Cable Asylum: REVIEW: XLO UE-5 Cable by Luminator Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys.

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Model:	UE-5
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$5025 for an 8-foot pair
Description:	Speaker Cable
Manufacturer URL:	XLO
Manufacturer URL:	XLO

Review by Luminator ( A ) on October 26, 2005 at 11:22:12 IP Address: 66.47.253.226

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[note: I have not evaluated the XLO Unlimited interconnects, powercord, and digital cable. This review focuses solely on the UE-5 speaker cable.]

"Fucking awesome!"

In the late 90s, I let my curiosity get the better of me, and decided to try super-expensive interconnects on the cheapo Sony Playstation. When my friends and I started playing games, we heard sound that was fast, detailed, involving, and powerful. The video gaming experience became even more engrossing. I do not remember which game we were playing, but out of nowhere, my friend Chris issued that quote above.

We did not just stop there. Further downstream, we used Tara Labs' $4495 The 2 Biwire (T2BW) on a pair of ($2500 in premium bird's eye maple) ProAc Response One SCs. Totally engrossed in some Final Fantasy game, Chris exclaimed, "Aw yeah! Speaker cables that cost more than speakers kicks (sic) ass."

Okay, so we lashed the video game system with $$$$ cables through sheer whimsy. With that experience as a lead-in, we then got hold of an 8-foot XLO Unlimited speaker cable. We just wanted to burn it in, so we hooked it up between some old NAD receiver and the dinky NHT SuperZeroes. We tuned to San Francisco’s K101, and Tina Turner’s “We Don’t Need Another Hero” came on. The stunning realism caused Chris to drop his drink, and blurt out, “No fucking way!”

Chris continued: “Holy shit. All those mealy-mouth audiophiles say it’s insane when the speaker cables cost more than the speakers themselves. They’re always telling me I should spend no more than 10% of the stereo budget on cables. Bullshit! Have those losers even tried any of these frickin’ expensive cables? Shit. It’s one thing to try these damn things on the [SuperZero], but I can’t wait to see how they do on REAL speakers.”

It was tough enough to find that 8-foot, spade-terminated UE-5. But that sample showed enough promise, that we pushed on in search of some more UE-5s. Eventually, we found an 8-foot internally bi-wired pair, also with 8mm spades. Now we were able to use bi-wired speakers, without the use of jumpers.

I had long found success with XLO’s expensive Limited Edition interconnects. But the LE speaker cable is out of (my) reach. And besides, anyone who uses the roughly $10k LE-5 must also have similarly-priced equipment, equipment I don’t really have access to. Okay, I was sticking with the LE interconnects, but could not afford the LE-5. So, I did the next best thing, and bought a 7-foot, banana-terminated Unlimited Edition speaker cable for my own personal use. The latter thus gave us three samples of UE-5 to evaluate.

Product Description

The UE-5 comes in a large, octagonal wooden box. The ends are wrapped in cellophane. I strongly encourage you to use the included packet of XLO’s The Perfect Connection, basically a handi-wipe for metals. Using the TPC, we were able to get all sorts of dirt off the spades, bananas, and collars.

The UE-5 is thick, heavy, and stiff. If your UE-5 is too long, the excess slack will force the cable to go where it wants to go. This often puts stress on your amp or speakers. It can pull light amps or minimonitors off of shelves and stands. If you are not careful, the heavy cable can put a dent in soft drywall. Or, the physical resistance of the cable can work the spades or bananas loose from the binding posts.

The 8mm spades are too wide. Binding posts have a hard time gripping them. If you do wish to have spades, please order the 6mm ones. The Deltron banana does a good job of staying put within a post. However, some binding posts’ banana hole is too shallow, and you will see the Deltron partially inserted. I am hard pressed to hear any difference between the 8-foot UE-5 with spades and the 7-foot UE-5 with bananas. Therefore, I assume that the spades and bananas sound pretty much the same.

