cables to get a handle of what performance I am likely to find with this Silverheart speaker cable.  Dave’s verdict is that they are fine cables and awarded them a recommended result, which may or may not translate here to the Silverheart cables under review.

These cables are hand built by Chris Sommovigo who upped sticks from the USA and moved to Yugawara in Japan and because all his cables are hand built in his own workshop, you won’t be able to buy reels of finished cable by the kilometer, or indeed beyond lengths that his expertise, available time and winding machines can muster.  He is also fairly prolific with his new ideas and just when you think you have mastered his product range he creates even more!  From what I have read about this person he is very passionate in what he does and takes immense pride in the product he builds and ships worldwide.

The Silverheart loudspeaker cable is sold under the “Ghostwire” brand name and has it’s own dedicated website.

Construction

It is constructed in the following manner:

• 3.0mm Japanese cotton-based cord
• Silver-Plated Copper woven tube (sums to ca: 15awg)
• Nylon Multifilament woven insulator (32 x 1680 denier) BLUE AND BLACK
• Bare Copper woven tube (sums to ca: 14awg)
• Nylon Multifilament woven insulator (32 x 1680 denier) WHITE AND BLACK

The “positive” line is the internal blue-black line (silver-plated copper), which is carefully extracted from inside the center of the cable.

The “negative” line is the white-black line, which is formed by the outer (bare copper) conductor.

This concentric, or “coaxial” construction lends itself particularly well to the requirements of a speaker cable, being quite naturally low-inductance (due to the proximity of the conductors to one another inside the cable). It is also less susceptible to issues related to skin-effect (the AC resistance and DC resistance of the thin-walled woven tubes are essentially equivalent to roughly 700KHz), and also less susceptible to issues related to proximity effect (the coaxial construction means that the conductors are always an equal proximity to one another for their full circumferences, unlike twisted pairs).

Chris will be making, on a limited basis (as time permits, monthly), Ghostwire Silverheart loudspeaker cables. Each month he will be making between 10 and 20 pieces, mostly 2.5m lengths, as this is the most popular length. He will also be making fewer pairs of 1.5m sets for those with monoblocks or more closely-spaced speakers.

The review pair arrived ready terminated with gold plated 4mm banana plugs. They are surprisingly flexible, easily routed and the banana plugs have ample grip too, which is surprising to me given that they have a simple splined construction which I am no great fan of, given that the cheap ones seem to lose springiness in the splines over time.

The MSRP for the cable are $55 per running (linear) meter unterminated, while the completed speaker cables, terminated with XOX direct-gold-plated copper bananas, are $239.95 and $349.95 for 1.5m pair and 2.5m pair respectively, exclusive of shipping costs ($25 flat shipping fee).

I am unable to confirm if other lengths or terminations are available.

Sound Quality

When I first connected the Silverheart speaker cable to my resident system, they sounded, well how can I phrase this yet remain diplomatic?  Horrible, yes that word will do very nicely.  Bass was decidedly foggy and muffled, midband wet and limp, treble had receded into the midband and was waving a white flag and going down for the third time.  I cannot recall a cable that was in this much distress fresh out of the packaging.  Oh dear.  Well, start the bedding in process while Dominic goes away and does other things to amuse himself.  Suitably refreshed after a cup or three of coffee and a slice or two of cake and the cables had livened up enough after just one hour for me to discern some treble, a cleaner midband, but still a very sluggish bass.  It was close on 10 hours before the “horrible” disappeared and was starting to sound half decent.  These things usually resolve themselves exponentially, so at around 30 hours they had improved sufficiently for me to start putting them through their paces, even though I knew there were still some hours to go yet before they would give of their best.   After that I lost track of how many running hours had elapsed, as it’s a case of multiple plate spinning tricks as you have to fit in other evaluations into your busy reviewer’s schedule and it’s all too easy to lose track of what components have had what running times when everything you receive to review is all factory fresh.

I have recently expanded my music collection in the search for finding another reference recording, as by now those of you who regularly read my reviews must surely be a bit jaded by now with my constant references to Fink’s “Wheels Beneath My Feet” album.  Haven’t found one yet folks, so here we go again.

