Speaker cables are all that I have left to possibly upgrade. The Hijiri Power Cords and RCA cables are excellent. When I mated them to a Sternklang SPDIF I got that little bit of extra punch I was looking for. I too will demo the Sternklang speaker cables down the road. Right now I am in amp-switching mode and tube rolling on my Lampi Horizon DAC. I have to get those figured out before I try the Sternklnag Speaker Cables. I also have to decide on a fuse for my DAC or the QSA plug. This hobby never ends.
Sternklang Cables
No, not another cable promo! This is probably one of the first thoughts that bubbles up in you when you see the above intro. Part of our fabulous hobby is discovering new products and sharing your experiences with the audiophile community. Fortunately, my dealer Colin @gestalt shares my passion and enthusiasm for new products. So when he mentioned, he is exploring another cable brand from Japan; I said bring it on!
Sternklang cable theory originates from following idea,
“It seems to me that a wire of audio cable is not a solid body but a living organism in which numerous cells breathe. Each cell has it’s own vibration damping function and they all cooperate with each other”
Currently, the Sternklang has two tiers or series offerings, Ephemera and Sarume. I chose to audition the Ephemera XLR due its unique construction, which uses a rolled copper in a coated nylon ‘Organdy’ jacket. Due to delicate nature of the jacket, certain handling precautions must be observed. I would keep them away from Vacuum Cleaners and your Cat :-)
Unlike most cables, the Ephemera series is a extremely low mass design. Koji Teramura, founder of Sternklang cables is a minimalist and the design of cables clearly reflects his philosophy.
So how do they sound? In one word, Fabulous! The Ephemera XLR imparts a lively, textured, organic presentation. To my ears, they are aptly designed to convey all the nuances in a recording. I am very comfortable in saying that Ephemera XLR’s don’t have any sound per se or coloration.
The Ephemera (flat ribbon) cables are available in Speaker, RCA, SPDIF and XLR configurations.
I auditioned the Ephemera XLR between my Marantz SA-11S2 SACD player and Accuphase E-650 Integrated. The rest of the system is wired with HIJIRI cable loom.
And No, Sternklang cables are not replacing my HIJIRI loom. IMHO, Ephemera is a very fine cable under $1.5K price range that deserves an audition in your system. For retail prices, please call Colin @ Gestalt Audio Design.
http://www.konus-audio.com/ephemera-interconnect-cable.html
http://www.konus-audio.com/ephemera-speaker-cable.html
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“if Sternklang uses occ copper or not?” Thanks for the update. For reasons unknown to me, the Japanese artisans are not very revealing of metallurgy and construction of their cables. Honestly, I don’t care cause how they sound to my ears and gel within the system is what matters the most. |
I agree lalitk. I asked Colin awhile back on what is the gauge size of the Nagomi power cables and he said the same thing about them not releasing certain information. I guess it’s the sum of all parts that make these cables great and work like they do. Colin said the demo pair does have bananas on the amp end, which as I type this just wondered if they are all directional? The rca interconnects I got did not come with any direction arrows pointing anywhere. Maybe it’s in regards to which ever way you start with try to keep the signal going that direction? Anyways, I’m looking forward to trying the Sternklang speaker cables and will report back next week. |
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