Analysis Plus Silver Oval Speaker Cables and Silver Oval-in

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Analysis Plus Silver Oval Speaker Cables and Silver
Oval-in Interconnects

Clement Perry

May 2000

Prices:
Eight foot Silver Oval: $499
One Meter Silver Oval-in
Interconnects: $630 per meter
Analysis Plus
6321 N. McKinley Rd.
Flushing, MI 48433
Telephone: (888) 579-0386

   "The differences wrought in my system by the addition of the Analysis Plus Silver
   Oval cables and interconnects are positive, dramatic and immediately apparent --
   quite an achievement when you stop to consider that I already use a reference-
   caliber product in the Harmonic Technology designs."
Analysis Plus, Inc., the latest rave cable company, is proving that the most expensive-
sounding cable on the market doesn’t have to cost so much. It needs only to be
engineered correctly.

Background check. Analysis Plus, Inc. has provided electronic and electromagnetic
simulation and analysis for a number of companies since its inception in 1993. All the
members of the Analysis Plus team hold advanced degrees in electrical engineering or
physics, and their specialty is the art of computer simulation. For this reason, they’ve
consulted on wide-ranging jobs with Motorola, Mitsubishi, Ford Motor Com pany, and
TRW (hope that helps my ailing credit rating).

The folks at Analysis Plus use mathematical models, incorporated into software
packages, to predict how a device will operate according to the laws of physics, most
notably cables. To this extent, Analysis Plus, Inc. concluded after lengthy
measurements, studies and experiments that not all cables are what their manufacturers
claim. (Hey I knew that!) Company statement:
   Analysis Plus was an established electrical engineering consulting company when we
   were approached by a couple of audio cable manufacturers to test and analyze their
   cables. After we performed the work on their cable, we realized we could improve the
   current state-of-the-art in audio cable.

   We were able to do countless runs of computer simulation and testing that would have
   been cost prohibitive if the engineering was contracted out. We faced a tough decision
   when we came up with our discovery of the hollow oval audio cable. What should we do?
   We knew we should apply for a patent, but should we sell the design or go into the audio
   cable business?


                                   I was sent two 8ft. sets (bi-wire) of their reference
                                   Silver Oval speaker cables and three pair of Silver
                                   Oval-in Interconnects. Their impressive looking
                                   speaker cables are made by layering pure silver over a
                                   stabilizer strand of Oxygen Free copper, which is then
                                   woven into a 12-gauge hollow-oval conductor. The
                                   quite expensive (at $630 a meter), Silver Oval-in
                                   Interconnects are also built from pure silver layered
                                   over a stabilizing strand of oxygen-free copper braided
                                   into their patented hollow oval geometry. These
                                   conductors are combined with a computer-matched
                                   dielectric and surrounded with an open-braided shield
                                   for ultra-quiet, noise-free performance. In addition,
these interconnects are terminated with WBT-0108 Topline RCA connectors. AP’s
unique speaker connector, a solid block of machined copper is, coated with silver. This
unique connector fits either 1/4" or 5/16" speaker posts.

Mark Markel, resident engineer and chief honcho, possesses as pragmatic an approach
to what makes cables work as I’ve heard from a manufacturer. His claims have to do
only with he can measure, not hear (à la Ed Meitner). I find this very interesting, to say
the least. Mark’s not the sort who says his cables sound better owing to tunings and
tweakings.

Leave that that part to me.

Welcome to the Lunatic Fringe…Again!

As most readers are well aware, my reference cable is by way of Harmonic Technology
and its single-crystal approach. The whole nine yards: power cords (including HT’s new
Magic A/C cord), speaker cables, interconnects and the new S-Video Silvers used for
the Dream Vision DL500 projector. These cables have long been my long-standing
reference and that of other ST staff writers. Nothing I’ve used since their arrival has
equaled HT’s portrait of sonic ease, acoustic beauty, incredibly lush midrange, and
exquisite soundstage. It was an honor to be the very first reviewer to shout the HT
accolades, but more important to me was HT’s price. Their Pro Nine speaker cable at
$899, for this writer, set a new standard for excellence in both sonics and affordability.
For just short of two years it has stood as the best of the best.

That Is, Until Now

Remember the day you first replaced your zip cord with real speaker cables? Yes, of
course! Was the difference huge? Yes, of course! Undeniably, resoundingly, oh my Yes.
How about the time you cleaned all your contacts with Pro Gold, and re-oriented all of
your A/C plugs? This proved a huge improvement too, didn’t it? Absolutely!
The differences wrought in my system by the addition of the Analysis Plus Silver Oval
cables and interconnects are positive, dramatic and immediately apparent -- quite an
achievement when you stop to consider that I already use a reference-caliber product in
the Harmonic Technology designs. I’m getting ahead of myself here. The most telling
assessment was made by my very close friend Terry Smoak.

Smoak, as he’s called around these parts (shouldn’t everyone be called by there last
name?) loves music, especially jazz, and doesn’t consider himself an audiophile. He
challenged me to prove that cables made a difference. "Okay," I said, "I’ll prove it," as I
looked through my closet for wires. Resting on the shelf was a cigar shaped box with the
inscription Analysis Plus. I literally forgot about them since moving into my new house!

