I walked into room 1855 at the Alexis Park. A pleasant young woman greeted me. I noticed a display of interconnect, speaker and power cables. I asked "Are any of these cables warm sounding?" She replied "The Apollo cables are warm sounding."
We exchanged business cards and I contacted her after the CES show.

These cables are unique, cosmetically trés chic. They are sturdy in construction--hardly a brilliant deduction. They are hollow and rectangular, an innovation without reservation. It's an unusual design. Is it time for other cable manufacturers to resign?

Technical Details

The company believes three factors account for cable performance, namely, conductor material, geometry and insulation. Reducing skin effect is the primary goal of the Legenburg design. The rectangular construction was chosen for that purpose. The tubular design was selected to minimize magnetic fields. Mono crystal rectangular pure copper (MCRPC) represents the extrusion process used to produce the Apollo line of cables. The company presents a chart in its brochure comparing OFC and MCPC as to structure. A longitudinal and transverse section is shown. One may infer from the display that oxygen free copper is less pure than mono crystal copper. The geometry of all cables is a spiral configuration of conductors individually insulated with teflon around a hollow central tube.
Microporous teflon was chosen as the dielectric to minimize distortion. All cables have multiple rectangular tubular conductors, varying in gauge. The gauge of each conductor and the number of conductors is proprietary information. All cables are shielded, but the interconnect is double shielded. The interconnect has a Rhodium direct plated connector. The speaker cable, overall 11 gauge, uses a 24K gold plated mono crystal Y spade. The power chord, overall 11 gauge, uses a 24K gold direct plate mono crystal copper plug. Solder material is silver and lead free copper.

Audition Results

The company describes the "sound" of its interconnect as "rich, having smooth treble and cleanest detail". The speaker cable is described as having "impressive imaging and dynamic bass impact". The power cord is described as "powerful sounding". Read on and see if my listening experiences confirm the company's statements.

Steely Dan, AJA, track 3, "Deacon Blues", was the first selection. Donald Fagen's vocal presentation did not over emphasize words beginning with the letter "s". Although there was no sibilance, lyrics could be identified at normal listening levels. When a wooden drum stick struck a cymbal, the timbre suggested brass rather than steel. Pete Christleib's tenor solo often sounds more like an alto than a tenor sax. In this instance, the timbre of the tenor sounded more life-like than I had experienced with other cables. Although the pitch was still elevated, I suspect the recording is more likely responsible for this condition than the cables.

Arthur Fiedler's recording of "Gaite Parisienne", JVCXR 0224, was a nice contrast to a pop recording. The beginning of track 1 reveals a symphony orchestra in full force. There was a visceral impact associated with the articulation of the double basses. After 50 seconds elapsed, there was a brief pause during which the rustling of sheet music was heard. Immediately thereafter, there was an interplay between a triangle and a woodblock. I sensed a slight loss of clarity and presence. The triangle was a touch vague, veiled in presentation and not as fleshed out as experienced with other cables. It was easy to determine where the woodblock was located, namely, behind the triangle at the back of the orchestra, but the position of the triangle was harder to place.

Britten's "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra", JVCXR 0226 orchestral selection. The brass section was very natural sounding and positioned slightly to the left and behind the left speaker. The upper bass of the tympani was emphasized rendering a fullness to the sound of the instrument. Pitch was lower than usual, slightly obscuring the sound of the mallet striking the surface. The triangle sounded fuller than I had previously experienced, but there was a loss of upper midrange and lower treble energy (harmonics). The separation of the triangle from the cymbal was delineated as well as its position--to the right of the cymbal.

Holly Cole, "Don't Smoke in Bed", Alert Z28102, track 1, begins with an acoustic bass solo. The thickness of the strings was evident. The vibration of the strings as well as the wood body could be heard without affecting one's ability to follow the individual notes. Although the voice is close-miked, sibilance was minimal and its presence was hardly objectionable as compared to other cables where the result was more intrusive and somewhat annoying. Even though the degree of sibilance was less present than I had experienced using other cables, I could follow the words at normal listening levels.

The last two selections were taken from the Opus 3 catalogue. "Sweet Georgia Brown", track 2 from the CD Test CD #4, Opus3 CD 9200, begins with a vibraphone solo. Upper harmonics were slightly blunted. However, the taps on the side of the snare drum--wood striking steel, were produced with sufficient clarity to be able to hear each one distinctly. If one listens attentively it is possible to enumerate the taps. Later in the track, after approximately 2 minutes and 15 seconds elapsed, a cymbal was struck. Here again, treble harmonics were slightly blunted. However, the extent was slight and the timbre of the cymbal was relatively accurate. Its brass content was communicated in contrast to other situations where the cymbal sounded more like steel than brass. Overall, the slight loss of upper harmonics did not adversely affect the spectral balance. The last selection was "Ole Miss", track 12 from Test CD #1, Opus3 CD 7900. A jazz ensemble consisting of a clarinet, trumpet, trombone, bass and drums was featured. The clarinet sounded realistic, as its ebony body and reedy quality were easy to discern even under cursory listening. The trumpet normally has a bite. It's probably close-miked. In this instance, there was an attenuation in the upper harmonics, creating a less incisive presentation. The trombone sounded brassy without being aggressive in its presentation. It was positioned behind and at the edge of the right speaker.

Conclusion

The Legenburg cable has an unusual design. It also has an unusual presentation. I perceived a slight boost in the mid bass and a slight dip in the upper midrange and lower treble regions. I have never experienced what might be considered a loss of clarity attributable to cable performance. I have been told of the experience of others with respect to some brands of cable, which were described as veiled and having a soft treble. However, when auditioning them in my stereo system, I have not confirmed such observations. What I found after auditioning the Legenburg cable for over 100 hours is surprising, given the goal of most manufacturers, namely neutrality.

Associated Components

Speakers: Quad 63. Amplifier: VTL Deluxe 120 Monoblocks. Preamp: Conrad Johnson Premier 3 CD Player: Audionote CD2. Interconnect: Soundstring. Speaker 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

The Legenburg Apollo Cables
 
Manufactured by Capativa Tech Inc.
310S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd. Suite. 107-129.San Marcos, CA 92078
phone 1-877-708-7805 and 760-598-1753
fax 760-598-1447

Prices:

1 meter Apollo Asymmetric Interconnect US$580
6 feet Apollo S Prime Speaker Cable US$1495
2 6 feet Apollo P Power Cable @ 733 US$1466
2 5 feet Apollo P Power Cable @ 660 US$1320

Legenburg web page

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