Magic, O!

We gathered that our local Magico dealer, Audio Image, had delivered a few pairs of Magico Q3 and Q5 so far. We were very interested to listen to a Magico Q3 or Q5 based system, and as luck would have it, we received an invitation from a new Q5 owner, whom we shall refer to as ST, to have a listen to his system. What a pleasant surprise! It is not common that a highend audiophile opens his door to strangers like us, so we are very grateful for ST's generosity.

And so it was, a few of us descended on ST's bungalow on a Saturday afternoon. After the introduction, we were promptly led up a few flights of stairs into his listening room. ST appreciates the finer things in life, he told us that in addition to excellent sound quality, he also wanted his hifi system and his hifi room to look good, as after a long hard day, when he comes into the room to wind down and relax, he wants to enjoy not just glorious music but also beautiful sight, as such the equipment and the room deco must be pleasant too. Well, after my time in ST's listening room, I am certain he has achieved what he wanted on both counts - hifi and eye-fi.

I'll let this series of photos do the talking:

The system view.
Due to the number of equipment in the system, ST has positioned them in two layers. The front layer, which you can see in this shot, consists of the frontends and pre-amp. The second layer behind, hidden from view, consists of the monoblocks and power conditioner.
The room was designed and constructed by Centre Circle Audio. It has a nice and warm ambiance. It is acoustically treated with wood panels and Auralex's acoustic treatment material, both nicely incorporated into the design itself. In the photo above, the wood panel behind the loudspeakers with its uneven surface acts as a nice acoustic diffuser. Auralex bass traps are installed at the corners, together with Auralex sound absorbing foams at the sides of the loudspeakers (the burgundy coloured material).

A wood panel acting as diffuser is installed on the ceiling. If you look closer, you'd notice that each square in the panel has different depth, following the quadratic residue sequence approach used in many sound diffuser products.

The digital frontend is a Simaudio MOON Andromeda top loading CD player with separate power supply (not shown)

The analog frontend is a Clearaudio Innovation turntable...

...with a Clearaudio Universal tonearm and a Transfiguration Orpheus MC cartridge...
...and Simaudio MOON 310LP Phono Amp & 320S Power Supply
The pre-amp is the 2-piece Simaudio MOON 850P, the top dog in Simaudio's line-up

The monoblocks are the best that Simaudio offers - the MOON 880M, which give out 800w per channel into 8ohm, double into 4ohm.
Doing powerline conditioning and protection duty is a Shunyata Triton, seen above at the centre of the shot, flanked by the 2 monoblocks.
At the end of the chain is the majestic Magico Q5, 176kg/387lbs of aluminium chassis and more

To match his top notch equipment, ST does not skimp on cables. He uses mainly JPS Aluminata. Seen here are the Aluminata powercord, interconnect and speaker cable which go in and out of the Simaudio MOON 880M monoblock.
Other than JPS Aluminata, there are a couple of Shunyata powercords, the Python Helix and Anaconda Helix, which you can spot in the monoblock-powerline conditioner photo before (the ones with green and red plugs)
The JPS Aluminata speaker cable that goes into the Magico Q5

ST also uses hifi accessories to fine tune the sound. Here we see the Harmonix Tuning Spike Base under the Magico Q5. In fact, ST is so big with Harmonix Tuning Spike Base that he has 12 sets in his system, installed under almost every piece of his equipment

ASI's resonators are used to tweak the acoustic property of the room. This one is placed at the top corners of the room

More resonators from ASI. These are installed at the centre of the front wall

The more eagle-eyed among you would notice that ST prefers to stick to the same brands for his equipment - almost all his electronics are from Simaudio, and almost all his cables are from JPS. He told us that he preferred such an approach because he could be confident that there would be no mismatch issue with equipment coming from the same brand. I cannot fault such a philosophy, it will indeed take away much guesswork when putting together a system.

After just a short listening, I loved the tonal beauty of this system already, which I recognized as a beguiling quality common to the Magico line. I heard the same beautiful tonal colour from other Magico models, such as the V2 and V3, in the local dealer's showroom too. Just that the Magico Q5 in this system conveyed this quality more clearly and more prominently than the dealer's system. The system also sounded dynamic, fast and detailed. Both ends of the frequency spectrum were very extended. Bass featured prominently in the mix, it brought much exceitement to the listening experience though it could be just a bit overwhelming at times. The overall sound was not the thin and analytical kind, instead it had excellent body, a nice bloom and sounding simply musical. The sound was also non-fatiguing for long hours of listening.

