Recommended Components

Analysis Plus Silver Apex Interconnects: $1219.99 (1m pair)
The Analysis Plus Silver Apex uses as its conductor an oxygen-free copper "stabilizing strand" covered with pure silver, in an arrangement the manufacturer describes, somewhat elliptically (haw) as "a hollow oval cable inside a hollow oval cable inside a hollow oval cable," said to be double shielded and thus quiet. And MF found it to be so: In his words, the Silver Apex is "highly recommended!" (Vol.42 No.5)

Audio Art Cable IC-3 Classic: $140/1m pair (RCAs), $160/1m pair (XLRs)
The IC-3–available with Audio Art's own gold-plated brass RCA plugs or, for $10 more, DH Labs' Ultimate XLR plugs–uses conductors of silver-coated, oxygen-free copper, a foam polyethylene dielectric, aluminum-Mylar shielding, and a PVC jacket. Compared to AudioQuest's Big Sur, the IC-3 lacked some midrange body and warmth but produced a pleasantly forward, detailed sound with an unusually wide soundstage, said SM. Sold direct with a 30-day, money-back guarantee. (Vol.37 No.2 WWW)

AudioQuest Big Sur: $169.95/1m ★
AudioQuest Golden Gate: $119.95/1m
AudioQuest Evergreen: $79.95/1m
AudioQuest Tower: $49.95/1m
AudioQuest's Bridges & Falls interconnects (of which these are the four least expensive models) put left and right channels in a single cable, thereby minimizing manufacturing costs while maximizing termination possibilities. Available terminations include RCA-to-RCA, mini-to-RCA, mini-to-mini, DIN-to-DIN, RCA-to-DIN, iPod-to-mini, or iPod-to-RCA, making these interconnects ideal for desktop and portable applications. The Tower and Evergreen use AQ's solid Long-Grain Copper (LGC) conductors. Golden Gate uses higher purity Perfect-Surface Copper (PSC) conductors. Big Sur uses even-higher-purity Perfect-Surface+ Copper (PSC+) conductors, and upgrades the other models' gold-plated RCA plugs to gold-plated plugs of pure purple copper. All four models are insulated with foamed polyethylene, and are attractive, well made, and very flexible. Moving up the line, SM heard improvements in image focus, tone color, drama, and overall clarity and extension. "If you're in the market for truly affordable, truly high-quality interconnects, I can think of no better place to start than AudioQuest," he concluded. SM used it between his laptop and PSB Alpha PS1 desktop speakers. Compared with the stock PS1 cable, the AQ produced a larger, more present overall sound, with deeper silences, longer decays, cleaner highs, more realistic bass, and richer tone color. "Suddenly, I had real high-fidelity sound coming from my laptop," SM enthused. (Vol.36 Nos.7, 8, Evergreen; Vol.36 No.10 WWW)

AudioQuest Dragon, XLR: $11,900/1m pair
RCA: $9500/1m pair
Uses "Solid Perfect-Surface Silver (PSS)" conductors with a dielectric comprising fluoropolymer air tubes. MF compared the balanced Dragon with his TARA Labs' "The Evolution Zero" interconnect and concluded that it was considerably more open but not brighter, faster but not leaner. (Vol.45 No.9 WWW)

AudioQuest ThunderBird XLR: $3900/1m pair
RCA: $2900/1m pair
When he substituted the balanced Thunderbird for his previous interconnect, HR wrote that his system's sound changed so dramatically that he immediately realized that what he had perceived as the Bartók's slight grain and grayness disappeared almost completely with the ThunderBird wires, "replaced by a bright, waterlike clarity and a feeling that a dam had burst and the sun had emerged from behind a winter cloud." His conclusion? "Once again, I discovered that changing 3' of wire can be the difference between boring and thrilling, plain and beautiful, hard and supple, gray and colorful." (Vol.45 No.6 WWW)

Cardas Audio Clear Rev.1: $2020/1m pair, balanced; $1840/1m pair, unbalanced
Rev.1 applies to both Cardas's Clear balanced and single-ended interconnects; JM tested the balanced version, which incorporates Cardas's heavy, gold-plated CG XLR plugs. With the Rev.1 in his system, JM gained significant measures of detail and transparency. (Vol.36 No.12 WWW)