Thankfully, the + and – leads are flexible and long enough. XLO designates silver as the positive conductor, purple negative. Each cable run consists of 3 positive strands, and 3 negative strands. Thus, the UE-5 can be single-wired, bi-wired, or tri-wired, all within one cable.

Usage Issues

All three UE-5 samples sounded fine, straight out of the crate. But with initial playing time, the UE-5 went through several changes. It’s kind of like when you try on new clothes, and you struggle to take them off, fold them, and put them back on the rack. After a while, we just gave up, and whipped out the Cable Cooker. 24 hours is fine, 48 hours is more than enough. As always, do not overcook. After receiving the Cable Cooker treatment, the UE-5 still needs a few days of playing time to settle down, sound right, and stay that way.

In practice, the UE-5 is moderately sensitive to carpeting. On my loop pile carpet, the UE-5 loses a little air and sparkle. On my parents’ plush carpet, mouthfuls of air and sparkle are lost. I am hard pressed to pin down any differences between placing the UE-5 directly on hardwood floors, or suspending them in air. If there is a difference, it is small. I do not lose any sleep over it. If it makes you feel any better, prop the UE-5 on cable towers, just as you would on carpet.

Chris joked that he had an easier time wrestling snakes, than hooking up the UE-5 between the NAD receiver and NHT SuperZero. The NAD’s binding posts have a metal barrier, which prevents spades from locking onto the metal tube. Thus, we had to insert half of a spade into the NAD’s opening. The weight of the UE-5 makes this a precarious connection.

Don’t get me wrong. The Sony CD player, Kimber Timbre, NAD receiver, Kimber 4TC, and NHT SuperZero make an awesome budget combination. But replacing the 4TC with XLO UE-5 made several of us blurt out interjections. The UE-5 apparently was free from cable distortions, thus allowing the system’s sound to be MUCH smoother, cleaner, stronger, and more articulate.

CRASH! Whoops, the UE-5’s mass pulled one of the SuperZeroes off the ledge. Lesson learned. Be sure that you use Blu-tak to secure minimonitors to the stands or wherever you place them. Once our SuperZeroes were back up and running, we settled down, and did some more listening. The critical upper bass/lower midrange region was firmed up, giving the music a more powerful rendering. It was as if the anemic SuperZero morphed into, say, the more refined Totem Model One.

Sources

The source components set the table, and are of utmost importance. That said, when we swapped front end components, we noted how well or poorly the UE-5 did in keeping up with those changes. The Meridian G08 had a solid, elegant, somewhat averaged-out sound. The Mark Levinson No. 37/360 combo was very good across the board. Certainly, the UE-5 did not do anything to cover up the solo Naim CDX2’s clumsy, out-of-position sound. Adding the XPS2 power supply transformed the sound of the CDX2, and the UE-5 did not hold back. Replacing the CDX2 with the top-loading CDS3 yielded strong gains in the “feel” or texture of the music. Little breathy inhalations became clearer, so it was easier to differentiate, say, Bryan Ferry’s style versus Simon LeBon’s (Duran Duran) or Neil Diamond’s. These are the qualities which lesser speaker cables completely miss, so it is nice to know that the UE-5 can get this far.

I do not understand audiophiles’ affection for the Benz ACE cartridges. I have tried these in Basis, Clearaudio, Rega, and Sumiko arms. I have fiddled endlessly with VTA, tracking force, overhang, azimuth, etc. Have you ever tossed a Frisbee, and watched it skid over pavement? That is what the ACE cartridges sound like. Do you want to know what it feels like to be a CEO who looks down upon and spits on the poor? Get the Benz Ebony LP (CEO) and compare it to the ACE (the poor). The Ebony LP is everything a Benz should be: no-doubt-about-it textures and scale. It’s a very “corporate” sound.

Okay, do you want to bring in a CEO of a more hippy company? Bring in the Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum. The RSP loosens those strict corporate guidelines, and has a more fun personality. The RSP is like loosey-goosey Ben & Jerry’s, versus the Ebony LP’s Pricewaterhouse Coopers corporate culture. The RSP is like an HR department which allows employees to dress business casual, decorate the walls, and check personal e-mail. If you like to close your eyes, croon along, and get swept away in the music, go for the RSP. If you like to sit at the piano and get the notes right, go for the Ebony LP. Either way, the UE-5 at the end of the chain will not play favorites.

Amplification

Preamps are critical. Many of them obscure the low-level details which the UE-5 is able to pass on. The Mark Levinson No. 380 sounded “grayed out,” versus their upgraded No. 380S. Without hearing the 380S, one could easily overlook the 380, and blame the UE-5 instead. Yet, with the UE-5 in the system, the No. 380 was still less vulgar and crude than my Classe’ Thirty or B&K Pro10MC. The BV Audio P-10 is quite neutral, but compared to the much more expensive ML No. 380S or Simaudio P-8, it sounds choppy and just a slight bit out of control. If, like us, you have a new Simaudio P-8, the UE-5 will let you hear how each input needs to be burned in. But once the P-8 burns in, you need supremely neutral and transparent cables to discern its true sound.

For one all-too-brief weekend, I got to use a Naim NAC 282 and NAP 250. Naim like to insist that you use their lousy speaker cable, which sounds lumpy, uneven, and raspy. It’s like biting into a hard peach or nectarine you don’t like, and then spitting it out. At least in the two days I had the Naim combo, the UE-5 (the 7-footer with bananas; the Naim amp only accepts bananas) presented no problems we were aware of. There was no noise. The amp did not overheat or blow up. The speakers performed normally. True, the UE-5 costs as much or more than the Naim NAP 250 itself, but this was a compelling match. The UE-5 revealed so much more spatial, textural, and temporal information. The music’s natural flow was restored. With the Naim cable, everything was forced to sound like Slade or Quiet Riot. And that was not a good thing, when we wanted to get down with KC And The Sunshine Band, or feel that I-don’t-want-to-move longing with Roberta Flack.

The UE-5 helped dial in the Wright Sound WPA3.5’s two weaknesses: a lack of control in the audible portions of the bass, and not enough treble extension. With speakers that have a rising top end (e.g., ProAc Response One SC and Totem Forest), the WPA3.5 sang beautifully. It was with the WPA3.5, that we became suspicious of the UE-5 having a slightly sweet (like a sprinkling of powdered sugar over a cake) personality. Even with the Sylvania VT-197-A, EH 6SN7, and Sovtek 2A3 (all three are on the leaner, cleaner side of neutral), the sound refused to get nasty. While that can work in a lot of homes/systems, it is not accurate and truthful, and ultimately detracts from reaching the top of the mountain.

Yet, the UE-5 had no problems showing what the more neutral Decware Taboo could do. The Taboo uses just one 5Y3 rectifier. 5Y3s are cheap, and not overly difficult to find. Yet, each one sounds different in the Taboo. By rolling the 5Y3, you can totally swing the Taboo’s sound to your liking. Once you get the 5Y3 right, play around with the single 12AX7. If you have a preamp with gain, you can also try 12AT7s and 12AU7s. The possibilities are endless. Finally, we had so much fun, trying out all the EL-84s we had on hand. All throughout these tube rolling expeditions, the UE-5 just sat there, passing along the info, like a bored judge. My only caveat is that the UE-5’s sheer bulk can put stress on the Taboo’s binding posts.

Another Inmate has observed that his Conrad Johnson gear may “sound right,” but does not boogie. With the UE-5 attached to my CJ MV60SE, I completely concur with this Inmate. No matter what tubes or powercords I used in the MV60SE, I could not get this amp to follow the signal and kick ass. All of my Anthrax, Joe Public, Judas Priest, Power Station, and Village People sounded fast enough, but not punchy enough. It’s like waving your hand in the air, but not being able to high-five your teammate(s).

Speakers and Other Speaker Cables

Okay, okay, the UE-5 possessed good across-the-board sonics, and displayed no compatibility issues with any of the gear we threw at it. That was the easy part. Now it was time to round up other high-priced speaker cables, go ‘round the Bay Area audiophiles’ homes, and perform the obligatory shootouts.

