Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Aural Thrills Force Active Gold IC Cable by Jon L

Model:	Force Active Gold IC
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$1,500.00
Description:	"Active shield" interconnect
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available
Model Picture:	View

Review by Jon L ( A ) on May 02, 2004 at 17:19:13
IP Address: 162.119.232.102

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for the Force Active Gold IC

This is a design by Thorsten licensed by Aural Thrills, and part of proceeds goes to charity. Even though the term "Active shielding" is used, it probably should more accurately be called "biased shield." In its original recipe, a 9V battery was used to bias the shield through use of a few caps and resistors for "better RFI behavior." Dont' ask me how exactly to implement it; ask Thorsten.
Also, AT cables have gone through several versions, and the 2 versions I have don't use the battery anymore. They use a wall-wart power supply that has adjustable voltage from 3V to 12V, which is useful to "tune" the sound. I have the earlier version with the gold alloy (reportedly at least 50% gold unlike many other "gold alloys" on A-gon) and also the latest version where signal is 24K pure gold and return is pure silver. There are differences, but let me try to describe the family sound.
These are the quietest IC's I've tried. Background noise is demolished, and this is something that one cannot truly appreciate until you try something with even less noise. This is the provervial "inky black, buttery, through-the-floor" noisefloor people like to talk about but rarely achieve. This is the main strength of these IC's and definitely audible in A-B listening with and without the "biases shield." In short, the magic disappears when the shield is turned off, making the cables sound "regular" IMO. Also, do NOT start with the voltage set at 12V and work your way down. AT recommends starting at 3V, and there is a reason since in MY system, 3V sounds best. Even 4.5V starts to lose some of the magic, and at 9V-12V, the IC sounds bad enough I wouldn't buy it if the voltage was fixed that high. At 3V, I get a perfect balance of "quiet" with high frequency detail and air. As I ramp up the voltage, upper treble disappears and "air" decreases, which makes the midrange more noticeable and dominant (some may like that) but the silky, sexy, stratospherically-extended treble that this IC possesses disappears.
So why dwell on the background noise level? Because this allows the musically relevant details to just "be there." The details don't shoot out at you and shout out, but because the surrounding space and background is so calm, the subtle musical details are much easier to appreciate without the need to shout out. This occurs from highest treble to lowest bass. Going down the audiophile list:
Treble. Beautifully refined, textured, naturally detailed. Lots of extension and air (at 3V).
Midrange. It's "tunable" via the voltage setting, but at 3V, not too lean, not too fat. It's not overly rich (some may prefer it richer), and not overly lean (some may prefer it "faster"). Most importantly, the voices don't sound cartoonish, gaudy, metallic, hyped, or plasticky, like many IC's out there. The natural detail, once again, is just there b/c of the low noise floor.
Bass. Nice surprise here in the low bass. At the right voltage, there's a taut, rich, bouncy, roundness to the low bass that seems to be the foundation for a nice bloomy soundstage. The most natural and "musical" low bass I've heard in IC's. Similar qualities in mid-bass. Again, some may prefer a more bone-crunching, brute bass, but I doubt it after they listen to the musical bass.
Soundstage, imaging. These are usually lower on my priority list (personal preference), but I should mention that the biased shielding truly does wonders for the imaging and soundstaging. These IC's present center vocals/instruments right at the plane of the speakers (not forward like many others), then just expands deeply in depth, laterally, and is able to project towards the listener when need be. Every voice, instrument truly floats in their own cusion of space/air, supported by huge virtual air-space. For some reason, this "billowing" quality of soundstaging reminded me of Cary 805 SET amps's soundstaging, for those who know what I'm talking about.
I dont' want to go into detailed comparisons with every IC I've tried over the years, but let me detail some differences with an old warhorse, the Nordost Quattro Fil. Many malign this cable, but honestly, it is a great cable, one that some prefer over even the Valhalla for its more "intense" midrange. QF at first listen "seems" to be more detailed and "fuller" through low-midrange and upper-bass. The images/soundstage are more foward in front of your speakers, sounding more vivid. But listen to music for a couple of hours, and one starts to feel a certain artificiality to the music, a certain cartoonish sensation. Space seems constricting and oppressive instead of easy and blooming. Switch to AT, and air/space becomes a lot more refined and continuous. Musical details are better separated and away from spurious details (which are buried under the low noise floor). Treble is more extended but less obvious, midrange more inviting, bass actually better than QF in its extension and bloom. Certain silver cables will sound "faster," but AT cables are so fast that they don't sound fast if you know what I mean.
As for the difference between the gold-alloy version and gold/silver version. The alloy version has bigger image size, less dense images, with a bit less low-treble/upper-midrange detail, but more low-midrange energy/roundness. I'm not sure what I prefer yet, but I can configure my system with another cable change (another IC or a power cord) to make each IC sound "better" than other other. It's kind of like the difference between the prettiest girl back in your hometown whom you've gone to high school with and who loves you vs. the supermodel who "likes" you...
Before someone asks "are they the best?" let me just say the obvious that there is no such thing. Just like any quality cable or component, one must really work at it to optimize it in his system. He must be willing to change a few cables, footers, speaker positioning, and let the music come together. One may try his best but actually fall short of magic, blame the AT IC's and sell them on A-gon. This is perfectly understandable and predictable at a certain percentage. As Robert Lee of Acoustic Zen keeps saying, there is "no way" a cable, any cable, can improve the signal. They ALL degrade the signal, but we must look for ones that degrade the least.
I'm certain that in a different system configuration, I may be able to find another IC that I will prefer for that moment, but for my present state of possible system configurations, the AT cables are my preferred cables. Put this one on your audition list, and you may find yourself enjoying your music more. As all things in life, there's no guarantees, but Aural Thrills offers 30-day money-back guarantee..

Product Weakness: see text
Product Strengths: see text

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	see inmate system
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	saa
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	saa
Speakers:	saa
Cables/Interconnects:	saa
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	all
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	saa
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner