Cables R Us Part Six: Sunny Cable Technology Cables

 
Roy Harris

I stopped by Sunny’s place, room 2712 at the Alexis Park Hotel, during the 2006 CES. I was greeted by Sunny Lo, a true renaissance man. He was very gracious and played several selections from a compilation disc. One track led to another. Soon, I was listening to CDs from Sunny’s collection, including compositions by Rossini and Rimsky Korsakov. The sound in that room was my favorite at the CES.

Sunny is a cable and speaker designer. I opted to review the cables, as they piqued my curiosity. About two weeks after the CES ended, Sunny and his assistant Andre Au came to my house to set up the cables.

Philosophy and Technical Details

The designer’s goal is to create accurate cables by minimizing the effect of factors which may introduce errors in signal transmission and time distortion. Some of these factors include multiple conductor pathway error, inductance, capacitance, vibration and mechanical resonance and external interference. The cable design incorporates materials whose purpose is to minimize capacitance and inductance. Solid core conductors are used to avoid problems allegedly introduced by stranded wires. Materials are used to dampen vibration and mechanical resonance. Finally, an external ground wire and shielding are used to insulate the signal from the effects of external interference. Unfortunately, the designer would not reveal specific information regarding materials alluded to above, gauge, geometry and other important details about design and construction. I believe he has concerns about plagiarism and patent issues.

The following information was provided to me: Materials include copper and silver. Plugs and IEC are pure brass. The speaker cable is terminated with an inch and one half of solid silver wire. The speaker and interconnect cable are fitted with an external ground wire which is attached to the interconnect’s center pin and speaker cable’s ground lead, respectively. The other end should be attached to the ground screw of a plug and inserted into a wall outlet, in order to drain away external “noise”. In my installation, the ground wires were connected to the Box. The Box is equivalent to more than 50 feet of power cord plus other passive parts. Its purpose is to supply unrestricted current to all components connected to it and attenuate noise that is part of the ac signal. Following the manufacturer’s suggestion, I eliminated all active filters and line conditioners. I was advised that the use of such accessories would degrade the performance of the stereo system.

The Sound

My experience at the CES led me to expect a wide and deep soundstage. I was not disappointed. My first selection was the CD SLOW MOTION, the Andy Narell group, “Natty Stick”, Hip Pocket HD 105. At the start of the track, a bell is struck. One can hear its decay in the presence of other instruments. The noise floor was low enough to follow each instrument in the ensemble. Shortly thereafter, a small woodblock is tapped. The image is behind and to the left of the left speaker. The sense of space separating the foreground instruments from the woodblock was greater than I have experienced. It created the effect of a great distance between the listener and the woodblock.

Holly Cole, DON’T SMOKE IN BED, track 1, Alert Z2 81020, was my next selection. Words were very clear and sibilance was neither masked nor exaggerated. The presentation was typical of close-miking. The body of the acoustic bass was vibrating without obscuring the notes. The trio of piano, bass and voice was balanced with respect to frequency response. Classical anyone?

My favorite interpreter of French orchestral music is Ernest Ansermet. His version of Ravel’s “Alborado del Gracioso”, London 414046, is one of the better performances of this work. A brief clarinet solo is positioned deep into the orchestra. The instrument was accurately reproduced. Approximately two minutes later, there are two cymbal crashes. I often use this passage as a test of treble response. In this case, there was no excess of treble harmonics and the cymbal was rendered in a realistic manner. The sound of the bassoon, during an extended solo, emphasized its upper register to a small degree, giving the instrument a slight oboe-like quality. Perhaps it’s the sound of silver wires. The bassoon appeared to be located near the rear of the orchestra, without a hint of forwardness.

The next CD was Steely Dan, AJA, “Deacon Blues”, MCA 37214. Donald Fagen’s voice has a unique lisp, which was audible, without a hint of sibilance or grain. The lyrics were not veiled and the vocal inflection was very natural. The cymbal did not exhibit an extra sparkle or sharpness as it had in the past when played on other stereo systems. Near the end of the track, there is a tenor sax solo. Most of the notes are from the upper register of the instrument. While the observed timbre was reminiscent of a tenor sax, there was a slight imbalance in the lower treble, giving the sound an alto-like character. Having auditioned this track many times in a variety of settings, I realize that the recording itself is at least partly responsible for the peak in the lower treble. However, I also believe that the cable is also partly responsible for the presentation. It was not objectionable and I have heard greater lower treble emphasis on other stereo systems.

For my last selection I chose a disc from the OPUS 3 label, TEST RECORD #1: DEPTH OF IMAGE, CD 7900. This disc contains acoustic jazz, classical and folk music. Track 12, “Ole Miss”, features a quintet of clarinet, trumpet, trombone, bass and drums. I could not detect any significant timbral inaccuracies in the representation of the clarinet, trumpet or trombone. And the images of these instruments were wide and deep.

Conclusion

I have reviewed and sampled at least 10 cable products within a three year period. Each of the cables revealed a sonic signature to some degree. Thus, no cable is perfect and a serious, trained listener can identify deviations from accuracy after some period of audition. The cables reviewed here did not reveal a pervasive coloration. “Errors” were occasional and did not impede my enjoyment of the music..
These cables could be characterized as ever so slightly cool of neutral, a typical characteristic of silver cables. I do not have information as to which cable(s) contain silver wire. I am aware that some of the cables are composed of silver. In spite of the slight deviation from neutrality, many of the cables I have auditioned in my own stereo system, or heard in other stereo systems, are more inaccurate than the Sunny Cable Technology Cable. I believe these cables, so revealing of faults in recordings, requires a stereo system that is reasonably well balanced, especially in the upper midrange/lower treble region, in order to achieve optimal performance.

Associated Components

Speakers: Quad 63
Amplifier: VTL Deluxe 120 Monoblocks
Preamplifier: Mapletree Ultra 4A SE Special Edition
CD Player: Audio Note CD2
Interconnects: Sound String and Legenburg
Speaker Cable: Legenburg
AC Cords: Synergistic Research, Clarity Audio and Legenburg
Accessories: PS Audio 300, PS Audio Ultimate Outlets, PS Audio Juice Bar
Enacom Filters, Sound Boosters and Blue Circle Audio
Sound Pillows Mk IIIpeaker Cable: PN. AC Cords: Clarity Audio, Soundstring and Synergistic Research. Accessories: PS Audio 300, PS Audio Ultimate Outlets, PS Audio Juice Bar Room Tunes and Tice Enhancer

 
All cables and 'The Box' manufactured by Sunny Cable Technologies
PMB 238
21c Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563 U.S.A

Telephone:(925) 258 3688 Fax:(925) 258 9862

Email: info@SunnyCable.com

Sunny Cable website

The cables reviewed are listed below with their retail prices:

1.35 m Supreme P5000 power cable @ $5000/meter $ 6750
1.35 m P600 power cable @ $480/meter $ 648
2.0 m P600 power cable @ $480/meter x 2 $1920
1 m 600R interconnect @ $960/meter $ 960
6 m 600R interconnect @ $960/meter $5760
2 m S600 speaker cable @ $960/meter $1920
The Box $10000
Total $27958