BlueJeansCable audio interconnect; Initial Review

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I said that I would post my first impressions of these cables. I purchased two sets of the 1505F Belden cables with Canare ends in 2 foot lenghts for $26 apiece. I have only listened to them for about 3 hours so far. I will do another review in the long term if the sound changes. One should note that I am essentially comparing them to the Monster M1000 at $150 and the Monster M550i at $50. I was skeptical because of the price. Perhaps I should remember that you don't always get what you pay for; sometimes you get more. I will note that anybody starting a high end system or suffering from sticker shock at buying an expensive one will not be unhappy purchasing these cables. I will be recommending them for all but really high end systems.
If you only care about the sound, scroll down. I am trying to cover the complete experience here.
Appearance;
These cables came via US priority mail in a box that had nothing else other than a receipt. I thought that was strange not to have some junk literature but I was also happy about that. These cables are not really pretty but they aren't too shabby either. They look both serious and understated. Whoever said that the cables were fat may have had the techflex. I did not get the techflex and they seemed a bit thin to me. They are thinner overall than either Monster interconnect. They came bundled together with a small wrap in the middle of the cables. I left it like this and let them go in whatever random direction they wanted between the center and the ends.
Installation;
I was curious as to whether they are directional or not. I know that some folks play with only connecting the ground at one end, etc. I saw no mention of it so I just installed the cables with the signal flow in the same direction of the writing. I did not pull out the ohm meter.
The connectors look basic but work fantastic. They snap on such that you know they are on yet are not too tight to remove. The Monster cables have been known to rip connectors right out of the back of VCRs and receivers they are so tight. I had to buy a new VCR and my friend had to solder new connectors on to the back of his Yamaha.
The installation was easy. The connectors allow for just enough bend to help where necessary but also to protect the connection. The 2 foot length I bought was just perfect. I had previously used 1meter M550i and .5meter M1000 which were either too long or too short.
Sound;
I will list my sound impressions from most noticable to least.
Bass:
When I first hit play, I was standing next to my speaker. I usually cannot wait to sit down to press play. So the first thing I noticed was not related to imaging but the bass.
The bass was immediately deeper, stronger, and much tighter. I was absolutely thrilled about this. Here's why I was thrilled.
I have been working on room treatments but regardless of what I did, it just sounded a tad boomy even though the SPL meter seemed happy. Different electronics and different speakers made a difference but it was still there across the board. The only constant was the room and... as I had forgotten, the cable. The Monster M550i cables were muddying up the bass. The M1000 was better than the 550i in this regard but a bit rolled off. BlueJeansCable takes the cake here. Nora Jones and Jack Johnson had bloom but no boom. I found some nick-nacks on the wall vibrating to the sound at levels much lower than before. The bass is just stronger. I will have to treat those nick-nacks.
Imaging;
The first thing I noticed about the imaging was that the sweet spot was larger and off stage sounds were more noticably off stage. Even though the sweet spot was larger, it lost some of the razor sharp center hologram that I previously had. I like the BlueJeansCable better here as it is more forgiving of where you sit. The center image seems more natural and realistic here. The trumpet in Dire Straits "Your Latest Trick" seemed more in place than usual and the symbols off stage left were better positioned.
The fore and aft imaging was interesting too. These cables make a forward sound even closer yet do not lose the deep soundstage that I had before. One could say that the entire soundstage depth was increased in this regard, only because the sounds closer to the microphone seemed closer to me.
I did get the feeling that my speakers need to be further apart now.
I have yet to run the Chesky setup disk after putting in these cables, I was having too much fun listening to music.
Highs;
Another noticable difference were the highs. There was more air and a higher sense of ambience. The Morel tweeters I have are a tad rolled off at the highest frequencies so I had some synergy going on here. It's a definite improvement. I thought I noticed some hints of a lisp or pfft sound coming from them but it could be something that has always been there and is showing up because of the increased highs. If I really did hear that, it is quite subtle. I like the effects that this cable has on the highs but get the feeling that there are better cables out there if you want to spend lots of money. The highs were a definite improvement over the Monster interconnects. The M550i is just OK here while the M1000 seems to roll them off.
Mids;
I found the midrange interesting. The overal tonality suggests that the midrange is more recessed as the lows and highs are more noticable. This is wrong however. There is more detail in the midrange. I found the upper mids to be more delineated. "p" and "v" sounds and some "s" sounds were easier to make out. It was easier to follow the words of songs and the melody of a horn, etc.
Dynamics;
Perhaps this entry should be further up the ladder. I found that everything just seemed more dynamic. The sound was just bigger. It was as if the speakers gained a couple db of efficiency even though they did not. I cannot really explain it. I did notice that the inflections in Diana Kralls voice from loud to soft, etc was more prominent with these cables. Horns too. I like it.
Overall;
These cables represent a great value for anybody who wants good sound but does not want to spend a lot of money. They are a bit of an upgrade compared to the Monster M1000 and a clear upgrade to the Monster M550i. I get the feeling that these cables touch upon a sound attainable by the finest cables. They are not the very best but are quite good. Some day I will take the input from others and get a fancy set to compare to.
Associated Equipment;
Bryston B100 SST
Linn CD player (entry level)
DIY speakers (phase and time coherent)
B&W sealed powered sub (I turned this off for half of the auditioning)
Best of luck,
Bill

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Topic - BlueJeansCable audio interconnect; Initial Review - Schu 06:22:36 02/28/06 (4)

Update on BlueJeans Audio Interconnect - Schu 06:34:58 03/08/06 (0)

Re: BlueJeansCable audio interconnect; Initial Review - Mike FL 16:44:17 02/28/06 (0)

Very thorough analysis. Thanks! -nt- - TopPop 06:52:44 02/28/06 (0)

Please excuse my spelling errors by the way - Schu 06:31:02 02/28/06 (0)

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