If you do go with the internally bi-wired version, be warned that the leads at the speaker end may need to be bent to match and fit the speakers’ posts. Once more, binding posts have a difficult time gripping the too-wide 8mm spades. Going with bananas will make bi-wiring easier and neater. In a kludgy move, we did use the two single-wire UE-5s, to do a discrete bi-wire job. It is not worth the cost or trouble. If you are contemplating two runs of UE-5, you can either save money by ordering the internally bi-wired UE-5, or go for the kill, by getting the internally bi-wired Limited Edition.

Through either the UE-5 or Tara Labs The 2 Bi-Wire (T2BW), the Totem Model One Signature was obviously sweet, closed-in, and rolled off in the top octave. The T2BW’s combination of power and transparency edged ahead of the UE-5’s slightly sweeter, more suave presentation. Put it this way. If the T2BW is a light chrysanthemum tea, then the UE-5 is a green tea. Neither can be accused of being bottled water. Nor can they be accused of being black tea.

Through the ProAc Response One SC, it was more of a toss-up. The One SC is a boom & sizzle speaker, and the more contrasty T2BW could, at times, be too much of a good thing. The UE-5 did not do anything to mitigate the midbass hump, and in a small room, this is most problematic. But in the right setup, the UE-5 was simply sublime with the One SC. The One SC was less choppy with rhythms and the actual flow of the music. The bassline on U2’s “With Or Without You” remained firm in its place, refusing to play hide & seek in the murky mix.

Moving on to the medium-sized rooms, we found the combo of the Conrad Johnson MV-60SE, UE-5, and Totem Forest to be first-rate, the whole being better than the sum of the parts. They are most certainly NOT about forcing a one-size-fits-all kick-out-the-jams signature on the music. Thrill to the slight differences in punctuation and beat on Simply Red’s “The Right Thing,” Robert Palmer’s “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On,” Bryan Ferry’s “Don’t Stop The Dance,” and Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.” Then revel in the slam of Wreckx N Effex’s “Rump Shaker.”

While the CJ MV-60SE relaxes the brain, it does not really rock or kick ass. While the UE-5 lets you know about the MV-60SE’s character, it does not further gum up the works. You can still “watch” Judas Priest’s killer drum opening to “Painkiller,” but you will not be swept away in it. For that, you need an amp that can reproduce this aspect. Do not blame the speaker cable.

With the Martin Logan Aeon i [the T2BW’s short leads make the cable difficult to work with], the race is back to a dead heat. When Neil Sedaka sings the “Ooooooh” before “I hear laughter in the rain,” there is more reach with the Tara Labs T2BW. But on Whitesnake’s “Give Me All Your Love,” the UE-5’s poised control made this hard, splashy recording no more unbearable than it really is. Overall, the T2BW could sound 5% more ethereal, while the UE-5 sounded 5% more firmly anchored. Which you find “better” is totally a judgment call.

As good as my Thiel CS2.4 is, it is, in a large room, no match for the CS6. With the CS6, it is like possessing both a high-powered microscope AND a good telescope. Through the UE-5, the cymbals on Led Zeppelin’s “Rock And Roll” were neither muffled nor disconnected from the rest of the mix. They seemed less artificially molded than through the MIT Magnum M1 ($4175 per 10-foot pair). But the M1 countered with a thick, rumbling, V-8 kind of sound. Still, something was not right with the M1. Even on thin recordings, there was too much force or air mass behind the music. It was like leaving the Vornado heater on, even though the room was hot.

The UE-5 and Kimber Select KS-3038 ($9800 per 10-foot pair) were rather similar sounding, hard to differentiate in cursory listening sessions. The KS-3038 reminded me of those “proof” nickels, where the frosty images of Thomas Jefferson contrasts markedly with the deep black mirrored plains. The UE-5, in a slight way, softly blends the transition from note, decay, and acoustical space. This was apparent on well-recorded material that does not advertise itself as so, such as Genesis’ “Abacab,” and Robert Plant’s “Sixes And Sevens.” Thus, you can think of the UE-5 as an MS-65 uncirculated Jefferson nickel.