Listening to this system is a joy. ST, thank you for your hospitality, we had a truly memorable weekend.

Best Cables 2011.

Cables remain controversial within audiophile community, because many are in the opinion that moneyed monkeys spend silly money on cables, while there are many in the high end community who are convinced that cables are just as important as any other equipment in the hifi chain.

We are pretty satisfied with the cables we had in hand, except for my search to obtain the best digital cable that I could practically afford. Hence the list below reflects my personal "best" choice rather than the ultimate.

I am a big fan only the JPS Aluminata range, this co-axial digital interconnect didn't disappoint.

JPS Aluminata Digital.

This was the first cable I tested during my search for a suitable digital cable, and has since remained my benchmark for other cables to emulate. Stunning transparency and zero noise floor results in digital music coming alive and breathing in my man cave. Every little detail and harmonic texture of each musical instrument, voice and emotional content is transferred wholesale to the next equipment in the hifi chain. Staging and imaging is life like, as if "I am breathing the same air with the musicians"(borrowed this from a good, good friend) experience! Possibly one of the best sounding digital cable money can buy today.

Wireworld Starlight Platinum is a top contender in the digital cable stakes.

Wireworld Starlight Platinum Digital.

This Wireworld equals the performance of the JPS Aluminata in so many ways, that it's hard to favour one over the other. However the Starlight Platinum out does the JPS in the bass department. I found the meatier bass quality highly enjoyable, only because it was just as articulate with a propulsive nature. It's only in the highs where the JPS sounds more open and extended, compared to the darker top end of the Starlight Platinum. It's a though choice between this two alpha cables and I know more than a few people who made this digital cable their reference, but for me it's the JPS Aluminata, if only by just a hair. It's that close a call!


Entreq Discover offers well rounded sound quality without silly prices. 


Entreq Discover Power Cord.

Entreq is a new brand represented by Swedish Statement. I had the chance to try out their Absolute Reference power cord, but ended up liking this cheaper Discover model instead. The Discover offers honest build quality for the price and more importantly, balanced, if a slightly immediate sonic character to suit a vast variety of high performance systems. It's not exactly cheap, but still offers excellent value.

VooDoo Reference Digital, my current reference.

 VooDoo Digital Reference.

VooDoo cables offers excellent price to performance ratio across the range. They may not be the best, but they certainly come very close in terms of sound quality, for a fraction of the asking prices compared to those snooty alpha cables. The VooDoo Digital Reference is lightly built, but will certainly be lasting with gentle handling. It's my starter cable while aspiring to something better in the future. 

Here are a few other cables that impressed me in 2011.

1) Wireworld Platinum Eclipse 6 Interconect
2) ASI Liveline Digital Co-axial
3) Supra DAC XLR Gold Digital
4) AOR Reference For Torus Power
5) MIT Shotgun MA Speaker Cables

The World's Finest Cables? JPS Aluminata Co-Axial Cable.

I spoke about the critical link between the Bryston BDP-1 media player and the BDA-1 DAC, which is the digital cable linking the two components. Just for kicks, I thought I'd set about looking for a reference grade cable to start, so that I can gauge the sonic compromises as I work my way downwards to the real world priced cables. With that in mind, I called Sky of Centre Circle Audio to check if he has any, and bingo! This JPS Aluminata co-axial cable, priced RM$5.8k, was available for my taking. Some of you may remember my fondness for the other Aluminata family members in the JPS Labs cable range.

The JPS Aluminata co-axial cable is exquisitely built with the finest materials, workmanship, and packaging. It's terminated both ends with patented WBT RCA locking plugs. The thickly insulated cable is very stiff and can be tricky to manage in tight space. Since the Bryston BDP-1 came with BNC outputs, I'd have to used an industry grade BNC-RCA converter on one end, available from the electronics shop. However the BDA-1 DAC accepts RCA inputs, so no problems there.

By the way, the AES-EBU version of this JPS Aluminata cable is available on special order basis too.
Both ends of the JPS Aluminata is terminated with this WBT locking RCA plug. It bites the female end of the RCA sockets so hard, and the super stiff JPS cable nearly ripped out the female socket from the Bryston's PCB board.

