DCCA Audio Cables: Part 5 in the Series 'Cables R Us'

 
Roy Harris

I was browsing Audiogon’s web site—the cable market place, and noticed the widest line cord on the planet, the anaconda of power cords, the DCCA Audio Extreme Reference. I was hooked. I had to get my hands on that line cord. I called the designer and received 2 of them. They were stiff and it required a Herculean effort to interface with my amplifiers. I was sent several other wide and stiff line cords as well. The stiffness is a consequence of several layers of insulation.

During my listening sessions, another set of line cords was introduced. The second generation line cords are lighter and more flexible. The insulation materials were changed and gold was included in the most expensive cables. The newer cords, Musical Essence, Eminence, Ref1 and others are less subtractive in the treble region and more evenly balanced. The designer believes the original cords are a bit warmer and hence, less resolving than the latest versions. The change in voicing is a result of the decision to create power cords that are more “user friendly”, and as a result, more extended. The original cords still appear on the website, dccaaudio.com, and are available on request.

Interconnects and speaker cables became available shortly after the second generation line cords went into production. The cables were designed to help to recreate the natural sound of acoustic instruments. The usual design goals of accuracy or neutrality were not a factor in the cable development process. The review featured one first generation line cord, the Extreme Ref Power Wave 2. All other cables were introduced in 2006.

Cables and their prices are listed below:

1 meter Eminence interconnect $750
1 meter Ref 1 interconnect $400
6 meter Ref1 interconnect $650
6 feet Eminence speaker cable $1200
6 feet Extreme Ref Power Wave 2 AC $400
6 feet Musical Essence x 2 AC $1850
6 feet Ref1 x 3 AC $1500
Total $6750

Cable Design Details

The Eminence interconnect contains copper and 14k gold wires. The ground is stranded copper, while the hot consists of braided gold-and-copper stranded wire. The number of strands is proprietary. The hot and ground leads differ with respect to gauge and number of strands. This asymmetrical pattern was chosen to help insure a balanced frequency response. The hot and ground have a Teflon-type dielectric. The hot has a second layer of insulation for purposes of dampening. Connectors are Furutech Rhodium and there is no shielding. The geometry for the ground is a simple twist, while the hot uses a variation of a simple twist. The hot and ground are treated differently, based upon empirical observation, to help achieve the designer’s sonic objective. The interface between connector and wires is a set screw. The Ref1 interconnect is an all copper version of the Eminence. It has less extension in the treble and is slightly less resolving than the Eminence. The Eminence Speaker cable is a 7 gauge stranded design. Conductors are unshielded, terminations are solder free, connectors are Furutech gold spades and terminations use a set screw. The wires, geometry and insulation are identical to the hot lead of the Eminence interconnect. There are three conductors. The Musical Essence is a 9 gauge power cord, composed of unshielded stranded wire. The hot and neutral are identical in construction to the hot lead of the Eminence interconnect, while the ground is stranded copper and uses a Teflon dielectric. Connectors are Furutech gold IEC and plug and termination consists of set screws. The Ref1 power cord is unshielded, uses stranded copper and is 10 gauge overall. The hot, neutral and ground use a simple twist and have 1 teflon dielectric. The number of strands is the same for the hot and neutral but differs from that of the ground. The Ref1 uses a gold Furutech IEC and plug and is terminated using set screws. It is somewhat less extended and has a bit more presence in the upper bass/lower midrange, relative to the Musical Essence. The Extreme Power Wave 2 is a first generation line cord. This 10 gauge copper stranded line cord has a copper/aluminum shield surrounding all of the conductors. The hot, ground and neutral are identical in construction. The geometry is a simple twist and there are three layers of insulation, one of which is Teflon. This line cord is very heavy, stiff and more difficult to work with than the PS Audio Lab cord.

The Sound

Female voice is a good test for evaluating a stereo system. Thus, my first selection was Holly Cole, DON’T SMOKE IN BED, “I Can See Clearly Now”, Alert z28102. The weight and scale of the acoustic bass was neither exaggerated nor understated. As the strings were bowed, I observed the vibration of the body of the instrument, indicating adequate lower midrange presence. Sibilance was neither excessive nor objectionable, although it was obvious that the voice was close-miked.

