Registered: Jan 2002
Location: Dallas, Nation of Texas
Posts: 2016

Some time ago, Jude (Head-Fi owner), with his busy schedule of reviewing other components and such asked if I'd like to review some cables from JPS Labs. I warned him then that I had very little experience with cables--I think he actually thought that a good thing. Maybe in some ways I better relate to the masses on HeadFi with my Monster cables and such. I was able to keep the cables in my system for a good bit and now have some opinions to share.

As with all my reviews, the following disclaimer must be stated. What follows are my unscientific objective opinion without the aid of any measuring devices. My opinions reflect my views alone and should not be misconstrued to represent Jude, HeadFi, HeadFi's sponsors, the moderators or JPS Labs. Additionally, I encourage every reader to take any review with a grain of salt. One could add the following phrases to any statement made in a review like this: ãto my earsä, ãin my systemä and ãin my opinion.ä

Associated Equipment:
Brick Wall PW8R15AUD surge protector
Sony XA777ES SACD/CD
Sony S7000 DVD/CD used as a transport
Perpetual Technologies P3A DAC with Modwright Level II mods
ART DI/O DAC
AudioValve RKV Mk II headphone amplifier
McCormack Micro Integrated Drive headphone amplifier
Corda HA-1 with ãCorda Blueä mods by KurtW headphone amplifier
Sennhsier HD600 headphone
Etymotic ER-4S headphone

JPS Labs Superconductor FX

The Superconductor FX is the little sister of JPS Labs successful Superconductor cable. The Superconductor 2, the latest version of their high end cable, has gained many positive reviews and retails for $695. The Superconductor FX, reviewed here, retails for $299 and seems to go closer to $200 on the street/internet. Its construction is from a patented metal alloy that JPS calls Alumiloy. JPS Labs claims that the cable was designed with engineering knowledge gained from the development of their AC cables, that it excels in noise reduction and reproduces better detail across the frequency spectrum.


Pictured here, the cable looks as if its RCA terminals are clear but they're actually a shiny chrome metal look that do an adequate job of locking and staying in place. The cable is flexible but not flimsy and snakes easily behind components.

Going into this audition, my bias was somewhat like my feelings of bottled water. My grandpa and I both laughed together when they first started selling bottled water where we lived. I think he might have said something like, You know some people are probably going to be dumb enough to buy that. Next we'll be selling them canned air. As young as I was at the time, even I knew that water was only hydrogen and oxygen. ãHow can you mess that up? I lived out in a very small town back then and we actually had good water so you'll understand why it was so hard for us to imagine. Years later I moved to the big city of Dallas and discovered that there really was a reason for it and the bottled water wasn't such a scam after all. Now I actually pay attention to which brand of bottled water I buy.

My naive mind wanted to think of cables the same way as I thought of water. ãt's a wire, how can you get a wire wrong? Oh, sure, some cables are unshielded and some are shielded--we had distilled water, too. And ok, I'd buy the idea that there are different connectors that look better or have better construction. I'd even buy the idea that inside the cable was a different gauge of wire and maybe, maybe that mattered a little bit. Otherwise, it's a wire, usually copper. They act the same, they measure the same, and audiophiles are a foolish lot--or so my stingy wallet wanted to believe.

As mentioned, my home theater and audio rack are lined with a bunch of Monster cables. I had no allegiance to Monster, they were just easy to come by in any local shop where I happened to buy a component or CD or DVD. My cable decisions were made in a fashion similar to Crap, I need a pair of RCA cables, let's run to Best Buy. Once there, Hmm, this thickest one's $10 more, I'll go ahead and pay it.

The Monsters are therefore my reference. And, what can I say, compared to my reference, the JPS Labs cable alone was enough to convince me that not all water tastes the same. Compared to the Monster, the entire range of music had improved. The Monster cables sounded thin and harsh--almost like what you might expect from an amplifier with the batteries running low. The JPS sounded full, rich and alive--solid and real.

Something else that was difficult not to notice was that the JPS seemed tonally flat. Whereas the Monster now seemed to have minor peeks or dips in some of the frequencies, the JPS gave it all up evenly. I realize this has something to do with how the two cables have different distortions and one likely more than the other, but I'll leave those explanations to people who know what they're talking about. For my subjective world, the JPS simply sounded flat and neutral. It got out of the way of the sound and let you hear what the other components (and yes, even the music) really sounded like. By comparison, the Monster was like making iced tea with nasty tap water. Sure, tea is tea, but there surely was a difference.

To tell you the truth, though, I felt a bit uncomfortable posting my opinions about a cable and not having anything else to compare to so fellow HeadFier Carlo offered to send me a handful of other cables to try them out comparatively. Here's a brief run down of how that comparison went.

Compared to the Kimber PBJ with WBT connectors ($120), the JPS still sounded less harsh and thin. To me the Kimber was still a step up from the Monsters but had a similar quality to them. The Tara Labs Reference Generation 2 ($200) seemed more full and solid compared to the Kimber and Monster but brought with it a thick, murky coloration that was for me reminiscent of some of the tube amplifiers I don't like. Then again, if you're looking for that tube sound and want a little more emphasis on the lower frequencies, maybe you should find a pair of the Reference Generation 2 and give them a shot--they're no longer made but Carlo says they go on the used market for $120-175. The JPS simply sounded more clean and neutral to me.

