⌈ For many years, the topic of cables was considered to be scandalous - "listening to cables" was ridiculed and mocked. As it turns out, wrongly. WOJCIECH PADJAS from RMF Classic radio talks about his experience with Soyaton cables and about emotions enchanted in music, released by good cables. ⌋

few weeks ago, three important things happened in my musical life. I will tell you about them not in turn, but by their importance. Well - first of all I was invited to a meeting of the famous Krakow Sonic Society, a group much more mysterious than the Illuminati Order or Freemasons. Becoming an Honorary Member is considered to be an event on the borderline of miracles, and receiving an invitation as an observer is as difficult as trying to have breakfast with Prince Andrew (any of them).

And yet, I received an invitation - I went, I listened to some records. It was extremely interesting and inspiring, as you can find out HERE. The meeting took place in one of the secret headquarters of the KTS, far from Krakow, one that can only be reached via a deep, dangerous ravine. It was there, that the vinyl service took place, because as it turned out it was one of only two meeting places of the KTS, equipped with a decent turntable and in addition the listening room does not damage family life, because the host - brother JULIAN - has a large audio chapel.

Julian with a certificate confirming his status in the Krakow Sonic Society structures…

Since I must not reveal, under threat of excommunication and infamy, what was happening there, I again refer you to the only official report. But why am I writing about it - well, because I am proud of receiving the invitation, and because of the Host and Hostess, because I had never been there before. Which, in a neat way, leads me to the second, important audio related event in my, i.e. meeting MAŁGORZATA and JULIAN.

| MEETING #1

Julian invited me a few weeks earlier to listen to music on his system, especially to the cables. Oh boy, I thought, it will not be easy ... I honestly think that I have no competence to analyze which element of the audio system sounds particularly better than the other. I know that Julian planned to switch cables, preamplifiers and cartridges so that I would notice and appreciate the cables because he, the SOYATON designed and developed these cables.

I decided to push the discussion about cables neatly aside, by asking for coffee - for example, talking about politics, because before any serious listening session it is necessary to cleanse the mind and get rid of the remains of drowsiness. Coffee, very good one, was offered to me by Małgorzata - Julian's wife, who turned out to be a well-known and respected painter. When I showed interest in seeing her work, Julian couldn’t just say no and take me to his cellar temple of sound. Małgorzata's studio and her works amazed me - her tale of paintings, the stories that I began to read from these works captivated me completely.

But the moment came when Julian gently led me to a large, cool table, where his cables are intricately twisted, adding - to arouse my interest - that one type of wire he buys in Japan, sends it to the US, where the only guy in the world engulfs this cable with gold, which causes the incredible musicality of this wire. What's more, I saw a device that is used for initial break-in of the cables so that their future owner does not have to wait until the desired sound is achieved.

I can confirm the opinions that the breaking in of the cables changes their sonic character, just like the new speakers need up to several dozen hours of playing to show what they can do. It can be sometimes irritating, because many impatient and less experienced audiophiles are not able to wait for this final effect and run back to the store, because "it does not sound as well as it should". Patience is not a feature naturally attributed to audiophiles. To the extent that it is not uncommon that some of them turn on a new tube amplifier brought straight from the cold, which neither this amplifier nor any other audio device like.

Let me get back to this cable break-in machine. That’s what I call caring for customer’s convenience! - I thought. However, my special attention was drawn to the Soyaton logo, because I recognized Małgorzata's charming drawing. "Great idea," I said. - "Distinguishing the cable with a perfectly designed box with graphics intelligently referring to audio - oh, this is the perfect way to differentiate cable among the others. I haven't seen or listened to others yet. Yes, the cable looks beautiful, it is nice to the touch, flexible enough to make installing it in a system easy, but I know that it is not proper for tell all that to the designer, because these are basic audiophile features. All in all, apart from the admiration for the logo, I didn't say much more. The host decided to invite me for afternoon tea, filled with conversation about art.

