⌈ Luna Cables is a micro-firm from French-speaking Quebec, run by Mr. Danny Labrecque. Cables are made in the nineteenth-century, beautifully renovated and adapted barn surrounded by nature. You can find out how he works, how his production differs from mass production and - finally - how his cables "sound" like, by continuing reading. ⌋

t the beginning of the audio industry history, the devices, loudspeakers, etc. were designed by engineers, often clustered in the largest research laboratories, such as, for example, Bell Labs. These were the times of pioneers, and back then pioneers were only scientists and industrialists. This model changed radically after the World War II, when many well-qualified electronic engineer returned to the civilian life, and the military supply departments began to dispose of unnecessary radio equipment. This is how the world of DIY was born, which in turn gave birth to many companies run by enthusiasts, often engineers, but working independently, often on the proverbial "table in the kitchen."

But in the 1970s, Japanese companies joined the game, which once again changed the landscape of the industry. Their products were developed in research centers and the goal of the development process was to create devices that measured very well. Although the idea of measuring rather than listening was still alive in the West, there were already many companies on the market that built their philosophy on the combination of engineering and listening sessions. Today we can still meet representatives of both schools, as well as a whole range of those “in between". The most important novelties - mainly in digital domain - are also today developed in well-equipped laboratories and large companies. In this way, the story has come full circle.

Which version is the right one, which approach gives better results? The answer will depend on who answers the question. In my experience, to constantly improve sound quality - and that's what audio industry is about - both paths are required, plus they need to work together. I would say that each design should be based on measurements, but after the general determination of constants, the listening sessions must be included in the process and their result should be binding.

| DANNY LABRECQUE

However, there are companies that are difficult to classify using these criteria, usually built around individuals that have this special “something", an artistic sensitivity that allows them to achieve spectacular results while working in their home-based workshops and polishing their ideas. One of such companies is Luna Cables.

Luna Cables is located in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, a region known for its agritourism and artisan producers of wine and cheese. Our headquarters, workshop, and listening room are situated in an old 19th century farmhouse, which sits on 74 acres of land nestled between Lake Memphrémagog and a working maple farm.

source: company materials

Does it sound familiar? If not, let me refresh your memory - not so long ago I reviewed cables created by another artist, Chris Sommovigo, offering the product of his own hands under the brand name Black Cat Cable (more HERE and HERE). In both cases the philosophy is based on: love for music, willingness to constantly improve the listening system, manual, personal production of all cables and praise of life, which is usually referred to as "in harmony with nature".

Workshop and listening rooms of Luna Cables are located on the 19th century farm. Photo Erik Fortier

For Danny Labrecque music has been an integral part of his life since he began playing the violin at the age of four. He soon discovered that his fascination with sound and music extended beyond the art itself and into the technical aspects of high performance audio. As an adult he worked in audio shops building cables for customers in his spare time. He was surprised He was by the unique sound of old and very old audio cables. More than one of those. Let me remind you that in Japan, Western Electric cables, also Belden, and some other. are highly appreciated. A huge fan of this type of solutions is, for example, Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki, founder of the SPEC company (more HERE).

The owner of Luna Cables over the course of several years, through extensive testing and research discovered the factors responsible for making those vintage designs so special. After discussing these ideas with Erik Fortier, his co-partner, they decided to apply 25 years of experience working together in hi-fi audio, to create in 2015 a new venture called Luna Cables. He is the chief designer in it, and Mr. Fortier deals with everything else, namely: sales, promotion, website, ordering materials, packaging, etc.

| LUNA ORANGE

Luna Cables is one of the companies that base heir production on natural materials, taking care of environment preservation. You will realize that once you see the packaging of their products. Their cables come in nice, cotton pouches made in Quebec. The cables themselves also look different than almost available on the market today, because they use silk and cotton with elements of rubber as dielectric. They chose tin-plated copper as preferred conductor - an absolutely classic material found in all cables from the 1930s and 1940s, and today used primarily by the Swedish company Supra.

As it reads on the website, Luna Cables use 100% unbleached re-usable cotton canvas for both bags and sleeving. Also, they are made locally, in Quebec, which means fossil fuels used for transportation are kept to an absolute minimum. The cables are hand made by Mr Labrecque. The Luna Cables lineup is divided into five series, differing in the complexity, and signaled by the color of the outer, cotton layer. The dye them with the appropriate color with natural dyes: gray, orange, mallow, red and black.

