Euphorix Speaker Cables - Touch of Muhsin

 

                                                                King Cobra Hex

Betweeen all the cables associated with hifi, I find that speaker cable is the one that can really make a different on my system. Second would be interconnects, third is digital cable and last is the power cable. In the past few months, I was given the opportunity by a fellow hifi enthusiast, Mr. Muhsin to test out 4 different speaker cables, designed and tweaked by himself based on Japanese Vintage cable stock. It took me some time to listen through these 4 cables to really understand and experience the different musical presentation by each design.

The 4 cables that were provided are:

1. Euphorix Cobra (Twin)
2. Euphorix King Cobra (Hex)
3. Euphorix Tube Master (Solo)
4. Euphorix Cobra (based model)

The Background

Euphorix cables are based on Litz cable design which is particular type of multistrand wire used in electronics to carry AC at radio frequencies. The design can reduce the skin effect and effect losses in conductors used at frequencies up to 1 MHz. However, there are cables out there that claims to have a Litz design but actually is more of a 'Litz woven' rather than a true Litz cable. A true Litz design by definition has only enamel insulating the cable strands. No plastic or other material are used for insulation; they are just like transformer wire (magnet wire). For an example, the popular Kimber 8TC/12TC uses Litz weave but each cable strands are insulated by plastic/PTFE sheath. Euphorix cables use 100% cotton or air/PTFE tube for internal damping to reduce dielectric effect.

The individual cable strands in Euphorix cables are made of extremely thin high purity copper. They are designed so that the strands continuously criss-cross at 90 degree angle to achieve low inductance. The cables strands are wound into a round shape to ensure that the cable strands are symmetrical. The electrical flow is similar to a solenoid that conducts both clock-wise and anti-clockwise directions.

A comparison of high-end speaker cables done by Nelson Pass shows that these cables, in their NOS state, has an ideal flat impedance curve. 

                                                    Tube Master

                                                              Cobra

                                                       Cobra Twin

The Session

I only picked 3 tracks to test these 4 cables. The review here is mainly evolves around the one that I feel gave the biggest change to my set up. I do find that all 4 cables have  similar character but at different level of finesse. The main character across all 4 cables are liveliness, huge staging and coherent across different spectrum.

1. Take Five - Kenichi Tsunoda Big Band
2. Enter Sandman - Metallica
3. Easy On Me - Adele

Take Five

The first track that I played was the upbeat Take Five version by Kenichi. With the Euphorix, the overall presentation opens up more which provided more excitement to listen to this upbeat track. It somehow injects a certain liveliness to the experience and can really get you engaged. The level of engagement however differs frm one cable to another. The most extended level of engagement is the King Ciobra Hex to me. This is followed by Cobra Twin, Cobra and Tube Master.

The bass on this track usually sounds mellower compared to the original version by Dave Brubeck. With the Euphorix, the bass was more evident and sounded more hard hitting. The overall sound stage also expanded vertically and horizontally. I experienced quite a mesmerizing listening atmosphere that was really engaging and enveloping across my living room.

The ride cymbal sounded really crisp and the sound of the ringing when the tip of the drumstick hits the ride was just at the right level. Usually this can sound a bit drowned in compared to other instrument. The saxapohone was another part I really enjoyed how the Euphorix reproduced the sound. Melodic, airy without any ear-pinching levels.

Enter Sandman

How about on some heavier music? This is where I find the Euphorix can be aggressive as well. 

The drum intro really showed me what the Euphorix can do.  The thumping of the toms, kick pedal and the sharp and solid sound of the snare were spot on, just the way I like to hear them. 

The sound of the shredding guitars of Kirk sounded a little bit harsh for me as it started too sound a little bit bright. This made the whole presentation of the music sounded a little bit meshed up. Can be a little bit chaotic if you know what I mean.

Vocal was another highlight for me. James vocal sounded really energetic and authoritative. Suits the song really good. The Euphorix managed to surface the vocal to sound like the artist is really in front of you.

Easy On Me

The last track, I put on Easy On Me just to recheck ona few things mainly on the impact of Euphorix on vocal reproduction and also brightness. This track proves a few things. The Euphorix again surfaced the strength in the artist vocal. Adele vocal sounded energetic just like in the track above. Even when she was pushing for a certain high pitch section, it still sounded sweet with minimal harshness. I guess the harshness above most probably is an instrument related harshness rather than vocals.

