General Asylum: REVIEW: Signal Cable Analog Two Cable by Peter Gunn

Model:	Analog Two
Category:	Cable
Suggested Retail Price:	$49.00
Description:	Coaxial construction using a unique combination of bare copper center conductor, Teflon insulation, bare copper braided shield wrapped in a Teflon jacket. low capacitance of 17.3 pf/ft. In many areas compared favorably against industry standard name brands that retails for up to $1,000. This is a reference quality interconnect!Conductor: 22 AWG stranded bare copperNom. Capacitance: 17.3 PF/FTCable: Belden 89259Dual shield: 95% bare copper braidJacket: Black tint TeflonInsulation: Foam FEP (Teflon)Nom. DC Resistance: 15.0 ohm/M'Velocity of propagation: 78.0 %The Connectors-Ultra High quality Scosche Platinum RCA connectors with Gold plating, a sleeper in High End AudioTermination-Professionally Hand Terminated.
Manufacturer URL:	Signal Cable
Model Picture:	View

Review by Peter Gunn ( A ) on June 19, 2003 at 11:10:46
IP Address: 24.229.209.197

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Intro
I am currently undergoing my first major retooling in 17 years in anticipation of turning my attic into my dream music room. This year I have replaced my long serving Conrad Johnson PV-5 with a Hovland HP-100 and my Sonographe SA 250 with a Pass Labs X-250. I use PSB Image 5T speakers for now (and sometimes borrow my friends MG I's) but once the room is done I plan on getting a new pair of 1.6's.
I had experienced a love hate thing with the Hovland when I got it but never attributed this problem to the interconnects which I should have. I was using Pearl I's by Modern Audio Design which are flat silver dielectric interconnects I had purchased some years ago and while they benefitted my PV-5 they were making the Hovland very strident at times. My hearing extends abnormally high and while I can't always actually "hear" what I'm hearing it can still cause me actual pain in my ears. This was happening when using the Hovland.
Some good fat chewing with my Maggy dealer (a great guy) finally made the lightbulb go on and I came home and switched out the MAD interconnects for some old Monster Powerline ones I keep around. While the detail lessened somewhat with the monsters, the stridency vanished. The verdict was clear and this is what put me on the hunt for new cables. The problem was corroborated recently when I talked to a Hovland rep and he said it has become established among them that everyone who has used silver cables and the Hovland has had this problem.
The Search
While I try to buy the best gear I can at the best prices I can, I have always been very cheap about cables. No amount of discourse can make me belive any 3 foot piece of wire could possibly cost $1,000. That being the case the decision I come to is that the manufacturer is giving me the shaft and I refuse to even consider something this abnormally priced. Maybe it is the best, but the price cannot justify it in my mind. I firmly believe the cable used matters, but I also believe it can be had more reasonably than many charge.
So some searching on Audiogon led me to an ad for the Signal Cable Analog Two. A quick check reveals the company as this: A guy named Frank Dai with a kitchen table and an engineering degree who wants to bring the world great sound at a better price. I love this company already. What's more, this cable retails for only $50 and can come terminated in the highly regarded Eichmann Bullet RCA's for only $25 more.
A perusal of their feedback showed some good comments, and a quick email to Frank (and his money back guarantee) prompted me to take the plunge. I went for two pair terminated in Eichmanns, and for only $150 with a money back offer, how can you go wrong trying?
For the record, I would not sing undue praises because they tickled my cheap bone, or any other reason. Those who have read my posts now I'll say what I really think no matter how hot it makes the water. And as I was not entirely happy with the Hovland at this point (these interconnects were the make or break on whether I would keep it) I was going to be very critical of what they did.
First Impressions
Frank was a great guy right away, and even charged me less than the standard shipping rate (which was reasonably low to begin with) because I was close to him (NY and PA). He made them up upon order and I had them 7 days after the order was placed.
They arrived not in any satin bag like so many other kinds do, but in a ziplock baggy. Works for me. A nice bag is just another piece of crap I have to find room for that I don't have because should I ever sell them the buyer is of course going to expect that stupid bag or he'll want another 10% off.
In the looks department they certainly had the aura of a high end piece of gear, but leaning to the simple and utilitarian mode rather than being showy. I took that as a good sign. My only gripe is they are not directionally marked. I wrote Frank and he said they ought to be burned in and used in one direction only, which is what I assumed. He said to just mark them as I please. Not really a big complaint but it seems he could just as easily do this and save everyone the trouble, but again, for the price...
What struck me is they are very stiff. I had never used interconnects as stiff as this (almost like florists wire) and they hold what ever shape you bend them in. This is actually helpful. The Eichmann plugs are also very odd in person and don't have an outer collar but rather a single, ball ended spike which grabs the outside of the RCA. They go on unexpectedly tightly as well. (you really need to push)
Sound Impressions
Initially, and not unexpectedly, they had a somewhat closed sound. However, even thru that I could easily detect a naturalness I had not heard any time previously. This closed nature started to vanish around 20 hours and somewhere between 50 and 75 hours they really began to sing. But even at that they were an instant improvement over the MAD's and the Monsters.
My impressions after break in can be summed up by simply saying the cables are gone. Just gone. Yes, the holy grail. There is no color, no sound abberations, no leaning to highs, mids or lows, and no impression they are even there. How this would play out with lesser components I don't know, but it will certainly show you what your components really sound like. However, the Hovland is finally free and God is it wonderful. I am finally getting the liquidity I was missing, and the detail is pinpoint focused and of breathtaking clarity. There is just an overall sense of naturalness and ease and that one is only hearing the music and nothing more. I listen until the family begs me to stop, and there is no fatigue at all.
Are there better cables? Probably something out there costing 3 grand would exhibit perhaps more detail, although I doubt anything could vanish better, gone is gone after all. But to me it isn't worth that 3 grand and ignorance is certainly bliss in this instance. I cannot think of a better addition I made for $150 as these cables are everything one looks for in interconnects.
Even if you think you have great stuff, with a money back guarantee it's worth your time to consider trying these cables out. I have played with a lot of cables up to and around $1,000 and these better anything I have ever used by a long mile. Damn fine job Frank!
He also makes an excellent power cable I understand, and I'm buying them next month.

Product Weakness: None but the petty quibble of no direction markings.
Product Strengths: The best cable for the dollar made? Vanishingly neutral, clear and revealing.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Pass Labs X-250
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Hovland HP-100
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	AR ES1 table Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 player
Speakers:	PSB Image 5T Magnepan MGI
Cables/Interconnects:	Zu Julian + Analog Twos
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	nothing you heard of
Room Size (LxWxH):	16 x 13 x 7.5
Room Comments/Treatments:	Living room setup - temporary and not ideal
Time Period/Length of Audition:	3 weeks
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	None but the petty quibble of no direction markings.
Product Strengths:	The best cable for the dollar made? Vanishingly neutral, clear and revealing.