Sztereó - Music Direct

Test
Attack of the
Extra Terrestrial
AQ Meteor:
new generation
copper-silver
hybrid cable!
Two pairs of ears, three hours, four test
materials and five pairs of cables on a
rainy November morning – all conditions
are set for another cable test. This time
I borrowed three pairs of top-of therange speaker cables from Audioquest.
Luckily, I went to pick up the cables from
KáCsa Audio by car. To bring home such
heavy duty cables on public transport
you would need one of those shopping
We tested the Wild Blue Yonder – new
AQ interconnect cable – in our last issue,
this time let’s look the same time developed speaker cable and compare it with
4 other cables.
carts – something I don’t have. Although
I have seen exceptions but in the world
of high-end audio we are not surprised to
see cables thick enough to be installed at
power stations. These Audioquest cables
are not far from that.
They say at Audioquest that the new
pure silver speaker cable will not reach
the market before 2010, so current top
models are Mont Blanc and Volcano in
the Earth Feature series, both of which
use pure copper. Cables in this series
bear Earth related names, but Audioquest decided to explore beyond our
humble home and gave cosmic names
to some its new cables. Thus the new
copper-silver hybrid speaker cable was
named ‘Meteor’. As a matter of fact, the
Wild Blue Yonder interconnect tested
in the previous issue also got its name
from “out of this world” (check details
on Wikipedia).
Cable manufacturers tend to agree that
the purer the metal and the more homogeneous the structure of the conductor is, the better sonic character of the
cable will be. The manufacturers, however, have their own best methods of
reaching this goal. Some manufacturers emphasize purity by the “number of
nines”, for example 6N (six nines) cop-
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per means that the metal is 99.9999%
pure copper and only the rest is impurity. Others concentrate on the crystal structure and swear on mono-crystal conductors where average length of
a copper crystal is 125 meters; therefore the signal doesn’t have to struggle
through crystal boundaries. Some manufacturers employ age-annealed conductors or put the cable through cryogenic treatment; all this is to restore crystal
structure. Audioquest swears that the
solution lies in the conductor’s surface
which has to be as smooth as possible
because the conductor acts as a rail for
the electric fields in the conductor and
for magnetic fields outside the conductor. Even after twenty years I remember
how surprised I was when we proved
this fact with long equations in an electro-dynamics class at university. The
professor said that we have to imagine
that the energy created by the electromagnetic field moves outside the conductor and the conductor gives the directions. Engineers at Audioquest were
not my classmates unfortunately, but
surely they were not in the canteen either when this was covered in class. All
mid-range Audioquest cables and above
employ Perfect Surface Copper (PSC) or
Perfect Surface Silver (PSS). Needless to
say, that the three Audioquest cables in
this test also use such conductors.
Apart from aiming to use high quality
materials, manufacturers follow different schools regarding cable geometry,
dielectric materials, or even termination
methods. Except for the very low end of
the cable range, Audioquest uses only individually insulated solid conductors. The
three speaker cables were constructed
from solid conductors with different diameters. They argue that “any single size
or shape of conductor has a specific distortion profile” and therefore they use
a specific “combination of different size
conductors in order to significantly reduce the audibility of these character
flaws”. Audioquest calls it Spread Spectrum Technology (SST).
2009. december
21
Test
meteor
bass
treble
DOUBLE STAR-QUAD GEOMETRY
Overall: 2 × 12 AWG (3.19 mm2)
Treble Group
2 × 20 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Silver
(PSS) Conductors
2 × 17 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
Bass Group
2 × 19 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Silver
(PSS) Conductors
2 × 16 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
Nitrogen-injected foam PE (Positive Conductors)
Carbon-Loaded PE Insulation (Negative Conductors)
Nylon Braid Grey/Polyester Black
DBS Field Elements
Volcano
COUNTER SPIRAL (EARTH FEATURE) DESIGN
Positive Conductor Group (inner circle = 9 AWG)
1 × 21 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface
Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors
2 × 20 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface
Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors
2 × 19 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface
Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors
3 × 17 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface
Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors
Negative Conductor Group (outer circle = 9 AWG)
1 × 21 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface
Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors
2 × 20 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface
Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors
2 × 19 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface
Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors
3 × 17 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface
Copper+ (PSC+) Conductors
DBS Anode (+) Silver-Plated Drainwire + Foil Shield
DBS Cathode (-) (Negative Conductor Group + Conductive
PVC Rods)
72V DBS Battery Pack Included
Red/Black/Grey Braid over Black PVC Jacket
mont blanc
COUNTER SPIRAL (EARTH FEATURE) DESIGN
Positive Conductor Group (inner circle = 9 AWG)
1 × 21 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
2 × 20 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
1 × 19 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
1 × 17 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
Negative Conductor Group (outer circle = 9 AWG)
1 × 21 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
2 × 20 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
1 × 19 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
1 × 17 AWG Solid Perfect-Surface Copper+
(PSC+) Conductors
DBS Anode (+) Silver-Plated Drainwire + Foil Shield
DBS Cathode (-) (Negative Conductor Group +
Conductive PVC Rods)
72V DBS Battery Pack Included
Blue/Black Braid over Black PVC Jacket
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sztereó*sound&vision
For insulation Audioquest doesn’t use
Teflon which has excellent dielectric
qualities, and is the choice of so many
cable manufacturers. On the contrary,
the “negative conductors are insulated
with partially conductive carbon-loaded
polyethylene. This remarkable material
damps radio-frequency garbage from being fed back into the amplifier.” Although
the materials are different but Lessloss
employs the same concept to filter RFI
from its power cords.
