⌈ ACROLINK (a registered brand name) is a brand that belongs to the Japanese Acro Japan Corporation. Acro Japan is part of the Mitsubishi Cable Corporation which belongs to the giant Mitsubishi Corporation. So, the company has access to a powerful research department and has developed a lot of its own designs and patents. What matters, however, is the fact that it is run by passionate engineers-audiophiles. ⌋

he history of Acrolink in my life dates back to the first High End exhibition that was organized in Munich (it had been held in Frankfurt at the Kempinski hotel before; more HERE). It was in the year 2005, so at a time when my words I am from Poland uttered at such an event were frequently followed by the response: from Holland? (a coverage of the exhibition can be found HERE). As I have already written once, I met a few people at that time, including Mr Bé Yamamura, the contemporary representative of the ACROLINK company in Europe and OYAIDE.

Mr Yamamura-san, a Japanese legend of the audio world living in France and a constructor of tube amplifiers and horn loudspeakers was very nice, but at the same time was clearly directing our conversation towards the cheaper of his brands – Oyaide. He was right in the sense that it proved to be simply great. Soon, however, we (Polish audiophiles) and then the whole world became aware that Acrolink was more interesting. Let me add that we have also contributed to this a little, as the Oyaide and Acrolink cables that were then borrowed for tests at “High Fidelity” were the first products of these two companies whose test was published outside Japan.

Acrolink offers a full range of connectors, including speaker cables, analog and digital interconnects (when the company was set up, it manufactured digital cables), as well as AC power cables. My personal history is connected with the last of the cable types. The 7N-PC7100 cable that I heard during a test, became my reference cable for a long time, supplying power to the Ancient Audio CD player. It was listened to during a meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society and also became the basis of the system belonging to Janusz, the host of the meeting, who bought four of the cables at once…

And it became our habit – whenever Acrolink launched a new cable from the top-of-the-range ‘9000’ line, we had already listened to it and new cables would become part of Janusz’s and my system. These were the 7N-PC9100, then the 7N-PC9300 and after that the 7N-PC9500. The company later launched the ‘9700’, but we did not even manage to listen to it, as a new version – the ‘9900’ – was released soon afterwards. We got it for a test as the first magazine outside Japan and organized a meeting of the Krakow Sonic Society.

But then the so-called “black swan” occurred, i.e. the Coronavirus, so we had to cancel the meeting. Let me remind you that a “black swan” is a term coined by professor Nassim Nicholas Taleb who specializes in finance, for an event that is so unlikely to happen that it becomes a surprise or is almost impossible. And that is exactly what the COVID-19 virus pandemic has been. So, I had to test the cable myself in the “High Fidelity” reference system.

| MEXCEL 7N-PC9900

When we look at both the Acrolink and the Esoteric company website, all of whose cables are manufactured by Acrolink, we will notice that it is an “engineering” company, i.e. one focusing on materials science, knowledge of electronics and also mechanics, characterized by the courage to question the existing certainties. They have a systematic and methodical approach to cable design. Based on research, four most important focus areas were determined: the conductor material, the dielectric material, shielding and mechanical design, with emphasis on vibration damping.

The next generations of the company cables offer an improvement of one of these elements. For example, compared to the ‘9500’, the ‘9700’ model was characterized by an improved mechanical design, while the latest ‘9900’ additionally features modified shielding. From the outside, the three cables are almost identical – the ‘9700’ only has blue thread in the braid – and they have the same external diameter, and the same connectors. The difference between them and other power cables made by the company is the enamel color on the outer shield – the top-of-the-range Mexcel series models feature red and black enamel.

The conductor | 7N copper is the basis of the design and its purity is confirmed by strict research, not only declared by the manufacturer. The Mitsubishi Materials Corporation makes wires for Acrolink and it is one of a few manufacturers all over the world that can actually prepare 7N copper. Thanks to this, Acrolink did not have to modify its technology after another Japanese cable manufacturer, the Furukawa company, offering PCOCC copper wires, gave up its production. Everyone had to start using a different type of wires then – everyone except for Acrolink (you can read more about that revolution change HERE).

These are 7N (99,99999%) purity wires, made using the company D.U.C.C. Stressfree (D.U.C.C. = Dia Ultra Crystallized Copper) technology. In its materials, the Mitsubishi company points out that impurities in copper are not only the so-called diode effect occurring at the points of contact between crystals, eliminated in PCOCC wires by maximally elongating the crystal, but also impurities inside the crystals (PCOCC = Pure Crystal by Ohno Continous Casting). Engineers came to this conclusion, having analysed X-rays. During the D.U.C.C. process, copper crystallizes again and impurities are released and removed. Such copper displays much less of the directionality effect, but it is marked on Acrolink cables anyway.