Cardas Clear Beyond: $4250/1m pair
When he replaced the budget-priced Cardas Iridium between a dCS Bartók DAC and Genelec's G Three active speakers with the flagship Clear Beyond interconnect, HR wrote that "the apparent volume of the recording venue expanded dramatically—and with that expansion came an equally dramatic sense of separation [between orchestra and choir]. Moreover, I noticed a newfound well-sortedness and a new form of dark quiet—a silence quite unlike any I'd experienced before." HR concluded that the Cardas Clear Beyond endowed the sound from the Genelec speakers "with a sublime quiet, a grand spaciousness, and seemingly infinite LSD detail." (Vol.45 No.8 WWW; also see KM's Clearaudio Reference Jubilee turntable review in Vol.45 No.7 WWW)

Fono-Acustica Virtuoso RCA: $23,300/1.5m pair
The conductors are an alloy of silver and gold (shades of Burl Ives!), the styling is Spanish Cowboy Baroque, and the price is enough to buy a brand-new Volkswagen Golf and a couple of Brooks Brothers suits. What does that add up to? According to MF, when substituted for his reference TARA Zero Evolution interconnect, the Fono Acustica made for "more graceful, almost cautious, romantic, but somehow still precise and well-detailed attacks, and long, long sustains." On switching back to the TARA, did Mikey miss the Fono Acustica? "Yes–but you can't have everything!" (Vol.39 No.3)

IKIGAI Audio Kangai-level interconnects: $3610/0.75m/pair
These thin, flexible Dutch cables use silver/24kt gold conductors. HR found that the cables "put a fun, frolicking dynamic charge on every sound coming from my speakers. They made lesser cables seem drowsy and constrained." He noted that its temper was more relaxed than that AudioQuest Thunderbird and more ethereal than a full loom of Cardas Clear Beyond. "If your system leans toward cloudy or drowsy, IKIGAI wires might elevate vivo and transparency." (Vol.47 No.3 WWW)

Kimber Kable Hero: $380/1m pair with WBT-0114
The "strong, silent type" when it comes to cables, says the inestimable JM. "And reasonably priced, into the bargain." (NR, but see "The Fifth Element" in Vol.33 No.6 WWW)

Kimber Kable PBJ: $148/1m pair, as reviewed
Originally released in the late 1980s, PBJ is a minimalist design comprising three high-quality, multistrand wires in individual Teflon jackets, braided together and terminated with Kimber's Ultraplate connectors. With the PBJs in his system, SM heard greater clarity, detail, depth, and presence. Compared to AudioQuest's Sidewinder, the PBJ lacked body and warmth but was more muscular, insistent, and precise, said SM. (Vol.35 No.6 WWW)

Kimber Kable Tonik: $108/1m pair
Kimber's most affordable interconnect uses three stranded copper wires neatly braided in a noise-canceling pattern. Though they lacked the resolution of much more expensive interconnects, the Toniks "offered clarity without brightness, and reasonably good amounts of color, texture, and touch. For $80, that was A-okay with me," said AD. Price includes Kimber's Ultratike connectors. (Vol.34 No.11 WWW)

Kubala-Sosna Anticipation: $600/m pair; $220/additional meter
Like the K-S speaker cables (see "Loudspeaker Cables"), the K-S interconnects are based on a low characteristic impedance and solid construction. The results are uncolored sound and extremely low noise pickup. (Vol.29 No.7 WWW)

Kubala-Sosna Elation Interconnect: $8000/pair first meter, $1700/each additional meter
Expensive but superbly transparent interconnect that JA found worked synergistically with YG's Sonja 1.3 speakers. (NR)

Linn Silver: $461/1.2m pair, terminated with RCA phono
Single-ended interconnect AH found made a synergistic match with the Lejonklou Entity phono preamplifier. (Vol.45 No.7 WWW)

Luna Red: $2500/1m pair
See Power-Related Accessories.

