Recommended Components 2023 Edition Interconnects

Interconnects:

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: $120/1m pair (RCAs), $140/1m 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: $22,100/1.5m 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)

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: $500/m pair; $180/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: $7000/pair first meter, $1500/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 SR728 Silver Headphone Cable: $1050
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)

COMMENTS
JRT's picture

The listing includes, "Topping Pre90: $599 plus $249 for the Ext90 input extender"

Topping's more recent A90 Discrete, aka A90D ($599) seems to include similar preamplifier functionality as the Pre90 at the same price, including the relay switched R-2R attenuator, and facility to add the Ext90 ($249) input extender. However the A90D also includes a headphone amplifier, which is not included in the Pre90, and the A90D uses discrete electronics in the audio amplifiers.

I am suggesting that the A90D might be a good subject for future review; and in the review bundle, it might be worthwhile to also request the aforementioned Ext90, the D90SE ($899) DA converter, and the SR2 ($219) modular three shelf aluminum component rack, which has suitable geometry, is designed for use with these components.

This isn't SPAM. I have no financial interest in this, have no affiliation with Topping or any of the vendors. I was merely considering updating my old home office setup, maybe.

Indydan's picture

Can Stereophile please remove all MQA enabled equipment from the recommended list?

https://www.creditman.co.uk/company-notices/company/09123512

mieswall's picture

Well Torquemada, why so shy?
Along with those A+ sinners of BelCanto's, CH Precision, dcs, EMM Labs (average cost of the heretics close to US$31,000), and also those more modest but equal sinners of GoldNote, IFI, Meitner, Sonnet, etc; why don't we also include Bob Stuart and Peter Craven in the bonfire and joyfully watch them burn? We should also declare Michael Gerzon a black angel (after all, most of MQA ideas were conceived by this AIA Gold Medalist devil).
And beware Fremer, Serinus, Austin (and every other one suggesting the earth isn't flat, btw): Don't you dare praising MQA again! We are watching you!

Kal Rubinson's picture

Why? I think people who want it and those who don't are equally well served by the information.

(Posted by someone in the latter group.)

miguelito's picture

Devices supporting MQA also support most other standards - I don't see a reason to remove them. Also, I have some MQA albums (some white-glove albums were done extremely well) so I want to be able to play those going forward.

JRT's picture

I noticed that the front page does not list the annual Recommended Components articles in the footer. I think that adding that listing or adding a single link in the footer to a page loaded with a collection of links to those annual articles might attract more page views.

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