The piano also sounded really melodic with a pinch of really good low end frequency sound. It really blended well the vocal that brought out a full engaging and enveloping experience on my system.

How Much Will It Cost Me?

Euphorix cables pricing

1. Minimum length 1 m
2. Can be ordered and priced in increments of 0.1 m
3. For international customes, please add 10% for financial charges
4. Muhsin accepts direct bank-in for local customers and direct bank ransfer, Paypal and Payoneer frm Internatiocal customers

...then add your choice of termination

1. Connectors are charges at actual cost. Prices may change depending upon exchange rates, delaer price and shipping
2. As the cables are custom made to your requirements, buyer may request other preferred brand or type of terminations. The cost will be bourne by buyer.

The Conclusion

There is something special with the Litz cable design. Euphorix approach with this can really opens up hifi sytems to make more things audible. It somehow manage to project the music presentation with livelier sound stage and quite balanced across different sound spectrum. Yes, occassionally I do experience some brightness that was a bit high but overall, I do feel Euphorix is generally neutral in sound and does not amplify one frequency over another.

The level of openess, staging and coherence however get less obvious when I move from one cbale to another. Below is how I can summarize the level of impact of the 4 cables to my system:

1. King Cobra Hex - best overall sound.

2. Cobra Twin - similar character but with less impact on my system

3. Tube Master - somehow does not really fit in my SS amp. It still retains the similar character like the Hex but sound a little bit restrained.

4. Cobra - Not much impact on my system but I do still hear that neutral sound effect.

If you are interested to know more or put an order, you can contact Muhsin via email euphorix.cables@gmail.com 

The Black Pearl of Vermouth Audio - Another SEA Audio Pride

This part of the world have their own audio world secrets. Ranging from power amps to power conditioners to speakers to DAC to racks and now, I get to review speaker cables from Bali, Indonesia. Check out the video above to know a little bit more about Vermouth Audio.

After my recent revamp of my hifi system, I wanted to see whether I can squeeze even more from my current hardware. As I am not so much of upgrading hardware nowadays, but I am gamed to try new things to hear some changes in the system. First up is the speaker cable. The Siltech Classic Anniversary 330L have been my reference speaker cable for the past 5 years or so. When I purchased that cable, my system was in a dedicated room where I had a challenge of boomy bass. The Siltech helped to balance things out for me. Now that the system is out in the hall, I find that it is now the opposite. While the bass is warm and punchy, I would not mind if it can dig a bit deeper and also some sweeter mids. Hence, Victor of HiFi Creations suggested to try out Vermouth Audio's Black Pearl speaker cable. And I say, why not?

THE PACKAGING

Vermouth Audio products are built to order. For the Black Pearl, it took just over a week from order to the item arrived at my house. It came in box, complete with certificate and a protection bag. Very professional indeed.

THE BUILT

Both the spades and banana plugs are sturdily terminated to the cables and it is of cold forged tellurium copper rhodium plated. The non woven fabric although very smooth, it has a certain hardness to protect itself from rough abrasion for those whom are less bothered to the terms 'handle with care'. The overall built is top class and have the right stiffness to easily handled for the installation of the back of your amp and speakers.

THE SET UP

Now that I am back to my original set up, its back to a sound reference that I have always been familiar with.

• Clearaudio Concept TT
• Musical Fidelity M1 ViNL phono stage
• Musical Fidelity M6i integrated amp
• Musical Fidelity M6 DAC
• Sony BDP750S BD Player (I have opted for this to spin HFPA instead of the usual Musical Fidelity M1 CDT)
• ProAc Response D18 speakers

THE TRACKS

• Alfonso Soliano's rendition of Lompat Si Katak Lompat (LP)
• Alfonso Solianos's rendition of Kejujuran (LP)
• Diana Krall's rendition of Besame Mucho (HFPA)

THE FIRST IMPRESSION

Straight out of the box, the Black Pearl sounded quite muddled. Bass was a bit rough and the highs and mids a bit flat. I could not figure out what was going on but within an hour or so, it started to open up and the notes started to fall into the appropriate spectrum. Not there just yet.....

THE SESSION

I let the Black Pearl to run in for about 100 hours before I started to do some serious listening. By the time this review was written, the cable has seen about 300 hours of music.

Alfonso Soliano's rendition of Lompat Si Katak Lompat

This track, although its a traditional folklore, the arrangement can really test your system. With the Black Pearl, this track sounded openly airy but still allow a good portion of the bass line to emerge where it matters. The cymbals and wind instruments sounded sufficiently sharp. It also brought up the very detail of the soft hit on the cymbals to create that continuous ringing sound, making the track to sound energized.

