When I first joined Audiophilia, our publisher, Anthony, insisted every contributor will review cables as a rite of passage. An audiophile rite of passage. I shuddered a bit and kicked that idea down the road. A couple of years later here we are, my very first cable review. What did I have to fear from wading into the slightly controversial territory? What would I hear, what would I learn? And those things I might hear, would they be real? Some of our deepest fears and most intense joys are internal and personal. And so it is in Audiophilia. I found reviewing cables to be an introspective listening exercise which challenged my ear and some long-standing assumptions.

The subject of this review is a full loom of Classic Series cables from Audio Art Cable (AAC). The Classic Series represents the brand's entry-level line. A day's cruise down the coast from me, San Diego-based Audio Art Cable manufactures its products right here in California. A hearty thank you goes out to the owner, Rob Fritz, for arranging the review loan and for providing detailed guidance on his product line.

My fears were assuaged once I began proper listening. My experience was neither underwhelming nor was it deserving of gross hyperbole. Thankfully, reality was in between the extremes. Like many other products, Audio Art Classics offers great value to the right user. Let’s explore this in detail from the perspective of a high-end cable first-timer.

Features & Specs

There are a ton of cables on the market and there is a wide spectrum of transparency in terms of specifications published by manufacturers. While Audio Art Cable doesn’t tout a lot of electrical measurements, their website is highly detailed about what you get with every model, from raw materials to the anatomy of the final product. In that way, AAC stands apart from the high-end cable crowd.

Before we get too far, what does this full loom consist of, anyway? Every analog cable I could need to wire up a complete system was provided to facilitate a complete evaluation of the Classic Series line. Below is the list of cables with pricing for the specific lengths used for this review. Keep in mind prices vary with length.

Model

Length

Price USD

IC-3 Interconnect [RCA]

1 m, 1.5m

$120, $140

IC-3 Interconnect [XLR]

1 m

$140

SC-5 Speaker Cable [Banana]

10 ft

$250

Power1 Classic [US 15A IEC]

1.5 m

$220

Design & Build

The build quality of AAC’s Classic cables is uniformly excellent. Terminations are extremely high quality. On the RCA cables, it’s possible to unscrew the solid aluminum housings and see the clean solder job using a generous amount of Cardas brand silver solder. XLR housings are solid metal units sourced from DH Labs. The Power1 cables appear overbuilt from the outside, which is appropriate considering they utilize 11 AWG copper conductors. By comparison most amplifiers ship with 16 AWG power cables included, and some go as skimpy as 18 AWG (yikes).

The outer jackets look great and feel durable. On the SC-5 speaker cables, the matte navy blue jacket looks classy, and on the other cables, the silver adds a touch of visual interest without looking pretentious.

Daily Use

Actual usage of cables might be vastly different for a reviewer than for all but the tweakiest of audiophiles. Nonetheless, the qualities of well-built cables that are essential for constantly swapping reviewers should be appreciated by any audiophile. The primary traits that I expect are a firm, but not obscene, grip on connections and enough flexibility to render cables useful in a practically spaced system.

The grip issue should not be taken for granted. When testing out all my interconnects for comparison I found a wide range of grip strengths. AAC’s RCAs hit the sweet spot, accommodating various output jacks on my equipment with grace. Similarly, the IEC terminations of the Power1 were right in the sweet spot. Bananas on the SC-5 speaker cables offered a solid connection on multiple speakers, unlike some bananas that must be manhandled into speaker terminals to conform to the appropriate diameter.

On the second issue of flexibility, the SC-5 speaker cables and IC-3 (RCA and XLR) interconnects were easily routed through tight spaces despite their robust jackets. The Power1 cables are stiffer than generic black freebies but relative to other high-end power cables they are quite usable. I have an Allnic ZL-3000 power cable on loan, which is much harder to route behind equipment due to its enormous terminations and thick woven jacket. The Allnic looks fancier but costs several times as much as the Power1 Classic.