Nordost Valhalla 2 Interconnect: $9999.99/1m pair
Characterized by the inclusion of Nordost's Dual-Mono-Filament spacing between conductor and dielectric, as well as of Nordost's new Holo:Plug connectors, the analog interconnects, speaker cables, phono cables, and power cords in the company's Valhalla 2 Reference series impressed BD, whose system had been wired with Nordost's original Valhalla-series cables. With the new cables in place, BD heard gains in a number of areas–especially improved transparency and resolution, greater clarity in the reproduction of spatial information, and greater timbral warmth and richness–compared with his ca-2001 Valhallas. BD added that, of all the cable products in the new Valhalla 2 Reference series, "it was the 1m interconnect with RCAs ($7599.99) that had the greatest effect on the sound of my system." (Vol.39 No.7 WWW)

Pure Silver Connection (PSC) PST 8: $1500/1m pair
Balanced interconnects featuring solid, silver-plated 6N copper and round conductors. LG reported that they reduced system hum problems and were "highly recommended!" Price is for both balanced and unbalanced interconnects. (NR)

Raal-requisite STAR-8: $1100
HR found that this cable always played "bigger, denser, and more colorfully" than the stock copper cables supplied with RAAL's SR1a headset. The SR728 Silver Headphone Cable "is a necessity—not an accessory," he wrote. "A necessory." (Vol.44 No.10 WWW)

RSX Beyond phono cable: $3500/1m pair
Fully shielded, double-grounded, paired cable with "long crystal, ultra-pure Laboratory Grade copper," "Teflon variant-plus-air dielectric," and ultralow-mass terminations said to minimize self-inductance. MF tried the Beyond with a Kuzma 4Point tonearm and his CH Precision P1 current-mode phono preamp. To his surprise, he found the result louder than with the standard Kuzma cable—it measured louder, too—due to the RSX cable's very low impedance. Once he'd matched levels, he still heard a big difference: While instrumental timbres remained the same, "the sound was more open. The reverb behind the instruments was presented in greater relief, and the soundstage widened, with more air." (Vol.45 No.1 WWW)

Stealth Helios miniDIN–RCA cable: $9800/1.2m, $10,400/1.5m
The manufacturer claims the construction of this cable allows it to be safely bent at a 90° angle at the jack/wire junction. MF found that used with the AXIOM tonearm, the Helios cable produced noticeable background quiet and far more transparency than that older, "budget" cable he had been using. (Vol.45 No.9 WWW)

Stealth Sakra V16 interconnect: $12,000/1m, $7,600 each additional meter
Balanced version: $16,000/1m pair, $9,500 each additional meter
Lightweight, very flexible, and finished in an outer jacket of near-opalescent white, the Sakra interconnect is built into a hermetically sealed, helium-filled tube and terminated with proprietary solid-silver connectors. The overall sound was open and clean, with lightning-fast attacks, generous sustains, and long decays. Compared to the TARA Labs Zero, the Sakra had a bit more midrange body and texture but lacked some air and speed, felt Mikey. (Vol.34 No.6)

TARA Labs Air Evolution interconnect: $1995 1m; each add'tl meter is $200
TARA Labs Air Evolution w/Evo Ground Station: $2695 each add'tl meter is $250
A slightly less expensive alternative to TARA's Zero Evolution balanced interconnect, the Air Evolution also uses rectangular-core copper conductors for both its positive and negative legs. Its shield is floated with respect to the signal conductors, but is terminated at the source end with mini-banana plugs that can be connected to TARA's optional Evo Ground Station, designed to shunt shield noise to ground. Although MF observed that the Air Evolutions weren't "quite as resolved on top" as the costlier Zero Evolution, he thought the two models were "close." (Vol.40 No.1 WWW)

TARA Labs Zero Evolution w/HFX Ground Station: $20,995/1m, each add'tl meter is $2300
The Zero Evolution is an all-new, physically flexible, easier to manage air-dielectric interconnect than the original Zero with non-insulated square solid-core conductors. Because neither end of The Zero Evolution's shield is attached to ground, TARA employs the Floating Ground Station, a heavy, black box containing Ceralex, a combination of ceramic materials and metallic compounds that absorbs RFI and EMI. Switching from the original Zero to the new Evolution Zero, MF's system benefited yet further from an enormous addition of lushness, texture, and warmth, along with major extensions of air, detail, and transparency. Due to The Evolution Zero's ultrawide bandwidth, some outside transient noise can leak into the system when nearby appliances are activated. But–"I've heard nothing like it," he declares, adding "a genuine breakthrough, though hideously expensive. The TARA Labs Evolution Zero had a fast, clean, open overall sound, with airy highs and tight bass. The Evolution upgrade adds the rich, textured midrange of the Stealth Sakra, while continuing to produce faster attacks, longer sustains, and deeper decays, said MF." (Vol.29 No.12, Zero; Vol.34 No.6 WWW, Zero Gold; Vol.36 No.11, Zero Evolution)