Alfonso Soliano's rendition of Kejujuran

On this track, the overall song sounded livelier than usual. The highs was really at the right level in which this track can sometimes reach an ear pinching level. The Black Pearl allows quite a balance between the low end and high end notes; not compromising any details in between. The saxophone sound was so melodic and full of energy flowing through music. At this stage, I am already falling in love with the bass and openness of the Black Pearl.

Krall's Besame Mucho

Now something with vocals. I purposely used a HFPA medium to test this speaker cable. And sure enough, the Black Pearl continues to impress me with such graceful mids, allowing the vocals to roam free in my hall with enough energy and texture. Her vocal sounded deep and it still carries the same traits of detail from previous tracks as well. 

THE CONCLUSION

Suffering from lifeless sound? Need some good low end notes to kick in your system? I believe that the Black Pearl can allow your system to open up more; bringing out the necessities of good bass, luscious mids and sweet highs. For those whom is still curious what your system can do, try this speaker cable out especially if you are looking for that little extra bass. It can do wonders to your listening pleasure. For about half of the price of Siltech, this might be one of the valued pricing I have seen in the cabling section of this hobby.

If anyone interested to audition, please contact Victor Pheh of HiFi Creations for those in Malaysia. For others, you can visit Vermouth Audio at Their Website

Audience For The Simple Minded - My Hifi Shop

On Monday, 5th October 2015, I had the pleasure of attending a small do by the latest outfit to the list of hifi shops in Malaysia. My HiFi Shop Sdn. Bhd. is located in Jaya One just besides the recently opened Swedish Statement hifi shop.

My HiFi Shop is actually only scheduled to be opened in a couple of weeks time but as the CEO of Audience (yes, the brand), Mr. John McDonald was on his Asia tour, the shop decided to host a small informal do for the local hifi fraternity.

 

Yours truly arrived at 1145 am and was greeted by the Director himself, Mr. Thomas Teo. After a quick look around of the shop (which is still in final touch stage), I was introduced to John. John is such a down to earth hifi enthusiast and full of passion when it comes to hifi talk.

By 1230, there was already a crowd in the venue. Familiar faces from Audiofi.net and AV2Day.com are among the audience besides the owners of the famous Leben amps. John then gave an introduction to some of his famous cables, interconnects, power conditioners and The One full range speakers which was on demo. The audience threw out some interesting questions and these are some of the jeez of John's respond:

• Silver vs copper... which one is better?
• I prefer copper....
• Directional vs non-directional?
• Audience cable have markings on them but its more for indicative purposes
• XLR vs RCA... which one is better?
• XLR suits better in an all round balanced set up
• What is the optimal length for your cables and interconnects?
• We build to whatever length you require
• Thin or thick cables?
• For power cables, the proper gauge is more important. For the rest, other factors like material and insulation is vital.

The attendees then were treated with beautiful music played from Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird TT and Leben CS-600 integrated amp.

Thank you Thomas and Isaac for the invite and good luck on the official opening.

The My HiFi Shop is located at:

H-97-1, Block H, 

The Suites, 

Jaya One,

No. 72A, Jalan Universiti,

46200 Petaling Jaya,

Selangor
Tel: +603 79321883 or +6016 6661699

Audience The One full range speakers are quite impressive for its size. It could fill up the listening hall with ease. 

Audience The One Version II

Some of Audience RCA and speaker cable range and also John's full range driver design

Dr. Feickert Analogue Blackbird 

Leben CS-300

Leben CS-600

Dr. Feickert Analogue Woodpecker

Siltech Classic Anniversary 330L Speaker Cable

24 hrs review of Siltech speaker cable.

Its been more than 24 hrs now since I hooked up the Siltech to the D18s. Truth be told, I didnt really have to burn in the speaker cables as I have asked CMY to pre burn it with the ProBurn machine for 48 hrs which is supposed to be equivalent to 200 hrs of running in. Heck, dont ask me about the physics behind the ProBurn. Its a free service I get from CMY so I took it. Previously I have purchased 2 QED interconnects, one pre burn and one brand new. There was actually a different in the sound produced in my set up.

