“The aim of designing the new Excellence series was to extend our offer to include the cables that combine the technologies used in Ultra Reference i Red Series with a respect to preserve a reasonable price. It was the initiative of our satisfied customers. So here is the newest series of cables! Its name ‘Excellence’ speaks for itself.
Just as previously, with the Ultra Reference series, we warmly welcome to our listening room. You will be able to see both working and prototype versions of the whole Excellence series. The IC alone has five different prototypes in addition to several working versions, terminated with various plugs of different length. We provide coffee and guarantee good fun.”

This is how Audiomica Laboratory promotes its new series of cables on the company’s website. And it’s worth taking seriously the invitation to visit their listening room because Gorlice, their home town, is a really cool place.
We have already introduced the company in our review of their Grey series cable system (see HERE), so I will not repeat myself. Let me just say that it was in “High Fidelity” that Audiomica Laboratory had its premiere.
This time we will review the Excellence series – the Erys interconnect, the Celes speaker cable, and the Ness power cord. Just as before, I treat them as a complete system; accordingly, they will replace my whole reference cable system (see bottom page for details).
According to the manufacturer, Erys Excellence is the best-shielded cable in its offer. It uses no less than five separate screens - two made of an aluminum foil and three of a dense copper braid. Each braid has a different density of braid weave and they are counter-woven, with the density of each selected experimentally. This technique is also used in the Ultra Reference series. The hot solid-core wire made of oxygen-free monocrystalline OCC copper (Ohno Continuous Casting) is embedded in a Teflon insulation foam. The outside jacket is a red protective mesh. The RCA plugs have silver-plated contacts. A version of this cable with a filter is also available and it costs 3,740 PLN. We have tested the basic version, without the filter.
The Celes speaker cable – for the review ordered with silver-plated BFA banana plugs – is based on the older Dolomite Reference design. In comparison to the original design, the conductors’ cross section has been increased, by adding more wires. Now each of the eight strands (four ‘positive’ and four ‘negative’) consists of eighty micro-wires. The conductor material has also been changed – now it is OCC copper (Ohno Continuous Casting), the same as featured in the Erys interconnect. Cable screen is also made of copper (that’s right, it is a shielded cable). The cable jacket is a red protective mesh, like the other cables of this series.
To round out the full set we have the Ness Excellence power cord. Its main design objective has been the best protection against electromagnetic noise. To that end, the cable features an extra conductor, not participating in signal transmission. It “eliminates interference by neutralizing the mutual electric current induction through the magnetic field generated by neighbouring wires. The first tests with the use of oscilloscope proved the rightness of such solution.”
The cable have four wires, each consisting of 85 micro-conductors made of OCC copper. Three of the wires are: positive, negative and cable protection, and the fourth is not connected to anything. The cable is shielded with copper braid. The plugs on both sides look like Wattgate, but I'm not sure about that – they are wrapped with shrink sleeve.
Each cable comes in a nice wooden box with a certificate including the cable’s name, its length, the name of the person who made it and the person responsible for quality control. It looks very professional.

SOUND

A selection of recordings used during auditions:

• A Day at Jazz Spot 'Basie'. Selected by Shoji "Swifty" Sugawara, Stereo Sound Reference Record, SSRR6-7, SACD/CD (2011).
• Bill Evans & Jim Hall, Intermodulations, Verve/The Verve Music Group, UCCV-9342, CD (1966/2008). Clifford Brown & Max Roach, Brown and Roach, EmArcy/Mercury M.E. [Japan], PHCE-3085, "2496 spectrum Rainbow CD", CD (1954/1998).
• Depeche Mode, Abroken Frame, Mute Records Limited, DMCD2, Collectors Edition, SACD/CD+DVD (1982/2006).
• Depeche Mode, Ultra, Mute Records Limited, DMCDX9, CD+DVD (1997/2007).
• Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, Ella and Louis, Verve/Lasting Impression Music, LIM UHD 045, UltraHD CD (1956/2011).
• Jean Michel Jarre, Magnetic Fields, Dreyfus Disques/Epic/Sony Music, 488138 2, CD (1981/1997).
• Johann Sebastian Bach, Sonatas&Partitas, skrzypce - Henryk Szeryng, Sony Classical France/Sony Music Japan, SICC 840-1, 2 x CD (1965/2007).
• Johann Sebastian Bach, Cello Suites, Richard Tunnicliffe, Linn Records, CKD 396, SACD/CD (2012).
• Józef Skrzek, "Pamiętnik Karoliny", Polskie Nagrania/Metal Mind Productions, MMP CD 0535 DG, CD (1978/2009).
• King Crimson, In The Court of the Crimson King, Atlantic/Universal Music [Japan], UICE-9051, HDCD (1969/2004).
• Komeda Quintet, Astigmatic, Polskie Nagrania Muza/Polskie Nagrania, PNCD 905, "Polish Jazz Vol. 5", CD (1966/2004).
• Kraftwerk, Minimum-Maximum, Kling-Klang Produkt/EMI, 3349962, 2 x SACD/CD (2005).
• Paul McCartney, Kisses On The Bottom, Universal Music LLC [Japan], UCCO-3038, SHM-CD (2012).
• Portishead, Dummy, Go! Discs Limited/Universal Music [Japan], UICY-20164, SHM-CD (1994/2011).
• The Beatles, Rubber Soul, Parlophone/Apple/Toshiba-EMI, TOCP-51116, CD (1965/1998).
• The Eagles, Hotel California, Asylum Records/Warner Music Japan, WPCR-11936, CD (1976/2004).