Yes of course I listened to other music genres during the evaluation, but this album is an essential tool to use during my extensive listening sessions to see if it could meet all my benchmark sound quality expectations.   The drummer’s cymbal strikes in the intro to “Biscuits” were very satisfying and without complaint, which in reality is commendable.  Bass kick drum was propulsive and solid, the timing being spot on.  The acid test for me is listening out for the drummer’s rim shots on the snare drum.  Very difficult to put into words that you dear readers can relate to easily, so the closest I can get is to say that they have to sound “real” as if you are sat next to the actual instrument being played.  The strikes must not sound at all thin, you can note the different energy put into each strike and you should be able to hear the shell of the drum for sure and if you cannot, then something is amiss.  Given these are live recordings the venue’s ambience should also capture these snare drum rim shots.  Most hifi components struggle with recreating the sounds an audience makes during a performance and it usually gets conveyed sounding like frying pan cooking bacon, with sizzling and sloshing sounds that really annoys me.  The Ghostwire Silverheart allowed me to hear the clapping, whistling and cat-calling very clearly as if I was sat in amongst the audience.

The album’s true forte though is the instruments, with some stunning well recorded drum playing and bass guitar.    When the drummer hits the Floor Tom in the track “Sort Of Revolution” it should penetrate to the centre of your being with it’s power and slam, the bass guitar just has to have a throaty growl to it and the audience claps along too, giving the entire track a propulsive, dare I say infectious element to the performance.  Listen carefully to Fink’s voice and it has to have an edgy throaty rasp to it, even though his diction is sometimes unintelligible, but that is all part of the charm this album holds for me.

The Silverheart speaker cables sailed through all of these benchmarks with ease and if you had said to me the cable would do so when I first connected them up, I would have stared at you in disbelief.

The biggest shock of all was when I reconnected my resident speaker cables after the evaluation which cost three times more than the Silverheart cables and suddenly I realised which cables I preferred listening to.  Not a huge amount of difference granted, but it is those tiny minute subtleties that we all hunger for, were there to be heard.

Conclusion

From an inauspicious start to a big surprise at the ending, the story of the Ugly Duckling came to mind as I write this.  At first hearing I described the sound as “horrible”, then as the cables were run in their true colours finally shone through, pretty much like a Swan with the beautiful pristine white plumage the adult bird carries.

For your money then, you get a unique hand built, good sounding cable that you would probably have to spend a good deal more to better, plus you get the satisfaction of knowing this cable was never chopped off a huge reel of standard wire with some cheap plugs soldered on and covered in camouflage to hide its true origins.  On that basis I simply must give it a highly recommended award and to do otherwise would be a travesty.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:  Very flexible and easy to route.  It isn’t just a fancy jacket on the outside either, it is part of the construction 

Sound Quality:  Great bang for the buck, but be patient from the start, it will get there 

Value For Money:  Cannot think of anything that would class it otherwise than good value for money 

Pros:  Nicely built, hand crafted, good sounding. 

Cons:  Give it plenty of running hours before passing any judgment. 

Price: $239.95 for 1.5m pair and $349.95 for 2.5m pair

Dominic Marsh

The Russ Andrews Power Purifier is a modular power conditioner that you can have fully loaded from the off or choose the base unit and add to as and when you feel the need. Janine Elliot pops it on her rack and experiments with the £329 (base unit) £1107 (fully loaded) box. 

Mains noise can sometimes be the biggest destroyer of sound quality in a system, and equally, some mains conditioners can do the same; altering EQ, reducing dynamic range, and narrowing soundstage. Where I might get excited about new hifi products, these are usually exotic turntables or honest sounding amplifiers of one form or another. Mains conditioners are likely to be last on my list, despite me having designed and regularly using them. The Russ Andrews Power Purifier is different to anything I have seen before and raised more than a few sparks of interest by me at a recent hifi show, so I requested to review the product.

