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

Privileged Membership. Wireworld Starlight Platinum AES/EBU Digital Cable.



Wireworld digital cables are mostly well reviewed, and my experience with the real world priced Starlight 6 was rather positive. My good buddy Jo Ki has nothing but good words to say about this cable, and the man is seldom wrong about hifi(as he bought one to go with his Bryston BDP/BDA-1 combo too!). So when offered the alpha Starlight Platinum by James of AV Design, I am game. The cost of this Wireworld is RM$6,900/piece.

The all aluminium high strength flight case that packs the Wireworld Starlight Platinum cable.


The Wireworld Starlight Platinum arrived in a mini flight case, and inside it's packed with a certificate of authenticity of the well built cable, each marked with serial no. The Starlight Platinum is actually quite bendable, unlike the similarly top dog JPS Aluminata. This makes managing the cable routing easy, behind the equipments.

The cable and certificate of authenticity.

 Like the JPS Aluminata, this Wireworld is just as transparent and quiet sounding. All the recording details contained in the FLAC or AIFF music files it gets from the Bryston BDP-1, no matter how minute or insignificant, is dutifully transferred to the BDA-1 DAC, via the Starlight Platinum. This cable exhibited very even tonality and coherent presentation of the music. Like the JPS competitor, this cable could almost just disappear from the hifi equipment chain. The sound stage and imaging factors are just equally believable without resorting to the use of vivid imaginary powers of the mind! In overall terms of hifi performance, I'd rate this Wireworld digital cable right up there with the JPS one tested earlier.

There are areas of differences in the way the two top dollar cables represent in hifi qualities. First, even though both cables exhibited incredible bandwidth, the Wireworld seems to go one octave towards the lower frequency spectrum, where else the JPS extends further at the other end. This means music via the Wireworld seems to have more bass line detail, texture and slam while the JPS offers an "airier", more spatially dimensional top end. Next is the way both cables handle dynamics and transients. The Wireworld would seem to be the more dynamic sounding cable, only to find that the JPS offers faster transient response subjectively. How does these subtle differences hifi parameters effect the music passing thru these cables? My take, the Wireworld is more suitable to play rock/pop music as it's hifi qualities plays more to the genre's strength. The JPS is more naturally suitable if one musical diet leans towards acoustical instruments, like jazz or classical. Don't get me wrong, both cables will do all genres of music to satisfaction, but only to the ninth degree, from then on is where their differences in musical genre priority lies. While I am not splitting hairs here, but the subtlety of differences can sometimes be very persuasive indeed.

Each cable is individually serial numbered

Both cables are naturally in the same top end market by pricing, and it's only natural that they be compared against, otherwise, I might be doing you, my dear readers disservice, if you happen to be in the market for digital cables at this exclusive and privileged level. In the end, I suspect that one's musical diet and system balance will find synergy with either cable. The Wireworld Starlight Platinum fully deserves it's alpha cable status.

Wireworld is sold by AV Designs, contact James or Tony at 03-21712828.

The Cable Search. Wireworld Oasis 6 & Starlight 6 AES/EBU Digital Cable.

The Wireworld Oasis 6(left) & Starlight 6(right) is continuing the evolotion of the respective cable technology.

James provided me with these two sets of Wireworld AES/EBU digital cable to start off my Bryston BDP-1 & BDA-1 combo adventures. I did not want to evaluate them until I had established a certain performance benchmark at the top, in the form of the top range JPS Aluminata.

The Wireworld Oasis and Starlight 6 looks similarly built, but the cheaper Oasis cable is pure copper, while the more expensive Starlight adds silver to the metallurgy. The RM$390/meter Oasis 6 is quite possibly the cheapest AES/EBU digital available in the market, while the red jacketed Starlight 6 is the next model up at RM$790/meter.

Both cables share a warm, dark chocolate like, tonal colour signature, yet brings about a laid back, if somewhat cardboardy flat sound staging and imaging properties. The highs are smooth and largely grain free, which make these Wireworlds non-offending choices. The mid range reproduction is quite dense yet lack the nasal qualities of lesser cables. This is where the similarities end.

