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Cable Asylum: REVIEW: Jena Labs Fundamental One Cable by Quint

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REVIEW: Jena Labs Fundamental One Cable

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Model: Fundamental One
Category: Cable
Suggested Retail Price: $2,000 (when I last checked)
Description: Power cord
Manufacturer URL: Jena Labs
Manufacturer URL: Jena Labs

Review by Quint ( A ) on September 25, 2006 at 09:02:19
IP Address: 205.188.116.132
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for the Fundamental One


I’ve always had a soft spot for small manufacturers doing what I consider cutting-edge work. Often times, these guys and gals labor in obscurity, barely scraping by, but still manage to push the sonic envelope in a way that many, much larger companies are unable or unwilling to do.

Jena Labs is such a company. Founded and run by Jennifer Crock and located in Portland, Oregon, Jena IMO makes some of the best cables—and, bar none, the best CD treatment—available. Of course, this is all *very* subjective, but nothing has worked as well in my system(s) as Jennifer’s cables—and I’ve tried many of the top contenders over the years.

I’ve now had Jennifer’s flagship “power filter conditioner,” the Fundamental One, in my main and secondary rigs for close to a year. The effect the Ones have had on my components, particularly the powered woofers of my Von Scweikert VR-9s, is nothing short of extraordinary. The gains in clarity, top-to-bottom transparency, and bass power and cohesion really opened my eyes to the effect of a good PC—not like they had been closed to this, of course, as I’ve owned many good cords over the years, but nothing like this. The improvements in the lower registers, particularly, must be heard to be believed.

I won’t go into a technical description of the One, as that’s not really my forte, but I can say that the One features extensive use of cryogenic treatment and uses only some seriously high-grade parts. I’ve had that confirmed by several industry insiders who’ve seen and used the cord in their systems. For more technical information, please refer to the Jena Labs website, www.jenalabs.com.

Comparisons?

During my time with the Ones, I’ve auditioned several top-tier contenders, including the Ven Haus AirSine, Transparent PowerLink MM, Elrod Statement, Nordost Vishnu, and Revelation Audio Labs Precept Cryo-Silver Reference.

Out of these, my favorites were the AirSine and Elrod—I eventually bought an AirSine for my second system. Those two were the most balanced, with the Revelation a fairly close second. The Elrod was the most revealing by a considerable margin, but given the enormous price gap, I didn’t find that particularly surprising. All three made the Transparent sound muddy and thick, and the Nordost ultra-lean—though, to be fair, the Transparent did yield a notably black background, and the Nordost was commendably “fast.”.

The Jenas were an eye-opening experience. They were the most revealing of the group, unearthing subtle details from a scarily black background, besting even the Elrod in this regard, which I found pretty surprising. The bass quality and quantity were simply on another level. My VR-9s positively exploded when I inserted the Jenas. In fact, I had to take the Ones out of the system a few times to confirm my initial, bug-eyed response. But lest you think the Ones elevated the bass relative to the rest of the spectrum, that just wasn’t the case. Everything was in its proper place and in the right proportion. If the bass was on the recording, though, you heard it like never before.

The Fundamental Ones are indisputably the best power cords—or powerline filters, or whatever you choose to call them—I’ve had in my system. They do *nothing* subtractive, which is more than I can say for a lot of PCs. And what they add, they add in more quantity and quality than any cord I’ve experienced. They’re not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re actually not unreasonable when compared with some of the truly “statement” cords out there.

So, chalk another one up for the little guy. The Jena Labs Fundamental One is truly a world-beater—at least in my rig. Anyone considering a statement-level PC would do well to put the One on their audition list. FWIW, Jena also makes the E-Z One, a cheaper alternative that gets you most of the way there.


Product Weakness: Other than price, none I can think of
Product Strengths: Major increases in resolution and bass quality/quantity


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: Aria Audio
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Lyra Connoisseur
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Goldmund 36A
Speakers: Von Schweikert VR-9
Cables/Interconnects: Jena Labs
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Pop/rock, blues, country
Room Size (LxWxH): 24 x 20 x 7
Room Comments/Treatments: Various
Time Period/Length of Audition: About a year or so
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Jena Labs
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Jena Labs Fundamental One Cable - Quint 09:02:19 09/25/06 ( 2)