This is not a “one size fits all” product, but rather it is one that you can tailor to your own finances and audio-visual needs and ‘add-to’ when necessary. This single box has space to accumulate different mains calming devices that you simply plug in yourself and stick down to the base of the unit with double-sided tape, that when joined together are there to combat the three major areas of mains contamination; spikes and surges, mains noise and Wi-Fi interference. All in a single 226mm x 68mm x 243mm plastic box with a high-gloss acrylic face panel with central blue indicator just so you know it is doing its job. Costing £329 it comes as standard with the Russ Andrews UltraPurifier™ filter and SuperClamp™ surge protection. You can tailor your PowerPurifier by adding extra filtering as and when your budget and needs allows, meaning a MegaClamp, a mains Zapperator and up to four ClarityMains can be fitted to the PowerPurifier. The review sample came complete with all options carefully attached. Russ Andrews will even connect all the additional filters you buy for free, just charging for the postage, though the Allen key supplied allows you to easily and quickly open the box to do all the work yourself, should you so wish.

Having recently celebrated their 30th anniversary, Russ Andrews is a name most hifi audiophiles will be aware of, from a humble small cabin in 1986 to their present empire and major presence at hifi shows. As well as a growing range of accessories to cater for most audio needs, they have particularly specialised in mains improvement products, all with great names and equally great claims.

Each element you attach has different uses. The PowerPurifier itself comes complete with two components; their UltraPurifier™, a basic broadband power conditioner, and their SuperClamp™.  This part provides very rapid reaction to over-voltage spikes on the mains. RA recommends you replace this every five years to maintain its effectiveness.  From the basic set up you can also add the following components;

The MegaClamp (at £180) which offers enhanced spike and surge protection, which is many times more effective than the SuperClamp. This unit will also last indefinitely.

The Mains Zapperator is a mains conditioner that deals with very high frequency noise that is particularly caused by wireless computer networks. At £142 extra this can be added to your Purifier.

The Clarity Mains is a mains conditioner that utilises “Coherence Technology”, and up to four of these boxes can be added to the PowerPurifier, with each one costing you a further £114. The “Coherence Technology” was introduced by Russ after he was approached back in 2007 by a US designer who had an audio device that claimed to help to reduce noise in signals. The Clarity Mains helps to reduce noise of the mains supply.

Whichever boxes you decide to add to your Purifier, each one comes with its own coloured connector, and which can only fit into its respective coloured socket, meaning that assembly is easy. Just remember that when you stick the boxes using the double-sided tape, you cannot re-position them later!

Their UltraPurifier™ filter also appears in the RA catalogue as a separate unit or built into products such as their 8-way Power blocks, largely due to its clever ‘shunt’ filter design, meaning that there are no components between the supply and the hifi or video equipment.  It can simply be added where you want it to work. As a result I have found these designs have a much more mannered result than many a “conventional” mains conditioner that can change the audio frequency response or dynamic range, resulting in them sounding far different – even if at times that might make the sound more ‘exciting’ and therefore temporally more desirable. What actually set this unit more desirable for me was that the dynamic range didn’t shrink, moreover that it expanded, and using with video made colours clearer but not unreal as they can when you press the “dynamic” option on your TV or projector.

When I first saw their £301 mains plug with MiniPurifier and MegaClamp, and felt that while it might work well, its small size and plastic body wouldn’t inspire me to part with that sort of money. So whilst this unit under review now might be over 3 times size its basic setup only £18 more, this is amazing value and still a reasonable £1107 when fully charged with all the extras. Its design is more advanced and for me much more tempting, particularly as you can configure your own specification.  Since it was not built into a 4 or 6 way mains extension lead it meant that testing the unit was far easier for me, as I could plug it in or not to hear the differences, without switching on and off all my hifi.  Being based on the use of shunt-connected mains filters, it meant the devices could effectively ‘suck’ the interference out of the mains without actually coming between mains and audio equipment, thus less likely to turn into a glorified tone control.