Let's dissect the sonic properties of the JPS Aluminata in detail. This is certainly one of the most transparent sounding high end audio cable that I've heard to date. Every little musical information, that is encoded inside the Bryston BDP-1 is all transmitted wholesale to the DAC. I am astounded by the last bit of moisture lingering within the instruments in the sound stage. Every vocal/instrumental performance technique is presented without any veiling, for one's scrutiny. The most astounding part is not the way the cable presents it self as tonally neutral. Here's an area which I feel I need to further clarify, because there's the tonally "neutral" where you, the listener is made fully conscious about it, as you listen and then there's the tonally "neutral" naturally unforced in every way. I can almost say that the JPS is so.... "neutral", it's hardly there in the audio chain, sonically. You just can't hear it!, until you compared it with other cables, then suddenly one is aware of the cable in the system.

Another area I wish to highlight about this cable is the back ground. Lesser cables will always have a layer of white haze noise present(sometimes mistaken as "air" in lower end hifi) within the musical back drop. Better cables tend to sound darker to various degrees, for that bit of extra convincing sound staging and imaging property. The JPS is in a class of it's own, as in, it presents "nothing", yes, nothing, zilch, not even a hint of darkness within the musical back drop! It's that impressive, more so only because it never sounded the least "dry" either! Just "nothing" within each musical note, and sound stage.

The cable also handled transient response and musical dynamic peaks with the speed and explosiveness closest to "live" music, amplified or otherwise.
The all aluminium casing and certificate of authenticity.


With time, I had even forgotten about evaluating the cable, I was just as lost in the music, just as the effects of the JPS Aluminata is lost in the hifi reproduction chain.

I feel that this cable is very worthy of it's tittle as one of "The World's Finest Cables", only because I subscribe to the belief that cables are a necessary evil, and the best cable is no cable. The JPS Aluminata for me came as close to my beliefs as far I as I've experienced from any other cable, up til today. None came as close as this. Now, is that a great start to my cable search or what?

JPS Labs cables is sold by Centre Circle Audio. Contact Sky, Nelson at 03-77282686.

KLIAV 2010 - Centre Circle Audio

Centre Circle Audio will be showcasing flagship models from the major product lines they represent.

The hifi centrepiece will consist of the Pathos Endorphin CD player as the frontend,

with Halo JC2 Pre-amp and the imposing JC1 monoblocks from Parasound providing the power,


and the latest incarnation of the renowned Andra model, the Andra III, from EgglestonWorks completing the chain.

Cleaning up the juice to feed the system will be the Titan power conditioner from Isotek.


Rounding out this stellar cast will be powercords from JPS and audio cables from Purist Audio Design.

Centre Circle Audio will also be displaying acoustic treatment products from Auralex. If you have a problematic room, you should check them out.

My Choice is.....

If this is an election, a 64% vs 36% final result can't be called anything but a landslide. :-)

The survey where I asked our readers which loudspeaker cables I'd buy, Siltech Classic Anniversary 550L or JPS Labs Superconductor 3, two third of you chose Siltech (though the survey did not generate a high number of votes - only 25). I think Siltech must be better known and many must have also heard what we hear in these cables - beauty, transparency and an overall articulate sound, and love them.

Thing would have been clear cut for me if I had RM30k to blow, my choice would be the Siltech Classic Anniversary 770L, the top model in the Classic Anniversary line. But I did not have that luxury. The next rung down was either the 550L or the JPS Labs Superconductor 3.

And I went for......

The JPS Labs Superconductor 3.

As I mentioned earlier, cable choice is pretty much subjective preference. The JPS Labs Superconductor 3 have a number of virtues that fit what I look for at this stage of my hifi journey. To go for JPS, first of course I have to make a conscious decision to give up the beautiful and silky highs from the Siltech cables, and I was beguiled by those highs to say the least. On the other hand, I think the highs from the Superconductor 3 are good too in their own right - excellently extended and open.

The other thing in the Superconductor 3's fit for me is its strength in conveying the 'energy' in music, which I also wrote about in my earlier post. My listening preference is not wanting to do 'easy listening', instead I want to hear and feel the effort, emotion and even angst that the musicians pour into their work. By this I do not mean just the macro dynamics, though the Superconductor 3 does macro very well too, such as heavy hitting drums and orchestral crescendos; but this applies too to 'smaller' matters - such as hearing the force applied in a guitar pluck, hearing in a vocalist not just the mouth, but the chest and diaphragm. However, do not misinterpret that I look for 'aggressiveness' or 'forwardness', far from it, it is the natural energy that one would hear in live music that I seek.

