“‘…miles of electricity…no possible way the last three feet affect the sound.’ Yawn.”
Jim bluntly told me prior to our test that he did not think power cords made a difference (Cool! A classic stand off!). However, approximately one hour later, after the listening tests had been repeated several times, he admitted his change of view, “How? How can it change the sound?” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. My answer was simple, “I don’t know how, but it does!” Upon leaving, he commented, “I never used to think that a power cord could affect the sound…” He had been converted. I often think of the skeptics who howl, “…miles of electricity…no possible way the last three feet affect the sound.” Yawn. To those who have been involved in cables long enough to experience it on fine equipment, this is the prattling of children’s voices – irritating and quite worthy of ignoring.
I have to interject one caveat. I had a musician in recently and did the power cord test with him. He couldn’t hear it. Everyone else, audiophile or not, has heard a distinction. It made me wonder if this musician who plays in a band has hearing loss. I wonder why so many defer to the claim that musicians hear better, when in fact they may have worse hearing! I plan on exploring that thought in the future.
I have seen individuals who have failed to be impressed by power cords or other aftermarket cabling, mainly due to two errors: 1. The system is not of a caliber to tease out the nuances of cord changes, or 2. The aftermarket cords have been cheap, as in low cost, low quality, low technology in the design, etc. To put rough numbers on it, a person with a system below $10,000 will have a tough time gleaning the benefits of cabling changes, while a person with a rig weighing in at $25,000 should have little difficulty hearing differences in cabling changes. While this may be a crass measurement of the benefits of cables, it is nevertheless a pretty good one. I can envision some more esoteric systems with single drivers powered by 8 watts that might have difficulty resolving cabling changes, but the majority of full-range equipment in a higher price bracket should do fine at this test.
Call it Voodoo magic, technology in full bloom, or the inevitable result of using a Cable Comparator, these wires are in their own zone. I thought that I had pretty much achieved the ultimate configuration in power cabling when I put in excess of $5,500.00 of another make’s networked power cords and conditioning on my Rega Saturn. Was I in for a mind-bending surprise when I heard more detail, power, and holographic presence in the presentation coming from a $350.00 mid-line Wire World power cord! That represents an improvement in overall sound from a power cord costing less than 1/15th of the other power delivery system!
I admire what the other make has done, however, I will not shade the fact that the Wireworld cables have been superior performers in terms of clarity and naturalness of sound. Frankly, I’ve never heard a cable do what the Wireworld cables are doing. People speak of the cables “disappearing” and I had never felt that it was possible, since there was always coloration, always a seeming degradation of sound, which varied in intensity by the cable that was selected. These are the most “transparent” cables I have used to date. At their price, I have not heard a finer power cable.
The Wireworld product is the first that I can say really does sound invisible sonically to my ear. It sounds as if the signal is being transported without wires. I know that may sound weird or stupid to some, but when a person has listened to dozens of cables, it’s not an inappropriate statement to make. A comparable statement is made of speakers when people say, “It seems like a curtain/veil has been removed…” – they are stating the electronics of the speaker allow for a clean, clear, deeply involving presentation. I am stating that about Wireworld Cables.
“Wireworld has driven home the point once again that when a cable is designed properly, nothing bests the sound of an unadulterated wire.”
In principle, I have always believed that the simplest link is the best, that less electronics in the chain means more pristine sound. Wireworld has driven home the point once again that when a cable is designed properly, nothing bests the sound of an unadulterated wire.
Doug Did It
Once in a while a situation arises which allows for an unusual test of a reviewed component. During my time with these cables, I requested a change in the terminations on the Golden Starlight Digital cable I had been sent. In an over-accommodation move, Wireworld sent me two of them. Before I notified them of the mix up (Of course, I told them about it!) I made a plan to try an experiment with them. While not designed for use as interconnects, I wondered what the effect would be of using them in that capacity.
