Blue Jeans Cable Iconoclast

So all these other high end manufacturers have just been guessing up to know?

I suspect in more than a few cases, yes. How many of these wire and cable guys actually had a degreed electrical/RF engineering background when they first had “an idea”? Some, but I’m guessing not all by a long shot. If it’s any comparison worth noting, how many other companies have the engineering basis for their designs fully documented for all to review, and (for those who understand the papers) open to challenge and comment? OTOH, how many companies describe their products by relying on catch phrases, touting the purity of materials or some magical treatment, etc etc?
 

Doesn’t mean some of these cables aren’t potentially good, even great, but as with everything in audio it seems there’s more than one way to get to something good. Some ways are done by people who have the engineering background to know why they need to do something a certain way - and have the ability to explain it, some are done by dedicated DIYers who’ve figured things out over years of trial and error who have to presume the basis for why something they just did sounds the way it does, some by people somewhere in between.

Skating close to the argument that measurements are the way to judge good equipment?

Not at all. Nor am I saying they don’t matter at all.

At this year’s AXPONA I attended Galen Gaeris’ tech talk, where he explained how the engineering affects basic parameters for cables. It was well attended, including a very well known member of the audio press. At the end of the talk (which included the math behind how each of the three Iconoclast cables are different) the well known fellow - whose been in the business for decades - asked “which one would be the best for my system”? First, lovely guy that he is, the question at the end of that tech talk was a giveaway he really didn’t understand what was being said. Second, the answer he got from Galen Gaeris was “that’s not something I can tell you as I don’t know the reactive characteristics of the particular equipment you have, and even if I did it’s still a personal choice”. His recommendation was for the fellow to try all three and decide for himself. The poor fellow seemed a bit perplexed by that. Iconoclast claims only what’s stated in their technical papers, nothing more. The company flies under the usual audiophile radar, but a little searching will show two or three of the usual online characters having written about them.

I use what for me are the right cables in the right places. Some are Iconolclast, some are Audioquest Dragon, some are Purist Audio. There are others. They each fit best where they are to have my system perform the way it sounds best to me. No presumptive decisions made in advance without trying first. Seem fair enough? 🙂

I’m not looking to wade too far into the waters of whether Blue Jeans is moving from their core value proposition by now offering the Iconoclast line. To me, it seems a like a reasonable jump for a business to offer a step up in products, following their philosophy that there is good value and sound to be had from well known, very large manufacturers of cable in the home audio (and video) world. Iconoclast cables are definitely expensive, again at least to me, but I now own several pairs of their ETPC RCA interconnects and I think they sound terrific.

I also use the Blue Jeans Canare 4S11 speaker cable. I think it is an outstanding value and also sounds wonderful in my system. I don’t know about all of their products of course, but the 4S11 cable is a big step up from cheaper products found on Amazon, etc. (I tried some of those as well). For transparency, I am not someone who can personally stomach spending half the price of my speakers on speaker cables, though I know others can, do, and I respect their opinion and the results they achieve by doing so.

The Iconoclast ICs were a bit of a leap to faith for me. I reached out and exchanged a number of emails with Bob from Iconoclast and he is a true gentlemen and was patient with my inquiries. I am glad I leapt and while I started with a single pair of cables, I have added more. In my system, they are dynamic, detailed, and imaging is great. They don’t really have much of a tone of their own and let the rest of my equipment shine through. Also, I am glad that they have all of their technical documentation available, that Galen is very frank in his talks (I did not see him at AXPONA, but have seen him on YouTube), and that the cable shows up in a bag with basic measurements recorded and not a jewelers style box that I don’t really need. 

I’ve sold cables many years ago and know that there are some other good vendors who have now stood the test of time out there. I also believe that there are other cable vendors who couldn’t tell you the technical specs of their cable or why they are designed as they are.

+1 from an Iconoclast owner. I am glad Blue Jeans made the leap that they did and now offer this product.

There is very little science that supports the need for ultra exotic cables beyond what is explained by the Iconoclast engineer. Nothing that is manufactured In small quantities that is made well will be inexpensive, so I’m not suggesting that cables should be so, but tens of thousands of dollars for cables is marketing and not science. The difference I heard in my rather highly resolving system between BJCs and Iconoclast is minimal to nil. I will include a Furutech power cable in that list. Regardless of if one is better or worse, one should at least hear a difference if there is one right? I believe the brain is a strange thing!….