The Superconductor 3 is also transparent, detailed and well balanced, such that I believe they will last a few cycles of my equipment upgrades.

Running in on the Cable Cooker

So, here it is, the JPS Labs Superconductor 3 takes up residence in my system! :-)

What Say You?

When I wrote about the Siltech Classic Anniversary and JPS Labs loudspeaker cables on 28/8, I basically also said that an upgrade was due for me. (Click here: http://hifi-unlimited.blogspot.com/2009/08/three-fairy-sisters-vs-three-eyed.html)

I have since made my decision on which loudspeaker cables to go for. But let me delay the news for a few days. Let's listen to you, readers of this blog, as to which cables I would buy - the Siltech Classic Anniversary 550L or the JPS Labs Superconductor 3, both in similar price range. So, here is the first reader survey of Hifi-Unlimited. On the right hand side panel, you can find a survey panel to put in your opinion.

It is my belief that cable selection is a matter of personal preference, some look for utter neutrality, some look for certain 'flavour' to fine tune their systems' sound. So the question I am asking is that based on your knowledge from what you could have gleamed from my writings and my system, which cable I would have gone for.

I would like to emphasize though that this is not a survey of which is the better cable, but on my personal cable preference.

Hehe, sorry also to say the survey result would not affect my decision, because I have paid for the cables of my choice and they are now sitting in my room running in. But let's play a little lighthearted game and see whether you'd have made the same choice for my system.

The survey will close 9:00am on this coming Sunday 13/9/09 Malaysian time. My answer will come out on the same day too.

No prize will be given out for getting it right though. :-)

The Three Fairy Sisters vs The Three-Eyed Warrior

仙女三姐妹 對 二郎神

(the title in Chinese)

Big E has been hot on cables lately, I have been busy too. Those Siltech Classic Anniversary Series loudspeaker cables also spent their time at my place. But there was a slight twist, I had the JPS Superconductor 3 at the same time too.

A mutual friend texted me, when he learned that I had 3 pairs of Siltech and the JPS Labs cables, "So how is the fight between the fairy sisters and the 3-eyed warrior?". I was startled for a while, and managed to catch on to what he meant only after some long thought. Wow, when did my listening room become the battleground of these Chinese mythological characters? :-)

The macho 3-eyed warrior 二郎神

Big E's seductive heavenly fairies 仙女散花

Anyway, nicknaming the Siltechs "fairies" was apt, and calling the JPS "warrior" was apt too.

The Siltech Classic Anniversary range consisted of the 330L, 550L and 770L models. All of them exhibited unparalleled achievement in terms of refinement, smoothness, sweetness and sonic beauty in my system. It must be the magic of Siltech's use of silver-gold mix in these cables.

Siltech Classic Anniversary 550L
Actually, at this level of photo resolution, the 330L, 550L, 770L would all look the same. However, in real life, they got heavier and there were more twists in the cables as you move up the range.

I started actually with the 550L, the middle fairy sister. The most prominent impression that hit me was the highs, I never heard highs so silky smooth, so beguiling in my system ever. This was coupled with a beautiful shean in the same region, giving the sound reproduction that highend glamourous feel (chinese called it "gui qi 貴氣"). I found the highs so beautiful that my attention was invariably drawn to it, just like coming face to face with a beautiful woman - the gaze was glued to the face, the rest of it became secondary.

The 550L handled the rest of the sonic spectrums excellently too, though I felt that they did not attain the achievement of the highs. Its mid was clear and articulate, its bass was a little lighter than what I was used too, but it was well defined. Its slight lightness balanced out the bass heaviness that I suffered in my system due to my small listening space. Overall, an organic and musical presentation, absolutely beautiful with music that required sophistication and subtlety - female vocals (these played right into the Siltech's hands), small ensemble Jazz, classicals. But probably not the best choice if your music diet was rock or those slap-me-silly dynamic tracks.