The Orange series is the second from the bottom. There are six different cables in it: analogue interconnects, speaker cables, Ethernet cable, USB cable, AC power cable, and loudspeaker jumpers. Like other cables, except for the basic Gray series, Orange cables are shielded, so you can use interconnects also for connecting the turntable, you just need to add a ground wire. The conductors are made of tinned copper and have a total diameter of 1.6 mm2 (14 gauge). They consist of 41 wires wrapped in silk and rubber cover. Interconnects are terminated with simple but robust RCA plugs from American company Switchcraft, and speaker cables with BFA gold plated connectors.

Danny Labrecque at work. Photo Erik Fortier

| SWITCHCRAFT

Switchcraft, Inc. was established in 1946 to manufacture jacks, plugs, and switches, mainly for the communications industry. The original plant was located on West Diversey Street in Chicago. The company moved to a larger facility at 1328 North Halsted Street in 1948 and in 1958, the operation moved to a 185,000 square foot facility located at 5555 North Elston Avenue, which is still the headquarters and the largest of three manufacturing locations for the corporation today. In 1977, Switchcraft was bought by the Raytheon Corporation and it operated as an independent subsidiary in its Commercial division for twenty years. During this time, Switchcraft expanded its production capability to include vertical integration, for cost effective manufacturing in the United States. They also expanded into harsh environment connector products, which expanded the market growth of the company.


In 1997 Raytheon made a strategic decision to focus solely on the defense industry. As a result, they divested their interests in all of their commercial holdings. At that time Switchcraft was sold to company management and a private equity company.  In 1999, Switchcraft acquired Conxall, a manufacturer of circular connectors and cable assemblies, in order to expand their offering of harsh environment connectivity products. And finally – In 2011, Switchcraft was acquired by HEICO Corporation and became part of their Electronic Technologies Group. Switchcraft is a major supplier of harsh environment connectivity products to the Industrial market and the premier connectivity provider to the Pro-Audio & Broadcast Industries.

switchcraft.com

The Luna Cables Orange interconnect and speaker cable were tested in the "High Fidelity" reference system and compared to Siltech Triple Crown cables in A / B / A order, with A and B known. The difference in price allowed me to precisely point out the modifications that Luna Cables brought to the sound. Only after the test I compared their sound to other cables from a similar price range, above all Acrolink and Supra.

The interconnect connected the Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition SACD player and the Spheris III preamplifier from the same company. The loudspeaker cables in turn connected the Soulution 710 power amp and the Harbeth M40.1 speakers. I dedicated a separate test for the comparison of Luna Cables speaker cables with NOS American Insulated Wire Corporation WE16GA cables, which I once received from Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki.

Recordings used for the test (a selec- tion)

• Cream, Disraeli Gears, Polydor/Universal Music LLC UICY-40023, Platinum SHM-CD (1967/2013)
• Mateusz Franczak, Night-Night, Too Many Fireworks Records 2mf027, Master CD-R (2018)
• Tame Impala, Currents, Universal Music Australia/Hostess 4730676J, CD (2015);
• Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio, Misty, Three Blind Mice/First Impression Music FIM SACD 062, SACD/HDCD (1974/2004)

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Japanese issues available at

| Recordings

Before we move to the description of the sound of cables - and by the "sound of cables" I mean, how they modify the sound – let me share a few words about the selected recordings. The Disraeli Gears by Cream was released in 1967, which was a turn from bluesrock towards psychedelic rock. It includes one of the band's greatest hits - Sunshine of Your Love. This is a lively, nice track, in which the instruments are spread on the sides, and the vocals are placed in the middle. I was listening to the Platinum SHM-CD version, which is just perfect.

Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio's Misty is another classic. Released originally by the Japanese company Three Blind Mice in 1974, it was re-released many times. I chose the version prepared by the First Impression Music because I think it is the best digital one. This is a hybrid disc with SACD layer and – wait for it – HDCD one. It is warm, but also ingeniously resolving.

A new one is Matthew Franczak's Night-Night. Filled with sometimes melancholic, sometimes energetic music is a show of mastery of voice and guitar. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Mr Marcin Bociński is outstanding in its naturalness and dynamics! I use the Master CD-R version, directly from the workstation where the material was mastered. And finally electronic music from the beautiful album by Tame Impala Currents. Huge space, depth, powerful bass.

