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

Model:	CC89259
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$ ridiculously low compared to mf'g
Description:	Unbelievable speaker cable for DIY'ers
Manufacturer URL:	DIY by Jon Risch
Manufacturer URL:	DIY by Jon Risch

Review by Ulas ( A ) on November 20, 2004 at 11:55:51
IP Address: 65.19.43.192

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I made this cable several years ago when I started my search for the best cables for my system. CC89259 came with high praise from inmates who had tried it and especially from the designer, Jon Risch, who claimed, â€œIt sounds great, and could be a contender against ANY retail high-end speaker cable at any price!â€ If CC89259 could match or beat the high-end speaker cable I was using at the time, it would be worth a try.

My first attempt at making it was unsuccessful, or so I thought. The finished cable sounded so bad I believed I must have made a mistake in wiring it. I carefully cut off the heat shrink, rechecked the connections, and reflowed the solder joints. It still sounded bad. Finally, I cut of the ends of the cable and started from scratch with new Audioquest silver spades and fresh Cardas solder. No change. CC89259 wasnâ€™t even a contender against braided Cat5 let alone against any of the commercial high-end cables I had.

CC89259 has all the required high fidelity attributes: bass, midrange, treble. It produces good sound but terrible music. At the time, I characterized its sound as bland and boring. It sucks the life out of the music leaving a caricature of the original much like MP3 encoding removes most of the detail to reduce file size.

Now, after trying over 60 cable recipes and variations, my cable search is over and I decided to revisit some of my early cable trials. I wanted to evaluate CC89259 again because Jon Risch was so disturbed by my harsh criticism. I wired CC89259 into my system for about a week. In addition to background music while I worked, I tried to seriously listen to a couple recordings each day. I soon realized my earlier assessment of the cable was way off base. I was too generous.

Recently, in Music Lane, there was a discussion of Ivo Pogorelich that piqued my curiosity. I was unfamiliar with Ivo and listened to a few samples of his recordings on the Internet. I was impressed with his interpretations and his technique. Most professional pianists are capable of playing fast and loud, but few exhibit Ivoâ€™s control and finesse when playing slowly and quietly. The first of the Ivo CDs I ordered arrived while the CC89259 was installed. Since I had only heard highly compressed, streaming audio samples of the music, I wanted to hear what the uncompressed CD had to offer. What I heard was nothing like the Real Audio samples from the Internet, it was much worse. Like everything I listened to, the CC89259 stripped the heart and soul from the music. Ivoâ€™s delicate touch and subtle shading of each note was replaced with a bland, generic piano sound not unlike a MIDI transcription reproduced with a first-generation FM synthesizer. CC89259â€™s ability to kill the music while leaving the sound intact is uncanny. Itâ€™s the audio equivalent of the neutron bomb.

I think Jon Risch summed it up when he wrote, â€œSome people may feel that the cables [CC89259] presented here are wild overkill, I feel that they are barely adequate. You have been warned!â€ Yes, they are just barely adequate for background music. Now that my six-day, self-imposed torture is over I am immersing myself in real music again. For me, music is much more than just sound.

The usual disclaimers apply. The preceding is my opinion based on my experience with the CC89259 cables I made and used in my system. YMMV

Product Weakness: Sucks the life out of the music.
Product Strengths: Easy to make.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Art Audio Jota monoblocks w/EAT 32B (20wpc)
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Hovland HP-100 w/MC phono stage
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Sony CDP; DIY DAC; SME 30 table; SME IV.Vi arm; Cardas/Benz cartridge
Speakers:	Avantgarde Acoustic Trio (19 ohm, 110dB)
Cables/Interconnects:	DIY
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	varied
Room Size (LxWxH):	45 x 35 x 23
Time Period/Length of Audition:	6 days
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Grand Prix Audio Monaco; Equi=Tech 2RQ on dedicated circuit
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Sucks the life out of the music.
Product Strengths:	Easy to make.