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Essence®gZero10 Interconnect cables single ended

I received these IC's about 12 days ago and since then they have been cycling through the burn-in process - i.e. 24 x 7 streaming internet radio.

They already sounded as good as the gZero6 right from the start, but the blurb on the KLE Innovations web site implyed a significant improvement.

It took over 200 hours for them to "break out", but when they did - let's just say it was well worth the wait.

I've been fortunate to have tried the gZero3 on my system and I currently own the gZero6 and having now heard the gZero10's the one thing that stands out about the entire range is their consistency of tone - it just does not change.

So what has improved with the gZero10 ?...
- the dynamics are faster
>>> the gZero6 was excellent, but the gZero10 is significantly faster

- the very fine details have improved- especially the those extremely fine whispery details that contributes to the emotion of a vocal performance and also the mechanical artifacts as the performer depress instrument keys or move up and down the fret/finger board adding to the realism.

- the image is more spacious and accurate - instruments and artists are placed with laser precision but the space around them not only contains artifacts from their instruments, but also those adjacent instruments. It's a much more natural blend.

- the bass is significantly deeper, but extremely well controlled to the point where textures, even in the lowest frequencies can be heard.

But for me, the most convincing improvement is the reproduction of the venue acoustics present in recording of live performances.

One album I have is Julian Bream and John Williams Together. The venue acoustics have always muddied their position on the stage, but the gZero10's have cured that issue and then some - this is perhaps one of the best live recordings I have - now :-)

I have had the opportunity to audition the gZero3 on a friends very nice system and we both agreed they outperformed his far more expensive silver XLR interconnects from a well known brand, so the gZero10's should provide an even better sonic performance on systems capable of extremely high resolution.

If I had to sum up the key qualities of the gZero10 I would have to say they are fast, articulate, spacious, smooth and are able to convey the emotion of the performer and the space of the venue

These IC's are extremely good on my analogue rig, but on my DAC they bring the performance as close to analogue as I will probably get.

Either way, these IC's are excellent performers and will give more expensive cables a run for their money.

Yes, they are a little pricey, but they will probably be the last cables you buy.

Visit the KLE Innovations web site for more details and reviews

And if you do happen to buy a pair - be sure to give them 300 hours burn-in

Regards
williewonka
sonic_genius
528 posts
 
Williewonka: Pure Note, yes, as I was one of their Beta testers back in 2000. Sonic Precision, I think they were in business a couple of months.
yping
351 posts
 
Williewonka, I have just manged to have a listen to the KLEI gZero10 ICs and wow they are absolutely fabulous. I thought that the gZero6 ICs were great but the 10s easily better the 6s.

Interesting, it is like the whole system has been upgraded. The 6s had that effect but the 10s are another step up, again, and that is with the same audio components!

Williewonka, I would have to agree with your write ups, they are very good, indeed...
yping
351 posts
 
Williewonka, I wish I was as good as you when writing a description of what I am hearing!
williewonka OP
3,075 posts
 
Yping - I've only developed my "keen ear" in the last few years.

That process required lots of listening to many varied tracks. Over that time
I have singled out tracks that are excellent for discerning changes in the
various "metrics"

E.g....
- bass depth and control - Nellie Furtado and pipe organ music
- image depth/width - classical music on the Tacet label
- details/clarity - Mike Oldfiedld's Tubular Bells
- dynamics - Steve Wind wood and Stevie Wonder

Once you have some tracks you are very familiar with you can then
establish a "baseline" for your system. Then when something
changes it's fairly easy to hear those changes.

You get the drift :-)

Anyhow - I'm very glad you also found the gZero10 to be an excellent
performer. They do bring out a very natural and full sound with lots of body
and a clarity that reveals some incredible details, imaging and venue
presence.

I've been impressed with 3, 6 and 10 IC's - all very adept performers and
suited to several budget levels.

I also own the gZero2 and gZero6 speaker cables - again, both extremely
adept performers. I think they were more impressive than the IC's in some
respects, in that they control the speakers incredibly well and provide an
extremely deep bass that also has some incredible details that other
speaker cables are just not capable of providing.

I use the gZero2 SC's on my home theatre system since it has a subwoofer
and the gzero6 SC's on my audio system. The major difference for me was
the extended bass on the 6's.

The gZero architecture and design philosophy makes a lot of sense I.e.
- protect the signal conductor from noise
- keep the neutral conductor at "zero volts" and noise free!
- use high quality conductor material of the "optimum size"

If you do that throughout your system then all you are getting is pure music

If you look at many other IC's the neutral conductor and the signal
conductor run parallel to each other - which means the signal conductor
induces noise into the neutral line (it doesn't take much), which in turn
polutes the neutral side of the attached components, affecting their overall
operation.

So by installing gZero products in your system you are not only getting the
best transmission of the audio signal, but also getting the best
performance out of your individual components.

The really interesting thing is - these cables work on components of all
performance abilities - e.g. my $500 DAC + gZero cables outperform DACs
costing considerably more.

So, are you going to get the 10's? :-)
yping
351 posts
 
So, are you going to get the 10's? :-)

Williewonka, well... I like to DIY a little and up till now I have tried the KLEI Pure Harmony with my DIY cable and while that was good, even very good IMO, the gZero6 ICs that I listened to were easily, and even noticeably, better!

I am in 2 or 3 minds at the moment... should I try the KLEI Absolute Harmony RCAs with my DIY cable only to find that the gZero6 ICs are better, and the gZero10 ICs are even betterer, or simply buy a pair of gZero6 ICs, or gZero10 ICs, knowing that they are already better/excellent, and betterer/excellenter, than my current DIY cables :)

Still thinking... that the Pure Harmony RCAs are the best RCAs I have ever used on my DIY cables and it would appear from your write ups that the Absolute Harmony RCAs are better, even noticeably better... so, all good and still thinking, for a little while longer :)
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