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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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Cable Asylum Interconnects, speaker wire, power cords. Ask the Cable Guys. |
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In 1996, before we could even think about getting the XLO Reference Type 5 speaker cable, my girlfriend ACS and I needed to get a speaker itself, first. My Signet SL-280B/U was getting long in the tooth. Although she was making good money at Genentech, I was barely making above minimum wage. Hell, ACS still worked a few hours a week at Victoria's Secret, and, due to commissions, made more per hour there, than in my lousy accounting job. Although we loved > $2000 models, such as the Martin-Logan Aerius i, ProAc Response One SC, and Totem Model 1 Signature, I knew I had to set the budget to around $1500.
I already was using XLO interconnects. So when we shopped for, among others, the Sonus Faber Concertino (which was biwireable) and Thiel CS.5 (single-wire only), getting XLO Reference Type 5 would have cost 67% of the speaker itself! That did not make economic sense, so we targeted XLO's next-lower line, Ultra. Sigh, and of course ACS remarked that "Ultra" sounded like feminine hygiene products. We went to Ultimate Sound, San Francisco's XLO dealer, and received this brochure. The price sheet was obtained years later, when I was dating KJ.I did buy the Thiel CS.5, which forced you to use spade-equipped cables. ACS lifted and tilted the speaker back, while I routed, bent, attached the cables. ACS had to go to Europe, for a conference. That left me ample time to stew about the next step, new speaker cables.
When ACS returned, she mentioned Mark Morrison's "Return Of The Mack," which would, in 1997, become a hit in America. We then tried both XLO Ultra 6 and Ultra 12. It was immediately obvious, that these weren't as good as the Ref Type 5, which I simply could not afford. I went with the Ultra 12, whose retail price for a 7' pair was $400.
The XLO Ultra and Reference series both utiized the exact same narrow-opening spade lug. The leads on both were similarly flexible and bendable.
Over the years, we have tried multiple samples of XLO speaker cables. Where possible, get the Deltron banana. It not only makes connections easy, it sounds slightly better than the spade.
Since 2003, all of our cables have been properly treated on an audiodharma Cable Cooker. From top to bottom are XLO's Ultra 6, Ultra 12, and Reference Type 5. The Ultra 6 demonstrates losses in image shape, size, stability. As you go from the soundstage's top to bottom, left to right, the images are kind of "waffle-y," as ACS once described them. Also, you feel as though there should be (a) greater separation of said images, (b) more gutsy bass, and (c) more top-end air, breathing room, presence, and body.Ultra 12 is simply a doubled-up Ultra 6. Although you do not, IMO, get a doubling of performance, there are significant gains in image shape, stability, and substance. However, they remain blockish, like video games from the mid-90s. The slickness replaces what should be texture, grit, and micro-detail. Music isn't slow. It is boppy, with decent power. Said power comes not just from the lower octaves, but from the mids, which are not thinned out. Sigh, but there's still that curtailment of the treble, which is too reticent, glossy, and airless.
Going up to the Reference Type 5 (a) is a treat, and (b) starkly reveals the Ultra series; shortcomings. The first thing you might notice, is the adeptness at preserving sharp image outlines. My college neighbors used to say it was as if someone used an X-Acto knife, to carve the images. That then leads to the soundstaging. With smaller, more precise and anchored imaging, the Ref Type 5 spreads out the "mapping" of these images. A standing ACS would hold a CD jewel case, then flip it, so that it was parallel to the ground. This was how she described "soundstage depth."The Ref Type 5 better maintains the snap and "click" of drums. Instead of puffing her cheeks, ACS let out the air, and exclaimed, "That's more like it," to the Ref Type 5's rendition of drums.
Oh ho ho; the Ref Type 5 itself is tight, tight, tight in the bass. Whatever shape, direction, decay of bass is present upstream, those qualities will come through. If you have excess bass, like with my old Thiel CS.5 and CS1.5, that is what the Ref Type 5 will give us. If you listen to sloppy 1970s basslines, that's what we will get.
The goal of any cable is to pass signal without changes. The Ref Type 5 comes much closer to this goal, than the Ultra series. So much so, that I cannot recommend the Ultra series. You are better off, skipping Ultra, and scouring the used market for the Reference Type 5.
-Lummy The Loch Monster
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Topic - XLO Reference Type 5, Part 17 - Luminator 22:20:00 12/5/20 (0)
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