I told Big E how impressed I was with the 550L. He gamely lent me the 330L, the little fairy sister, for a comparison. He has bought the pair of 330L and they were his reference now. Wow, if you love 'sweet', you'd love the 330L. They reminded me of a younger time, of my high school sweetheart - fresh-faced, pretty, clean-cut, and did I mention sweet? Again, the junior model was equally competent in the area of musicality and organic-ness - it always presented music rather than hifi sound.

I came to a different conclusion from Big E at this point. He said he preferred the 330L's musicality over the 550L's more technical achievements. I, though, preferred the 550L which I felt was no less musical (well, probably just a bit less) but also with added improvement in resolution and dynamic contrast. Bear in mind, though, that the 550L (RM17.5k) came in at almost double the price of the 330L (RM9.3k).

Then my party with the 2 fairy sisters was gate-crashed. That was the JPS Superconductor 3 loudspeaker cables that Big E wrote about before. I had not heard them and I wanted to contrast the 550L with something in the same price range, so it was just natural for me to go borrow the JPS from Centre Circle Audio. It was a CONTRAST indeed.

The JPS Labs Superconductor 3, stiff but malleable, hooked up to my EgglestonWorks.
Can you cable hold a loop like this? :-) A little too long for my place, so the Superconductor 3 was connected 'standing up'!

Let's talk about their physical attibutes first. The Siltechs had a soft and flexible body, making them very easy to route and install. The JPS was stiff (and I mean really stiff) just like a metal pipe (if I remember correctly, the cables were actually shielded inside copper pipes). They fight you during installation, you have to bend them into shape to make the connection. The fortunate part was that they would hold the shape just like a metal pipe would.

See, this JPS 3-eyed warrior's physique was 'muscular', and it was reflected in the sound too. Gone was the sweetness of the Siltechs, instead it was replaced with the feeling of energy. It was transparent but did not fully match that of the Siltech 550L, however it was a more exciting listen than the Siltech. Its bass was muscular, mid had good body and energy, the highs did lose out to the Siltechs in terms of smoothness and that sweetness thingy again, but was no less extended. Even with simple vocal music, the contrast was rather stark. With Siltech, I was beguiled and relaxed; with JPS, I was attracted by the energy displayed by the musicians and singer, the listening was exciting even. The JPS Labs Superconductor 3 also portrayed a bigger soundstage which was also slightly forward.

What the Siltech had the JPS did not. What the JPS had the Siltech did not. There was no clear winner in this situation, system matching and, probably more importantly, personal taste would play into one's decision making.

This was a problem, I wonder whether there was anything that could combine the best of both. I spoke to Big E about it and he thought the top of the line 770L would solve this dilemma, so he went to CMY to borrow a pair.

Well, you can read Big E's earlier post on the 770L. You knew he was extremely impressed, he said, "The big sister is like having both the technical superiority of the 550L and the musical presentation of the 330L in one cable! In other words, the all conquering JPS Super Conductor 3 (retailing at RM$13K+ for a 2.5m pair) is now finally being put into its place." I was equally impressed too. Yes, there was now 'beauty' and 'energy' all in one. It matched the JPS in energy level and excitement to quite a large degree, and outstripped it in transparency and sophistication. The sound was perennially glamourous, a term that Big E used which I agreed with both hands. Details, timbre accuracy, smoothness were the best among the 4 pairs of cables here.

Wow, this is what you get by almost doubling up the price paid again (RM30k)! To me, the 770L was insanely expensive and I could not afford them. But I sure admire those who could!

Now, I have to admit that I found it hard to go back to my first generation Transaparent Musicwave Ultra speaker cables, which had served me very well all these years. A few guys including Big E had a wager on, betting whether I'd succumb to the beautiful fairy sister or make friends with the macho warrior. And I was pre-warned that whichever side I came down on, the losers would beat me up.

Well, be patient, guys. You will hear about it here. :-)

Siltech is carried by CMY Audio & Visual, contact John Yew, Ph: 03-21439406
JPS Labs is carried by Center Circle Audio, contact Nelson Chia, Ph: 03-77282686

John Player Special! JPS Super Conductor 3 Speaker Cable.

This is an old post of ours in the blog we previously contributed to.

JPS = John Player Special, remember the JPS sponsored Tyrell F1 winning team from the 70's?