Before listening session I de-magnetized all discs using the Acoustic Revive RD-3.

| Interconnects

I like these interconnects very much. They bring so much joy, peace and color to life as very few other cables. The music sounds sophisticated with them, but not artificially sophisticated. I want to say that when I was listening to music with Luna Orange interconnects I felt relaxed. Unless the music I played, such as Sunshine of Your Love by Cream demanded more involvement, excited lively emotions, then these were transferred onto me. But the presentation was also smoothed and slightly warmer at the same time.

These are cables that are uniquely warm, in which they reminded me of all the good NOS cables that I know, including those already referred to - WE16GA. Their upper treble is rather withdrawn, and the middle sounds stronger. The low tones, on the other hand, are really good. Not only with jazz material, but also with electronic music from the perfect, already classic Tame Impala album, the room was filled with dense, low sound. And at the same time extremely spacious. Usually, a darkened, or - as here - a smooth, warm treble is associated with a lack of spatial impressions. With Luna Cables it works differently, as if some internal "compatibility" of this sound opened before me a large window through which I could look deep, deep inside.

The sound scale is smaller than with reference cables. Although warm and dense, it is not a very big sound. It's mostly about the vertical size, because the depth was very good. It is a sound that does not attack and does not force anything on a listener. Luna Orange cables have a toning influence on a system, while extracting deep color layers - an extremely addictive feature because of its naturalness and unpretentiousness.

| Speaker cable

In general, the speaker cable repeats what I've heard with the interconnect. It's rather warm, thick sound with powerful bass and great colors. But there is also a twist - it is more saturated and the whole presentation is shifted forward. While the interconnect was fantastically pastel, the loudspeaker cable presents everything in a more powerful way, closer, more "here and now". The back of the stage is closer to us, and the foreground extends in front of the line joining the speakers. So we get an emotional and dynamic presentation, because everything happens in front of us.

It creates an impression of being in the room with instruments and vocalists. The more so that it's the direct sounds that are accented rather than reverberations. I have already mentioned the strong bass of Luna cables, now I would like to confirm it with emphasis - these are cables that are able to generate powerful, nice, well-extended bass. And it does not matter if we play sophisticated jazz by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio, or the well-produced, but still mainstream, electronic music by Tame Impala.

It is a cable that treats every kind of music in a similar way, does not choose which is better and which is worse, which edition is a "good one" and which is not. The obvious thing - it is resolving, it does not blur the differences. That's why great performances, like Mateusz Franczak's from the Night-Night, in the Master CD-R version, sounded brilliant in their naturalness. But also the quite old Cream recording sounded lively, agile, nice.

| Interconnect + speaker cable

These are very good cables, that's why when working together they complement, support each other, and do not fight for domination, they do not try to play each sound their own way. Luna Orange cable set ensures great colors and natural, natural and once again natural sound. Though each of them has a slightly warm treble, together they deliver a powerful sound with a large foreground, which creates an impression of "completeness", as if what we have heard before has been modified. The point is that in the set these cables deliver more energetic sound, more "forward" than each of them separately.

And there is also a dense, low bass. This is something that many of us need, because today's audio systems sound too light, or at least they sound that way in empty, glass-marble interiors. These are cables introducing calmness to such a presentation, smoothing a hard attack, taming too strong treble and upper midrange.

In a reasonably arranged living room, like mine, one will pay attention to the same advantages, although without a need to improve anything, just benefiting from the advantages in question. These are not cables that show all details and subtleties, because their selectivity is only good. They present rather larger plans and do not focus on carving out small reverbs, textures, on so on. They aim for focus, to show music as a whole, even at the expense of resolution.

Summary

It is no coincidence that these cables sound this way. Their sound has been refined and tuned during long listening sessions and is a reflection of the needs, sound philosophy and taste of the designer, Mr. Danny Labrecque. It's a sound that takes us into the warm sun of Tuscany and the sun-drenched Cote d'Azur. It has a density and warmth that combines with music in an incredibly natural way. There is also excellent dynamics and powerful, low bass.

These are not cables for everyone, because selectivity and clarity are not key features here, and the top end is warm and rounded. However, it's the organic sound that puts these cables in a unique position - what they do, they do as well as much more expensive cables from their competitors. Just beautifully! This is the modern equivalent of NOS cables for me and a very good one for that matter. They deserve an ORANGE Fingerprint, but what I can offer is the RED Fingerprint award.