Telos Platinum XLR & Power Cord

大力佬

Thanks to Peter of Labkable, on loan the captioned.  I was told that they are exceptional cables.  With a bit of hesitation and doubt, I have borrowed the cables and as a practice, I hooked it up with my Audiodharma cable cooke to have at least 50 hours of running-in.  Though I was told that they are in the perfect condition out of the box, as a believer of cable running-in, and make sure they are in a par conition for testing purpose.  My hesitation is that they (i) cable comparison is a tiring job and (ii) they are not "silver" cable, in fact I was told they are very pure copper cable.  My doubt is that (i) I have not heard of the name before and (ii) the cable uses "cotton" instead of telfon as the outer jacket.

大力佬

However, my praise to the cable structure is that it is really beautiful, especially the white cotton jacket makes the cables stand out from the crowd of boring dull dark colour.  The heavy copper casted ring and sockets are really state of the art, elegrant and the cable certainly capture all audiphile with its appearance.  It is so soft and flexible and make it a really easy task for installing it.

大力佬

I have done the testing on the 1.5m power cable...  then on the 1.5m XLR interconnect.

Goodness... Are they copper?  I love silver cable but this one is not silver, how come it gives me the feel of silver?  Surfing the web and try to find out the make of the cable, really not much coverage, except some Taiwanese testing reports.

... to be continued...

cvincent

looks as a very expensive cable....

GREENSPAN

.....

大力佬

Here comes the remaining part on the review of the Telos Platinum Signature power cable...

Switching with my favourite Kondo LPz silver power cable, there are immediate change in the sound stage, both depth and width, clarity and control.  The Kondo LPz can be considered as affordable, it is certainly not the best cable in the market, it is however, my benchmark power cable.  

After spending quite some time with the Telos Platinum Signature Power Cable connecting to my Rogue Hera II preamp, I can summarize the sound signature as “relaxing”.  The overall presentation of, especially jazz and vocals, sounds more relaxing.  Vocals, in specific, are less upfront, a tint warmer while all musical instruments are pushed more sideways with a slight extension in depth.  Overall clarity, especially the background strings, cymbals are clearer, without over-emphasizing.  The highs is what I like most of the cable, it gives you the feel of silver cable, very well extended highs, silky fine with very nice micro-dynamics.  I considered the Kondo the best in its micro-dyanamics, it is quite difficult for me to tell which one is better.  Quantity of bass is slightly more than the Kondo, it is definitely not the punchy type of presentation, but relaxing.  The Telos Platinum Signature completely turn my impression on copper cable around which normally sounds a bit slower, a bit dull, a bit fat, more punchy.  It is however, none of the above.

A very good cable indeed and the next question is: How does it compare with my other power cable then?  Trying to compare with the Kharma Enigma, I know it is not a fair game.  In specific, I have already upgraded the terminations with the help of the DIY high hand Master Simon.  Unplugging the Enigma from my Esoteric D-03, I noticed how heavy the Enigma is and the Telos is just so friendly in any installation.  I am sure by now, anyone would expect that the Kharma should be at least way or a few streets ahead, what surprise me is that there is only a slight reduction in performance – the depth and width of the sound stage has shrunk a bit, while bass is a bit less focus.  All the rest - the highs and musicality, the thickness of the mids comes really close.  While the Kharma is much well balance (and much more expensive), the Telos Platinum has captured my attention in its ability to rival.

An interesting findings, after taking away the plastic web around the cable rings, the sounds are slghtly more transparent and relaxing. Please remove it when playing, you will enjoy it more.

Again, just my opinion in my setup and please don't shoot if you disagree or dislike.  Afterall, it is a subjective hobbies but thanks for reading.

Happy listening!

大力佬

Dear Master Greenspan,

Thanks so much for the comment.  

I would agreed with you if I have not come across very fine silver cable.  Very high quality copper certainly provides the right tonal balance, transient speed, airy and punch, however, what seems missing is the highs which I am so used to now.  What the Telos Platinum has afford me is the ability to present the highs which I thought only be avail in high purity silver conductor.

Clearly our ears are different and it is a matter of mix and match plus personal listening preference.  What makes the hifi hobbies so much fun (and pain) is really trying to find the best match.

Happy listening!

Happy listening.

大力佬

Here comes my report on the Telos Platinum Signature XLR 1.5m ----

Following the power cable, the XLR cable is also on a white cotton jacket.  Talking about flexible, the interconnect is even more so, you can feel the softness when you try to press on the cotton jacket as if it has been insulated with an inner layer of shock absorbing material.  The metal work of the termnations are just drop dead gorgeous – the whole connector is CNC milled copper and I was told that it is platinum plated which gives you the forever shinny appearance.  I am not sure if it has any effect on the sound but the appearance does impress me a lot.  

As mentioned in my previous review on Interconnect Shootout – Neotech Amazon & Virtual Dynamics Revelation II & Kondo LPz, I have in my system the Neotech Amazon and the Kondo LPz, both are considered by me top notch in the price range (though the Kondo is certainly on the really high side).  While the Kondo LPz is connecting the Esoteric D-03 to the Rogue Hera II, I have the Neotech Amazon between the Rogue Hera II to Rogue Apollo.  Not that I think the sound is better this way, in fact, I found in the previous interconnect shootout that the Kondo LPz sounds better connecting the preamp to the power amp, it is more because of space problem - the Rogue Apollo is quite unconventional, it is like two big loafs of bread and couldn’t fit into my rack and have to be placed in the front of it and sit side by side to my speakers.  Due to the limitations, I have done the comparison between:-

(i) Kondo LPz to Neotech Amazon; and  
(ii) Kondo LPz to Telos Platinum Signature

With the review of the power cable, I have quite a good grasp of the sound signature of Telos Platinum cable.   However, my immediate reaction to the sound is "wow", this time it is not just "relaxing", the sound signature that I can recall from the power cable, the additional ingredient is:- density and musicality.

While the Amazon is packed with plenty of details, the Telos Platinum gives you more finesse in handling the details - just finer, spacing between notes and musical instruments are finer and better separated.  The soundstage is more or less the same in both depth and width, however, the room is fill up with music, not just unidirectional, but more like I am immerse and surround by music.  Probably because of the Kondo LPz, the microdynamics is preserved and is effortlessly transmitted via the Telos Platinum.  The highs, simiiar to the power cable, is superb, maintaining the noble, silky and airy feel that normally comes from silver conductors.

An interesting finding - the quantity of bass from the Telos sounds less than the Amazon.  Not that it is lacking the focus (as the power cable), it is in fact sounds better, in terms of control without the punchy or fat bottom feel of some copper cables (which is the reason I prefer silver conductor due to my room acoustic which need to avoid the bass booms).

Lastly, similar to the findings with the power cable, the damping effect of the plastic net on the cable rings are severe.  You can only reveal the full potential of the interconnect by taking them away, the sound is strikingly more transparent and relax, dynamics and transient speed has improved so much if you are listening to different cables.

Hope everyone find it useful and happy listening!

大力佬

Here comes the photo of the system...

racewong

GREENSPAN 發表於 2012-7-16 04:59
靚銅線幾時都好聲過銀線.個人未聽過耐聽嘅銀線.銀線高音硬係高得不自然,有点煩嘅感覺.

但銀線用喺Video就 ...

HI GREENSPAN兄, 但我聽過最耐聽最有音樂味既IC, 都係用全銀喎.

racewong

大力佬 發表於 2012-7-22 21:24
Here comes the remaining part on the review of the Telos Platinum Signature power cable...

Switchin ...

師兄, KONDO既POWER CORD係KSL-ACz喎.

大力佬

Dear Racewong C-hing,

Yes, you are right and thanks for pointing it out.  

Just that I am also using the Kondo LPz when I am comparing the interconnect.

Happy listening!

racewong

大力佬 發表於 2012-7-24 23:24
Dear Racewong C-hing,

Yes, you are right and thanks for pointing it out.  

hi  大力佬兄, 多謝你的分享.

你d分享好鬼正!

另外, 我聽過最正既IC, 除左SILTECH CROWN CROWN外, 就係AUDIO NOTE SOOTTO.

遲D有機會, 再出番份REPORT先.

大力佬

Dear Racewong C-Hing,

I am grateful for the praise and thanks again my error in the report.

Both the Siltech Crown Crown and Sootto are of much higher league, in price (and trust in performance as well).  I am looking forward to the report.

Happy listening!

racewong

大力佬 發表於 2012-7-25 17:49
Dear Racewong C-Hing,

I am grateful for the praise and thanks again my error in the report.

我都問緊人借sootto呀! 哈哈.

希望條友仔會借比我啦.

GREENSPAN

.....

sunny14148

racewong 發表於 2012-7-25 11:34
hi  大力佬兄, 多謝你的分享.

你d分享好鬼正!

Racewong 兄，是否已聽過SOOTTO的表現，因小弟在找ＩＣ給 Pre 去 Power，原本是想找對LPz，可是又沒有 XLR，見隔離有對SOOTTO XLR，希望Racewong 兄給些意見，謝謝！

morel

大力佬兄，多謝你的分享！唔知師兄有冇試過full set telos 或 Amazon 嗎?，

大力佬

Dear Morel C-Hing,

I have not had the chance to swap to full set of Telos or Amazon, but really love to try ah.

Shall we go to labkable to negotiate for a testing?  If the result is good, I think we can bargain for a very very good price!  However, it creates a problem on all of our existing cables...

Headache...

racewong

sunny14148 發表於 2013-3-19 02:26
Racewong 兄，是否已聽過SOOTTO的表現，因小弟在找ＩＣ給 Pre 去 Power，原本是想找對LPz，可是又沒有 XL ...

Pre to power我鐘意用冇色冇味既IC.

Sootto我個人比較鐘意將佢放於cd to pre多D！