The sound of ... air

What we have mentioned before is that Arnold Heres is a headstrong man with a distinct vision of things. That applies to almost all of his products. The great thing is that then very beautiful things can emerge. Think of the Model 2 which performed very well in our multitest floorstanders. And the Flow speaker cable that is basically soundless … exactly what we love. Truly a rock solid speaker cable that can make the life of the competitors very difficult. And that for 800 euros per set of 3 meters if we remember correctly.

A breath of fresh air

The new Driade Flow Link Reference 808 is also slightly different in terms of construction and sound. In a way, it reminds us of the Grimm cables we use (as with the speaker cable). Or in other words, it comes across as very neutral. And in this case even a little more lighthearted. Yes… it’s possible!

The cable feels extremely fast especially in the midrange. An area where the Grimm TPM shows a little more chest but also projects a little smaller. This is clearly audible in Melle’s recordings from our live stream test of the high-end dacs. The guitar and Melle’s voice get a little more body. However: the Driade clearly puts down more air and projects slightly higher and larger than the Grimm. In addition, the strings seem a bit more real and contain more harmonics. These are subtle differences, but they keep coming back.

By the way, don’t think of this as a comparison of cables playing big or small. It is not like that. Both cables play nicely in proportion (if a cable does not do so, there is something really wrong in that piece of metal between the components). However, the Driade puts a little more air around the whole thing. And it puts the voice just a bit higher than the Grimm.

The Grimm also plays extremely precise and detail-rich, but especially presents the midrange with a bit more warmth for a slightly more intimate feel. But yes… Is that better? More neutral? Tricky question, because it’s down to the balance of the system as a whole and you need to know exactly the recording to judge this kind of thing for ‘truth’.

Frictionless

What we noticed after a few weeks of playing mainly on different speakers – and finally on the Final D5 hybrid electrostatic – is that the Driade Flow Link Reference 808 is a cable that disappears very quickly a leaves a very airy and fast impression. It’s as if resistance is disappearing…. and perhaps that is true when we look at the philosophy that Arnold applies.

Partly because of its neutral and fast character, it is a cable that can be used very widely and in fact can do no wrong in a system. And that’s a strength we really appreciate in an interlink. After all: the best cable is no cable. And then when you need one, you want it to leave no signature. Right?

Conclusion

The best cable is no cable. It's that simple. And then if you must use a cable, you want it to do basically nothing. It should transport the signal from A to B without loss. That sounds simple... but it's not. And that's reflected in the differences that are audible between cables. Even in the top of the market where we count the Driade, differences are audible (Yes: there are signal cables of 10,000 euros. But that's ****** (fill in the blank)). And that there are differences shows that even there things change in the cable.

At the bottom line, Driade again shows that they know their stuff. The Reference Flow 808 comes across to us as neutral, fast and airy. A fine interlink. With a mature price tag.