“All I want is 20-20 vision, a total portrait with no omissions” Debbie Harry once sang, and her words make a great objective for hi-fi enthusiasts striving to discover more of the artist’s message.
A few months ago, I acquired an Intona Ultimate USB cable to try see what CKKeung’s excitement was about and I was impressed by the exceptional resolution it delivers. This cable therefore became my reference for reworking my Brutus award winning USB cable, which had soldiered on unchanged for the past 3 years. Intona resolution but with Sablon musicality became the development target.
Since my current model has served many customers well, I went though all the aspects of the design with a fine-tooth comb to see if any could be improved upon. Inevitably some ideas met with dead ends however there were, encouragingly, also several areas which I was able to enhance. Some of these will be visible, others not. A number of beta examples have been in circulation for UAT this month and production will start in February. Based on feedback to date and my own impressions, I'm pretty comfortable that the design objectives have been met.
Compared to the existing cable, the noise floor has dropped significantly which brings benefits in transparency and dynamic presence. Soundstage is more expansive yet has simultaneously been brought into clearer focus for a deeper insight into recordings. Overall tonality remains neutral and evenly distributed across the frequency range, yet musical. Think step change rather than an incremental improvement.
Since the digital cable segment is somewhat price sensitive (yes, the ones-and-zeros mentality lives on…), I will leave the pricing unchanged from the old model and an upgrade service will be available for older models, with concessionary rates for original owners.
Going forward, I will only be offering this single model level though there will continue to be an unpowered option for owners of dacs with Amanero inputs (Lampizator / Nagra / T&A) at a lower price-point. This iteration now also uses a dual leg format for greater gains.
Interested parties are welcome to PM / email me for an audition.
A few months ago, I acquired an Intona Ultimate USB cable to try see what CKKeung’s excitement was about and I was impressed by the exceptional resolution it delivers. This cable therefore became my reference for reworking my Brutus award winning USB cable, which had soldiered on unchanged for the past 3 years. Intona resolution but with Sablon musicality became the development target.
Since my current model has served many customers well, I went though all the aspects of the design with a fine-tooth comb to see if any could be improved upon. Inevitably some ideas met with dead ends however there were, encouragingly, also several areas which I was able to enhance. Some of these will be visible, others not. A number of beta examples have been in circulation for UAT this month and production will start in February. Based on feedback to date and my own impressions, I'm pretty comfortable that the design objectives have been met.
Compared to the existing cable, the noise floor has dropped significantly which brings benefits in transparency and dynamic presence. Soundstage is more expansive yet has simultaneously been brought into clearer focus for a deeper insight into recordings. Overall tonality remains neutral and evenly distributed across the frequency range, yet musical. Think step change rather than an incremental improvement.
Since the digital cable segment is somewhat price sensitive (yes, the ones-and-zeros mentality lives on…), I will leave the pricing unchanged from the old model and an upgrade service will be available for older models, with concessionary rates for original owners.
Going forward, I will only be offering this single model level though there will continue to be an unpowered option for owners of dacs with Amanero inputs (Lampizator / Nagra / T&A) at a lower price-point. This iteration now also uses a dual leg format for greater gains.
Interested parties are welcome to PM / email me for an audition.