TARA Labs Zero GX DIN-to-RCA tonearm cable: $3800/1m, each additional meter $600
Though it was "somewhat bereft of physicality," the Zero GX's accentuated sibilants and precise attack made it "a good choice for detail devotees," said MF. (Vol.32 No.7)

Tellurium Q Black II XLR: $450/1m pair
A new company based in Somerset, UK, Tellurium Q is a cable specialist offering three lines of products, with Black squarely in the middle. JM responded well to a pair of Black balanced interconnects, which he found "on the slightly warm or musical side of neutral," and praised for sounding "quieter and far less closed-in at the top" than his comparatively plebian Canare interconnects. Extra points for emphasizing engineering over fancy packaging. According to JM, this entry-level-premium cable line is "well worth exploring." Black updated to Black II, at a lower price. (Vol.38 No.4 WWW)

Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 8 Interconnect: $3600/1m pair
Though it wasn't as transparent as the TARA Labs Zero, when used with the Constellation Centaur Mono monoblock amplifiers, the Eclipse 7 "produced a much better overall picture in terms of tonality, texture, and transients," said Mikey. (Vol.36 No.11)

Loudspeaker Cables:

Audio Art Cable SC-5 Classic: $275/10ft pair (gold spades; add $15/pr for silver spades), $280/10ft pair (gold bananas)
The SC-5 has silver-coated OFC conductors (14AWG), a foam polyethylene dielectric, a PVC jacket, and an internal packet of vibration-absorbing fibers. It can be terminated with gold-plated brass banana plugs or, for $10 less, DH Labs' gold-plated copper spade lugs. Compared to AudioQuest's Rocket 33, the SC-5 lacked body, weight, and warmth, but produced a detailed, dramatic overall sound, with clean transients and impressive dynamics, said SM. Sold direct with a 30-day, money-back guarantee. (Vol.37 No.2 WWW)

AudioQuest Dragon ZERO: $34,100/8' pair
"Notably transparent, able to deliver dynamic slam and detail," wrote MF. (Vol.45 No.9 WWW)

AudioQuest Robin Hood ZERO : $2235/10' pair
JA's go-to speaker cable, with clean highs and a good sense of low-frequency clarity that get the best from MoFi SourcePoint 10s, KEF LS50s, and GoldenEar BRXes.

AudioQuest Rocket 33: $749.95/10ft pair
AudioQuest's 14AWG, solid-core Rocket 33 speaker cable offered an exciting leap in performance over SM's RadioShack Flat Megacable speaker wire, infusing music with more low-level resolution, transient speed, clarity, and physicality. (Vol.34 No.9, Vol.37 No.2 WWW)

Benchmark Studio&Stage Speaker Cable: $198/10' pair $$$
Benchmark recommends this affordable cable for use with the AHB2 power amplifier. It uses Canara star-quad conductors with a SpeakON NL2 or NL4 connector on the amplifier end and locking banana plugs on the speaker end. NR, but see JA's Benchmark DAC 3 B review in Vol.46 No.3 WWW.

Cardas Clear rev.1: $4085/2m pair, terminated in spades
JM was most impressed by the Cardas Clear's low-frequency clarity and resolution, finding the Clear to give two or three more bass notes on a pipe organ, with a lower noisefloor and "spooky" resolution compared with his reference MIT MH-770 CVTerminator cables. "The best-sounding cables I have heard," he concluded. JA agrees that these are fine-sounding cables. (Vol.33 No.10 WWW)

IKIGAI Audio Kangai-level loudspeaker cables: $9400/2m pair
Dutch cables with silver/24kt gold conductors—see Interconnects. (Vol.47 No.3 WWW)

Kimber Kable 8TC: $688/3m pair (10') w/o connectors
(NR, but see "The Fifth Element" in Vol.33 No.6 WWW)

Kubala-Sosna Elation Speaker Cable: $8000/pair first meter, $1700/each additional meter
A JA favorite. See "Interconnects." (NR)

Kubala-Sosna Fascination: $1250/m pair; $400/additional meter
Kubala-Sosna claims that their OptimiZ technology "results in a lower characteristic impedance and a higher ratio of capacitance to inductance than any other cable." Each cable consists of a hefty pair of conductors twisted around each other, sheathed with a knitted cover, and solidly terminated in thick spade lugs. The current versions have sleek, tight jackets that make them easy to snake and arrange. With the K-S cables in his system, KR noted a decrease in overall residual hiss and softer but more precise highs. "I can't say that the change is substantial, but it is definable." Further auditioning with his multi-channel system completely wired with K-S cables led him to describe these cables as among the quietest and most transparent cables he has encountered: "Overall, they seem to get out of the way of everything else and let the system do its thing." (Vol.28 No.3, Vol.29 No.7 WWW)

Luna Mauve: $1890/2.5m pair
See Power-Related Accessories.

