QED Reference Silver Anniversary XT Speaker Cable Review

This time I thought I’d write an impression of a speaker cable for the first time in a while. The brand is British QED. The model name is Reference Silver Anniversary XT. The domestic retail price is ¥2,205/m. The UK price is £5.38/m. Given the recent sharp fluctuations in the exchange rate it may feel slightly expensive, but not long ago £1 was roughly ¥240, so it was a reasonably fair price. The Silver Anniversary XT has won numerous awards in various British publications — including WHAT Hi-Fi magazine‘s 2005/2007 AWARDS, 2006 “Product of the Year”, and Hi-Fi CHOICE BRONZE — and I had been curious about its sound for some time.

QED — “Quality Electric Design” — is a long-established British audio accessories specialist, founded in London in 1973, offering a full range of audio-related products from entry-level to high-end, including speaker cables and RCA audio cables. Incidentally, the sister brand is Q Acoustics, a speaker-only manufacturer ⇒ Distributor: Eastern Sound Factory Direct Store.

When I think of British cable brands, the ones that come to mind personally are IXOS, QED, and CHORD. In QED’s case, the main lineup is characterised by silver-coated conductors, and a key point is that they pursue a literal accessory-like beauty, both in the appearance of the plugs and the cables themselves. The Silver Anniversary XT in particular sits within QED’s lineup as a reasonably priced cut-to-length cable, and is a good-value speaker cable that can be used for a wide variety of purposes, from pure Hi-Fi to home theatre.

For reference, the models below the Silver Anniversary XT include the Profile 42, Profile 79, Performance Micro, Performance Silver Micro, XTC, and Performance Ruby Anniversary Evolution, while models above it include the XT-40, X-TUBE300, X-TUBE400, Genesis Signature Revelation, and the flagship model well known even in Japan, the Signature Genesis Silver Spiral.

I first got my hands on a QED cable about ten years ago, and the one I bought at the time was the speaker cable “QUDOS”. It was a thin, unremarkable low-priced speaker cable at a few hundred yen per metre, yet despite being copper stranded wire, I remember being struck by its brightness reminiscent of brass, and by its hard, wide-range sound that called to mind a single-core conductor — lively and vivid, bright and articulate, clear and brilliant in tone. The QUDOS also received a ★★★★★ rating from WHAT Hi-Fi? magazine in 1995. In the UK it is still sold today as the QED “QUDOS ORIGINAL SPEAKER CABLE” at around £2.70/m. Incidentally, it seems that in the UK the Silver Anniversary XT is also known as the QUDOS Silver Anniversary XT.

As I bought the cut-to-length type, I had to do the termination myself, but the jacket is firm and strips very easily — the job was done in three minutes. The conductors are silver-coated multicore wire. The outer surface of the conductor is wound in a distinctive braiding pattern similar to the noise shielding on an aerial cable, with a thin resin-based insulator at the centre acting as the core. QED speaker cables have a proprietary termination system using dedicated banana plugs or spade terminals called AIRLOC. A dedicated AIRLOC crimping machine fuses the conductor and terminal into a completely unified whole, making it possible to terminate with banana plugs or spade connectors while minimising transmission loss and sonic degradation. ※ It is rather expensive, so this time I am using the cable bare, but if you find yourself taken with QED speaker cables, giving AIRLOC a try is well worth considering.

A speaker cable adopting the T-TUBE construction that has received high acclaim in the XT300 and XT400 has now arrived as an upgrade to the popular Silver Anniversary model.The T-TUBE (Note 1) construction arranges the conductors (braided wire) in a circular configuration around a hollow tube. This construction is effective in preventing cable losses and distortion during transmission — in the same way as individually insulated conductors used in high-end cables — allowing high frequencies to be transmitted cleanly. It also makes termination straightforward. The T-TUBE construction is structurally low in self-inductance, which reduces the influence of skin effect. In other words, it brings about a smooth, stress-free signal flow, resulting in greater information density and enhanced transparency in the sound. — Toshi Inc. (Note 1: In the UK, referred to as ‘X-Tube’ technologies)

To begin with, I connected the Silver Anniversary XT to the ONKYO A-1VL sub-system. Its appearance was quite similar to the QUDOS I had used before, so I was expecting a similar sound — but somewhat surprisingly, the two turned out to have an entirely different sonic character. The sound was different enough that it would not be an exaggeration to call them cables from completely different manufacturers, and I was rather taken aback. The first thing you notice on listening is the low level of distortion. This is particularly worth noting. The tonal character is bright and refreshing, and the musical expression is charming and approachable. Musicality is reasonably high and dynamic shading feels natural.

