Taralabs cables

Tara Labs
Isolated Floating Shield™


This unique and proprietary shield design is central to the Isolated Shield Matrix®. Unlike conventional shields, which are connected to the cable at the load end, the Isolated Floating Shield floats at both ends. It is completely decoupled, both mechanically and electrically, from every component in the system, including the cables themselves.

This is an important distinction because it has a profound effect on lowering the amount of RF intermodulation that can be introduced into the system via the cables. TARA Labs' in-house testing shows that the best of conventional shield designs are not effective at preventing RF intermodulation. The Isolated Shield Matrix, with its floating shield, dramatically reduces RF intermodulation of the audio signal.

In a typical interconnect the shield may prevent a certain amount of RF from modulating the signal through the conductors. But the shield is not deflecting RF energy in the environment - it is actually being absorbed. That energy is then returned to the system through the chassis of the component because the shield is coupled to the connector at one or both ends. By floating the shield at both ends, the Isolated Floating Shield avoids this problem. Energy absorbed by the shield is then transferred directly to the Floating Ground Station

Capacitance


The ability of conductors, separated by dielectrics, to store electrostatic charges. Interconnect cables should have capacitance figures of 24 pF or below. High capacitance cables produce sound which is rolled off - soft with a dulling of transients,

Impedance


A measure of the complex resistive and reactive attributes of a component in an alternating-current (AC) circuit. Impedance is what restricts current flow in an AC electrical circuit; impedance is not relevant to DC circuits. In DC circuits, resistors limit current flow (because of their resistance). In AC circuits, inductors and capacitors similarly limit the AC current flow, but this is now because of their inductive or capacitive reactance. Impedance is like resistance but it is more. Impedance is the sum of a circuit, or device's resistance AND reactance. Reactance is measured in ohms (like resistance and impedance) but is frequency-dependant. Think of impedance as the complete or total current limiting ohms of the circuit -- the whole banana. Since AC circuits involve phase shift -- i.e., the voltage and current are rarely in phase due to the storage effects (think "time;" it takes time to charge and discharge) of capacitors and inductors, the reactance is termed "complex," that is there is a "real" part (resistive) and an "imaginary" part (bad terminology, but it means the phase shifting resistance part). To summarize: resistance has no phase shift; reactance (capacitors & inductors in AC circuits) includes phase shift; and impedance, is the sum of resistance and reactance. Just that simple.

Inductance


Inductance in a wire (self inductance) is a measure of the result of current flow creating an electromagnetic field around the wire. As this is an alternating field, it induces voltage back into the wire, opposing current flow. Due to “skin effect” this become negligible at high frequencies. RSC™ is shaped to reduce the effects of inductance at all frequencies

Heterodyning


An effect caused by intermodulation of two or more signals, where additive and subtractive tones, known as beat frequencies, are created. For example, mixing two frequencies of 100 KHz and 1 KHz results in the following frequencies being created:

100 KHz

1 KHz

101 KHz

99 KHz

Intermodulation


Interaction between two or more spontaneously produced signals. A situation to be avoided in audio or video signal transmission, as it generally results in some type of distortion

Rectangular Solid Core®




A solid, extruded conductor with a rectangular cross section. This technology is a TARA Labs exclusive.

Rectangular Solid Core® interconnects and speaker cables have become the reference standard for reviewers and serious audiophiles the world over due to their extremely accurate, neutral and frequency linear performance.

To understand the principle behind RSC® technology, it’s necessary to understand a phenomenon known as the “Skin Effect.” This principle states that in a round conductor higher frequencies will tend to travel towards the outside (or skin) or the conductor, while lower frequencies tend to be concentrated at the center of the conductor. The larger the diameter of a round conductor, the worse the effect will be, resulting in a significant roll-off of high frequencies in large gauge conductors.

Because of its rectangular cross section, an RSC conductor essentially has no center like a round conductor. Therefore it does not suffer the same high-frequency losses. It is the only conductor that is able to combine high current-carrying capability with extreme frequency linearity across the musical spectrum.

This is the Generation 2 conductor's found in all but one Tara Labs model cable's, The Tara Lab's GrandMaster Evolution interconnect has the brand NEW just introduced Generation 3 conductor's, The RSC Gen 2 (SA-OF8N) Conductor

Super Annealed, Oxygen Free, Eight Nines Copper (SA-OF8N) is the new standard in high performance copper purity.

TARA Labs Rectangular Solid Core® conductors are completely produced in the USA. We start with Oxygen Free Eight Nines Copper (99.999999%), and the copper rods are extruded into long, unbroken, mono-crystal copper rectangular conductors. The conductors are extruded into a unique rectangular shape having specific ‘frequency-tuned’ proportions. Rectangular Solid Core conductors are annealed with a process known as Super Annealing™.

Super Annealing™ or SA, softens the RSC® conductor and increases its conductivity. After annealing, the RSC conductors are polished in-line, and will become finished SA-OF8N® Rectangular Solid Core conductors ready for insulation using advanced polymers or liquid-film technology.


TARA Labs has continuously advanced the design and materials used in its conductor technologies. Previously, in our lower priced consumer grade cables, we were limited to the use of 6N, or six-nines (99.9999%) pure copper and the OCC or Ohno-Continuous Cast copper technologies.

Since the development of Rectangular Solid Core, we have moved beyond these lesser quality materials with the use of higher purity copper and our exclusive USA technologies.

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