Review #7 - Primus Coaxial Cable - Ricable Review
Salvatore G.
Sources: Technics SL-1200G turntable, Ortofon MC Quintet Black S cartridge; Esoteric K-01Xs CD/SACD player.
Amplifier: Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL phono preamplifier; McIntosh C1100C/T two-chassis preamplifier; Bartolomeo Aloia ST 240 power amplifier
Acoustic speakers: B&W 802 D
Other: PowerStation IFL Network Filter
The following review of the Primus 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 Salvatore for his time.
I had trawled through the various Internet sites often finding conflicting opinions on the goodness of various cables. I preferred to play it safe with Ricable where the quality of the product is associated with a "possible" price. After all, I already own other cables of the Invictus series with which I am very satisfied (two cables INTERCONNECT and the power cable).
and aesthetics of the product?
Although it is a "basic" product, the build quality is very good; the RCA connections fit perfectly, nice texture to the touch, and it has very good aesthetics. Given what can be found on the Internet, it seems to me that in this price range, of good products, there are very few. On the other hand, those at stratospheric prices abound.
I used for the test the first movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 4 conducted by the incomparable Carlos Kleiber (CD with Deutsche Grammophon digital recording). I first connected, with a black coaxial cable I had spare, an LG Blu-ray player (see photograph) to the Esoteric player's DAC. Then I connected the Ricable cable with the same procedure. Finally, to scratch my itch, I listened again and again to the first movement with the Esoteric. The volume remained strictly the same throughout the test.
listening impressions?
With the first cable, the sound was dull, flat, with reduced imaging and instruments not always spatially placeable; but given the poor quality of the cable, the result was predictable. With the Primus, things definitely improved. The sound became clearer and more refined with, it seems to me, even a slight increase in volume (but maybe that's just an impression); the soundstage widened and the instruments were more characterized. At this point I inserted the CD directly into the Esoteric; cable aside, it seems to me that the comparison is impractical (the LG player is an inexpensive model, good only for watching movies on TV); however, I must say that, in the end, the difference between using the coaxial and the Esoteric was not as striking as I would have expected.
Your conclusions.
The Primus coaxial is very good in its price range. Since I bought it for occasional use and only to be able to listen to records that the Esoteric does not read, spending a far greater amount of money to buy theInvictus probably would not have made much sense, although the curiosity to compare the two remained with me. Excellent value for money.
What did you enjoy?
- Good performance
- Value for money
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What would you improve?
- I would like a less spartan packaging
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