The bass is springy. The midrange through to the treble has a pleasantly rounded, easy-on-the-ear character. For a cable in this price range, phase coherence is surprisingly decent, and the individual instrument parts image in a stable, three-dimensional way without collapsing. The reverb is well-sorted, and one’s attention is drawn to the direct sound rather than the indirect sound such as echo or hall tone. That said, the imaging is not at all sharply defined — it tends towards a soft quality with no emphasis on outlines, and the images themselves are full and rounded. If I were to liken the tonal colour to an actual colour, it has that whitish quality unique to silver-coated wire, quite distinct from copper. The cable adds no colour of its own, so it reproduces the music’s tonal palette faithfully, in a pastel-like touch. How to put it — something like powder snow that doesn’t feel cold (somewhat cryptic, I know). Female vocals come across like marshmallow, and are very attractive.

As for weaknesses: the musicality is consistently bright and cheerful in character, which means the shadowy side of music — depth and darkness in the minor-key direction — may not be its forte. Also, with string instruments, there are moments where the fundamental tone has a slightly plasticky quality, and if I am being greedy, I would have liked a touch more European refinement and gravitas. Information density is moderate. In a compact miniature system suited to the slim profile and class of this Silver Anniversary XT, there should not be too many problems, but for use in a main system, it feels a little lean. For main system use, I would recommend going up to the Signature Genesis Silver Spiral, or at the very least the QED Signature Revelation.

If the Reference Silver Anniversary XT can deliver this much, the sound is certainly enough to make one want to reach for the top-of-the-line QED Signature Genesis Silver Spiral.

Comparing it with the Space & Time Omni 8N that I had been using up to that point in the ONKYO A-1VL sub-system, the improvement in musical terms is not dramatic, but sonically the Silver Anniversary XT sounds more modern and more convincingly accomplished. When I switched back to the Omni 8N, I found the narrowed range and the warm, languorous, retro-flavoured colouration rather bothersome — a shortcoming I had completely forgotten about having lived with it for so long.

Next, I connected the Silver Anniversary XT to the desktop PC audio setup — and this is rather good. The flavourless, dry, aluminium-aluminium sort of sound that PC audio tends to produce changed quite dramatically with this speaker cable. It does a good job of suppressing that odd, unpleasant resonance that sounds almost like phase inversion, so the Silver Anniversary XT’s ability to remain fatigue-free over long listening sessions is a genuine strong point. If I am being greedy, I would have liked the imaging to be a little more clearly defined and focused, but until I find a speaker cable with better synergy, I have decided to use the Silver Anniversary XT for the time being. ※ At the time of writing I am now using the NORDOST Wyrewizard Spellbinder. Incidentally, the RCA interconnect cable visible in the photo from that time is the WireWorld Solstice.

The QED Reference Silver Anniversary XT felt somewhat lacking when used in the sub-system pairing the ONKYO A-1VL with the audiopro Image 11, which together offer a reasonably high level of information retrieval. However, for the more compact desktop PC audio setup, or for general compact miniature Hi-Fi use, it is on the whole a capable and worthwhile speaker cable. The low distortion that keeps listening fatigue at bay even over long sessions is especially noteworthy. If I must be precise, it is a cable where the sound lingers noticeably in the ear, so it may not be truly low-distortion in the strictest sense — there is, shall we say, a slightly powdery, made-up quality to the tone. The praise heaped on it by WHAT Hi-Fi may be just a touch over the top. One point to be aware of: as it is a fine multicore wire, proper termination is essential. This impression was written without any termination, but I suspect the slight blurring and softness of the outlines could change quite significantly depending on how the termination is done. Ideally one would use QED’s AIRLOC banana plugs or spade connectors with the dedicated crimping process, but sonically I have a feeling that rhodium-plated spade connectors might actually suit it better than gold-plated ones. Nothing too expensive, mind.

QED RCA coaxial digital cable, Qunex Signature75. I understand it is made in Taiwan, but QED used to be made one by one by hand in London, with part-time ladies soldering iron in hand… Depending on the model, perhaps — but it does feel like the sadness of the times.

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