The KS-3038 can be tricky to describe. Its ever so slight dusting of sugar over the mids is, in absolute terms, an error. But it is done in a way that often makes recorded sound more palatable. It reminds me of an old classmate who happened to go ice skating at the same time as I did. She had spotted me, and, her hands behind her back, casually skated up to me. She had that sweet smile that made me forget what a lousy beginner skater I was. She said to follow her around the rink, and see if I could keep up. Coming out of a turn, she started to pull ahead. She looked like she was only half trying, while I was feverishly moving my feet as fast as I could. Yet, she was rapidly increasing her lead. It was then that I imagined her as a hockey player. Her coach would yell at her to bust her ass, move her feet. You see, she only appears to be skating slowly. Her efficient and effortless strides disguise the fact that she is moving rather quickly. This would be the KS-3038.

Before my hockey lessons, the figure skaters are working on their moves. The good skaters move with these precise, graceful steps. They do not wobble at all. The illusion is that they are gliding just above the surface of the ice, not digging into it. This would be the UE-5.

The zamboni clears the figure skaters off the rink. We hockey hacks spill out onto the ice, stretch, and take warm-up laps. We stiffly work on crossovers and braking. We buckle, stammer, jerk, brace, and fall. We hacks are the equivalent of speaker cables that cost less than the likes of the UE-5 and KS-3038.

Earlier in this article, I likened the UE-5 to green tea, while the Tara Labs T2BW was like chrysanthemum tea. Using this scale, the Nordost Valhalla ($9130 for a 10-foot pair) comes closest to being bottled water. Its “invisibility” is simply addictive. It likes to get out of the way, leaving listeners to nitpick things about their equipment. The Valhalla can help you get closer to that feeling that the musicians are playing for you. No, it is not the same as going back to 1972, and being in the studio with Led Zep. It is as if their music has been left behind, right there in your room. The Valhalla did a better job than the UE-5 and KS-3038 in allowing us to “see” ABC perform “Look Of Love” and “When Smokey Sings.” The Valhalla was just that much more see-through. I swear, it was as if I could walk up to and between the performers. Heck, if I whipped out my air guitar, I could pretend to be Jerry Garcia, and jam along with Bruce Hornsby on “Across The River.” Never mind that the Valhalla speaker cable costs almost as much as my Simaudio P-8. The Valhalla helped to teleport me to the musical event. Never before have I enjoyed Peter Frampton’s live at Winterland “Baby I Love Your Way” [I otherwise hate this performance].

“Fuck you, John,” said an Inmate who shall remain unnamed. “The Valhalla costs more than the Unlimited. A better comparison would be between the Unlimited and [Nordost’s $5720 per 10-foot pair] Valkyrja.”

I said, “Well, let’s go get some.”

Try as we may, none of our local sources had or could borrow Nordost Valkyrja. That went for both the speaker cable and interconnect.

The Inmate continued, “Aw, now your review is going to be FLAWED!”

While searching for Nordost Valyrja, however, we did snag an 8-foot single-wire Tara Labs The One. I have long used Tara Labs’ ISM The One interconnects, which are very, very good. It is refreshing to learn that The One speaker cable (I shall refer to it as TOSC) sounds just about the same as the line-level interconnect. They are both transparent, with just a little bit of bronzing on the images [compare that to the sugar the Kimber KS3038 sprinkles over the music].

Audiophiles who have top-notch systems will complain that, relative to other cable systems, Tara Labs’ The One does not quite keep up with explosive dynamics. When comparing UE-5 to TOSC, the former is a little more precise in the macrodynamics department. It is like driving 65 mph, and needing to pass a slow-moving truck. The UE-5 is like the sports car which has a little better burst, to let you pass the truck more quickly. On the other hand, TOSC is more see-through transparent, with better contrast of music versus space. Certainly, TOSC had no problems with microdynamics. We were playing Art Of Noise’s “Close (To The Edit),” and the sounds whipped back and forth in frenzied proportions. The bassline was slick and propulsive.

