Audionova is a Polish company, driven and powered by Mr. Marek Sołtysiak. We know each other for years, since one of the Audio Shows, where I saw the cable Moonwalk for the first time. It connected to the loudspeakers Nuvo from another Polish company Eryk S. Concept (review HERE). Both companies presented themselves in a very professional way, their products were very well crafted and sounded nicely. Mr. Marek’s cables had also fantastic boxes, which raised their perceptive value. Now because good products need promotion, I follow the development of Audionova, testing their products now and then. The important message is, that I was never disappointed.

However time does not stand still, so the company does also change – now the more expensive cables are delivered in wooden boxes, and the company owner, as the whole company, moved from Warsaw to Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski. There are also some new products. Trying to show a cross-section of what the company offers, and having to choose only three cables – for more there was not enough testing time available – we decided to show the new power cable Volcano Silver Edition - the first power cable with the shielding made from powdered metal, the inexpensive interconnect Lightspeed and loudspeaker jumpers Pure Connect Reference. The last ones I tested in the last possible moment, as my new loudspeakers from Harpia Acoustics, which will replace my Dobermann, will have single terminals, the top Furutech FT-808(R).

To date we tested:

• ASTRAL INVADER - loudspeaker cable
• AURORA/STARLIGHT – interconnects
• ABIOGENESIS - power cable
• PHANTOM/SOLARIS - interconnect/loudspeaker cable
• QUASARUS - loudspeaker cable
• NIGHTFLIGHT/ILLUMINATOR - interconnect/loudspeaker cable
• PROTEUS/MOONWALK - interconnect/loudspeaker cable

Discs used for testing:

• Dominic Miller, Fourth Wall, Q-rious Music, QRM 108-2; review HERE .
• Wynton Kelly, Kelly Blue, Riverside/JVC, JVCXR-0050-2, XRCD2.
• Hank Mobley, Soul Station, Blue Note/Audio Wave, AWMXR-0001, XRCD24; review HERE.
• Diorama, Cubed Deluxe Edition, Acsession Records, A 114, 2 x CD; review HERE.

Japanese versions of the discs are to be found on CD Japan

VOLCANO SILVER EDITION

SOUND

The Volcano is absolutely surprising. In every way. All previous cabled from Audionova presented the sound in a thorough, solid way, trying to get the most information out of it. They explored the corners of the recordings, mastering, reverbs, etc, and usually getting further than the most renowned competition from abroad. But they never “ignited” me. This is the case with 99% of the products I test – despite the fact, that I choose the best, most interesting, most promising products for testing (as I believe, that only those are worth showing), yet most of them are not from my game. I appreciate them, I have esteem for their creators, sometimes I even share their priorities, but with listening to music is like with love – everybody experiences it in his life, and still for everyone it means something else, and different things are being found appealing. Having said this, I had esteem for Audionova power cables, but rather not love. And here surprise, surprise… The cupid’s arrow strikes suddenly and unexpectedly – this is a part of the “nature” of such a feeling. This was also the case with my affection for this power cable. I tried it with the CD player (Ancient Audio Lektor Air), because the nuances come out better on the sound source. And I really liked the sound with the Volcano plugged in. This cable presents the sound in a slightly soft way, with a recessed treble. But this “softness” is vivid and the treble is withdrawn on purpose, and not by coincidence. I mean, that this a coherent vision of music, a combination of elements, that creates a certain sound. And it is incredibly vivid – not only when listening to a disc that is predestined to such playing, like Fourth Wall Dominic Miller, or Soul Station Hank Mobley, but also when listening to Cubed Diorama, what is not so obvious. The first plane is slightly closer, and the most important element in the sound is the midrange. But it is not colored, like in tube amplifiers, which should sound like a “tube”, but in a way top-class mini bookshelf speakers do it, like the Dynaudio DM 2/6, where such sound is dictated by physics and common sense. Guitars, voices, pianos, etc, everything sounded in a really excellent, natural sound. I perfectly remember a test of the Wireworld cables, which allowed me to assess the company offerings (HERE), and it also created for me a reference point for other manufacturers from all price levels. If I had to position the Volcano somewhere, then it would be above the Silver Electra 52 (and we are talking about a cable that is three times as much), except for one element – resolution. Everything else – coherence, naturalness, vividness, etc, would direct our attention to the Volcano, which reminded more the top Wireworld cable, the Gold Electra 52. I do not want to spread heresy here, because the Volcano is not as refined as the last cable I mentioned, but – let me go to hell if I am wrong! – at a fraction of the price it gives a sound which is so close tonally, so rich in emotion, that it is hard to believe. The manufacturer writes in his web page (HERE): “We are sure, that you will admit, that this is the best power cable in the world!”. Anybody can hype his product, but even taking into account what I wrote above, I think, that this is too much optimism. Comparing the Volcano with for example the Acrolink 7N-P7100 it can be heard, that the Japanese cable is way more resolving. Also Wireworld has something to say in that aspect. And the Acrolink 7N-PC9300 is much better in every aspect. But this kind of comparison is not fair, because the other cables are far more expensive. This is the reason, that I could say, that this is the best cable in the world, between inexpensive cables. And I would not be wrong.

DESCRIPTION

Volcano Silver Edition has a grey cover. It is terminated with high quality plugs Terminator1 and Terminator2, which are manufactured by Audionova. They look a lot like Furutech or Wattgate, but those were designed by Mr. Sołtysiak and are manufactured exclusively for his company. The conductors are three, solid core wires from silver plated copper with 99.99999% purity, with 2.5mm2 cross section.