For the review I had all the ingredients at my disposal, including 4 Clarity Mains blocks, and I tried different recipes to see how effective each part was, making a meal of assessing whether there were differences.  I used my Slee power amplifiers with Townshend Rock 7 turntable and the Prism Audo Callia DAC as one of my systems, and Pre Audio turntable into Manley phonostage and modified vintage Leak Stereo20 power amplifier as the other.

Testing

I wasn’t able to create any audible spikes when testing; even after playing about with my fridge and other ‘noise’ creating artefacts. After many years of trying to create the perfect audio listening space that part of my mains is thankfully house-trained. However, my mains isn’t the cleanest, though thankfully modern power engines built into hifi separates can improve things, as does my own mains conditioner. Removing my own conditioner to try another product was like weaning my children off their favourite food to try another brand. Initially I needed to remove all conditioning completely to get used to that sound and then try the RA. Playing music I knew well, including recordings I had made or been in the studio when they were produced helped me to know what I should be listening for.

The PowerPurifier works passively, meaning that it doesn’t have the drawbacks of some other mains filters – things like loss of musicality and reduced dynamic range. The latter degradation is something I have noticed with many conditioners I have tested over the years. In some respects this type of unit is harder to review, because you don’t actually want to hear any audio changes, rather you want the audio to be cleaner and not affected by external influence. Listening to my aged Dire Straits ‘Brothers In Arms’ illustrated to me straight away just how good this device was at showing detail in the source material; through my brilliant PreAudio Tangential tonearm the space and clarity of the brilliantly engineered album showed me just how well this device was working in the background; no extra bass, extra mid or treble, or compressed audio, just a pin-sharp clarity made even more apparent by the improved signal to noise ratio. The soundstage didn’t seem over-enlarged, just more realistic.  The bird noises and the punchy drum influxes in “Ride across the River” were well placed precisely across the 10 foot stage that is my living room.

Compared with no audio taming devices I noticed an improvement in the focus of the audio. For example, David Gilmour’s “Then I Close My Eyes” (from ‘On an Island’), I noticed improved position in the landscape between the ride cymbals, muted trumpet, cello, acoustic guitar and backing vocals; this is a thickly textured but very laid back track, and I could easily close my eyes and imagine I was indeed on some deserted island with no infestation of audio snow or hail. Interestingly I didn’t find the unit added any tonal character of its own, as some mains conditioners can do. In an ideal world you want the unit to be tonally transparent and allow the equipment to work as well as it did in the designers’ laboratory.

Listening to FLAC and DSD files can often still come across as brittle or clinical compared to my choice vinyl or reel to reel, but even listening to albums such as the Sir Simon Rattle Sibelius Symphonies from Berliner Philharmoniker or the 24/192 remaster of Eagles Hotel California, sounded surprisingly transparent and lifelike via the mains conditioner.

On to Mike Valentine’s Big-Band Spectacular, an album performed with such precision in terms of both performance and sound quality, available in vinyl and digital and now reel to reel formats. The massive soundstage at the Air Studio’s was brought into my own living room, and the Leak Stereo 20 just opened up in a way I hadn’t expected it would. The aged ECC83/EL84 unit gave of itself in a way that even Harold would be smiling, with great speed and cleanliness, and even more focus and musicality. The sound was as realistic as I remembered in the studio. Nothing was added or taken away from the music. That was great news to me. But I could hear a greater noise floor than I had imagined the Leak could give, and improved space and depth between instruments. This was like getting a new set of glasses; the images were clearer and cleaner, though I was still looking at all the same objects.

Turning appropriately to video, I found the Purifier produced cleaner colours and definition, but not like turning on the “dynamic” button on your television or projector, as some mains conditioners might.  Honesty was the name of the game here, with a noticeable reduction in “noise” in the picture.

