So after a few days of music on repeat I haven’t detected any further changes in presentation and things have settled down enough for me to opine.
It’s difficult to be measured in what I write because of the various gushing posts on this thread for EWA cables that make me wonder if I’m going deaf. But, actually, what this means is my existing interconnects are actually superb, at a lower price (a new EWA set seems to be about 50% more than an equivalent SLIC), and whilst the EWA IC-40 is better, it’s not night and day better. But it is very good!
When I consider the price, both the EWA and SLIC cables represent excellent value at their respective price points. I guess the optimum comparison would be to a well-known and established brand – let’s say Chord to avoid hackle raising by saying TQ
– and being able to state ‘it is as good as’ one of the top models of interconnect, one that retails for multiples of the £ of the EWA. That would be best.
But I can’t do that, because I think the SLIC cables I have fall into the same VFM category, and I bought them and not (say) Chord Sarum, so I can’t do that comparison. Noting that I have only heard top Chord products at shows (I don’t feel like dropping in on a dealer and wasting their time asking for a demo of something that expensive that I’m unlikely to buy) and I speculatively bought the SLIC at a reasonable price I thought was worth a punt, based on a few limited reviews. A bit like EWA, really. Also, full disclosure, obvs I’ll be selling my SLIC interconnects shortly, because I’ll keep the EWA IC-40 interconnects, so whilst I’ll state these are slightly better, it’s up to potential purchasers to decide if I’m bigging up the SLIC for the sale. I’m not, but you can have that thought if you like.
My SLIC cables are Eclipse C vII and there is a now a vIII. This could close the gap.
As noted in an earlier post, I’ve replaced the RCA SLIC cables with XLR EWA IC-40 (using Furutech connectors) meaning there is a change in level for which I must compensate. There is also the possibility that differences in sound are just because single ended RCA sounds different to balanced XLR – some will avoid balanced connections because it sounds less rhythmic, less musical, more hifi – and then the balanced connections on my Accuphase amp and DAC were lower use or unused and may have also needed some degree of running in. So it’s not a complete like for like comparison. But the advantage is I’ve been able to connect both cables to the amp simultaneously and switch between inputs and adjust volume remotely to match without shifting my bum from the sofa. The Accuphase tells me volume as a digital readout so I can be precise, too. Then, I’ve also switched cables out in case having both connected at the same time did something (it didn’t).
Now, on the evaluation:
TONALLY they both sound very similar, and uncoloured. I would like, perhaps, a smidgen more of a sense of richness from each; am listening to flute and harp in the background and they sound real but just a fraction more tending towards a recording of a thing rather than the thing itself being present. But, if an interconnect is a conduit of what is being sourced and transmitted and reproduced through the DAC/Amp/Speaker chain then the smidgen of richness I’d like could well be lacking in the DAC, the amp or the speaker. The two interconnects sound equally neutral. There is more slam in the bass with the EWA. I’m not sure it goes any deeper though. Midrange and treble response seem the same.
NOISE: They are extremely quiet. If I whack the volume right up, the SLIC is slightly fuzzier in the background and slightly less quiet, but that’s like a 5-10% thing and might just be the balanced connection.
DYNAMICS: Here the EWA is superior, both at the macro and micro level. Those dynamics rise and fall faster, with less of a sense of overhang. There is more precision in how that flute I mentioned is mouthed (I used to play flute) you can sense more of the breathing and the pulse of air as the flautist shapes the volume changes in their playing.
DETAIL: Again, the EWA is superior. I was listening to the cymbal at the beginning of ‘You look good to me’ on Oscar Peterson Trio’s ‘We get requests’, and this has more definition of how it is struck, how it resonates and how it decays. If I were a cymbalist – drummer? – I would find it easier to be able to say what type or manufacture of cymbal with the EWA than the SLIC. It has a more 3D quality to it as well, as if I could close my eyes and find it easier to see. I took notes about a rock track (but didn’t note and forget which one) where the electric guitar ‘yowl’ was better defined and more extended and subtle rather than a mash of sonic assault. Could have been Santana, Knopfler or Prince even. The micro-dynamic detail described above helps create a more believable and nuanced image, not just that I can hear more sounds, but that I can hear how a sound is shaped (eg aforementioned flautist pushing more or less air through their instrument).
SOUNDSTAGE: There is more image presence and body on the EWA. It feels more real and extends further into the room, and a little bit more behind the speakers and indeed outside of them or behind me even. There may be a fractional increase in soundstage width.
TIMING: I enjoy both cables. I was rather hoping that the much-vaunted phase coherence of EWA would really come through here, and I’m sure it’s excellent, but I don’t detect anything that makes me think timing is significantly better except to note what I’ve noted above about detail and dynamics and to confirm that all this extra is nevertheless presented in time and in its place in the context of the overall performance. Meaning that timing is of course excellent and my feet tap for both.
DOWNSIDES: I mentioned brashness in an earlier post and this is reduced but present and in fact when I listen carefully its present in both cables; just that the EWA is slightly more transparent to it. I think it’s elsewhere and I think I know where but won’t muddy the waters in this post with an aside into that. Importantly, I know for a fact that a better product can sometimes unbalance a system and make it sound worse; a more transparent interconnect could (for example) reveal the DAC to be hard and unyielding, or bright. A better amp might control a speaker so well you wonder where the bass, that was previously experienced as full but was in fact woolly and imprecise, has gone. I’m pleased to say I’ve not really seen anything go awry in my system; the balance is still where it was.
What I’ve wrestled with mostly is the thought that my SLIC cables are worth £x and the EWA cost me £y and is it that much of a difference? Well, in a better and more resolving system than mine with (in particular) better acoustics and no huge wall of windows close to the RHS of the system about which I can do nothing causing annoying first order reflections, the subtlety of the improvements I’ve described could well be more pronounced, and as I improve the system, I’m sure I’ll hear more. The EWA interconnect is a very transparent conduit that does less harm, and at this level differences are hard won! And, if you were considering another mfrs product at £z, chances are you’d be very happy paying £y.
I currently use TQ Silver ii speaker cables. At some point I will consider replacing them – they were better than NACA5 I was using before, but again with more of a subtle and nuanced improvement than the ‘Oh my God that’s so much better’ statements I keep reading – and might well consider EWA LS-80 at that point J. Ditto for power cables, I’m using Nordost or Puritan cables, if I had the money, I might have tried a Shunyata cord but would be interested in the EWA alternative. Each incremental improvement should improve transparency, and I’m quietly confident the IC-40 will be a fundamental part of that, because it does represent an improvement and is obviously very transparent, well balanced and also well made. I’m happy to keep it in place!
I hope that helps anyone considering one.