The material used for the company cables is not only processed in the D.U.C.C. process, but also in another process that leads to the limitation of inner stresses – that is why we can find the term “Stressfree” in leaflets describing individual cables. The thing is that when wires are pulled out mechanically, especially when they are bent, stresses affecting signal transmission and ultimately the sound are generated in the material.. So, the Mistubishi company subjects them to a process which eliminates internal stresses. However, the company emphasises it is not “aging”, i.e. artificial softening of the material.

The ‘9900’ model is made of ø 0.32 mm conductors, with 50 ground wires and 50 signal transmission wires. The protection wire is made of 4.5N – 50 x 0.32 mm twisted copper wire. And here comes the last element characteristic for the company – the cross-section of the wires. It is almost always round, sometimes oval (see Acoustic Revive). It is much less frequently rectangular, like in Acrolink and Nordost cables. This wire type is called Mexcel by the parent company, hence the term in the cable name: the Mexcel 7N-PC9900. Let me add that each of the wires is separately enamelled, so, from a technical point of view, these are multi-Litz cables.

The dielectric | Since the very beginning, i.e. since its first commercially available cable, Acrolink has been using a dielectric called polyolefin. It is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic belonging to the group of standard plastics. The most important representatives of the group are polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), accounting for a half of plastic production. It is being used by other cable manufacturers today, but the Japanese had been among very few manufacturers that had been using it before, pointing out much better polyolefin properties, including a low dielectric constant.

Such a dielectric was used to insulate the wires. The whole cable is additionally insulated with the help of a hybrid dielectric produced using polyolefin with an addition of tungsten and amorphous carbon powder. Both dielectrics constitute an element of a vibration damping system – something that other manufacturers have started paying their attention to quite recently, or are beginning to understand now. The damping system consists of a few elements and its improvement constitutes one of the basic differences between the ‘9500’ and ‘9700’ models. On the outside, the cable is covered with a PVC sheath resistant to UV radiation.

The shield | The basic difference between the ‘9700’ and the new ‘9900’ is a modified shield. Acrolink does not reveal too many details, only stating that this is polyurethane-enamelled 4N copper braid (Enamelled Copper Wire). It also adds that a “special shielding technology” is used for the purpose, without explaining what it exactly is. So, let me remind you that Acrolink uses two additional shields in its remaining cables, one of which is Mylar tape with vapour-deposited OFC copper. The solution that is used in the ‘9900’ may be a modification of this technology.

Connectors| The connectors have not changed since I first used Acrolink cables, i.e. since the ‘9100’. There are a lot of top-of-the-range power cable connectors on the market, but the ones used in Acrolink cables still deserve our attention. Their conductive components are made of beryllium copper covered with a thick layer of silver that had been hand-polished multiple times, with a rhodium layer on it, protecting it from wear. The shield has been made of special resin – it is closed at the end using an aluminium element. A tube made of carbon fibre braid has been embedded in the resin.

The Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9900 cables started to be sold in Japanese stores in June 2019 and went on sale in Europe this year.

| THE WAY WE LISTENED

The “High Fidelity” reference system uses three different power cables, with one additional cable. Voltage is supplied from a Furutech wall power socket using the 2.5-metre Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9500 cable and reaches the Acoustic Revive RTP-4EU power strip with the use of the RAS-14 Triple-C filter manufactured by the same company.

Voltage is then supplied to individual devices from the power strip. The SACD player is powered using the Siltech Triple Crown cable, the preamp – with a 2-metre section of the Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9500 cable and the Soulution 710 power amp – with the Acoustic Revive Absolute-Power Cord. The preamp and power amp also use the RAS-14 Triple-C filters. The Acrolink 8N-PC8100 Performante Nero Edizione № 1/15 is a cable for “special purposes” and I use it to power the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge file player, the Leben CS600X amplifier, or phonostages.

The tested Acrolink cable was compared to all my cables, but I focused on two of them, at two locations: the Siltech cable supplying power to the SACD player and the Acrolink Mexcel 7N-PC9500 supplying power to the whole system. I conducted a separate comparison with the Acrolink 8N-PC8100, as I was interested in how different the latest Acrolink cable is from its limited series with 8N copper (the cables supplied power to the SACD player). That was an A/B/A comparison, where both A and B were known. As I have tube devices in my system, a little time had to pass between each stage (A and B) – around 2 minutes.