So, let me talk about the plan first. Throughout the past 4 years since I resumed the upgrade path after 8 years of not doing so, I have changed cabling (here referring to IC, power cable and speaker cable) from Cambridge Audio to Ixos to QED and now to Siltech. My introduction to Siltech was not a planned one. Since I got the M6i amp, I have always wanted to hear how XLR sound from my M1 DAC. So at first I was loaned 2 models of VDH XLR, but the sound from them was rubbish. Which I was a bit dissapointed after hearing a lot good saying about using XLR. So then CMY loaned me a pair of Siltech XLR. Boy, I immediately fell in love with the sound. Since then, I wanted to see how and what if I have a complete Siltech signature for my cabling to match the complete MF set up I have.

The second came was the RCA interconnect to connect the CLiC to the amp. Then the CDT transport to the DAC, I needed an XLR digital interconnect as well. Then came in the power cable for the M6i. So, until now my cabling from 3 sources (CDT, CLiC and DAC) and the amp are all by Siltech. The synergy between Siltech and MF kit, to me is very very sweet, warm and lively. But then, I was still using QED as the speaker cable. So the full cycle have not been completed. But I had to wait for some more funds to come before parting money for the most expensive cable I have ever purchased - this Siltech Classic Anniversary 330L speaker cable.

Thats the history. Now the review. To avoid confusion, I have disconnected the new power amps and just let the Siltech run my D18 with a single wire configuration ie the M6i is running both the tweeters and woofers, just like before.

The speaker cable although looks thick, it is actually lighter than I thought it would be. I had a concern that in time, it would bend the speaker terminals due to the weight hanging from the cable when I have plugged into the terminals using banana plugs. The cable is flexible enough to easily handle it and plug into my amp. The banana plugs have a see through plastic covering over the metal plugs itself.

When you purchase this cable, it comes in a box and placed in foam. A certificate with 2 serial numbers is also supplied reflecting each of the cable serial number.

So my setlist for the review consists of:

1. Aaron Neville on CD. Playerd on CDT feeding the M1 DAC to the M6i amp.
2. Andrea Bocelli, Diana Krall and The Eagles on hi res music via CLiC
3. Gypsy Kings on 320 kbps MP3

The first thing I notice was some how the speaker cable have amplified the sound a bit. The usual volume level seems louder than before but it did not loose the subtlety. So first up was Aaron Neviile - Lousiana 1927. Hmmmmmm.... The vocals came out to be full of soundstaging. Its hard explain its as if you are watching a 3D movie but for audio. There were layers behind his voice that I could not experience before.

The best part was that it enhance the low end notes but without providing the excess boom. I was kind of worried the the bass will be to overwhelming for my room. But NO. Play Hotel California and the drums on that tracks just comes out sounding original and even more controlled than before. The wire brush on the snare on one of Diana's track sounded airy and spreaded across the room. I can actually visualize the drummer's hand spinning the wire brush around the snare. Again, its like 3D for audio.

Then comes out Andrea for the ultimate vocal test. Again, it feels like his voice was uplifted and airy. But its all balanced out by the low end produced by the woofers. No pinching experience from the enhanced tweeter sound. Being hi res source, I again was worried that it give too much enhancement on the tweeters but the cable just manage to adapt itself to maintain the warm sound I like but at the same enhance or elevate the music atmosphere up a notch.

The final test was to see how it copes with a fast paced and multi instrument music. the Gypsy Kings Bamboleo track was definitely giving the cable a run for what its worth. The dynamics produced by D18s was something that I have not heard off before. so I had to attribute these dynamics to the Siltech speaker cable.

Now, is there such thing as a speaker cable that chokes back the music? At one point when playing Diana Krall I've Got You Under My Skin, I could hear some sort of struggle for the tweeters to reproduce a few of the piano notes. Was not satisfied with tha, I loaded the normal CD version of this track instead of using the hi res file. Voila, I didnt hear that strain on the CD. It might be a bad upsampling of the track. Damn HD Tracks.

Now, this speaker cable as not on loan for testing. I was so confident of a Siltech product that this time around, I paid and purchased the item first rather than the usual 'Can I Test first kah?' even CMY was surprised as usually I will ask for a loan first before committing.

To summarize, I feel Siltech products provide a signature of dynamics, enhancement and uplifting which somehow creates a 3 dimensional experience. If not for all but at least for my MF set up.

Now.....thats the end of my cabling venture for a while. Maybe in another 8 years time, you will see this speaker cable on the For Sale thread. But for now, its a keeper and the last piece of jigsaw to my cabling quest.

Next....MF M1 PWR amp review.