"Alrighty then, Smoak, before we begin," I said, "we should do some listening to
demonstrate why HT cables are my favorite." A favorite of Smoak’s is the Eddie
"Lockjaw" Davis Big Band CD entitled Trane Whistle (OJCCD-429-2). The first track
features Eddie Davis, whom Smoak refers to as "The Lock." The recording is both
musically appealing and a system torture test because of the extraordinary size of its
brass and woodwind sections.

The sound was as rich and full as I predicted through the wonderfully synergistic HT Pro
Nine (bi-wire) and Pro Silway Mk II’s to the Sony SCD-1 SACD Player. My reference
Von Schweikert VR6’s continued to impress, causing me to yell out a resounding woof!
as "The Lock," wailing his tenor sax, cut the air with a resounding first riff. Two, maybe
three times we played this track before I decided to hit the pause on the Sony, shut the
system down and replace the HT products with Analysis Plus. The excellent HT Magic
Power Power Cords remained, since AP doesn’t yet provide A/C cords.

With the Analysis Plus Oval speaker cables now fully installed, which took all of ten
minutes, I powered up the Carver Sunfire Signature, the Tact 2.2 preamplifier/room
correction system and then, before lifting the pause button, reiterated to Mr. Smoaks my
reasons for using Harmonic Technology designs. "You shall now see for yourself why I,
along with many others, choose Harmonic Tech as the reference cable upon which all
should be judged, ahem."

Track one again, Trane Whistle: "The Lock" came in off the rhythmic big band hook, but
this time it was oh so different, and consider that the cables weren’t even broken in! Mr.
Smoaks exclaimed, "Oh my God, this is so much better!" I heard it too, sitting off center,
but wasn’t quite ready to accept it as better. Different, yes. Yet, there it was, all the proof
I would ever need that the individual instruments possessed more dimensionality in the
soundstage, along with an increase in air between the players. Crystal-clear air replaced
a fog-like character. A touch of sharpness in leading edges, a hint of brightness,
illustrated that break-in was still mandatory.
   "Here, the relative locations of different sounds -- Keith’s yowling on the
   piano, along with Jack DeJohnette’s delicate cymbal work, the initial snap
   and resonance from Gary Peacock’s double bass, could not better illustrate
   these cables’ superiority."
Mr. Smoaks words still ring as he matter-of-factly stated: "I hate to be the bearer of bad
news, Perry. I agree that cables make a difference because these sounds so much
better." We listened to CDs, one after the other, as revelations. I couldn’t take it any
more. I said to Smoaks at four in the afternoon, "Yo, I’ve got work to do. Latah,
ma’brutha."

I revisited AP’s website, this time however, with much greater intrigue. I read their
theories on current bunching, cylindrical cable conductors, skin effect and the
disadvantages of rectangular conductors.

This time, however, I took it all in like Absorbine Jr.

Things simmered as I set the Sony to repeat for the break-in. The differences, however,
never changed in favor of Harmonic Technology. The Analysis Plus kept getting better.
This was most apparent with vocals, solo instruments, or small groups, for example, the
wonderful recording of Charlie Parker compositions by The Roy Hargrove Trio entitled
Parkers Mood (Verve 314527) or Keith Jarrett’s Live at the Blue Note (ECM 1577).
With the AP Oval Silver, the instruments took on a more palpable dimensionality and
body, whereas the HT seemed dimensionally truncated, more two-dimensional, but
longer in the extension department from top to bottom. But even this wasn’t able to cool
my preference.

I began to take special note of how well extended the HT was in the lower region as well
as top frequencies, particularly the high treble, compared to the AP’s more natural, and
ultimately more pleasing qualities. HT’s upper extension was no long pleasing to my
ears. Surprisingly, the HTs sounded harder than the APs, forcing me, for sanity’s sake,
to take the APs out of my system, put back in the HTs and re-evaluate. No question
about it, the AP produces a richer more realistic top end, with a warmer low end. The
lows, particularly in the midbass, sound better integrated with the lower midrange
frequencies. Hard to explain, but the bass sounds more solid, more there, with less
attention-seeking behavior. If held to only a word, I’d say natural.

The AP produced, to my amazement, greater inner detail as a direct result of its more
natural, thus superior, dimensionality. The sound of Hargrove’s muted trumpet -- rather
its intricacies -- the sound of air moving through the horn gave it greater presence and
spatial localization. The same is true of Keith Jarrett. Here, the relative locations of
different sounds -- Keith’s yowling on the piano, along with Jack DeJohnette’s delicate
cymbal work, the initial snap and resonance from Gary Peacock’s double bass, could not
better illustrate these cables’ superiority.
I can’t possibly recommend the Analysis Plus Silver Oval more highly. At $499, a fraction
of the cost of most reference-caliber speaker cables, while the quite expensive Silver
Oval-in interconnect at $630, is sure going to become a great deal of talk among
audiophiles. The budding audiophile, in particular, should feel fortunate that new
companies like Richard Gray’s Power Company, Quantum Symphony Products, Inner
Sound, and Analysis Plus exist. They’ve set the benchmarks for musicality at sane price
points.

The Analysis Plus Silver Oval makes my system sound more real. These cables have
taken my system closer to the Absolute Sound.