After knowing that I've being smitten by the JPS Aluminata power cord, but couldn't quite afford it just yet, Nelson Chia, Center Circle Audio boss, asked me to try out their JPS Super Conductor 3 speaker cable. "It's cheaper!" he said that with the 40% discount still applies to the final 2 pairs available. At RM$13.5K list price, the JPS Super Conductor 3 is the most expensive speaker cable to graze my system! Heck, it's even more expensive than my pair of Audio Physic Spark speakers. My friends are already giggling on the theme of "the tire is more expensive than the car"! So how does it sound?

In one word, "SUPERB!" The JPS SC3 is a supremely transparent speaker cable, almost top dog JPS Aluminata level transparent(vis a vis the JPS Aluminata powercord I played with in May)! What separates the top dog from the JPS SC3 is the finer level of nounces and subtleties in the musical passages are more well presented by the more expensive cable. I feel the overall level of performance capable in comparison to the JPS Aluminata is about 10% or perhaps 15% max.

The JPS Super Conductor 3 review sample came terminated with high quality WBT spades.

The band width of this speaker cable is widest I come across. So wide, it's probably showcasing the extremes of what my system is capable of, the lows and highs extension that is.

This speaker cable has no tonal balance or should I say imbalances to show, the highs, mids and lows are so evenly represented on it's tonal palette. There's very little character to speak of in fact, it's almost chameleon like in behavior when used with different power amplifiers, driving my pair of above mentioned speakers. There's a few things that are consistent in the JPS SC3's performance. The highs are always fully extended yet somehow never hint at brightness. The mids are always weighty, and vocals presented in full scale. The bass, always tight and tuneful. The bass will extend as deep as the equipment in the system will allow.

The overall sonic presentation of the JPS SC3 is extremely coherent. If the system can portray staging and and imaging well, the JPS SC3 will give you the widest, deepest most realistically room less sound stage possible, with all the audiophile air to breath too! Imaging is dense and solidly believable. It presents all the very minute sonic cues, harmonic subtleties and low level information is the most organic fashion, never letting the listener feel overwhelmed or distracted by it all, even when all is happening at the same time.

In it's 2 weeks with my system, I've partnered it with a number of systems. The first was the arrival of the Bryston 4BSST2, which proved to be a better match with the JPS SC3 than my usual Straightwire Maestro II and a pair of Siltech G5 LS-88 on loan. However, the Bryston was a poor match to the Pass X2.5 pre amp and it showed easily, via the JPS SC3.

The speaker end of cable. Why does it have to be so..... stiff?

It's been a really crazy two weeks for me, as a friend asked me to help him replace the aging 6H30 tubes in his Audio Research Reference 3 pre amp while he was away for 2 days. Fresh tubes installed, and for that 2 days, with my Marantz CD7 front end, Audioquest Sky interconnect, ARC Ref 3 pre amp, Cardas Golden Presence interconnect, Bryston 4BSST2 power amp, JPS Super Conductor 3 speaker cable and Audio Physic Spark as my system chain, proved to be the most enjoyable time I've had for a while now since the temporary departure of the Pass Alephs. That combo made me forget about missing my Pass Alephs if only for just 2 days!

As if my audio life couldn't get any better, the Bladelius Saga and Ymer pre/power combo arrived for a timely review! Now with the JPS Super Conductor 3 in tow, the sound took on a whole new different dimension! If the earlier system combo made me just forget about my Pass Alephs, the newly arrived Bladelius combo in the system proved that when hifi is so good!, it ceases to exist, and only the music remains! I totally forgotten about the hifi! I played disc after disc for hours, never feeling fatigue or tired. I just kept addictively wanting more music!

I can't reveal further about the findings of the above two system combo's sound, as I still have to do the Bryston and Bladelius combo in their own respective reviews to come soon.

What I am trying to say is that the JPS Super Conductor 3 is so sonically neutral, it can very easily fit in to many a system combo and still come out showing all the system's glorious qualities. If the system sounds awful after inserting the JPS Super Conductor 3, don't blame it, it's just the messenger telling you, there's something not right and you'll need to investigate the cause, take remedy action.

Panzer dreaming of another early X'mas present? I luv ya Santa, can ya hear me??? he,he!......

