Stephen D.
Sources: Primare BD32 MKII player; McIntosh MCD 500 CD/SACD player
Amplifier: McIntosh C48 preamp; McIntosh MC252 power amp; Tsakiridis Aeolos integrated tube amplifier
Acoustic Speakers: MartinLogan Ethos
Other: Stax SR-007 MKII headphones; Karma MX 2350 mixer (headphones only); Belkin Pure AV PF50 network conditioner.
The following review of the Invictus Coaxial cable is the result of the "Ricable Review" initiative. Ricable Review is the program designed by Ricable, created to collect feedback from audiophiles, in order to lead to continuous improvement of the products in the catalog. Last but not least, those who join the program receive a certificate at home, with the purpose of certifying how the customer has become to all intents and purposes part of the " Ricable" family.
The following Feedback was created on the basis of a predefined questionnaire to which the user returned his impressions, in a completely free. We thank Stephen for his time.
I came to choose Ricable as I had previously purchased a pair of RCA Z1 Supreme and the HDMI cable for television. I found the products to be good and, after careful analysis and also surveying the market on the Internet, I decided to continue buying Ricable. I would like to point out that in the past I have also had experience with Van den Hul, Zavfino, Cardas and artisan cables. Now I have decided to permanently wire for now the system components that go to the headphone listening section that I use a lot.
and aesthetics of the product?
This was one of the things that made me lean toward Ricable. The product arrives in a nice package with velvet inside to protect the cable. The Invictus Coaxial cable has a solid construction, gives the impression of being really reliable and made properly. Aesthetically very nice with the protective braid in a red and black color. The connectors are nice and give the feeling of precise and reliable tightening.
I inserted the purchased product between the digital output of my Primare Blu-ray player and the input of the McIntosh 500, which has the final task of bringing the signal to the preamplifier via the analog output. With this I would say "hybrid" (if you will allow me the term) configuration I had the best results for headphone listening. Everything is amplified by the Greek amplifier working in a triode configuration.
listening impressions?
Once I connected theInvictus Coaxial immediately from the first DVD (Sade, Lovers Live) the first thing that struck me was the impression of having more boost at the signal output. I had to revise some parameters on the listening volume (I at each DVD/BD mark a little technical reminder, e.g. volume, DTS or PCM, five channel, two channel and so on, so that I can remember them in future listening because I have so many DVDs/BDs and each of them has to be set so to speak to have the best performance). But as I continued listening I was sure that I had improved other things...meanwhile more bass...but not powerful, but soft, meaty, in a word musical, really beautiful.
In short, this cable undermined (and it was not an easy thing to do, others had failed to do it and even emblazoned ones) my previous homemade digital cable with Cardas connectors, which for now has gone to the speakers. Turning then to the DVD Jackson Browne: Going Home (an old documentary where there are excerpts from a 1994 concert ) at the track Lives in the Balance - featuring Crosby and Nash, among others - I jolted...wonderful treble quality, drum brush, vocals...not that they weren't there before, but now everything is like under a musical gilding, very musical. Finally, Blu-ray of an almost unknown but very good female group here: Celtic Woman: Destiny. A wonderful Celtic live all about traditional Irish music--in a modern version. Here again, I don't know if the Ricable cable had anything to do with it, but still the pleasantness and musicality of the whole take over...
Your conclusions.
What to say in conclusion? In my opinion Invictus Coaxial is a Mr. cable, I am so convinced of it that I have upgraded from Ricable Dedalus (another very good product) to Invictus Signal RCA and in the future at this point I will have to buy at least one more RCA and surely it will be theInvictus also because I am curious to hear them in pairs (for now it works with other foreign pair). Without leaving out at least a couple of power supplies that I have in future plans. Considering then that it is an Italian product, the lifetime warranty, the possibility to buy even used, the upgrade formula and - last but not least - the excellent accessibility and visibility of the site, make it a product that I dispassionately recommend.
What did you enjoy?
- Musicality
- Detail never intrusive
- Aesthetics
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What would you improve?
- Nothing to report
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I read the review. I had a chance to try the
Digital cable under review. I partially agree with what Stephen wrote. I am puzzled by the phrase : more bass. A good cable should return without coloration or addition the original signal. Invictus performs this excellently but when tested with the
My Harmonix milions digital cable had to call the shots but without disfiguring at all even in value for money. Then of course every system responds differently and so the ideal cable hardly exists. There is the one that interfaces best with one's system. In any case, those who intend to buy it would make an excellent choice considering the musical quality of the same without, however, expecting miracles. Recommended as by Stefano also by yours truly. Greetings to all audiophiles.
Good morning Antonio, we absolutely agree with you when you write that a good cable should return a sound as neutral as possible, never coloring it. Probably that of the author of the review, Stephen, is a reference to the previous cable, comparative. In the sense that the previous cable, perhaps, was a bit of a bottleneck right at the bass and Invictus Coaxial instead managed to return a sound with more bass, but without artificially adding any, simply returning a sound a bit closer to the artist's original intentions. Best regards and thank you for your opinion.
Hi. Yes I think it is the most correct solution. However it is still a great cable in relation to quality and price. I have always maintained this. There are on the market emblazoned cable that are really nefarious. Yet despite costing thousands of euros they are bought based on reviews and not on their own listening in order to be able to evaluate well. However, this is a very peculiar world where everyone is right but also where everyone is wrong. Anyway keep up the good work. You are fantastic. Best regards.