Into the Light

Jim Wang of Harmonic Technology (right) and Jimmy Ko of Inex Innovation (left) have teamed up to produce the all-in-one Photon Amplicable. Combining the attributes of Harmonic Tech's CyberLight interconnect cables, an amplification system, and speaker cable, the Photon Amplicable allows the user to connect a source or preamp directly to speakers, and to power the system through the cables.

CyberLight cables apply "laser-like and fiber-optic technology to the audio realm....Audio signals at the input are [converted] to light through fiber-optic glass cables and then converted back from light to audio at the output." All this is accomplished in the analog domain, without digitization. As Wang told me in the HT room in The Venetian, the companies take the electron information and convert it to photon information.

The Photon Amplicable elite speaker cable ($12,000) shown in the photograph actually consists of the cable itself, a large power supply, and a small 25W class A/B amp that, in this most unusual context, is claimed to function as though it output somewhere between 100 and 200 watts. Wang claims that the whole shebang transmits the sound of whatever preamp you put in the chain. If you want a tube sound, connect the Photon Amplicable speaker cable to a tube preamp.

I confess that this was the last room I entered during four exhausting days of sensual overload. My blood sugar was low, and Jim's electrons and photons were shooting far over my head rather than piercing my befuddled brain with laser-like sharpness. Apologies to all concerned if I've garbled any of information. The good news is, it all sounds good.

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