Listening
Contents
We use three tracks to analyze everything:
- Joan as Policewoman: The love has got me (complexity, detail, soundstage)
- Erika de Casier: Polite (tempo, bass lines, focus)
- Brent Beukelaer: The Twilight (intelligibility, tonality, nuance)
Our test list also went through it a few times and the following things stood out. Calmness, refinement and flow without loss of detail. Extra space and air between notes without losing focus and maintaining rhythm. In contrast to the speaker cable, which took quite some time to break in and loosen up, the other cables performed instantaneously.
Ricable Magnus Power MKII
We start with the Magnus Power MKII and because we are still using standard power cords we think we can make a clear gain there. We connect the power cord both on our Benchmark HPA4 preamp and on our Sonnet Morpheus d/a converter.
With the Audioquest Monsoon, we heard the biggest difference on these units, and this is also the case here. Music enters the room nicely, a bit more to the front as well and the stereo image becomes a bit wider. In addition, bass parts go a fraction deeper. Just put the standard power cord back in and yes. No doubt about it, everything reduces again. An excellent start!
Ricable Magnus Speaker MKII
Next we add the speaker cable but at first it did not do what it was supposed to do. The music didn’t come off the speaker nicely. So we have to play around with it. After a week we listen again critically and notice that everything now falls nicely into place. Music is released nicely and the stereo image now has depth, width and a little height again. There is also a nice layering in the music.
Ricable Magnus AES/EBU
Time for the AES/EBU cable. This connection has been this editor’s favorite “way to go” for years. We were very curious to see what the Ricable cable would do here and immediately we experienced differences. Just remember that we use these cables in a system of around 20.000 euros and that before we had the ATC speakers (and now the Revels) we heard no clear differences in cables. So it seems to us that it makes little sense to use expensive cables in a budget set-up.
The Ricable Magnus AES/EBU seems to take away an edge that we hadn’t noticed before. As if with a fine drill small frayed edges are polished away here and there. As a result, we experience a bit more calmness and we also hear more air between the notes. There is even more blackness and there is even more to hear in the fine details. The bass is bone dry, very deep and runs nice and long.
With Stella Donnelly on the song “Old man” it seems like someone is chatting outside but it’s just in the song. Before, these voices didn’t come through as clearly. What a delightful cable this is!
Ricable Magnus XLR
Finally, we replace the analog XLR cables and again notice additional refinement. These cables come across very friendly and soft without loss of detail. A calmness descends over the complete system that makes you relax more as a listener. That’s the right word.
A relaxing playback with excellent tonal balance. Although the results will be different in every hifi system of course. But the ‘signature’ of these cables will be clear everywhere. For although the best cable in theory adds nothing we do notice that every piece of hi-fi does something. The Ricable Magnus cables do this in a subtle and particularly musical way. We quickly get used to our new cables and when we replace them with our own cables after a few weeks we have to admit that we especially miss the calmness and refinement of the Ricable cables.
Hmmm …. “Just remember that we use these cables in a system of around 20.000 euros and that before we had the ATC speakers (and now the Revels) we heard no clear differences in cables.”
Seriously ? There is something terribly wrong in your set-up NOT to hear differences in cabling; specifically when well known, respected ‘silver’ cable is used (such as Wireworld ‘Gold’ 7/8 series, Audioquest ‘Wind’ IC’s, Kimber SELECT -all-silver series- and Stealth Audio cables to name a few (superb performers). Distinctions in sound, at this level, is profound.
But even with less expensive, ‘copper’ cabling, distinctions in sound is (should be) readily apparent.
pj
Hmmm …. “Just remember that we use these cables in a system of around 20.000 euros and that before we had the ATC speakers (and now the Revels) we heard no clear differences in cables.”
Seriously ? There is something terribly wrong in your set-up NOT to hear differences in cabling; specifically when well known, respected ‘silver’ cable is used (such as Wireworld ‘Gold’ 7/8 series, Audioquest ‘Wind’ IC’s, Kimber SELECT -all-silver series- and Stealth Audio cables to name a few (superb performers). Distinctions in sound, at this level, is profound.
But even with less expensive, ‘copper’ cabling, distinctions in sound is (should be) readily apparent.
pj