(Reprinted from issue 62 of UHF Magazine. To purchase the issue, click here. Or click here to subscribe to UHF)
Two Interconnects
Do the concepts of high end hi-fi give you a headache? Take 20 minutes for the UHF Hi-Fi Course.
Trying to reach UHF? Our contact page tells you how to find us.
The world's best interconnect cable? Any of them according to certain flat-earth magazines. Mine say certain cable makers, checking our address before stuffing samples into a FedEx box.
One thing we do know is that they do not sound alike. Though very cheap cables are uniformly grotty, just spending money guarantees you only a depleted bank account. There's a lot of voodoo in cables. You place an order with a wire mill, perhaps in Taiwan, and...
But enough cynicism. Markups notwithstanding, and outright fraud notwithstanding, some designers must know what they're doing, because their cables clearly do sound better. Waiting in the wings are a whole lot of cables we'll be testing in our next issue, from Pierre Gabriel, Harmonic Technology, Magnan, Analysis Plus, Eichmann, etc.
For the moment we have two interconnects One of them, from the Netherlands' van den Hul, uses a new technology. The second, from Wireworld (whose cables we use ourselves) is an attempt to deliver reasonable quality at a low price.
The van den Hul Integration
Van den Hul first became known for pure silver cables. It then went to the other extreme. Silver is the world's best conductor. Instead it used a very poor conductor, namely carbon...the same material from which coal and diamonds are made.
We liked those carbon cables enough to buy one ("The Second" -- see UHF No. 41), and used it in our Alpha reference system until recently (it will move to our video system). In UHF No. 56, we listened (and liked) The First Ultimate, also carbon.
But now the company is doing new things with metal, mainly copper. But not just any copper.
The material used in the "Fusion series" interconnects is extremely pure copper, to which zinc and silver are added. The three metals are evaporated in a vacuum oven, with the molecules condensing about a focused electrical field. The result is a wire with a 150 micrometer diameter. Induction heating fuses the three metals together, and they are then cooled instantly, dropping at an incredible rate of 1,000,000 degrees Celsius per second, to an amorphous (shapeless) state.
The result, says the company, is a metal alloy with a shiny glass-like gold-colored structure, free from intercrystalline boundaries. Van den Hul says those boundaries are directly responsible for sonic harshness found in conventional cables.
The new Integration cable costs C$350, or US$250, for a 1 m pair. The connectors look much like those on earlier interconnects, though in fact they fit our jacks rather more tightly than the notoriously loose ones on our carbon cables. We selected three recordings for this test. As always we listened first with our reference interconnect (the Pierre Gabriel ML-1) between CD player and preamplifier, and then we substituted the test cable and listened again.
The first piece was the spectacular Scherzo from Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 (Reference Recordings RR-81CD). It's complex and wonderfully recorded, and it is vulnerable to anything that goes wrong in the passage from one piece of equipment to another. With our reference cable it glows. We expected less from the less expensive Integration.
It surprised us. Without a direct comparison we would have judged it to be in super cable territory. The sound was more forward than with our reference, but we could still hear right to the back of the hall without strain. No chaos, no confusion.
There were other differences, to be sure. The bottom end was solid but perhaps ever so slightly thinner. Albert thought the music seemed softer and less dynamic, as though the volume had been turned down (it hadn't). He liked it nonetheless.
The second recording was the HDCD version of Limehouse Blues from the legendary Jazz at the Pawnshop (FIM CD014-15). The cable did well, sounding not unlike our reference. The extended sequence of the pub's crowd sound (all of track 1 on this version) was totally natural. When the music actually began we had difficulty finding great changes compared to our reference. The sound was still slightly forward, but there was plenty of detail, and the varied instruments -- sax, clarinet, piano, vibraphone and percussion -- sounded much as we are used to hearing them, with no confusion.
We were equally impressed with the Hot Club of San Francisco's Loverman (from The Lady in Red, Clarity CCD-1019). Guest singer Maria Muldaur's fascinating voice inflections could be heard with gratifying clarity. The emotion of the song came through well ("The lovermen will be lining up at her dressing room," said Reine). The sax solo was wonderful.