And this was the second audiophile event. I felt awkward, because obviously, I did not meet the expectations of the Host. And it was supposed to be a meeting involving listening to the cables. Luckily, I was invited a second time - and I promised myself that I would focus solely on THEM this time.

| THE CASE OF MY OWN LOUDSPEKERS

Now the third - or if we stick to the chronology - the first event in my audiophile life: completion of work on the speakers I made myself. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit with the self-made part, because the project was developed by Fostex, made in a professional factory, and Krzysiek took care of the assembly, with my moral support. All I had to do was to wax the ready cabinets. Which, in my opinion, significantly increased the performance of the wide-band driver, which - I must admit - enchanted me completely.

Maybe I was enchanted because the sound waves come out of it extremely naturally, because through the horn - a sort of channel developing according to the Fibonacci sequence. I am writing about such a banal event in the context of previous ones, because you will soon see a photo of Julian's cables connected to my speakers, that someone called a "birdhouse". And, probably, you will say that audiophile cables must be embarrassed if you connect them to a birdhouse, which will turn out to be not quite true later in this dramatic and twisted story.

Let's fast-forward a few weeks. My speakers have been already broken in, have been giving me more and more fun, benefiting from cables made of pure, even very pure copper. It’s a perfect sound - classical music and jazz sound excellent, rock records not as great, but I have not tuned my system for this music genre. When the world seemed to be perfectly arranged for me, came the second meeting at Julian's house. It seems that this time he sent his wife, Małgorzata "to run some errands" so that I could focus on the merits of the matter, that is Soyaton cables.

| MEETING #2

This time I was prepared for the meeting because I read, even with some understanding, the English Soyaton website, delighted with great photos and excellent graphic design. Of course, I noticed Małgorzata's graceful drawings, but also a beautifully written text about cables - such as:

„Gold-plated copper wires with triple insulation (air, silicone and additional layer of copper-braided sleeve for perfect EMI/RFI shielding). Termination: KLE (Keith Louis Eichmann) CLASSIC BULLET silver-plated copper RCA plugs).”

Or the other one, more general in nature:
„SOYATON copper-and-gold cables reproduce rich, detailed and accurate sound for a truly 3D musical experience. Just sit back while SOYATON gives you a sound spectrum that is perfectly coherent from highest treble to lowest bass.”

Maybe, I thought, there is something to it? I was afraid, to be honest, that the conversation will be about the laws of physics, skin effect and signal transmission speed. Luckily, the conversation with Julian quickly turned to music. Julian used a term that puzzled me: "You know, Wojtek, my cables give music emotions." Strange, I thought, that my nice host does not talk about bass extension, or problems with sibilants ...

A few hours passed, and we kept sharing thoughts about the importance of the emotional aspect in music, that I will come back to later in this story. I was so intrigued by what we were talking about that I asked if Julian would borrow me these cables to listen to in my system. Although "listening to cables" is not my passion or profession. I leave it to the chief editor of this monthly magazine, that is Wojtek Pacuła. By the way I would like to thank him once again for the opportunity to attend the KSS meeting, and I hope to be invited to another one - thank you in advance, yours truly...

At the meeting in question, I expected a discussion regarding Julian's cables. After all he was a great host of this event offering us nice wine, puff pastry, as well as coffee or tea to choose from. As it turned out nobody talked about the cables - I learned that the KSS meetings are themed, so when it comes to "first presses", it's not about cables, when it is about cables, it’s not about SACD, and so on.