Audio is a great hobby, especially when one tries things that never should be. Not many people might think of using a pair of digital cables for interconnects, but it’s my duty to try weird things in audio and report on them. So, I’ll feign that it was only out of sense of duty that I installed the Gold Starlight between the Ayon CD-1 and the Ayon Spirit amplifier. What an interesting result I obtained! I ran the dual Gold Starlights on the twin Pathos Classic One MKIII amps and the richness was remarkable. The Equinox 5-Squared sounded thinner by comparison. With the Pathos integrateds, I preferred the sound of the interconnects and digital cables switched! Vocals, instruments – the entire presentation was warmer and richer. There seemed not to be any loss of detail, just more body added.
I asked David why there would be such an improvement in sound using a digital cable as an interconnect. He politely disagreed with my assessment, suggesting that I was hearing more coloration and distortion. Wireworld digital cables are tuned to 75 Ohms, and as such can’t preserve the analogue signal as well as properly tuned cables, because their inductance is much too high.
As I continued to use different combinations of gear, I found that some were more enjoyable with the digital cables acting as interconnects and some were not. In use of the Jeff Rowland Capri preamp and 501 class D mono blocks, the Equinox 5-Squared interconnects were preferable. They were only a slip below the richness of the two Gold Starlights, but had better presence and intricacy.
Higher Stakes
I did put together an incredibly revealing rig, one which showed a higher degree of the compression and distortion David spoke of. Words can be so loaded, when I say “distortion” it is not even close to distortion in the normal sense. I’m talking about minute degrees of difference under focused listening sessions. The reader should absolutely not get the idea that there is anything nasty happening with these two types of cables, whether used in their traditional role or not. The Cambridge Audio Azur 840C acted as transport to the Monarchy M24 DAC, and the Jeff Rowland Capri was mated to the Monarchy SM-70 Pro mono blocks. Wireworld cabling was used throughout.
In this system, the compression and lesser detail were more discernable with the cables working opposite their intended function. When the Gold Starlight and Equinox interconnects were put back to their native tasks the event was remarkable. It became the only highly detailed system I have heard in recent memory that I did not cringe at, even with an elevated listening level. All of this testing with the interconnects and digital cable affirmed one thing – David really knows the intricacies of each Wireworld cable!
If there was discoloration, compression and loss of detail with the Gold Starlight digital cables used as interconnects, it was pretty good! I have used very few cables which have brought as much warmth and palatability to reduce harshness as the Gold Starlight in a pair acting as interconnect. The best illustration I can summon to express how much warmth to the sound they add would be the addition of a tube component in an all solid-state system. The sound is so intriguing that I find myself continuing to use them in that application to hear the result.
How did the Gold Starlight perform as it is supposed to be used, as a digital cable? Wonderfully, as it retained its rich glow and clean presentation. As the review period came to an end, I began setting up a Sonos Digital music distribution system in my listening room. I used the Gold Starlight as the digital cable running from the Digital Out on the Sonos ZP-80 direct to my DAC (being reviewed, which one I won’t tell; it’ll be a surprise). Clearly the cable was in its element, as the Equinox 5-Sqaured could not treat the signal properly (I had to try it!). In any less than ideal DAC situation, I would urge the owner to try a Gold Starlight prior to jettisoning their DAC. It can literally save one’s digital life!
“The Equinox 5-Squared Speaker Cables were perhaps my sentimental favorite.”
The Equinox 5-Squared Speaker Cables were perhaps my sentimental favorite. My first experiment with cabling some twenty years ago was with speaker wiring. Ever since then I have paid special attention to how speaker cables perform. In the case of the Equinox, I presented them with the challenge of both tube and SS equipment. Usually, I have a strong preference over how a speaker cable is employed, as I find that most brands perform better with one technology or the other. I found no such preference with the Equinox, as I was mightily impressed by its use with both tubes and solid-state equipment.
- ← Previous page
- (Page 3 of 4)
- Next page →
