XLO UltraPLUS U12BW, Part 1
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| Posted on July 22, 2017 at 17:49:48 | ||
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Posts: 7331
Location: Bay Area Joined: December 11, 2000 |
 Let's do something a little differently, this time. A minority of audiophiles keeps asking me to post chronicles not on my Xanga homepage, but right here on Audio Asylum. But before we delve into XLO's current-production UltraPLUS U12BW internal bi-wire speaker cable, please read about its little sister, the UltraPLUS U6: Part 1: background and introduction Part 2: fakes Part 3: stiffness Part 4: spades By 1996, XLO had come out with their affordable so-called Ultra series. Here in San Francisco, XLO dealer Ultimate Sound initially had the U1 single-ended line-level interconnect. But my then-girlfriend, ACS, and I were not in the market for the entry-level interconnect. Instead, since we were using XLO's Signature interconnects, we needed some sort of XLO speaker cable. We could not afford any of XLO's Reference or Signature models for our bi-wireable Signet SL-280 B/U. Thus, we auditioned the original U12BW. I'm not sure what was the initial price of that U12BW. But in 1998, it was just $65 for termination, plus $50 per stereo pair foot. Thus, an 8-foot U12BW was only $465. Two decades later, the U12BW is now a whopping $220 for termination, plus $75 per stereo pair foot. Thus, an 8-foot UltraPlus U12BW now retails for $820. And oh, XLO dealers tell us that, even if you want the U12BW in lengths under 8-feet, they still charge the $820 8-foot price. When ACS (then 22-years old) and I originally took receipt of a U12BW, we had just begun to hear about some Floridian boy band, the Backstreet Boys. Via a Parasound tuner, we heard a song called "We've Got It Goin' On." The U12BW is basically two U6es in one cable, with two connectors at the amp end, and four at the speaker end. Included in the price is your choice of 6mm spades, 8mm spades, or bananas. But when ACS helped me hook up the ultra-stiff U12BW, its clear plastic over intertwined black-&-lavender reminded her of an umbilical cord. Now, given that she wanted to have three kids, that was just creepy. Fresh out of the canvas bag, the original U12BW skewed out of control. Making no other changes to the system(s), ACS and I heard the U12BW constrict the soundstage, suck out the air, shine a spotlight on every other frequency, pinch the bass, airbrush out the fine details, and make a narrow band in the mid-to-upper bass stick out. Back then, if you were an SA, you should have known about, and liked Tigermilk, the debut album by indie pop Scottish band, Belle And Sebastian. At the very least, SAs could not resist the album cover, depicting a woman breastfeeding a Tigger doll. But anyway, "The State I'm In" takes a little while to get going, but should evoke the folkpop of the 1960s. The scrunched-up sonics of that new U12BW made ACS and me want to leave the house. We were actually in the market for new speakers, and one which we brought for an in-home audition was the original Sonus Faber Concertino. Sigh, so now we needed to burn-in both the XLO U12BW and the demo Concertino. Instead of inviting everyone to do serious listening, we decided to throw a party. To our pleasant surprise, the system did a fun and credible job on Quad City DJs' "C'mon 'N Ride It (The Train)." It boogied enough, that guests got up, formed a train, and pulled the (imaginary) whistle. That gave us a clue, a little insight, to the U12BW's capabilities. Ultimately, we did not buy the bi-wireable Sonus Faber Concertino. I made the mistake of getting the overrated and disastrous Thiel CS.5. A few years later, I corrected that mistake, and got the classic bi-wireable minimonitors, ProAc's Response One SC and Totem's Model 1 Signature. In time, we shall finish reviewing the XLO UltraPLUS U12BW, right here on Cable Asylum. In the meantime, keep emailing me with your comments, corrections, criticisms, and suggestions. -Lummy The Loch Monster
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| RE: XLO UltraPLUS U12BW, Part 1, posted on July 23, 2017 at 04:33:28 | |
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Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama Joined: September 11, 2010 |
Lummy- I thought that XLO went out of business?
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| RE: XLO UltraPLUS U12BW, Part 1, posted on July 23, 2017 at 04:33:58 | |
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Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama Joined: September 11, 2010 |
Otherwise, excellent reviews and pics!
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| RE: XLO UltraPLUS U12BW, Part 1, posted on July 23, 2017 at 11:10:28 | |
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Posts: 366
Joined: January 31, 2014 |
Nope
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| RE: XLO UltraPLUS U12BW, Part 1, posted on July 23, 2017 at 15:26:46 | |
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Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama Joined: September 11, 2010 |
TY- DrN is XLO building any cables/cords worth auditioning?
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| RE: XLO UltraPLUS U12BW, Part 1, posted on July 24, 2017 at 06:32:56 | |
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Posts: 15518
Location: Alabama Joined: September 11, 2010 |
Hopefully, Lummy will chime in here.
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