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NEW CABLE TECHNOLOGIES
HISTORY
Although we are well known for Ringmat, Statmat and allied products,
the design of interconnect cables was our first venture into audio
design. At that time, we were supplying and installing hi-fi systems
through our retail shops but were dissatisfied with the quality of
interconnect and speaker cables available on the market for
‘mainstream hi-fi’ products – that is, those products that are not
designed to be used specifically with particular types of cables,
such as solid core, and which were happiest with the thicker
multi-strand cable where, in the case of speaker cables, a
particular load was not required for a power amplifier to drive
into.
With the help of certain of our shop customers, we therefore
introduced Q R Interconnect Cables. These were superior, musically,
to any other cables then available for the above-mentioned
‘mainstream hi-fi’ products and systems. In terms of clarity,
transparency, etc., they were head and shoulders above all other
cables in their price range.
When we no longer had the shops, so as to concentrate on our Ringmat
and Statmat products, we decided to bide our time in the search for
suitable cables to complement these new products, as the
availability of the cables we had been using ceased and alternatives
were proving expensive, and without the requisite performance.
THE NEW RINGMAT CABLES
The solution came about through a chance link-up with one of the
UK’s leading suppliers of cables and equipment to the professional
audio market. The new Ringmat Cables, the Pure Signal and Pure
Power, are the outcome of a joint project that resulted from this
link-up. Our partners service the major recording studios (they have
refurbished and re-equipped several of the suites at EMI’s Abbey
Road Studios), touring bands and leading organisations in the
professional music field. They have their own cable design facility
and a cable manufacturing company in Germany.
Our project partner normally only deals with the ‘pro’ market, so
our collaboration with them enabled some unique design concepts to
reach the domestic hi-fi market. Indeed, the concept for our Pure
Signal Cable appears to be unique to both markets.
Unlike other hi-fi cable companies, we do not intend to handle a
proliferation of cables of varying quality; simply one interconnect
and one speaker cable. The Ringmat Pure Signal interconnect cable
can be terminated, as required, for a variety of applications. The
OFC speaker cable is in 2 formats; the Ringmat Pure Power Cable,
which is the principal version, and also the Power Line Cable, which
is virtually the same except that the individual strands are thinner
to meet the requirements of some amplifiers that require a higher
than usual load into which to drive (thinner strands for a conductor
with the same number of strands means a smaller conductor diameter -
hence a greater resistance and load to add to that of the speakers).
The Ringmat Pure Power Cable also acts as an excellent base for our
fabulous mains power cable, though that came later because of the
time it took to find the right means by which to terminate such a
large diameter cable and its associated earth conductor into a
domestic mains plug.
RINGMAT PURE SIGNAL CABLE
Our cooperation started with the need to find the best interconnect
lead. After a great deal of research and evaluation, we designed a
new cable, the Ringmat Pure Signal Cable, based around the design
concepts of two of the cables already made by our partner, and
without using fancy materials; such materials may have a part to
play in some cables, but they are often very expensive and in our
experience it is the ideas behind the design and construction that
are far more important and have a far greater effect on real
performance. For more information about the Pure Signal Cable, see
here. Performance of the Ringmat Pure Signal Cable was not only
considerably ahead of what we had achieved in the past but also far
ahead of what was, and is, available from other companies. In short,
a very special cable, with a very special performance.
RINGMAT OFC PURE POWER CABLE
Our principal speaker cable, the Ringmat Pure Power Cable, again
came through chance as we were evaluating interconnect cables with
our Project Partner. The design of the Pure Power Cable is in many
ways similar to the Pure Signal Cable, with 4 conductors working
together within an outer jacket, low capacitance, etc., with equally
impressive results, though the Pure Power Cable is much thicker and
heavier. We found the very low capacitance and very low resistance
of the Pure Power Cable resulted in exceptional tonal performance
and a transparent and accurate sound reproduction in most
‘mainstream hi-fi’ systems, as discussed above. The sense of power
and space was awesome, and yet resolution and fine nuances were
exquisitely presented. Getting there was a rewarding experience.
WORKING WITH SPEAKER CABLES - UNDERSTANDING SOME OF THE ISSUES
During our evaluation sessions we were at times using both the Pure
Power and the Power Line Cables along with other cable designs
trying to understand how the signal was being affected as it passed
through different conducting structures. We wanted to understand how
strands of a different thickness affected the sound and whether
there was anything of importance that we needed to take into
account.
We found, for example, that the signal always sought the easiest
route, the route with the least resistance, which was naturally
through the thickest strands. Once the route through the thickest
strands was established, adding or subtracting thinner strands
really made no difference as the signal effectively avoided them. So
much for the skin effect?
However, the most exciting discovery we made with the Pure Power
speaker cable was that when the number of strands in each conductor
at the point of connection was reduced by 7 from 56 to 49 (to
achieve a multiple of 7x7), the sound quality was transformed, far
beyond anything we have heard reproduced before. This really set our
cable apart from the alternatives. Similarly for the Power Line
Cable, where the number of strands in each conductor need to be
reduced by 1 from 50 to 49. For accurate sound reproduction (and
leaving aside for the moment the argument between solid core and
multistrand) the number of strands in any multistrand conductor has
to be a certain multiple of 7 at the point of connection. For
example: 7, 28, and 49. Why? The reason for this is still a bit of a
mystery, but it is a repeatable fact. It should be mentioned that we
are talking here about strands of the same thickness. The ‘7 strand’
concept is not unique in itself, of course - many cables have
conductors of 7 strands, but not in the configurations we use. A few
strands fewer in each conductor, such as 27 and 47 or 48 strands,
can provide virtually the same result as 28 and 49, but not that
extra strand, such as 29 and 50.
The really interesting aspect of all this, which makes it all the
more intriguing, is that the reduction in the number of strands from
56 to 49 need only be done at the points of connection, at both
ends, and not for the full length of the cable. For example, with
each conductor of our Pure Power Cable, having exposed the 56
strands that would normally be inserted into the speaker cable
connector/plug, we separate out 7 adjoining strands (they do not all
have to be on the circumference) and cut them off. The idea is that
the 7 isolated strands should not come into contact with any part of
the terminal connector/speaker plug at each end of the cable. The 7
removed strands at each end do not even have to be the same strands.
Twisting together 2 conductors of 49 strands each also works. So
what about twisting together 2 conductors of 28 strands each? This
also works, even though the combined number of strands, at 56,
exceeds 49. Indeed, reducing the combined number of strands to 49
between 2 conductors is no help whatsoever, as the sound quality
sharply deteriorates.
These and many other findings from our research have all contributed
to the unique understanding, design and performance of the Ringmat
Pure Signal and Pure Power Cables.
You may also like to read:
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Incorporating Ringmat &
Statmat Products into your System -
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Back to other cabling products -
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