Naim NACA5: $26/ft $$$
Inexpensive spaced-twin cable that ST found to work well with the Spendor S100 loudspeaker. Unchanged in Naim's product line since 1986, the NACA5 is made of two chunky runs of stranded heavy-gauge wire twisted into a very tight bundle and molded into a thick sheath of Teflon. "Stiffer than Swedish roadkill," said AD. Compared to RadioShack's inexpensive SW-1650 speaker wire, however, the unwieldy NACA5 was better at communicating pitch relationships and had "a more realistic sense of flow." Worth investigating as a good-value cable, thinks JA. (Vol.32 No.8 WWW)

Nordost Valhalla 2 Speaker Cable: $12,759.99/1.25m
See Interconnects.

Stealth Dream V16: $14,700/2m pair, $6,600 each additional meter
The hermetically sealed, helium-filled Dream V10 is a thick yet flexible cable made of three flat solid-silver wires and a conductive carbon-fiber core. Compared to the TARA Labs Omega Onyx, the Stealth cable had a richer, warmer sound, with a softer attack for a slower overall musical flow. Partnered with the Stealth Sakra interconnects, the Dream V10 cable produced a more textured midrange but lacked the TARA's upper-octave air, said MF. Bi-wiring adds $1300 regardless of cables' length. (Vol.34 No.6)

TARA Labs Air Evolution SP speaker cable, 8' with bananas & spades: $4800; each add'tl foot is $380
See "Interconnects."

TARA Labs Omega Evolution SP loudspeaker cable: $37,000/8' pair, each additional foot $3900
The physically flexible TARA Labs Omega Evolution, incorporating almost twice as many rectangular, solid-core elements of "8 nines" (99.999999%) oxygen-free copper (280 vs the Gold's 156), adds the speed, transparency, dimensionality, and, especially, textural suppleness that the previous Gold cable lacked, thus losing the Gold's "somewhat laid-back overall sound" while paying no sonic penalty for the major improvements, said Mikey. Even more recent is TARA's Omega Evolution SP speaker cable, a higher-inductance and identically priced variant intended as a better match for amplifiers with very low damping factors and/or speakers that present distinctly reactive loads. In his system, in comparison with the less expensive TARA Omega Golds, MF found the Omega Evolution SPs to offer "more precise note attacks" and "greater textural nuance," among other attributes. (Vol.36 No.11, Vol.38 No.12)

Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 8 Speaker Cable: $29,600/3m pair
Compared to the new TARA Labs Omega Evolution, the Platinum Eclipse 7 is equally transparent, resolving, and dimensional, but less texturally supple and extended on top, with a less richly drawn midrange, said MF. (Vol.36 No.11)

Digital Data Interconnects:

DH Labs Silver Sonic D-110 AES/EBU: $170/1m
(NR, but see EL's review of the Bel Canto DAC3.5VB in Vol.34 No.6 WWW)

Kimber Kable Orchid: $948/1m
Expensive, but the best AES/EBU link JA has used. J-10 loved the Orchid's midrange liquidity and detail, but preferred Illumination's S/PDIF cable overall. SD (almost) doesn't equivocate: "Probably the best out there for now. . ..A stunner!" RH and RD are also fans. New lower price usefully brings this cable in reach of more music lovers. (Vol.19 No.5)

Kubala-Sosna Expression: $1050/m, $300/additional meter
A KR favorite. See "Loudspeaker Cables." (Vol.29 No.7 WWW)

Revelation Audio Labs Prophecy CryoSilver Reference DualConduit USB 2.0 Digital Link Cable: $799/1.25m (other lengths/connector type combinations available)
KR first became acquainted with Revelation Audio Labs' USB cables when a set was supplied with his Baetis Prodigy-X server. He was especially intrigued by the build quality of RAL's DualConduit design, in which dual Type A USB plugs converge in a single Type B USB plug, with one lead for signal and the other for the 5V USB power. The RAL DualConduit remains a KR reference in various computer-audio settings. (Vol.41 No.3 WWW)