We now focus on what the Starlight 6 can do for double money! Compared to the entry level Oasis 6, the Starlight covers more band width, which means the highs and the bass frequencies will extend further at the extremes. With the extended highs, the sound stage sounds less shut in and more open. The extended bass also allows more detail in the lower frequencies to pass thru the speakers(provided the speakers are not the book shelf variety). Transparency factor is also improved somewhat, as I could hear more in to the smaller details of the music coming thru, as a result of lowered noise floor. The Starlight 6 tends to highlight just a shade more dynamic contrast too. The Starlight 6 is no doubt the superior cable of the two, for me and possibly all other owners of the Bryston combo, it's probably the most logical choice if one is on a budget or just starting his/her digital adventure.

On the whole, I am quite impressed with the capabilities Wireworld Starlight 6, given it's relatively affordable price. It has set a respectable performance benchmark for other real world priced digital cables to be compared against in the future.

My search continues.

Wireworld cables are sold by AV Designs, contact James/Tony at 03-21712828.

The Movie Guys Have Landed!

My Hifi/AV room was a hive of activities. AV Designs sent their crew to get my home theatre system installed. The kids were anxious, they pestered me frequently with "Can we watch movie yet?"

It took slightly more than half a day. The AV Designs crew went about getting the job done efficiently. You know they have done this numerous times. It was also the cleanest job any contractor has carried out in my new house, literally. The AV Designs guy asked for my vacuum cleaner. For every hole they drilled in the wall, they put either the vacuum or a plastic bag underneath the drill bit to collect the dust. At the end, I needed to do only a very light wipe-down of the place. It was a job well done!

The equipment list:

Projection System:

JVC DLA-B250 D-ILA Full HD Projector -RM9,999

This is JVC's new entry level full HD projector. It also marks the first time that a JVC D-ILA projector is available below the RM10k price point.

Unic FVP-106 Framed screen, 16:9 format (106in diagonal) -RM1,500

I decided to take this lower cost screen option. The other screen option that James proposed is from the renowned Stewart Filmscreen. Its SNL-100 framed screen (100in diagonal) would set me back RM7,900. If you want to see what a premium screen can do to the picture quality, visit AV Designs' showroom, one is used in its demo system.

Wireworld Chroma 6 HDMI cable 9 metres -RM1,190

Audio/Video System:

Pioneer VSX-LX53 AVR -RM4,599

Pioneer BDP-LX71 Bluray Player - RM4,599

This bluray player is under evaluation at my place for a short while while I decide. I am still contemplating whether to go for a Bluray player; since for DVD duty I can use my Marantz DV7001, while for Bluray replay, I am considering a Sony PS3, which can do dual duties, as in Bluray movie and gaming duties (not that I am a big gaming fan, but the children would be thrilled).

Wharfedale Diamond 10DFS Surround speakers (4 pieces) - RM1,000 per pair
One pair for surround L-R, and one pair for surround rear (shown)

Q-Acoustic Q-AV Subwoofer - RM2,790

Cabling - RM1,500, Pictured is the oxygen free bulk cable used for the surrounds.

As an alternative, a higher end audio option was also proposed by AV Designs. For the surround duty, it was the PMC DB1i at RM4,400 per pair. For subwoofer, it was PMC's TLE-1 at RM12,500. Both are pictured below.

As you can see, I have chosen to go for mainly entry level stuff, figuring that it being my first step into home theatre, there is much for me to learn; and upgrading, just like hifi, can come later (and honestly, after all the renovation and furnishing for the new house, I also needed to look after the wallet a little bit. :-) ). AV Designs' James Tan proved to be flexible, he listened and recommended the combinations accordingly.

I have also saved some money on the audio side by using my EgglestonWorks loudspeakers for front left-right duty. After decoding by the Pioneer AVR, the L-R analogue signal is passed through the Pioneer Pre-out to my Pass Labs pre-amp which has a bypass for HT, where the pre-amp is set to unity gain and the volume control is done by the AVR.

There is also one unusual thing about the audio setup of my home theatre system, see whether you are eagle-eyed enough to spot it. I'll touch on this in my next post. Anyway, I shall share more on the audio side of my HT system in the next post.