There were reservations concerning the way Muldaur's voice was reproduced. Gerard found an added hardness, especially on the start of phrases, which she sings louder. We thought it might be a good idea to try another female voice.
We selected that of the Brazilian singer Bïa (Sources, Audiogram ADCD10132). Like other instruments we had heard, the accordion seemed closer to us. Bïa's warm voice sounded superb, but a little sharper and harder, less natural, with the sibilance somewhat prominent. Still, we agreed this was a pretty good rendition.
But how would this new cable compare to the earlier (but still produced) carbon cables? We pulled out our "The Second" cable and listened to Bïa's song again.
Much as we had liked The Second, we agreed the new all-metal cable was superior. All of the music was more distant this time -- the carbon cables do this reliably -- with diminished detail. It sounded pleasant enough, but with an added roughness we hadn't noticed before. We found the Revelation warmer, despite the more forward sound.
We then returned to Limehouse Blues. The difference was all too evident. Instruments were muffled compared to either the Integration or our reference. At the same time, the busier passages, when all the musicians play at once, were both rougher and shriller. We don't want to exaggerate this, but we were unanimous in preferring the Integration.
We are not, however, certain of the reason. Van den Hul's explanation is that the non-crystalline wire eliminates boundaries that cause roughness at low level. Could be. The difference in connectors could also explain it. Loose connectors are notorious for making high frequencies rough and unnatural.
We are pleased to recommend The Integration. Its performance is truly excellent, and its price is refreshingly reasonable.
The Wireworld Solstice
We are constantly advising readers not to use free or inexpensive cables with components on which they have invested good money. But of course in an economy system nearly all the cables we test are absurdly-priced. How low can you go before the floor caves in under you?
The Solstice is one of Wireworld's lower-cost interconnects, with a price, for one meter, of US$40 (C$60). It is configured with the company‘s trademarked "Symmetrycoax" configuration, though it is so thin that the geometry is not truly respected. The copper strands are oxygen-free, however, and -- unlike in most economy cables -- the insulation is Teflon. The plugs are sheet metal, though they fit our gear reasonably well. The contact surfaces are 24K gold-plated.
We began with...
One thing we do know is that they do not sound alike. Though very cheap cables are uniformly grotty, just spending money guarantees you only a depleted bank account. There's a lot of voodoo in cables. You place an order with a wire mill, perhaps in Taiwan, and...
But enough cynicism. Markups notwithstanding, and outright fraud notwithstanding, some designers must know what they're doing, because their cables clearly do sound better. Waiting in the wings are a whole lot of cables we'll be testing in our next issue, from Pierre Gabriel, Harmonic Technology, Magnan, Analysis Plus, Eichmann, etc.
For the moment we have two interconnects One of them, from the Netherlands' van den Hul, uses a new technology. The second, from Wireworld (whose cables we use ourselves) is an attempt to deliver reasonable quality at a low price.
The van den Hul Integration
Van den Hul first became known for pure silver cables. It then went to the other extreme. Silver is the world's best conductor. Instead it used a very poor conductor, namely carbon...the same material from which coal and diamonds are made.
We liked those carbon cables enough to buy one ("The Second" -- see UHF No. 41), and used it in our Alpha reference system until recently (it will move to our video system). In UHF No. 56, we listened (and liked) The First Ultimate, also carbon.
But now the company is doing new things with metal, mainly copper. But not just any copper.
The material used in the "Fusion series" interconnects is extremely pure copper, to which zinc and silver are added. The three metals are evaporated in a vacuum oven, with the molecules condensing about a focused electrical field. The result is a wire with a 150 micrometer diameter. Induction heating fuses the three metals together, and they are then cooled instantly, dropping at an incredible rate of 1,000,000 degrees Celsius per second, to an amorphous (shapeless) state.
The result, says the company, is a metal alloy with a shiny glass-like gold-colored structure, free from intercrystalline boundaries. Van den Hul says those boundaries are directly responsible for sonic harshness found in conventional cables.
The new Integration cable costs C$350, or US$250, for a 1 m pair. The connectors look much like those on earlier interconnects, though in fact they fit our jacks rather more tightly than the notoriously loose ones on our carbon cables. We selected three recordings for this test. As always we listened first with our reference interconnect (the Pierre Gabriel ML-1) between CD player and preamplifier, and then we substituted the test cable and listened again.
