Ultra
clear!
JPS Labs Ultra Conductor
VERDICT Good value for money from a well thought out cable that enhances soundstage, presence and lowers noise floor.
PRICE: From R1,790 per pair (African Rand)
SUPPLIED BY VeryFi (012) 254-0100
When I was supplied with an 8ft (2.4m)
pair of JPS Labs new and acclaimed Ultra Conductor speaker cable I was
immediately interested to hear how they sound,
being constructed from a precise alloy of aluminium and copper. Aluminium
was not one of the more immediately obvious materials that I would have chosen
to work with, but the blend on offer is claimed to deliver for high
specification, high quality audio applications.
So it was with some interest that I
carefully unpacked the cables and let them run in for a week or so. Dumping them
into the straight forward music lovers’ stereo system that was on review, the
cables immediately made a difference to the sound as compared to the original
Jade audio speaker cables. I noticed an improvement in finer detail with fuller
sounding mids and bass. Tops were a little exposed I thought, but not at the
expense of listening pleasure.
Dynamics were crisp and clean with pace
being maintained throughout the frequency spectrum. There is little in the way
of muddying or clouding, However, when I put the cables into the home theatre
system they appeared to shift up in the performance stakes a notch or two. Bass
was stronger, the sound stage wider and the performance warmer and more
involving. I didn’t expect quite such a change, especially when involving just
the two front channel speakers, but in this game I have learned that surprises
lurk around just about every sonic corner.
At the asking price, the Ultra
Conductors present a very convincing argument as to why they should be included
in just about any system. The aluminium/copper alloy most certainly works and
they can play a dual role of stereo/home theatre with ease. The cables deliver
what it takes to be taken seriously in very, very good systems and while they
are not quite in the league of esoteric high end (and ridiculously expensive)
audio cables, there can be no doubt that they pose a serious challenge to other
contenders in the market place.
William
Kelly
- AVSA
Magazine - South Africa