It is wise, cause otherwise Wojtek Pacuła - Demiurg of the KSS - would not be able to do anything sensible. For some time I have been visiting audiophile meetings that bring nothing but the realization that everyone hears differently, everyone likes different music. Keeping such company under control is difficult but necessary, so I have not heard a single opinion about Soyaton cables. Nobody even noticed them! For me it is a pity, because I realize that I am barely an acolyte in the audio brotherhood, so - I thought - I could use a hint or two from more experienced colleagues, but I did not get it at the KSS meeting. However, my knowledge about the first vinyl pressings was greatly expanded.

| THE CABLES IN MY SYSTEM

Anyway, a few days after meeting the Brotherhood, I brought Julian's cables home and connected them to the system, which I had been building for many years, which I thought was perfect. I thought to myself, if I don't hear anything, I won't write anything. I can always use some excuse and say, that a tube blew up, or the stylus in my turntable broke. It seemed to me that with the old but decent Acoustic Solid Machine turntable with the 12-inch Jelco tonearm, with the Denon DL-103R cartridge, recommended to me by the, already mentioned, Wojtek, used alternately with the cheaper Denon DL-110, with a preamplifier made by Waldemar Łuczkoś, who perfectly understands my ears, with my favorite Fezz Audio Mira Ceti 2A3 amplifier and finally with Fostex wide-band speakers and a tweeter made and tuned by Tomek Kursa, my system was simply complete.

I approached Soyaton cables not expecting much - after all the operation is trivial and can do little, I thought. I didn't have any problems with replacing my cables with those - red to red, black to black (or white) and lets play some music. I don't remember that first impression anymore - but I wrote this email quite quickly after I started listening:

Dear J.
I barely washed my hands as I rushed to start listening to both cables immediately.
It was important for me not to get used to the sound, and not to analyze - only to get the first impression.
So first impressions. Allow me to compare them.

Your Soyatons are like a well-dressed guy, a guy wearing good-quality clothes - made from high-end fabric (wool with a lot of cashmere) and shoes are hand-made, and even if they are not, they come a good shoe store, one of very few ones. It’s such a level of elegance, that - if you know what a well-dressed guy means - you can immediately recognize. And even a perfectly built, handsome, fragrant guy, when dressed in a suit by some good, but universal brand, will look banal. How differently can one feel in a suit of perfectly fitting fabric, custom sewn, taking into account which pantleg is to be slightly wider at the top to neatly hide the jewels (gentlemen, please check it yourselves that they are always in one pantleg.)

And I wanted to end this evening after writing it, but somehow I could not sleep. So I went back to listening to the music. I didn't even notice passing of time and it was three in the morning when I wrote another, much longer, email to Julian:

I often hear from my new record buying customers that they don't love violins. I have to admit that I haven't always enjoyed listening to string concerts. Sometimes, let's face it, they can strain the ears, and the brain at the same time, but it's a beautiful instrument, and violinists like Heifetz, Ojstrach, Mutter, Accardo can do wonders with this instrument.

I have to admit that finding this sound of the violin in audio equipment is very difficult. Interestingly, I almost never used recordings of this type at presentations. I did not do it consciously, it is rather a feeling that this sound would disappoint me, regardless of how good the system is. For a long time I was looking for a system that would beautifully convey the sound of the violin, conveyed the emotions of Gould's piano and Rubinstein's musical rage. It got there step by step ... I was close to...

It’s time for a story:
Many years ago, someone cited a fragment of a review by Wojciech Pacuła, completely unknown to me at that time, who wrote that "he heard what rosin is used by violinists". Although I understood what a metaphor is, and the right of a columnist to use it, I laughed at it for years.
In a few individual cases during the Warsaw AVS, it seemed to me that something was sounding well enough to justify Wojtek's description - but it was a feeling on my side, not something I knew for sure. Anyway, these were systems whose prices were completely absurd for me, so I did not take them into account.

When I took your cables - I approached them too, like a butterfly enclosed in glass - beautiful, but inaccessible, so you can take a look at it, but it will not fly ...
Since yesterday, I only listen to strings and write down what rosin musicians used. I slowly began to recognize whether it is a pine or spruce rosin.