Recordings used for the test (a selec- tion)

• Isao Suzuki Quartet, Blow Up, Three Blind Mice/Impex Records IMP8307, Gold HDCD (1973/2004)
• Kate Bush, Aerial, EMI Records 3439602, 2 x CD (2005);
• Miles Davis, Bitches Brew, Columbia/Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDSACD 2-2149, „Special Limited Edition | No. 1229”, 2 x SACD/CD (1970/2014)
• Nirvana, In Utero, Geffen GED 24536, CD (1993)
• Patricia Barber, Companion, Premonition Records/Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDSACD 2023, SACD/CD (1999/2003)
• The Modern Jazz Quartet, Pyramid, Atlantic Records/Warner Music Japan WPCR-25125, „Atlantic 60th”, CD (1960/2006)

Tens of hours spent over the last several years on discussions with Janusz, the host of the Krakow Sonic Society, have been related to Acrolink power cables. We both went all the way from the PC7100 up to the 9500 and we both have the latter in our systems. Even though different arguments were used both during our conversations and the meetings of the Krakow Sonic Society, and although various elements of sound were either evaluated or appreciated, there was one constant: in our opinion, each new cable was better and each brought us closer to music.

Not everybody was of the same opinion, however. There are people (even among the members of the Krakow Sonic Society) who think that the models before the ‘9500’ were better. I am not one of them. For me, these are just subsequent steps leading to more realism that might be called “magical” if it did not bring us closer to the truth.

How is it accomplished this time? The ‘9900’ provides much higher resolution than the ‘9500’. Even though it might seem that the differences at this level should not be too big anymore, the properties of the tested cable will be of critical importance in an appropriate system. The resolution is mainly visible in the way it makes the sound more noble, but without warming it up; in better selectivity, but without additional “details”. Finally, everything is clearer and more sonorous with this cable, but yet it seems smoother.

The ‘9500’ that I have got used to and that I like, is warmer and darker than all the remaining Acrolink cables, including the earlier models from the ‘9000’ series. For some music lovers, it is the main reason why they have valued its predecessors more highly. As I said before, I do not belong to this group, as the advantages of such presentation are more important to me than its disadvantages – let me remind you that audio is the art of compromise, even in extreme high-end. However, the ‘9900’ should be the main object of interest for them. Not only for them, as the owners of the ‘9500’ and ‘9700’ will find it to be a suitable successor of their current power cables.

Where does this result from? Well, the cable combines the earlier and later Acrolink product lines, giving us depth, smoothness, sonority and energy at a yet higher level. When we listen to it for the first time and compare it to the ‘9500’, it may appear to us for a moment that the new cable is quieter and you need to turn the volume up by 1 dB in order to equalize the levels. It is not like that! This is how the higher dynamics that we can obtain with the ‘9900’ reveals itself. It was instantly audible, both with the Pyramid of The Modern Jazz Quartet and Nirvana’s In Utero, and both with Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, and Kate Bush’s Aerial.

The new Acrolink cable provides all the information more accurately and clearly, but at the same time it shows the background further away, compared to the ‘9500’! This is also why its sound seems quieter. After a short adaptation time, it appears that this is better presentation, to a certain degree less “compressed”, even though the older ‘9500’ is no worse in this respect. The tested cable allows devices to sound more open and free, without imposing its personality on them.

What also seems very important to me is that the ‘9900’ disappears behind music more quickly, showing its shades, colors, details and scale better. It also becomes evident when we look at imaging, as it is another strength of the cable. It excellently shows reverberation and details in the zone around us. I did not notice this before, but it was clear to hear with the ‘9900’ that the percussion instrument in the song Use Me from Patricia’s Barber Companion seems to fluctuate a little between channels, as if the musician playing it was turning towards one and then the other side. In Rape Me by Nirvana, the short “small room” reverberation imposed on Kurt Cobain’s vocal, which often disappears in the mix, was better audible. It was a huge change.

However, this is more delicate sound, with more nuances – it seems that there is much more information, which results in a richer treble. Despite this, the treble seems to be a little more withdrawn than in the ‘9500’. Let me remind you that the older Acrolink cable is often perceived as “warm”. The new cable is not warm, but… This is a richer musical message and thus closer to something that we usually call “naturalness”. It is closer to our subjective assumption that this is a less “mechanical” musical message. No Acrolink cable sounds mechanical, but the new model is better in this respect, not only than its predecessors, but than most currently available power cables in general. To tell you the truth – than almost all of them.

Siltech | Acrolink had been my reference cable for many years, until I heard the Siltech Triple Crown. The three times as expensive power cable from the Netherlands is the best cable of this type that I have ever heard and, apart from it, only the Harmonix X-DC Studio Master Million Maestro has also shaken my world… Anyway, the Siltech cable is top of the top and it is my reference cable connected to the sound source – the SACD Ayon Audio player. So, comparing it in the same application to the new Acrolink cable was the next obvious step.