Here Comes Big Sis

For years now, the XLO Limited Edition interconnects have been one of my references by which all others are judged. The LE interconnects just have a nice sense of balance. Nothing seems out of place. Other fine interconnects will give me more or less of this or that sonic parameter. But in an overall sense, the LE is exceedingly fine, and has continued to get out of the way of the music.

I have had long-term success with the XLO LE interconnects. Some have serial numbers as low as 007. My more recent units have serial numbers in the 300s. Obviously, this is not a hot-selling item for XLO. If I thought it was a privilege to examine the UE-5, imagine my surprise when I was able to borrow an 8-foot Limited Edition speaker cable (I think a 10-foot pair is $10,680). NOW, I could compare the UE-5 not just to other companies’ products, but to XLO’s top-of-the-line LE-5.

We did not fool around with the LE-5 (it had 8mm spades at the amp end, Deltron bananas at the speaker end), though we knew it had been used. We left it on the Cable Cooker for two days, then stuck it in the Sony/NAD/NHT system for most of a work week.

In any system, the LE-5 and UE-5 shared the same fundamentals. But the LE-5 builds upon the strengths of the UE-5 by being a small bit more open, focused at the edges, transparent, and rock solid. My pals and I pegged the difference on the order of 5-7%. But when used with appropriately high-end gear, the LE-5, musically, got us a good 20% closer to the action. With the high-roller Krell, Mark Levinson, and Simaudio gear we had, the UE-5 was sublime, but the LE-5 forced us to pay attention. Everybody gets hooked on the opening East Asian rhythm of Tears For Fears’ “Shout.” When the bass and guitars come in, people often lose sight of the cymbal work. But the LE-5 never let it go. I have to admit, the LE-5 and Nordost Valhalla encouraged us to find the best gear we could, to see what that gear truly was capable of. And once you do hear what the heavy hitters can do, it is a letdown to go back to the real world.

Obligatory Reviewer’s Thoughts

None of the Kimber, MIT, Nordost, Tara Labs, and XLO cables sucked. Surprisingly, mixing one brand’s interconnects with another brand’s speaker cable did not turn into a Frankenstein creation. Nevertheless, keeping the interconnects and speaker cables from the same brand yielded the most coherent picture. So where does that leave the XLO UE-5? Due to its physical traits, price, and musical performance, I posit that it has limited (no pun intended) uses. Yes, it kicked ass in the cheap Sony/NAD/NHT system. No, this not an appropriate place for such speaker cables. Yes, it was the proper match for systems using XLO’s Limited Edition interconnects. No, it does not achieve as much as XLO’s own LE-5.

However, the UE-5 is smartly placed between XLO’s Signature 2 and Limited Edition series. A customer who wants something more rarified and refined than the Type 5.2, but finds the LE-5 out of reach should look carefully at the UE-5. My audio buddies have diverse tastes and values. Yet, with not too much debate, we agreed that the UE-5, which costs half that of the LE-5, gets about 80% of the way there. Especially for a $5000 product, that sounds weak and tepid. But do not forget that Chris found the UE-5 to be “fucking awesome.” Indeed, when mated to high-end gear and XLO’s own interconnects, the UE-5 made me and Chris look at each other, and flash that we’ve-finally-arrived grin of achievement. Yes, solid high-end products like the UE-5 help suck us into the music. With that level of satisfaction, though, we were actually able to stop thinking about audio. In fact, my mind segued to that old classmate who easily blew by me in skating. Where is she now? What ever happened to her?

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Product Weakness:	bulk, stiffness, price; spades too wide; somewhat sensitive to carpeting; not as good as Limited Edition and other super expensive brands
Product Strengths:	solid performer

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Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	see text
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	see text
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	see text
Speakers:	see text
Cables/Interconnects:	see text
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	mostly rock, pop, and dance
Room Comments/Treatments:	Evaluated in multiple homes throughout Honolulu and SF Bay Area
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 years
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Cable Cooker
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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