Cable Asylum: REVIEW: DIY by Jon Risch CC89259 Cable by newsman

Model:	CC89259
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$ ridiculously low compared to mf'g
Description:	Unbelievable speaker cable for DIY'ers
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available

Review by newsman ( A ) on February 01, 2003 at 08:01:35
IP Address: 12.91.36.154

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for the CC89259

Since I'm on the lazy side, I purchased the cc89259 speaker cable kit (six foot) from DIYcable.com.

The kit had everything I needed without my having to scramble around for this part or that

THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT:
Took me about four hours in all to build a six foot set with soldered Cardas spades. I'm not a diy kind of guy, and had to recruit a friend who actually OWNS a soldering iron to do the soldering. Anyone who knows the difference between a needle nose pliar and a phillips screwdriver, and can follow directions, should be able to build these cables as the kit even has extra materials in case you mess up here or there.

Baseline comparisons:

Was running plain Monster copper cable, single and double runs (bare wire terminations, as well as DH-Labs T-14 (spades) to my Acoustic Energy Aegis 3 speakers. Also recently tried some Transparent Audio Music Link Wave cables (spades) single runs.

THE MUSIC AND COMPARISIONS:

> Kabul Workshop, cut one, Trigana: Low synth notes take on an entirely different character with the cc89259's compared to the Monster and T-14s,--like taking a sopping wet blanket off the music.

I could not discern a difference between the c89259 and the Transparent cables as both did an outstanding job. Good pace and drive, very defined pitch changes.

> Tom Rush, The Circle Game, cut 3, Urge for Going: Tom's voice and guitar are the stars here, and compared to the Monsters and T-14s, the cc89259 present Tom's voice with that "you can almost touch it" quality, coming very close to the extraordinarily good midrange of the Transparents.

> I Ching, Of The Marsh and The Moon, cut 1, Tibet: The cc89259s present the ringing sounds of bells with a wiped clean metallic quality compared to the Monsters, and I could not discern a difference between the cc89259 and the Transparent cables.

SUMMARY:

Overall, for bargain basement price of about $100, the cc89259 speaker cables exceed my expectations in every possible way.

And with a limited budget, I'm satisfied that I have no need to agonize any longer over whether I should spend $200 or $300 or $500 on another set of speaker cables.

Compared to the Monsters, and the T-14s, the cc89259 have deeper tighter low end, less of a digital edge, more midrange and upper midrange "thereness" and more natural tonal colors overall so that voices and acoustic instruments like guitars sound less recorded in quality and more real.

Compared to the Transparents, the cc89259 didn't quite have the midrange thereness or presense, but they come closer to that ideal than the basic Monster cable or the T-14s.

Product Weakness: The spades that come with the kit are a bit on the big side, so you have to take time when connecting them to your binding posts so as not to cause a short. Sonically, for $100 a set, there are no weaknesses.
Product Strengths: Deeeeep, defined low end, wonderful overall clarity and lack of edge.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Pass Aleph 3
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Odyssey Tempest
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	NAD 541i CD player
Speakers:	Acoustic Energy Aegis 3
Cables/Interconnects:	Rockford Fosgate Gamma Geometry Triple X
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Acoustic, synth, vocals
Room Size (LxWxH):	13 x 11 x 7.5
Room Comments/Treatments:	none
Time Period/Length of Audition:	week
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	The spades that come with the kit are a bit on the big side, so you have to take time when connecting them to your binding posts so as not to cause a short. Sonically, for $100 a set, there are no weaknesses.
Product Strengths:	Deeeeep, defined low end, wonderful overall clarity and lack of edge.