Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Alpha-Core MicroPurl AG Cable by Bruce from DC

Model:	MicroPurl AG
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$85.00 for 1/2 meter RCA pair
Description:	interconnect
Manufacturer URL:	Alpha-Core
Model Picture:	View

Review by Bruce from DC ( B ) on January 09, 2003 at 16:13:51
IP Address: 207.91.86.5

Add Your Review
for the MicroPurl AG

This is the interconnect that persuaded me to abandon my long held belief that "wires is wires." I bought a pair of these because I needed a second set of interconnects when I replaced an old Dual turntable with my current 'table. Just for fun, I pulled the DH Labs interconnects that I was using to connect my CD player to my integrated amp and substituted these. An immediately noticeable, huge difference.
Much better "focus" of the stereo image. For the first time, on a CD with two singer singing close harmony, the system resolved the recording into two distinct voices.
Much cleaner top end with more detail, but without "icyness." Really, at this price, you can't go wrong as an experiment (what I did) and, if you buy direct from Alphacore, you have a 30-day free trial.
The micropurl interconnects were the subject of a long review in Stereophile (that came out after I bought them). Stereophile liked the copper version (even cheaper) and said it was good for the price; but didn't like the silver version (what I own and reviewed here). They gave a big rave ("good at any price") for the Triode Quartz 2, which is a silver version with thicker ribbons and is still pretty cheap.
I have a pair of long TQ2 balanced ICs that I use to connect my phono stage to my integrated amp. I am pleased with the overall performance of the phono system of which they are a part, but I have no way of comparing them to anything else or isolating their performance from that of the phono playback system. Recently, I bought a 1/2 meter pair of RCA-terminated TQ2s to use with a step up transformer that I'm going to put in the phono system. I'll do a side-by-side comparison between them and the AGs, reviewed here, and report what I hear.

Product Weakness: May be fragile if flexed a lot. Not a particularly effective tone control. You get more of whatever is coming out of the source. If what comes out is garbage, you get more garbage.
Product Strengths: Low price; lets more information through. Nice hardware on the ends. Very good RF rejection (better than DH Labs coaxial-style cable).

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Krell KAV-300i (integrated)
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Ultech UCD-100 CDP; VPI HW-19 Mk3/ JMW 10/ Clearaudio Aurum Beta S
Speakers:	Joseph RM-7si signatures; Mirage BPS-150 sub
Cables/Interconnects:	DH Labs BL-1 speaker wire, bi-wired
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	You name it; jazz, rock, classical
Room Size (LxWxH):	15 x 10 x 11
Room Comments/Treatments:	bookshelves on 2 walls; rug, upholstered furniture
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 year+
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Equitech -ET2RQ
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	May be fragile if flexed a lot. Not a particularly effective tone control. You get more of whatever is coming out of the source. If what comes out is garbage, you get more garbage.
Product Strengths:	Low price; lets more information through. Nice hardware on the ends. Very good RF rejection (better than DH Labs coaxial-style cable).