Similar to the Abiogenesis, we tested some time ago, also this cable is equipped with a company developed shield, called FMB (Full Metal Body), but with the difference, that there it was a flexible metal hose, and here the empty spaces between three cables were filled with powdered metal. It should reduce electromagnetic vibration, as well as perform the function of an interference shield. This results in each wire being shielded individually. Dielectric is from FPE/PCV or FPE/TEF. The company underlines, that the cable is hand crafted and confectioned, and it is signed by hand by the company owner – it receives a unique serial number and it is registered in the service database. The guarantee for the Volcano is 5 years. The standard length 1.5m. Other lengths available on demand. I just add, that despite large cross-section of the conductors, the cable is very flexible and is connected easily.

LIGHTSPEED

SOUND

Switching from my Acrolink Mexcel 7N-AD6300 to the Lightspeed we can immediately hear, that the interconnect from Audionova is not too expensive. Maybe this is overkill, because the Japanese cable is twenty times as expensive as the Polish one, but those are the rules of the game – I always compare the products to the best I have available. The sound of the Lightspeed can be described as well balanced, with a slight withdrawal of the upper midrange, well combined. Dynamics is slightly sedated, and the treble not too clean, but this is how inexpensive cables sound. Compared to other interconnects at comparable price level, Lighspeed is very mature – treble is in good proportion to the rest of the sound spectrum, it is strong, but not too bright, or harsh, and it is not detached from the rest of the sound. Below it is a slight dip, like I mentioned earlier, and this results in slight emphasis of the lower midrange and midrange-bass crossing. So the sound is “respectable” and not “hasty”. Inexpensive, nicely made, fulfilling all the requirements for a cable of this price for everybody, who just start the fight for “absolute sound”, fitting in systems with elements even at the price of 4000zl.

DESCRIPTION

Lightspeed is an inexpensive, stereo interconnect for analog connection. It is not thick, flexible, and the external cover is a black braid with a white thread. The cables are made from 99.999% pure copper and are shielded. For each branch two runs of connectors were utilized (this is called SCS in the company vocabulary), and this means, that losses are lower by about 50%, and the signal to noise ration reaches about 130dB (at 25kHz, according to the company materials). The shield is soldered only from the side of the sound source (what suggests a quasi balanced architecture, where the positive and negative runs have a symmetrical construction), what requires to keep directions when connecting. The shield is made from aluminum (Dura Shield). The plugs are nicely looking, gold plated RCA plugs, with a notched central pin (like Monster Cable does) improving connection.

PURE CONNECT REFERENCE

SOUND

There is one problem with jumpers – there should not be any at all. I mean, that loudspeakers, when we do not use bi-amping (bi-wiring is, I think, an attempt to improve this division, but it often generates more problems than it alleviates), should have single binding posts. Dynaudio and others know what they are doing. This is one issue. Another one is, that when we have double binding posts, it is important how we connect the cables to them (I assume we use a traditional cable, with only one run). We can connect the cable in the following way:

1. Both cables to the upper terminals.
2. Both cables to the lower terminals.
3. Positive cable to the upper terminal, and the negative to the lower.
4. Negative cable to the upper terminal, and the positive to the lower.

And I assume that the upper terminals are for the tweeter, and the lower ones for the woofer. In three way systems, like my Dobermann, the midrange, if not equipped with a third pair of terminals, is usually connected to the upper terminals. I tried out all combinations long time ago, and I discard option nr. 2 completely, as the signal has to travel through the jumpers and additional posts to the tweeter, and the distortion brought in by the jumpers is especially annoying in that frequency range. After many tests I use option 1, but option 3 and 4 have their advantages. Everything depends on the loudspeaker – it can manifest itself in different ways, even in various models coming from the same company. So you need to experiment on your own. Like I said – both cables were plugged to the upper terminals, and this is the way I evaluated the Audionova jumpers.

Those jumpers should be added as free gift to all loudspeakers costing less than 10000zl, instead of that, what is usually used for connecting a double terminals. This is not a response to all needs, they will not sound the same in all systems, like my expensive jumpers from XLO (Reference and Signature), but it will be a step forward. They sound thorough, detailed, but not bright. The medium part of the midrange, below 1kHz is slightly thinned, but really not by much, also the lowest bass is lighter than with XLO. Compared to standard jumpers we have a world of difference, favoring the PCR. We get a dynamic and pure sound, with emphasis on the latter. If someone complains, that his loudspeakers “do not sound”, there is too much “sand” from the tweeter, or the sound is fogged, not spacious, etc, then the Audionova can be the cure. In general the sound is similar to other loudspeaker cables from this manufacturer, so you should know what I am talking about. Nicely made, inexpensive, they do what is expected of them.

DESCRIPTION

Pure Connect Reference are shielded jumpers, used to replaced those, sold with the loudspeakers. They have a length of 4x15cm, and are terminated with spades S2 Mk2 made by Audionova (gold plated copper, without nickel substrate) with universal width, from 6 to 9.5mm, fitting to all terminals, including big WBT ones. The cables are made from silver plated copper with 4mm2 cross section and 99.999999% purity. The company describes their construction as MSC, Multi Solid Core. This means, that we deal with many single wires, and not a braided cable. This is the same cable that is used for the construction of the model Astral Invader. The cable is isolated with FPE-PCV/TEF-PCV. The solder used has 5% silver contents.