Reprinted from
The Audio Adventure
February 1996 Volume 1 Issue 2
by Dayna B. The Hi-Fi Hussy
As I pored over a
"white paper" on the
latest snakes to enter the
pit, I recalled seeing
much of this information in physics
texts and other white paper
dissertations eminently drier than
the great Sahara. What I found most
interesting was that this snake
applied unique and sometimes
insightful applications of electromotive theory.
Are you bored yet? Bear with
me - I promise I'll stick to the
highlights. The company philosophy
begins with the use of solid core
conductors of a specific diameter
(a.k.a. the Rectangular Solid Core or
"RSC"). This is to avoid what is
known as "skin effect," where the
music signal undergoes both time
and frequency distortions. Next is
the company's explanation that
dielectric families have "siblings,
sometimes with quite interesting
characteristics. Essentially, as a
signal is passed through the wire,
electrons in the surrounding dielectric,
or insulator, become polarized -- or
charged. The faster the dielectric is
capable of returning to its original state,
the less effect (absorbency) it will have
on the signal. TARA Labs uses something
called "Aero-PE," which they imply
is the best amongst possible dielectrics,
in this regard. Sorry - I may have read
more into it than exists, as this was not a
concise white paper. (Nobody trusts a
journalist these days! As if I would print
any of it. Really!) Wait -- there's more.
Well, I guess it'll hold.
Rectangular Solid-Core:
The Next Generation
The first generation RSC's got by me.
(Mostly because they were way too
expensive - I am a mere mortal, after all,
and these were "God's" cables - remember the ads?
"The Cable God Uses"?)
Today's Rectangular Solid-Core conductors
have been improved in two areas.
One involves metallurgy and the other
electromagnetic properties. Metallurgy
first: the Gen 2 RSC conductors utilize a
proprietary Consonant Alloy, which
TARA states is the most highly conductive
copper alloy available, including
"six-nines" (99.99994% pure) copper.
How is this possible? The crystal lattices
of the copper are "bridged" by some other
material(s) that I can only guess at.
(Aluminum? Indium? Unobtainium? I
guess that's one way of keeping it
proprietary.)
Electromagnetic improvements: the
new generation RSC conductors have
lower inductive reactance than a round
conductor of equal cross-sectional area.
The 24 AWG conductors measuring .0025
x .0011 inches each have a lower inductive
reactance than a 30 AWG (smaller)
gauge round conductor. Yet the RSC's
have a higher current-carrying capability.
Do You Think God Will want To
Upgrade?
How do you tell God her cables are no
longer the greatest?
The new shielded interconnects use
a 1/4-inch Teflon center tube to separate
two PE-insulated RSC conductors and
several solid PE "filler" rods. The
Consonant Alloy material is extruded in
an oxygen-free environment and subsequently
insulated with polyethylene.
Aside from acting as a dielectric, it limits
oxidation of the conductor.
But - enough Claims & Hype! Let's
see what these snakes can do with my
system! If the first generation was good
enough for God, then these snakes
should be able to stand up to the scrutiny of the "microscope."
The tonal balance seemed a tad
rolled off in the upper register; this led,
however, to a softened and eased sound
that never interfered with the timbral
accuracy of reproduction, which was very
natural. The end result was one of
forgiving musical reproduction with very
slight loss of "liveness." On Sara K.'s
Play On Words (Chesky Records JD 105),
her voice was ever-so-subtly softened,
while the muted trumpet still had great
brass bite.
The Reference RSC Gen 2's provided excellent
timbral shading, displaying a tremendous taste of Tori Amos'
vocal acrobatics and note-bending on
Boys For Pele (Atlantic 82862-2).
Instrumental inflections allowed the
listener the ability to sense Amos'
virtuosity on the piano, as well as on the
harpsichord. Jamming on the harpsichord?
Way cool! The harpsichord also
proved that the TARA's were great at
handling the quick transient attacks and
let-go necessary for incisive plucking,
with equally important natural decay of
the notes.
Still, the strengths of the Ref RSCs
were their impeccable timing and stable
soundstage. Good image bloom and
ambiance were present in all recordings. I
Overall, the TARA Labs Reference RSC
Gen 2 interconnects are a very well
balanced design that should prove
compatible in most systems.
Those with money to burn may
want to check out TARA's
Master RSC or
Decade.
Silly as it may seem, though, I
can't help wondering how much more
satisfying it would be to spend that extra
green on records or live musical events.
Just call me a radical.
Does RSC Stand For "Rather
Sweet Cables?"
These cables naturally utilize more RSC
conductors than the interconnects, since
speaker cables are required to carry
more current. The
Gen 2's use finer
gauge conductors than the original RSC
design, allowing for a more flexible cable,
along with the previously mentioned
improvements.
Tonal balance was a little rolled off
in the upper register. This caused some
loss of low-level information, but not a
lot. It was just enough to produce a laid-back
sound to the music. On Arnold For
Band (Reference Recordings RR-66CD),
there was a very very slight loss to brass
bite. Some information was lost in the
background as well. The subtle variations
in tone and timbre became a tad
obscure and homogenous. This was most
apparent on Boys For Pele, where the
subtle note-bending of Amos is kinda
glossed over.
Both Play On Words and Boys For
Pele displayed the RSC Gen 2s' affinity
for defining subtle variations of volume
within the music. Arnold For Band
revealed the strengths and weaknesses
of the Gen 2s' large-scale dynamic
capability. There was only a slight
problem with compression much smaller
than most in this price category. Still,
there was a lack of snap to the leading
edges of transient attacks, such as with
woodblocks and other percussion. Don't
get me wrong! I am being rather picky.
As I experience more and better cables, I
find that I must become more discriminating
in order to assign some semblance
of hierarchy to the growing number of
great snakes wiggling their way into the
market.
Once again, the RSC Reference Gen
2s' strength seems to be timing and
imaging. The rhythm allows for some
swing and the excellent pace brought
added life to Amos' CD. My feelings
about the TARA Labs RSC Reference
Generation 2 speaker cables are that
they had adequate resolution, were
forgiving of equipment and source
material, and were very sweet!
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