I only have 2 grieves about the JPS Super Conductor 3, first of all it's a little too stiff for easy handling. It stubbornly sticks out in to any directions it deems fit! You cannot bend the JPS SC3 too much, or you'll end up snapping it, your musical joy will be ruined and that's a guarantee! The said stiffness also puts a lot of pressure on to the WBT spade terminations at both ends. Even the spades are at risk of detachment if you can't accommodate the bending angle just enough. Also, older amps and speakers with very closely mounted terminations will be at risk of shorting if the JPS exerts too much pressure at the terminations, causing them to turn, even after they are securely fastened. I am very careful to check for turned terminations(resulting in positive/negative contact) before switching on power amps, otherwise I risk not only shorting amps that do not belong to me, but my speaker cone drivers or tweeters may pop too!

The other grieve is the price or the timing! I know, I know, good things are never cheap. Listed at RM$13.5K, factor in the 40% promotional discount, it's still cost RM$8.1K to acquire the JPS Super Conductor 3. That, for now is something I still can't afford until I finished paying off the Torus Power purchased earlier. Now, if only Center Circle Audio will do another JPS cable promotion in a few months time? That'll be perfect timing!

If you've got a thing for the JPS Super Conductor 3 speaker cables, hurry!
Only 2 pairs left with the 40% promotional offer.

JPS Cables are sold by Center Circle Audio, tel: 03-77282686

Posted by Panzer13 June '09

My Alumini! JPS Aluminata Power Cord.

This is an old post of ours in the blog we previously contributed to.

An early X'mas present from Santa!? I've been a good boy too, Ha!Ha!

My friend called and told me ecstatically that he's just got the JPS Aluminata power cord, and he'd like me to cook his new toy with my home brew kable kooker.

Packed with classy aluminium case, ribbon and all, inside a certificate of authenticity greets you.

I cook the JPS Aluminata for about 18 hours or so, during which the cable ran moderately warm to touch, always a good sign when cooking! Stone cold cables when cooking means a non-effective cook!

Cooking the big snake.

After which, I proceeded to plug the 2 meter length JPS Aluminata in to my Marantz CD7, replacing my AOR Reference 003, I heard a sound that is very familiar, but with much better resolving low level resolution. I guess it was the Marantz CD7 doing it's thing again, i.e., not responding to tweaks!

I then proceeded to plug the JPS Aluminata in to my Pass X2.5 pre amp, again played my favorite music, lo-and-behold! It was an immediate show stopping moment from time the play button was pressed on the CDP. The rest of the sound impression below is done with the JPS powering my pre amp.

The sound now took on an whole new dimension. The first thing I noticed was the bass, full, in control, gutsy and extends very low!, about as low as I've heard before in my room. The mids give vocals great body and mass(I listened to Tsai Chin's Lou Ge on a recently re-issued 180 grams LP), pianos and violins have just the right amount of balance between strings and wood reverb(I was listening to Tube Hifi Violin, by Wilhelm Dennigen playing the Sennhauser, Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu 1735 violin, accompanied by back ground piano). On that CD, I have never heard Wilhelm breath so much in to the mike so closely and each with diferent intensity! Also never before apparent is the bowing and playing techniques which he executes that sounds so melodramatic! I didn't know I was missing that much of musical experience on this very familiar CD.

My all time favourite violin/piano duet CD! I must have listened to this a million times by now.

The highs are smooth, extended and at once airy. The whole sound stage and image had an organic, believable aura to it! Compared to the PS Audio Plus, post listening to the JPS Aluminata, I've found the PS Audio to have a certain artificial, some what edgy sheen added to the violin, of the above same CD. I've never picked this out before. But to be fair, at RM$11K(recommended retail price, my friend told me he got it for a lot less as he ordered it during the JPS cable sales at Center Circle Audio) the top dog JPS is almost 10 times the price of the middling PS Audio!, no contest here for sure.

The JPS Aluminata, laying over the AOR Reference 003(underneath), for a size able comparison?

That's my brief few hours with the JPS Aluminata, to date the most expensive, but probably, the very best power cord to have grazed my humble system! In a way, it made me felt that I've just graduated from a top dollar hifi lesson, hence my alumini! I would not call this a review, but rather a preview, just from a few hours of enjoyment with the JPS Aluminata.

My friend called up to ask how a felt about his new toy, I told him the above, he came over straight away, took it home, and as I checked on him in the late evening, he was still listening and immersed in his music! He sure is one lucky fella!

In case you're wondering, Center Circle seems to still have some stock of those wonderful JPS cables for sale! Do hurry if you've not check it out just yet!

JPS cables are sold by Center Circle Audio, tel:03 77282686.

Posted by Panzer 9 May '09