It is not surprising that these cables were
also equipped with the Dielectric-Bias
System (DBS) which was introduced in
earlier issues already. (Digitális Házimozi
Magazin Issue 59, Sztereo Magazin October-November 2009.) The DBS aims
to reduce energy stored in the insulation which would be eventually released
back into to signal and would cause distortion.
The two test CDs we listened to most
were Roberto Fonseca Cuban jazz pianist’s ‘Zamazu’, which I was fortunate
enough to hear live, and ‘Album Leaves’
on which Kousay was fortunate enough
to play the cello escorted by a piano. So
both of us had some idea what to listen
out for, no doubt Kousay a little more
than me…
We chose the following order: Mont
Blanc, Volcano, Meteor, Neotech, and
Audio Note; naturally returning to each
cable a number of times later again. I
was struck from the very beginning how
much improvement the Volcano offered
Volcano there is a feeling of strain, or
rather, a lack of reserve power. It’s like
comparing a talented young opera singer to Pavarotti or a “Star is Born” contest winner to Freddy Mercury. The
former are perfect in their own right
but the latter give us the feeling of reserve power in their voices, just cruising through difficult passages. The overall sound character of the two cables is
quite similar: uncompromised bass extension, wide and deep stage, and a little
warm tone often associated with copper
cables. At the same time, the exact position of the instruments and musicians
noticed or considered significant. (Just a
side note, my power amp is 1250W/ch at
4 ohms and my living room is over 800 sq
feet, which may put some more pressure
on the speaker cables than a smaller system and space.)
When connecting the Meteor we were
surprised how polite it sounded and at
first it seemed overly laid back. After a
few minutes of listening we removed it
and decided to come back to it a little
later. Thinking back now, it was like a ten
year old child having his eyes fixed on a
Porsche at the red light, although there is
an Aston Martin DB-9 or a Bentley Cou-
over Mont Blanc, despite the fact that only difference between the two is that the
Volcano has 60% more conductors, everything else is practically the same. The
Volcano was considerably more relaxed
but still able to express details more dynamically. Instruments were better separated on Fonseca’s album where only five people play but at times it sounds
more like a big band. In Kousay’s words,
the Mont Blanc is more “hi-fi” sounding
(i.e. less high-end). I would say that with
Mont Blanc everything is in place overall, nothing important is lost, nothing unpleasant is present but compared to the
is less precise than with the silver Neotech cable I’m used to. When trying to
come to a final conclusion on the differences between Mont Blanc and Volcano, a friend’s – who owned a number of
sports cars – answer came to my mind
to my question about the differences between a street version and the bi-turbo
version of the same model: “nothing…
only two hundred horse powers”. I’d be
happy enough with the street version of
that sports car. The Mont Blanc easily
qualifies for the street version category
and in many systems the Volcano’s extra
“two hundred horse powers” may not be
pé in the other lane next to it; in other
words, the Meteor is a wolf in sheep’s
clothing. We will come back to the Meteor a little later.
The Audioquest speaker cables I had for
the test came with screw-on spades or
banana plugs which take only a few minutes to swap. For the test I put banana
plugs on all of them. While changing the
plugs I saw that the conductor ends of
Volcano and Mont Blanc were treated
with some kind of copper paste, while
silver paste was applied on the Meteor.
The silver paste resembled the Walker Audio SST which I’ve been using for
years, but a number of other companies
make similar silver paste.
Well, let’s go over it again: PSC, PSS,
DBS, SST, conductive insulation. It’s like
quoting from an automobile catalogue:
EBA, DSTC, SIPS, etc. It all sounds good,
but what does music sound like through
these cables? To make our own work
more difficult we added two other cables
to the test: the Neotech NS-2000 which
has been carrying the signal to my speakers for quite some time and my friend,
Kousay, brought his Audio Note Japan
KSL SPc cables. The physical qualities of
these cables are so different from each
other and also from Audioquest cables
that we are entitled to believe that differences would be more than just noticeable. All 5 cables were single-wired and
we used Audioquest jumper cables. Biwiring never worked for me, anyway.