Continuing in the vocal mode, I selected Steely Dan, AJA, “Deacon Blues”, MCA 37214. Donald Fagen’s voice was slightly out of focus and somewhat distant -very listenable and pleasant, but with a loss of articulation. Pete Christlieb’s tenor sax solo can sound like an alto in an unbalanced stereo system. In this case, the instrument was easy to identify, as its timbre and scale distinguished its sound from that of any other saxophone.

The Lars Erstrand Quartet, TEST CD # 4, OPUS3 CD 9200, “Sweet Georgia Brown’ is considered an audiophile recording. This selection included vibraphone, organ, bass and drums. The vibraphone was natural sounding. Its vibrato did not exhibit an excess of treble harmonics. Wooden drumsticks can be heard striking the side of a snare drum, behind the vibraphone. The sense of space separating the 2 instruments is a good example of the term “layering”.
After about two and one half minutes, there is a cymbal crash. Having listened to this CD many times, I have often noted that the timbre of the cymbal conveyed a metallic or steely sound. In this instance, the sound of the cymbal was consistent with its brass metallic structure.

It was time to listen to a symphony orchestra. Fiedler conducting Jacques Offenbach, “Gaite Parisienne”, a JVC disc, seemed appropriate. At the beginning of the CD the full force and weight of an orchestra was experienced without a hint of a strident string tone. A brief woodblock and triangle solo follows about thirty seconds thereafter. The upper harmonics of the woodblock were somewhat attenuated and the triangle had less of a sparkle than usual. The overall effect was that of a slight veil.

I was puzzled by what I heard from The Steely Dan and JVC CDs. A quick switch to the BAT CD player revealed differences between the two players. The BAT was more extended and the veil was gone, embodying the contrast between the “vintage” and “modern” tube sounds. The additional resolution of the BAT player is both a bane and a boon. Since I prefer a softer sound, I continued to use the Audio Note.

My final selection, another torture test for a stereo system, was the sound of period instruments. Wassenaer’s “Concerti Armonici”, featuring the Aradia ensemble, Naxos 8555384, is a set of concerto grossi scored strings and harpsichord. It was easy to tell that one was listening to period instruments. The timbral cues made it easy to identify the character of such instruments. The harpsichord was heard playing behind the string ensemble. The key words are “heard” and “behind”. One could follow the notes of the harpsichord without sensing a loss of detail. One would also notice the location of the harpsichord as behind the string ensemble separated by some distance. There was no congestion, but the sound of the strings was less sharp than what would be expected from period instruments. The effect was an unfatiguing sound, with some loss of treble energy. The body of the string instruments was slightly over-emphasized, indicating an extra presence in the upper bass/lower midrange.

Conclusion

With the Audio Note as my CD source, the DCCA cable softened the sound somewhat. When the BAT player was substituted, the frequency response was extended and there was an increase in resolution. Based upon my exposure to at least 5 brands of cable products, I would consider the DCCA cable as suitable for all stereo systems. While slightly subtractive in nature, its coloration was not sufficient to mask differences between components. The presence or absence of gold provides a means to tune a stereo system to one’s taste. The review sample had a mixture of copper and gold/copper cables. Substituting gold/copper for copper will extend the frequency response and enhance clarity. Replacing the gold/copper cables with all copper cables will reduce the output in the treble region.

Associated Components

Speakers: Magnepan 1.6
Amplifier: VTL Deluxe 120
Preamplifier: Mapletree Ultra 4A Special Edition
CD Sources Audio Note CD2 and BAT VK D5
Interconnects: Sound String and Legenburg
Speaker Cables: Legenburg
AC Cords: Clarity Audio, Soundstring and Legenburg
Accessories PS Audio 300, PS Audio Ultimate Outlets, PS Audio Juice Bar
Enacom Filters, Sound Boosters, Tice Enhancer, Chang 6400,
Change 9600 and Blue Circle Audio Sound Pillows Mk III

DCCA Cables
 
DCCA Audio
PO Box 153
Jamestown , Rhode Island 02835
Phone: (401)423-1228
E-Mail: virgo3ref@aol.com 
Web: dccaaudio.com