Today, on a whim, here are my impressions of a cut-length speaker cable I have on hand — the Analysis Plus Blue Oval. Testing was done on Sub-system A. Cable lengths are roughly 50 cm to 1 m per side across the board.
The Blue Oval is a speaker cable from Analysis Plus of the USA. Lately even British and American brands often turn out to be made in China when you look closely, but this one appears to be genuinely American-made. The conductors are oval rather than round, and without the proper tool, stripping the insulation was quite a struggle. Inside is a rather unusual construction — fine OFC stranded wires are braided into an oval formation and then flattened out like kishimen noodles. It’s a curious design where, in a sense, the braided shield itself serves as the centre conductor. Strip it back and you can see it is indeed hollow in principle, though within the PVC jacket it’s compressed by the sheath, so one does wonder whether it’s really hollow at all in practice. It’s also worth noting that for some reason the inner insulation differs in hardness between the black and white conductors, so there may be a subtle difference in sound depending on which side you assign as positive.
Sound quality-wise, there is real body in the low frequencies — a laid-back, full-bodied tone. Imaging is life-sized and the sense of scale is generous. There is absolutely no harshness in the treble. That said, fine detail retrieval and extension toward the upper registers are on the modest side. A relaxed, warm tone with no sense of hardness — what you might call the American sound. Among the several speaker cables I tried over the past few days, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of genuine sonic character. Because it adds weight in the bass, even speakers that are treble-heavy and seemingly indifferent to low frequencies — like the Audio Pro Image 11 — can achieve a respectable tonal balance to the ear. For speakers with thin bass, a shrill character, or a sense of distortion, I think this cable is quite effective for improving the overall balance. The trade-off, however, is that treble bite and the sense of spatial openness do become somewhat restrained.
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The Blue Oval sits at roughly third from the bottom in Analysis Plus’s speaker cable lineup of seven, and it is described as ideal for in-wall or in-ceiling installation — which I suppose means it offers high weather resistance and durability against deterioration over time. The rather thick blue jacket does have the feel of indoor mains wiring. In terms of sonic character, I think it suits tall-boy or floor-standing speakers more than surround speakers. It has a proper, unfussy sound free of any shrill distortion, and I believe that if you could gain treble extension and finer detail retrieval on top of the Blue Oval’s sonic foundation, the result would be even more appealing — which is presumably what the higher models are for. The warm, rich, and unhurried American-flavoured sound may perhaps differ somewhat in character from the other Analysis Plus cables in the range.
【PR】快音生活 Analysis Plus (ケーブル) 楽天市場店
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