We spent the next half an hour or so
swapping the Neotech NS-2000 and Volcano there and back which was equivalent of a mid intensity training in the gym.
The Neotech cable is thicker than my
five year old son’s arm and the Volcano is
not far from a ¾” garden hose. Neither
of them is very flexible, so I often felt like
wrestling with giant snakes when trying
to connect them. The good news is that
2009. december
23
Test
when in place, they stay there and will
not put tension on the connectors (unlike
my earlier NBS speaker cables). Nevertheless, these speaker cables are not really suitable for light weight amps and
speakers. The Neotech cable presented
a distinctively drier musical performance
which at first sounded a little mechanical
and less involving, despite offering more
details. At the same time, it felt as if we
were sitting closer to the stage and the
musicians were in better focus. Kousay
remarked that instruments sounded
more natural with the Neotech and the
CD playback of Album Leaves soundSystem:
Analog system: LP: Acoustic Signature
Final Tool MkII, Mambo Silence Platter
upgrade, Moerch DP-Shell 6, Benz
Micro Ruby 3 SE pick-up
Digiatal : C.E.C.TL51X, Lessloss DAC
2004MkII
Power system: Whest Reference Series
Phono PS.30RDT, Audio Research LS26,
MC2 Audio MC1250
Loudspeaker: Proac Response D80
Cables:
Power cord: Lessloss and Audio Note
Japan KSL-ACZ
Phono: Audioquest, WEL Signature
Digital : Audio Note Japan KSL
Interconnect cable: Audioquest WBY
Music’s for the Test:
Roberto Fonseca: Zamazu; Kousay H.
Mahdi Kadduri, Péter Nagy: Album
Leaves; Brian Broomberg: Wood; Art
Blakey and The Jazz Messengers
ed closest to how he played it when it
was recorded. Nevertheless, when we
put the Volcano back, it brought some
refreshing liveliness into the sound. We
concluded that the Volcano was magical in a way, even though it may not have
been the most natural. Similarly to saying: that it’s not always the most beautiful
woman, who is the most attractive.
I suggested giving Meteor another go. To
our surprise (as to why we had not heard
it earlier) the Meteor nicely combined the
advantages of Neotech and Volcano. This
may be attributed to the fact that the Meteor is a hybrid copper-silver cable. Naturally, the overall presentation was closer
to that of the Volcano, but it sounded as
if the felt cover had been thinner on the
hammer of the piano, so it sounded a little sharper, closer to the Neotech. At the
same time it sounded as if the pianist had
been aware of this and played more softly. The Neotech, in comparison, is even
sharper, brighter in character but clearer and more focused. The bass was also moderate on the Meteor, similarly to
the Neotech. If Volcano is ten on a scale
representing “brute force” of bass, Meteor would be eight, and Neotech would
be seven; meanwhile Neotech expresses
bass details the most precisely.
At the end of our test day we connected the Audio Note Japan KSL SPc cable. Audio Note got its fame for its natural sound. We could confirm it this time,
too, but mainly in the mid-range. Both in
the low and high frequency ranges a lot
of energy was lost. Although it was his
own cable, Kousay impartially said that
the high frequencies were rolled off. He
said he liked the natural sound of that cable, but he was unhappy about how violins sounded with the Audio Note cable –
even in his own system. To save face we
have to remind ourselves that the Audio
Note cable costs about the third of the
cheapest Mont Blanc.
The unfinished battle between Neotech and Meteor just kept bugging me. A
few days after the first test with Kousay,
other audiophile friends Attila and Péter
Volcano
length: 3 m
800 000 Ft
Mont Blanc
length: 3 m
440 000 Ft
Meteor
length: 3 m
750 000 Ft
NS-2000
length: 3 m
1 500 000 Ft
Distributor:
KáCsa Audio Kft. • www.kacsa-audio.hu
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sztereó*sound&vision
popped over. Among other albums, we
primarily listened to bassist Brian Bromberg’s ‘Wood’. The Meteor pictured the
size and scale of the double bass better,
but the melody was slightly easier to follow with the Neotech, and for this reason my friends preferred the latter.
A few days later I returned the Mont
Blanc and the Volcano to KáCsa Audio,
but for over a month now I’m still borrowing the Meteor and swap it for the
Neotech every now and then. I’m still
not sure which of the two I prefer; depending on the genre and recording
sometimes one and sometimes the oth-
er. The Meteor is about the quarter of
the size of the Neotech, so no question
about being more living-room friendly,
not to mention the WAF factor. The Meteor costs substantially, about 50% less
than the Neotech NS-2000 which easily makes it a better value for money. On
the other hand, if you listen to a lot of
rock music and need uncompromised
bass energy so that the neighbors don’t
complain about not hearing the kickdrum and the bass guitar properly, you
should give Volcano a go.
Zoltán Dénes, contributor