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June 2008
The Story Behind The Cable
The "Fun" Begins
Fast Forward A Few Hundred Hours Once the cables had broken in to my satisfaction it was time to cue up music and begin the process of evaluating how well the cables performed. As it happened, Tchaikovsky's Greatest Hits: The Ultimate Nutcraker on the BMG Record label was in my CD player and so it became the first recording used. This is not one of the recordings typically used in my evaluation, not because it is bad, but rather because it lacks some of the more refined depth and inner detail of other recordings. However, it is one of the recordings that tend to live in my system because the selections vary and are very easy to listen to over and over again. My initial impression was that the music sounded extremely full-bodied and full of excitement. There seemed to be an inherently pleasing quality to the reproduction which seemed to signal that everything was in place and that no one particular range of music was being accentuated. In fact overall it was one of the most pleasure experiences with this particular selection in a long time.
After choosing two more mass-market selections, the next one, although extremely popular is far more revealing and intricate than the last selections. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, was always a great way to test the abilities of particular cables. However, the SACD version is even deeper and more demanding than the original version. Although the cables did fairly well, there was a slight loss of detail in the more complex passages of the album. For example during "Money" the alarm clocks were very much alive with energy, but had a faint fuzziness to them that could only be heard if you were searching for specific tonality. While it didn’t necessarily detract from the overall satisfaction, it was nevertheless there. Next, came testing the cables with more reference grade recordings. The first album that was used to evaluate the cables was Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring on Telarc records. The music on this recording was reproduced extremely well. Once again, there seemed to be a certain lack of detail and perhaps a slight graininess, but this appeared more to smooth over some more jagged edges than create something that detracted from the overall enjoyment of the recording. The final album that was chosen was Philip Glass’ Songs from the trilogy: Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, Akhnaten. All three of these minimalist operas contained from interesting and complex passages that would put even the most spectacular cables through the most grueling of tests. "Hymn to the sun," which is track three on the album, features a rich tapestry of vocals to create the feeling of prayer and supplication to the Sun god, Ra. The cables once again did an admirable job of controlling all the aspects of the music without allowing things to become too tinny, which is all too often the case. There was plenty of detail throughout the playback to allow the music to come alive and envelope the listener without overpowering them in complexity.
A Word On Power While everything that was said in the review thus far applies to all the cables used within the scope of this review, there needs to be something said specifically about the power cables. The Power 1 AC cable was a definite find in this review. Although all the cables did well within the scope of the evaluation, the power cable excelled in its performance. With the power cables connected to the MartinLogan speakers in my reference system there was a definite drop in the noise floor. Everything seemed to be far more focused and open than with either the factory supplied cables or even some other less expensive cables. In fact, they made such a notable impression that a fellow reviewer came into the room one afternoon and asked if I had changed something because things seemed clearer than before.
The Result Please Well if you have noticed throughout the review there has been no mention about price. This was done intentionally because in the case of this particular cable its price in no way indicates its performance. Robert Fritz did indeed complete the goal he set out to accomplish when he started the company, to offer a reasonably priced cable for the majority of consumers that gave exemplary performance. All three of the cables auditioned in this review did admirably and overall a great job. While I would stop short of saying they compare to some of the more pricey higher end products on the market, they all did a great job of revealing the subtly of the material without being overly unforgiving. They did not, for example, allow some of the less desirable attributes of one of the lower priced CD players used in this review, to become extremely evident. This is both a blessing and a curse. In some higher end systems this lack of revealing could be considered inexcusable because it could signify that there was not enough detail being reproduced to really get the most out of the playback system. Conversely, on a system that has more faults, these cables would be perfect. They are able to reveal most of the detail while being forgiving enough that they do not expose every weakness. In fact, they tended to smooth over some rougher edges and in the case of the more mass-market recordings, gave them an even fuller body and perhaps even a richer sounding reproduction. The Audio Art cables are definitely on my short list of overall good quality all around cables. While not suggesting that they are going to be the best fit in every system, they certainly hold their own to cables costing substantially more. However, if you are looking to get a great cable for your system to either replace the original ones or perhaps upgrade the ones you have, you should really give these a try. Then again, what do you have to lose, if you don’t like them you can return them within 30 days for your money back.
Specifications IC3 Interconnect Cable with RCA connectors
SC5-SPADE Speaker Wire
Power 1 with Wattgate 5266i & IEC320i Plugs
Company Information Audio Art Cable Voice: (619) 255-6451 |
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