In the nearest future, the Siltech cable will still remain on top. It is because there are no “magical” breakthroughs in audio and we may only perceive some phenomena in this way. What actually matters here is work, talent and money, which is clearly visible when it comes to Siltech and Acrolink cables. The Japanese cable still does not have the resolution and energy of the Edvin van Kley’s cable, but when you replace one with the other, you have no reason to complain, either.

In such a comparison, the tested ‘9900’ showed excellent imaging again. It is an ordered message, even when sound is as dense as in Vendome, the opening track from The Modern Jazz Quartet album. There is a lot of energy in the treble and the Acrolink cable showed that excellently, without allowing a “sound wall” to be created. There was such a wall on the Nirvana’s album, but it was intended. However, even in such a case, the ‘9900’ proved its excellence, as even though it was not as energetic as the Siltech cable, it did not calm anything down, either. It was simply smooth and refined.

When it comes to refinement, the new Acrolink cable is unique, even in comparison with such an expensive reference cable as the Siltech Triple Crown. The musical message it produces is a little further away than with the Acrolink ‘9500’ and the Siltech cable, which gives the sound a lot of air, makes it unconstrained and prevents it from getting stifled. It was ideally shown by the low, electronically generated sound opening Kate Bush’s album – with the Acrolink cable it was deep, with great rhythm.

It is because the rhythmicity of the new Japanese cable is fantastic, thanks to which it was easy to hear when Isao Suzuki lost the rhythm a little in the title track from the album Blow Up. There are two double bass instruments there – the leader’s is the solo one – that are excellently presented and differentiated. The tested cable, even compared to the Siltech model, did not harmonize Takashi Mizuhoashi’s galloping, racing double bass (the right channel), but also allowed the leader (centre) to play the melodic line smoothly. The Acrolink cable can do that.

| 7N-PC9900 vs 8N-PC8100

The 8N-PC8100 Performante Nero Edizione model is the most expensive Acrolink power cable (23,000 PLN/1.5 m). As far as its design is concerned, it is interesting that 8N copper has been used instead of 7N found in other cables. Its sound significantly differs from the ‘9700’, but also from most of the remaining cables from this series. Generally speaking, it is tonally a return to the ‘9100’, with a larger distance towards the user and a higher placed balance of gravity. In this respect, the ‘9900’ is closer to the Siltech Triple Crown than to the ‘8100’.

An 8N copper cable is more refined in the treble, and the sonority of cymbals together with their smoothness make an excellent combination. It is also much faster – the attack, strike, the feeling of being involved in something “real” are unique with it. The way it shows the rhythm, pulse and tempo is simply unbelievable, even when it is compared to the very good ‘8100’. In this respect, it is closer to top-of-the-range Nordost cables. On the other hand, the tested ‘9900’ produces lower and denser bass, even though it is not as internally illuminated and characterized by such high resolution as with the ‘8100’. What is more, the ‘9900’ shows sound closer, in a fuller and more saturated way.



That is why, it seems to me, these are cables to be used in different systems and by different users. Both are characterized by incredible resolution, saturated and fast, at least when we compare them to other power cables, but they differ from each other when it comes to the distribution of these features. That is why the choice has got to be yours – the ‘9900’ will be better for rock or electronic music, etc., while the ‘8100’ will be ideal for jazz and classical music. However, no matter if you opt for the ‘9900’, or the ‘8100’, it will be a good choice.

| CONCLUSION

What I write is a projection of my expectations, habits, or even dreams connected with an audio product. I do not have any other “measure”, however, and I need to rely on what “seems to me”. I question this, argue with it, but only in order to see the aim more clearly – i.e., ultimately, whether I liked a given product and why. At the very end there is hope that you will hear it in the same way and that your systems will react to the product in a similar way as mine.

However, even if you have a different opinion, it is worth paying attention to the latest Acrolink power cable, as it is simply excellent. It is another step in the company’s developmental process – not a leap, but a step, i.e. evolution. It still has all the advantages of cables from the ‘9000’ series, i.e. wonderful colors, great imaging and sonority, while it brings resolution and sonority to a higher level. Everything is a little more “taken out” from the background, even though it seems that the previous cables sound brighter – even the ‘9500’ model that had been assumed to be “warm”. The new Acrolink cable produces denser and lower sound, but it is clearer at the same time, giving us even more reasons to smile. It is simply a top-of-the-range cable. ■

Technical specifications (according to the manufacturer)