Review System

Digital Sources: Yamaha DVD-S1700, Wiim Mini Streamer

DAC/Headphone Amp: Ferrum ERCO

Amplification: Denafrips Hades Preamp & Hyperion Power Amp, Vincent SV-228 Integrated Amp (review forthcoming)

Analog Sources: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, iFi ZEN Phono

Headphones: Sennheiser x Massdrop HD6XX, Sendy Audio Peacock

Speakers: PSB Synchrony B600 (review forthcoming), Wharfedale Diamond 10.2

Cables: Speaker: Blue Jeans Cables 10 AWG, XLR: CableMatters, RCA: Allnic Mu-7R, Power: Allnic ZL-3000

Listening

The first proper system I ever assembled consisted of a Yamaha integrated amplifier, Wharfedale floor standing speakers and a Pro-ject turntable. I would periodically (okay, occasionally) give my room a deep clean including a dusting and microfiber treatment of the entire system. Afterward, when I reclined in the sweet spot for a refreshing listen, inevitably I’d wonder if my freshly cleaned and cable-routed system sounded better. Unlikely, sure, but the impact on the listening experience was real. Listening to a system with a full loom of AAC cables has the same refreshing effect, but fortunately, it’s much easier to validate by A/B testing cables.

I certainly put some hours in with these cables but for critical listening notes, I focused on recordings that are “easy” in the audiophile sense to discern as much as possible about the contributions of the various cables. One standout was the high-resolution stream of Dark Fire (TRPTK, 2020) by Dutch cellist Joachim Elander. Recorded in a church and meticulously mic'd by the experts at TRPTK, this album has the goods. On my most revealing setup with Denafrips amplification and PSB B600 speakers, Elander’s cello had a boosted tactile quality and presence with the Audio Art Classics swapped in. This being a primarily cello recording I didn't hear much in the way of frequency response variation due to cables. Rather the differences with the Audio Art cables were all about those micro details.

Another more simple recording where I experienced a similar effect was guitar-picking legend Doc Watson’s third LP Home Again! (Vanguard, 1967). Like many 60’s Vanguard records, the flimsy vinyl pressing belies a high-quality recording with powerful directness. With this LP, the Audio Art Classics helped clean up the vagueness around Doc Watson’s voice, improving the definition of the image of Doc Watson singing front and center. The attack of his guitar picking was ever so slightly sharper as well.

The AAC cables showed especially well on dynamic acoustic recordings like Gil Evans’ Complete Pacific Jazz Sessions, a digitally remastered combination of two late 50’s classics, Old Bottle, New Wine and Great Jazz Standards, (Blue Note, 2006). These sessions feature Evans leading a big band of all-star players in what sounds like a large high ceilinged studio. The Classic cables helped bring out that extra bit of airiness to complement the dynamic, high-energy arrangements. During the rollicking finale of “Manteca”, I couldn't detect any of the feared brightness I’ve been told comes with many high-end cables. This one made for an impressive demo.

To feel out how the Audio Art Classics affected spatial aspects of a recording I spent time revisiting Encounters (Klein Records, 2002) by Austrian duo Sofa Surfers. This album is a nicely mixed electronic album with some late-night urban vibes. Lots of effects are mixed in a way that creates a large 3D soundstage. The Audio Art cable upgrade gave this aspect of the album a boost. On “River Blues” insect wings fluttering alternately wide left and wide right of the speakers were more tightly defined and creepy. One area I wasn’t expecting much difference was in the bass impact. Zeroing in on the power cable feeding the Denfrips Hyperion power amp I was able to identify a modest improvement in bass speed and impact on this low-end heavy album.

After many weeks of using the Audio Art Classic Series cables, I’ll admit there was no velvet curtain lifted between me and my speakers and no retuning of my systems frequency response. However, I experienced some consistent improvements when running the entire loom. The Classic series enabled me to squeeze that last bit of juice from several nicely configured systems. In particular, refinements in clarity, micro detail, imaging and soundstage definition, and speed were substantial.

The system configurations in which I tried the Classic Series cables generally landed in the $3000-10000 USD range. For systems in that range, the Classic series represents a phenomenal value provided a couple of qualifications are met. The first is the system's general tone and presentation satisfying as is. The second is that the speakers or headphones being driven are adequately transparent to the upstream equipment. This does not necessarily relate to price. For example, with speakers, most benefits of the full loom upgrade were lost on my warm and cozy Wharfedale Diamonds, while on the higher-end PSB B600 the upgrade would be worthwhile. On the other hand, with headphones, my HD6XX was more revealing of cable improvements than the Sendy Audio Peacock which is several times more expensive. In short, know your system.

Conclusion

A rite of passage can be a beginning, a coming of age, or it can mark an arrival at a destination. So it is for audiophiles looking to take their system to the next level with a set of high-end cables. The Audio Art Classic line is an ideal place for anyone with a stable system to begin their cable journey. Those afraid of getting caught on the wrong side of the diminishing returns curve may well start and end that journey with Audio Art Classic cables.

I heartily recommend Classic Series cables from Audio Art as a final touch on a well-assembled system.

Further information: Audio Art Cable