The first piece was the spectacular Scherzo from Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 (Reference Recordings RR-81CD). It's complex and wonderfully recorded, and it is vulnerable to anything that goes wrong in the passage from one piece of equipment to another. With our reference cable it glows. We expected less from the less expensive Integration.
It surprised us. Without a direct comparison we would have judged it to be in super cable territory. The sound was more forward than with our reference, but we could still hear right to the back of the hall without strain. No chaos, no confusion.
There were other differences, to be sure. The bottom end was solid but perhaps ever so slightly thinner. Albert thought the music seemed softer and less dynamic, as though the volume had been turned down (it hadn't). He liked it nonetheless.
The second recording was the HDCD version of Limehouse Blues from the legendary Jazz at the Pawnshop (FIM CD014-15). The cable did well, sounding not unlike our reference. The extended sequence of the pub's crowd sound (all of track 1 on this version) was totally natural. When the music actually began we had difficulty finding great changes compared to our reference. The sound was still slightly forward, but there was plenty of detail, and the varied instruments -- sax, clarinet, piano, vibraphone and percussion -- sounded much as we are used to hearing them, with no confusion.
We were equally impressed with the Hot Club of San Francisco's Loverman (from The Lady in Red, Clarity CCD-1019). Guest singer Maria Muldaur's fascinating voice inflections could be heard with gratifying clarity. The emotion of the song came through well ("The lovermen will be lining up at her dressing room," said Reine). The sax solo was wonderful.
There were reservations concerning the way Muldaur's voice was reproduced. Gerard found an added hardness, especially on the start of phrases, which she sings louder. We thought it might be a good idea to try another female voice.
We selected that of the Brazilian singer Bïa (Sources, Audiogram ADCD10132). Like other instruments we had heard, the accordion seemed closer to us. Bïa's warm voice sounded superb, but a little sharper and harder, less natural, with the sibilance somewhat prominent. Still, we agreed this was a pretty good rendition.
But how would this new cable compare to the earlier (but still produced) carbon cables? We pulled out our "The Second" cable and listened to Bïa's song again.
Much as we had liked The Second, we agreed the new all-metal cable was superior. All of the music was more distant this time -- the carbon cables do this reliably -- with diminished detail. It sounded pleasant enough, but with an added roughness we hadn't noticed before. We found the Revelation warmer, despite the more forward sound.
We then returned to Limehouse Blues. The difference was all too evident. Instruments were muffled compared to either the Integration or our reference. At the same time, the busier passages, when all the musicians play at once, were both rougher and shriller. We don't want to exaggerate this, but we were unanimous in preferring the Integration.
We are not, however, certain of the reason. Van den Hul's explanation is that the non-crystalline wire eliminates boundaries that cause roughness at low level. Could be. The difference in connectors could also explain it. Loose connectors are notorious for making high frequencies rough and unnatural.
We are pleased to recommend The Integration. Its performance is truly excellent, and its price is refreshingly reasonable.
The Wireworld Solstice
We are constantly advising readers not to use free or inexpensive cables with components on which they have invested good money. But of course in an economy system nearly all the cables we test are absurdly-priced. How low can you go before the floor caves in under you?
The Solstice is one of Wireworld's lower-cost interconnects, with a price, for one meter, of US$40 (C$60). It is configured with the company‘s trademarked "Symmetrycoax" configuration, though it is so thin that the geometry is not truly respected. The copper strands are oxygen-free, however, and -- unlike in most economy cables -- the insulation is Teflon. The plugs are sheet metal, though they fit our gear reasonably well. The contact surfaces are 24K gold-plated.
We began with...
(To get all the details on this second, inexpensive, interconnect, you will of course need the print issue of UHF. Fortunately it's easy to get. Just order issue 62 at our secure server.)
Complete articles from this issue:
Vecteur I-4 integrated amplifier, Antique Sound Lab passive preamp, State of the Art
Excerpted articles from this issue:
Copy Right!, DVD for Your Future, Vecteur L-4 player, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista amplifier, Moon Attraction processor, Creek OBH-12, Two Interconnects, Antique Sound Lab amplifier