And I don't care anymore if I can afford them. I plan to deceive you, to say that I have not listened to them long enough yet, I will tell you something like: "you know, I will keep listening, because I think they sound a bit different when I listen to them for a longer time". Finally, a day will come that I will come to you with a thickly stuffed wallet and I will say - well, we only live once. I didn't eat enough, I saved money, I validated the same ticket on the tram three times - but I won't give back the cables ...

| LAST BUT NOT LEAST – THE EMOTIONS

A few days later, at an obligatory coffee in Krakow, early in the morning, at 11.30 a.m. I met my good friend, mastering engineer Paweł ‘Bemol’ Ładniak, with whom we share both passion and profession, because he passed through RMF and deals with vinyl records, though from a different side than I - I mean, he deals with mastering for vinyl records. I asked him if it was possible that an ordinary piece of wire, even if unusually twisted, gold-plated and so on, would be able to not add or deduct sounds - but rather built emotions, created magic from physics. I was afraid that he would laugh at me, and he served me this story:

In addition to sounds, chords, even the most filigree arrangement and the best orchestration, there is "something" else in music. Something unrecordable would seem, at least from the perspective of academic physics. It's an emotion, it's a state of mind of the people who composed, recorded, mixed and mastered said music.

My late professor Maria Ewa Wdowiak during ear training classes told us to listen with closed eyes and describe what emotion could rule, for example, the violinist, pianist, etc. during the recording. Try, she said, find it in digital or analogue recording. She claimed that each of us receives some subtle emanations of energy that are enclosed in a work we listen to and see. It wasn't until many years later that I realized that it was true. (Imagine the state of mind of the designer of e.g. Fiat Multipla ;))

In fact, when we do anything we add some emotions to it that concern us at the particular moment. Regardless of whether you are a fashion designer, car designer, painter, farmer, your emotional state affects the final result of your work, the perception of what you have created by others. It's a conversation for three coffees and a large bottle of whiskey, not for 15 min.

And as for the cables ... You know I'm very "studio guy". Theoretically, the cable should be thick, ensure a good electrical connection, be a good conductor and that's it. But on the other hand, development of this cable was accompanied by some emotion, some intention. In the end, this cable fell into your hands, you plugged it into the system and - as it often happens - something inexplicable happened. You started to receive the emotionality of music on a completely different flow. This is not magic, this is not audio-voodoo - it’s the synergy of your system at work, you found the missing piece of the puzzle, that was missing something, and the cable became a perfect connector of emotions of the composer, performers, many other people involved in the whole process, and most of all it aligned with your emotionality.

Of course, I invited Paweł for three coffees, as well as a large bottle of whiskey. At that time, I remembered meeting a musician who suffers from (or is blessed with) a condition called synesthesia. According to the encyclopedia it is "a state or ability in which the experiences of one sense (e.g. hearing) also evoke experiences characteristic for other senses, for example sight. Hearing low sounds gives the impression of softness, cool sound feels like a blue color. An image of a letter or number has color associations. "

I met the man in question in the Fezz Audio listening room during the AVS in Warsaw - he saw the sound of the tube amplifier as green, turning into eye pleasing reds. I wonder how would he "see" Soyaton cables?

| TO SUM IT ALL UP

I've had a lot of cables in my life - like all of us striving to improve the experience and even achieve nirvana in music listening. I will say it simply - I’ve lost many years being a cable skeptic. I read with pleasure all the texts and comments about drawing electricity directly from the power plant - with the best option being a hydro-power plant - with a malicious smile on my lips and mockery in my heart caused by those who "heard a piece of wire."

But already a few years ago, when I started listening to music using good quality tube amplifiers, I heard how much good cables bring to the system. I stayed at this "good level" until listening to the Soyaton cables. But it's time for me to take the next step. Interestingly, it will be one of the most expensive elements of the whole system, which I agree to consciously. I notice such a tendency in choosing components for a system - we usually start with an amplifier and speakers, sometimes we disregard the other elements, and we always choose the cables for what is already there in the system. But maybe one should do the opposite - maybe the cables deserve to be the first component that one chooses the rest of the system to? ■

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| ABOUT AUTHOR

WOJCIECH PADJAS works at the RMF Classic radioas an DJ. You can listen to his original broadcast called: Music from under the stylus. He also runs an online store dedicated to vinyl records, the vinylspot.pl.