Japanese editions are available from

Reviewing the Audiomica Laboratory cable system has been a most interesting experience. This is not the best cable I know, nor is it the leader in its price group. After a dozen hours of listening and numerous (several dozen times) swapping between the reference system and the reviewed AL system, I think about it in completely different categories. Its sonic character is very clear from the beginning and do not need a PhD to say “how it sounds.” It's just that it takes time to interpret it properly and, eventually, to appreciate it.
The Excellence Series cable system sounds warm and very coherent. Midrange dominates, with higher treble and lower bass clearly withdrawn. What is present between these two far ends is shown in a clear, tangible, very intimate way. Despite the fact that, at first glance, nothing is drawn close-up, the background is not boosted.
With good electronics and speakers the cables from Gorlice sound very, very sensual. I cannot find a better word to describe my experience while listening to one CD after another, but I do not think we need any other – it is just pure sensuality.
Take the cymbals, for example. The Excellence emphasizes their sound attribute related to their weight, their mass. In most cases, audio cables from budding manufacturers, especially if based on ready-made wires from the Far East, sound rather bright and “thin”. The manufacturers that select, customize and “tune” those ready-made products have a clearly distorted view of what is most important about sound. By sharpening its color, highlighting its attack they hope to achieve a better resolution, spaciousness, selectivity, etc. All of these are very important only that they come AFTER something else; they result from something else. What is it? Phase coherence, internal ordering, and – above all – calmness (I am not talking about calming of dynamics, but about the absence of internal, artifactual tension).
The Audiomica cables are completely different. They could be described by the exact opposites of what I wrote above. At the same time, while sharpness, brightness, elevating the tonal weight of sound, etc. are clearly bad for me, because they ruin the perception of music, the reviewed cables offer something really interesting, something positive.

As I said, their sonic color is rather warm. There is not much higher treble and midrange is slightly rounded. That characteristic is always there, with any type of music and its production and it seems permanent. For example, the vocal of the Portishead singer was lower in the mix, its sometimes a little shrill higher treble, clearly poorly recorded, sounded milder with the Audiomica, and the whole seemed to have a better mastering. Similarly, Henryk Szeryng’s solo violin, from the Parisian 1955 recording, seemed to be warmer and closer to me, the listener.
But it was not a simple “warming” in the common (in audio) sense of the word. The point was rather that after withdrawing or removing some, slightly annoying, parts of recordings we got what was left, not something “in surplus.” And what was left was wholeness, the “weight of instruments”; what remained was calm.
As I said, after some listening I came to the conclusion that the foreground is not drawn closer to us. The common problem with slightly warm (no matter where the impression of “warmth” comes from) products is that they usually show the foreground closer to the listener, somewhat unnaturally forward. Here, everything seemed to be in good proportion - from the back of the stage to the first line.
Although, I must say, they are not the kind of cables that would help magnify or extend the soundstage. Their less articulated treble results in the soundstage being not as expansive, not “seen” in such a long distance, as with brighter, more detailed cables. It’s just that with the reviewed cable system you get it all better ordered, with better shown relations between the instruments, more attractively presented spatial aspects that usually escape, covered with bright treble; you get the depth of the instruments themselves.

The saturation of midrange is what will transform the majority of audio components, connected with the Excellence cables, into something much more sophisticated. And I am a little worried that less discriminating listeners (I apologise for that term as I absolutely do not want to insult or offend anyone but the truth is that some are more discriminating than others; the latter have a wonderful way of development!), or those who have their own vision of audio system sound, not quite synonymous with “natural” sound, may turn up their nose. The Audiomica cables are for those who want to have very pleasant, very natural sound, with all the obvious shortcomings arising from the very nature of signal transmission and the price range we are talking about.
Another problem is that the audio systems that would benefit most from such “tuning” are usually pretty inexpensive and spending 10,000 PLN for cables, while the whole system including the speakers cost about the same, may seem a bit silly. Well, not for me.
For even though the reviewed cables will successfully fit in audio systems with Krells, Luxmans, Accuphases or Ayons (just to name a few), they will only help finish off a properly matched (if this is the case) system; will give it a finishing touch. However, in systems with Audiolabs, Marantzes, Cambridges, Denons etc. they will be a revolution.
It is there that they will bring order to a usually chaotic soundstage, smooth out a little detached and frequently over-bright treble, and will give the whole some refined depth and “patina”. It’s a bit like coming to an exclusive furniture store, looking at a piece of furniture and knowing that it feels just right, that this is “our” bed, wardrobe, chair or whatever catches our eye. The cables from Gorlice do the exact same thing with music.

Conclusion

It has been a very interesting experience (each review is a kind of experiment). The Audiomica Laboratory cables proved to be much more interesting than their price tag implies. They are not for everyone and they have their drawbacks. Let's list them briefly, allowing each customer individually decide: reserved higher treble, lack of really low bass, slight slowing down of dynamics. Among their advantages we can mention fullness, coherence, fantastic presentation of instruments’ bodies, large virtual sources and fine mid- and upper bass.
The latter works with every recording – be that the already mentioned Portishead, or double bass from the last McCartney’s album, or Clifford Brown and Max Roach’s jazz on their album Brown and Roach. It is not the deepest bass in the world, or the fastest, but is very coherent on the above albums. There was only one album where the instruments were presented somewhat smaller – Intermodulation by Bill Evans and Jim Hall. But it is the specifics of this particular recording, with limited sonic range from the bottom and the top. Here, the size of the instruments seems to be also built by the bass higher harmonics, including high registers – and these are the withdrawn with the Audiomica cables.

The overall character of these cables is quite clear. It will not suit everybody nor will everybody like it. If, however, you are fed up with disorder, or if you look for some inner sense in your favourite music, or if your system needs some “rehab” – the Audiomica Laboratory Excellence Series cables are just for YOU! Have a deep think about them, even if they cost about the same as your whole electronics.