On the visual side, I can say that I was totally bowled over by the picture quality that the JVC DLA-B250 displayed, despite it being new out of the box and not yet calibrated too. The quality on Bluray material was approaching films I see in the cinemas. The picture was natural, easy on the eye, yet very detailed. My better half and the children also commented spontaneously on how clear and nice the picture was, without any prompting from me. I believe it can only get better after AV Designs come over to do the calibration next week.

If you like to discuss with AV Designs your home theatre needs, you may contact James Tan at 03-21712828

Power Bars, Three of a Kind. Furutech e- TP60 vs Sine SA-6 vs Wireworld Electrifier.

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

From top: Wireworld Electrifier, Sine SA-6 and lastly, Furutech e-TP60. Which is my choice?

Do power bars have sonic characteristics? Or do they all sound the same? I wanted to find out if spending more $$$ in this area will improve the system's sound? Or are we just paying more for better brand name and cosmetics? I got 3 contenders, ranging from RM$300 - $1,800 to put to test.

Wireworld Electrifier. Basic build but very decent quality for the price.

First up, I must make clear that the Wireworld Electrifier is a starter kit to get you up and going or if your kind self or your system is not demanding, then can serve it's distributor role rather well. It comes with a basic looking plastic body shell and has 1 input, then splits to 6 copper outputs. It's actually OEM to Wireworld's spec by Wonpro. I find the sound(if there's a sound with distributors) to be very neutral, tidy and for the money asked(RM$300 or so when available), decent. Note that the Electrifier has since 2003 been superseded by Wireworld Tundra, which is still current model, I think.

Furutech e-TP60. Well built and nicely presented. Sound is neutral, with clean and tidy highs.

The Furutech e-TP60 has much better build quality, as it should for selling at RM$1320 a piece. It has a nice aluminium curved top face plate and matt black finished bottom portion for that sleek look. Like the Wireworld, it features 1 input the splits to 6 gold plated outputs. On the inside, Furutech employs a special sheet compound shielding formula 303 developed by the 3M company. Furutech claims the use of this non contact, i.e. to the duplex output sockets can effectively shield the box from harmful stray EMI/RFI radiation. The sound of the Furutech, when used in place of the Wireworld, is even tonality, with cleaner and tidier high frequencies. The Furutech also seemed subjectively to have lower noise floor. All other areas of sonic performance almost identical or very slightly better then the Wireworld. The contact points of the Furutech is much more superior to the Wireworld.

Sine SA-6. The heavy weight champ! Build to last and sounds great too! Review sample came in silver.

Lastly, the Sine SA-6 is the heavy weight of the group, with solid 5mm aluminium plates built all round and very nicely bolted together with counter sunk screws. The Sine offers the same 1 input splits to 6 cryo treated outputs. The cables used to connect the duplex outputs are audio grade silver type. The box seems to be filled with some kind of bead compound, which would either functions as internal resonant damping or just for sheilding stray EMI/RFI radiation. The contacts are gold plated and are as tight as the Furutech's. The sound of the Sine is really something else. At first the highs seemed like rolling off prematurely, but on closer analysis, is actually more airy and perhaps sound like it's set a little further back in to the sound stage. This creates a more believable illusion of stage depth. The vocals are set a little behind the speakers, vis a vis the Wireworld and Furutech which puts the vocal in line between the speakers, if a little closer to the listener. Bass is more robust, and easy to follow. Image density is full, and has the fade to black quality, against the Wireworld and Furutech's stronger image outlined presentation. Noise floor is the lowest of the 3 auditioned too. Price of the Sine is comparatively highest of the trio at RM$1,800 a piece.

I used both the Furutech and the Sine to substitute my existing Wireworld power bar, taking clean, isolated power from the Torus Power, then splitting to six outputs for all my front end needs, i.e. CDP player, pre amp, turn table and phono stage. All 3 power bars do not contain any sort of filters inside, but the difference they made to the system's sound is very notice able indeed. The Sine being the most effective, followed by the Furutech in 2nd place, and lastly the Wireworld. I guess the old adage "You get what you pay for" still applies here! This preview is compiled using the Bryston 4BSST2 in place of my Pass Alephs.

Furutech is sold by Audiomatic, contact Eugene, tel: 012-3222698

Sine is sold by Hi-Way Laser, contact Kenny Sin, tel: 019-2813399

Posted by Panzer 3 June '09