Conclusion

Even fully loaded with all the units at just over £1000 this mains purifier is highly recommended for the price, and even better that it comes with a 60-day trial, so if you are not convinced then you can return it. Where so many conditioners fail by changing the audio or video this unit just tidies it up. Tackling three areas within a single box is a highly favourable aid to taming your mains.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:  Simple acrylic design but well made, and easy to get inside to add components

Sound Quality:  Honest and open portrayal of your music and video

Value For Money:  At £329 for the base model and £1107 when fully loaded it is very reasonable, and best of all leaves you in charge of how much you wish to spend

Pros

Helps to tackle the 3 major areas of mains contamination.
Improvements in definition and transparency of sound.
Add components as and when you wish

Cons

Not at this price

Janine Elliot

Tellurium Q’s Black speaker cable instantly won fans around the world when it was launched, but now they’ve improved it. Ian Ringstead takes a listen to this £54 a metre loudspeaker cable.

I am a newcomer to Tellurium Q cables with regards to trying them out, but I have been aware of them for some time. I met Geoff Merrigan at the Bristol AV Show this year and had an educational few hours in his company. Geoff kindly offered me the chance to try some of his cables out and this is the result.

Tellurium Q Black was the first cable they produced and they were amazed by the results and the dealer and customer response. So why Black II?  The Black won multiple awards, surprising owners with its performance and more people than ever chose to use it in their systems?

But Geoff had been learning and developing, especially in the last few years and had come up with a way to make this great cable even better. Therefore, the new design has been launched. Switch Black for Black II and it is completely obvious which is which. Once you hear the difference, it is also completely obvious why you feel compelled to upgrade to Black II.

As I hadn’t heard either before I was supplied Black and Black II to compare, and hence my comment above. I eagerly put the Black in my system and straight away thought wow this is good. I use Van Damme concert series as a rule and like what it offers for the money, but the TQ Black upped the ante. The sound stage opened out and detailing improved. It was an immediate difference and obvious. I hate reviewing cables normally because often the differences can be subtle or indiscernible. Cables are a Pandora’s box to most people and many scoff at hifi enthusiasts making us out to be geeks and audio nuts. Even professional sound engineers (my close friend included) says it’s all a con and snake oil. Well if they feel that way fair enough, I certainly don’t see any point in arguing and although I don’t understand the reasons behind why there are differences (I don’t think anyone really does) I can hear them and that’s all that matters.  What I feel is important is that you can hear a difference and are happy to pay the asking price. Certainly, some individuals are out to empty your pocket, making huge profits, just be aware and trust your own ears. The same goes for equipment of course.

I changed to the Black II after a few tracks and was so flabbergasted by the improvement again that I didn’t bother going back to the Black. It really was night and day. What struck me the most was how natural and clear the cable sounded with no nasties or obvious short comings. Now I know it can’t be perfect, and Geoff told me wait till you hear our pricier cables (oh dear), but I can’t remember hearing such a difference so easily, which makes my life a lot easier both as a reviewer and simply a listener. Isn’t that what good kit should be about.

The Black II is a conduit to allow the listener to hear their system more naturally and realistically, so it makes equipment choice an easier task I reckon because the electronics and speakers will be heard at their best for a reasonable budget. Of course, the more expensive cables in Tellurium Q’s range will outshine the black II, but for budget to mid-range systems the Black II is ideal. Top to bottom is seamless with no obvious drawbacks and every album I tried sounded good to excellent. As Geoff told me simply listen and see for yourself.

Stuart and Lin use Tellurium Q’s Silver Diamond with their reference Avant Garde Duo speakers, and rightly so given the cost and quality of the system.

Conclusion

I’ll cut to the chase as I see no point in rambling on as to the qualities of this cable. It simply does a brilliant job of making your system sound far better for a reasonable outlay. Now £54 a metre may not seem a bargain to some enthusiasts and if you are like a true Yorkshiremen with short arms and deep pockets who says, “How Much?” then either change your perceptions or miss out on a real treat for your ears. Once you try these cables you may well want to go further up the range. Warning !! They are addictive.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality: Excellent with a choice of good terminations to suit 

Sound Quality:  Superb, open and detailed 

Value For Money:  Brilliant 

Pros: Fantastic upgrade from the original and for anyone wanting to transform their system if they feel it is lacking 

Cons: They are addictive 

Price: £54 per metre inc plugs or spades