After too long a period of silence, the vicissitudes of our most exuberant customer-Mr. Zanetti-are back. We had left him in the midst of a technical and scientific test starring, clearly, our products, particularly those of the Dedalus and Invictus series. Today he returns to the digital pages of our site putting the new Invictus Speaker Reference to the test. Happy reading!
The Reconquest of Everest
So, like all stories, this one has a beginning. It was since last winter that Mr. Sergio had been mulling something over: he had seen a particular insulating polymer. This he told us during one of our visits, when with my colleague Alessandro we passed by to browse here and there among the various coils of cables neatly arranged in the warehouse. Mr. Sergio revealed to us that he would like to improve his Speaker top cable (the blue one) by implementing it, just among other things, with this particular insulating polymer. That was all he said!
Months passed and around November we went back to see Mr. Sergio. I noticed something different in the environment: there were more people. Yes, because quality pays, our entrepreneur had had to hire two more people, a remarkably relevant fact in this time of momentous crisis. He had prepared a prototype of this new cable Speaker and finished it himself. At first glance it looked the same as the previous one; he would have liked to have it heard by someone equipped with a system of a certain level. That heard, my colleague Alexander immediately took possession of the prototype, enthusiastically stating that he would try it himself.
After a few days, Alexander informed Mr. Sergio that the cable was exceptionally good and superior to the previous one. I had to wait about a month before production began; it seems that this cable is not too easy to build. I was curious to try it out since I have been refurbishing my system recently. I currently own a brand new Yamaha A-S3200 integrated amp (25 kg of top technology) and a Technics "Grand Class" SL-G700 all-in-one player.
Of the Technics player, I appreciated the construction effort: it in fact adopts two multiple AK4497EQ converters (one per channel) from Japan's Asahi Kasei. These are converters that are also used in equipment costing three times as much and more!
I therefore get this new cable and set about listening. First, however, I look at what is listed in the specifications. The data are slightly improved: the internal wires have increased from 970 to 1038, the capacitance and resistance have decreased. The outer diameter has increased by 2 mm, the conductor cross-section (here it gets more interesting) has increased by 0.5 mm. "Uhm," the outer shielding has also improved. It is now 7N copper. "Ah!", there is also a double dielectric. We'll see. Looking at the new features, it wouldn't seem so different, but Alexander was vividly impressed.
I take out all my reference SACDs and put aside my "liquid music" files. I must first say that due to an irrepressible audiophile infatuation I bought from Mr. Sergio and thus own: three power cables Invictus and two balanced cables INTERCONNECT also Invictus, which were used to carry out the listening test of this Invictus Speaker Reference.
Well, I start with an "old" Telarc SACD from 1999. It is titled: Stir It Up, the music is by Bob Marley and it is played by a small band with Monty Alexander. The beat is fast-paced and continuous, the band doesn't miss a beat. Impossible to fall asleep, the record is thoroughly enjoyable. The sonic message is full and powerful but there is something that amazes me. I have never heard the guitar chords so clearly: when Steve Turre's trombone enters I jump out of my chair! "Um," maybe I'm hungry, I'd better pick it up later.
I'll try another SACD: a 2004 Telarc. The title is tremendously challenging: The Best of Play Bach. This phenomenon (really!) of Jacques Loussier plays J. S. Bach works on piano with bass and drums. The impossible has succeeded! The performance is transcendental in the Pastoral in C Minor. The bass is killer and grabs me in the stomach, leaving me stupefied! Something is not quite right! Now I phone Alexander and go to hear it at his house. I arrive and say, "Did you hear that?" Alexander doesn't answer, he puts a black record on the turntable that is improperly called "vinyl," but should be called "polyvinyl chloride." We overlook. The phono cartridge (cartridge) is MC (moving coil), with greater sensitivity than a MM (moving magnet).
He raises the volume of his McIntosh to maximum: "Unbelievable! No noise is coming out of the speakers! But what the hell has Sergio been up to?" "I don't know," Alexander replies to me and continues, "Some devilry he's done for sure." I go home a little dazed, let's try again tomorrow, that's enough for today!
Today I want to start off with some top-notch pieces. I choose a solo piano piece, in DSD256, the pianist is Japanese: Ikumi Ogasawara, the title of the "record" is Tears of Joy. I choose the piece Whale Lullaby*. The song is poignant, uniquely beautiful. The surprise is that I am not in the front row of the imaginary theater, but I am in the pianist's seat! I am surrounded and immersed in the notes! Sensation I have never experienced.
I continue with more pieces for solo harpsichord and virginal entitled: Parthenia, performer Catalina Vicens. I have heard a few baroque music concerts, as they say, live, but here we are off the charts! It sounds, pardon the hyperbole, like the god Aeolus blowing notes directly on my body. Unbelievable stuff! I'll buy the cable for sure! I go ahead in my listening anyway. I try yet another DSD256. Paganini: O mother, mother dear. The violinist who now plays viola drives me crazy with her reckless phrasing! Here, too, the viola comes on your nose.
Well, now I try to think what artifice Mr. Sergio will have resorted to. More than one for sure. The irrefutable fact is that this cable reduces according to my ear the electronic noise by about 20 dB. A remarkable result, perhaps more than remarkable. I believe, again based on my rather long experience, that such a cable, if sold by well-known American houses, would cost no less than 7 or 8,000 European EURUCCI. Meditate, people, meditate!
Salutoni, L. R. Zanetti.
* Ogasawara wrote this music in protest of the indiscriminate whaling perpetrated by the Japanese.
All that remains is for us to thank, as usual, Mr. Zanetti for testing Invictus Speaker Reference and his testimonials that are always so passionate, colorful and fun to read. If you would like to learn more about Invictus Speaker Reference, we just refer you to the updated product page, which can be reached by clicking the button below.