Finally I tried the Tara Labs Air 3 ($300). Finally, a cable that sounded somewhat similar to the JPS Labs. I didn't know much about the Air (and still don't) but usually when someone said air, they mean the texture--the resonance and feel of the way string instruments sound as a finger crosses them. That's what I was expecting but that must not be what Tara Labs had in mind. They must have been referring instead to the soundstage because that's what changed. The Air 3 seemed to give the sound more width and space compared to the JPS. Is this a good thing? I don't know but to me, the JPS seemed like the more natural of the two.

I emailed Carlo for the prices of those cables after I formed my opinions so I thought it was funny that the prices lined up so well with my opinions. The pricier ($300) cable was the one that sounded closest to the $300 JPS cable. Maybe it's not all psychological, eh? Or maybe it was just the luck of the draw--you decide...

JPS Labs GPA Universal Power Cable

The JPS Labs GPA is the budget of JPS Labs power cables coming in at $150 retail. The GPA has won JPS some awards in Japan. The cable is, like their interconnect, firm but not stiff can can easily be snaked behind components although the cable will somewhat retain its shape until it lays out for a bit. As you can see from the image below, its the cables hospital grade connectors that are the cable's real selling point.


First I'm asked to swallow the idea that a piece of wire connecting two components can make an audible difference in sound and then I'm asked to believe a power cable can too?

I'd actually already come to the believe that a higher gauge better shielded power cable might make some improvement in my system given the high amount of rf noise in my Dallas apartment. The electricity is already very bad here and when you couple that with the barrage of monitors, game consoles, PCs and other interference makers in my home, you have to think a little shielding wouldn't hurt.

It's with this in mind that I had a fellow headfier (who wished to remain unnamed) build me a couple of cables some time ago. They're the Ven Haus formula cables and aren't all that different from the ones sold by Bolder Cable. They have very good connectors and good shielding that forces the parts cost to an individual up to around $40. For a company to make a profit, they'd have to sell these cables for considerably more.

When I first got the Ven Haus cables, I thought I'd plug one immediately into my little Corda HA-1 amplifier. The Corda draws so little power that you really wouldn't expect much difference here but I thought if it helped with the noise maybe I'd leave it in. What I actually heard was not only a reduced noise floor but a better cleaner bass response too. It sounded almost as if the bass had better extension, though I know logically it was probably just less noise down in that region. So, here I had a power cable making a difference but that's probably only because what I was coming from was cheap barely shielded at all low grade thin wire that comes packaged with most equipment.... right?

Again, I found myself eating my hat. The JPS Labs GPA despite its conservative appearance, actually did more of the same kind of improvements that my Ven Haus cables did. To summarize, the blackness was blacker--after the decay, the sound died completely rather than trailing off with that tiny bit of static or hum that you sometimes hear just before reaching total blackness. And the black part was, well, blacker. That audiophile term always gave me problems--äHow can something silent be more silent? Well, it is. It's quieter still. In between notes, it's quieter. And that cleaned up bass the Ven Haus gave me? I got more of that with the GPA also. Not bad at all.

I tried the GPA on both the AudioValve RKV II amplifier and on tbe Sony XA777ES using one of the Ven Haus cables to fulfill the other duty. Here I found that the cable had the most dramatic improvement when used with the CD player. If your source has an IEC terminal, I recommend starting there and doing the amp second. Of course, your mileage may vary and it's probably worth trying it both ways.

It strikes me that at $150, this cable is a really good performer. For those of you not yet in belief that power cables matter, $150 is a good entry point if you have the money to spend. It'll make you a believer. Moreover, you may even come to believe that power cables matter as much if not more than interconnects.

JPS Labs The Analog AC Power Cable

At $350 retail, the Analog AC is a bit pricier than the GPA but its looks match the cost. People say looks don't matter in audio but whatever you think of the sound, you're going to notice the looks and to be honest, the Analog AC looked really sexy trailing out of the RKV amplifier. What may not be obvious from this image is that the Analog AC lays nicely wherever it's put. I'm not sure of its exact construction but the cable doesn't maintain a shape at all and stays where you put it. Aesthetically, I find that a lot more pleasing than the other types of cables.


From JPS Labs web site:

quote:

---

THE ANALOG AC_ is a cord made for the special needs of low level components such as preamps, phono stages and drives, electrostatic loudspeaker power supplies, etc.
It contains all of the special properties of our Digital AC above, but very effectively preserves low level purity by being electrically tuned to concentrate more on incoming noise rather than noise in both directions. THE ANALOG AC is highly effective in allowing you to hear the inner detail and resolution your system is capable of providing by greatly reducing its noise floor under which the real music is hidden, and greatly eliminates any 'edge' to the music caused by such inherent noise mixing with the original audio signal.

---

Kelly at www.head-fi.org