 Joe Lee says
( 12 July 2001)
Isn’t that what Hi-Fidelity is all about?
 In terms of values...
Well… finally! A great review… Since day one when I encountered the outstanding performance of Audience’s AU-24 interconnect cable I thought it deserves all the best reviews from all critics (read my article in ancient time titled “Ugly Duckling”). The low selling price actually does not reflect the sonic quality offered by this ‘very unusually-looking’ cable. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean the price of AU-24 is low if your budget is only two or three hundred bucks, in that case it is expensive, it is out of your budget. What I am trying to say is, AU-24 is really under-priced especially in this part of the world as we are selling them at much lower prices than the manufacturer’s recommending retail price. Expensive? Or Cheap? Confusing? Not at all after you hear the true performance of Audience cables. The world is full of magic... Audience produces magical products. Perhaps they are magicians. Starting with something that can compete with David Copperfield’s standard in magic shows - known as “Auric Illuminator GEL” (please read my article earlier than ancient time “Can pigs really fly?”), Audience’s Power Cord titled ‘powerChord’ is equivalently amazing (Oooop…another article – “Power to the People”)! We have compared it with power cables 3~4 times more expensive and all participants admitted that the ‘powerChord’ is a clear winner. Not by points but a knockout! David Copperfield made million of dollars per episode, I wonder how much did we make by watching him? I made no money; I spent. I used AU-24 for my television set going straight to our BIT88. Perhaps that’s why David Copperfield’s act always stunned me to death because I could hear much more details than you did… Unfortunately Auric Illuminator is not meant for applying onto TV screen, otherwise… Sales talk? Or the truth? I hate to direct this kind of sales talk to you. You know that I am always honest (yi… someone say Ha! Ha! Ha! out there?). OK, the influential Stereo Times has just released a review about Audience cables. Unlike mine, Americans reviews never exaggerate, before you click the link at the end of this message to read the full review, I abstracted some lines, as I totally agreed with Henry Wilkinson, the reviewer’s viewpoints. Unlike many others in Singapore who own a web site and love to write, I never called myself a reviewer. I am purely a salesman trying my best to promote good products. However, I was amazed to find out that in fact most of the comments stated by Henry Wilkinson in his review were so close to my personal discovery of Audience cables posted in my various articles. Well, I guessed that is not coincident. This phenomenon appears purely because we know Hi-Fidelity and music, we have ears and we can judge. I believe every music lover and audiophile share the same views… First of all, you can hear more music... OK, here are the abstracts: Accurate tonal balance …I found the timbre of individual instruments to be more intense. For instance, on Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue, it was as if I could hear more of Miles’ horn. The timbre seemed to somehow be more intense. Additionally, there were several passages where Miles is using a very slight vibrato. I do not always hear this in this recording. The tonal differences between Coltrane and Cannonball were also much more apparent…
Realistic Sound …The Audience cables not only maintained the tonal balance that I prefer, they actually increased midrange transparency. Bass was extended and tight right on down to my speakers’ limitations, with just the right proportions of attack, body and weight. I have heard the opening bass line to So What sound quite muddy. This isn’t unusual for a recording of this vintage, but the Audience cables rendered the most realistic sound in this area I have heard so far. It was much tighter and just sounded more like an upright bass…
Natural sound, that’s what audiophiles are dying for... …Male and female voices were equally well served. I found male vocals to have the proper amount of chestiness where appropriate. Female vocalists at times exhibited a little less sibilance than I have heard before but still sounded quite natural. This is an area where detail can be carried much too far, as when you feel you’re sitting a few inches from a performers mouth. Once again, nothing was exaggerated. Balance and proportion are the terms that I keep coming back to in my listening notes…
Just nice! …The imaging was very good laterally, with instruments spread across the entire stage. I find imaging to be a tricky thing. It’s another area where you can easily end up with too much of a good thing. When images are presented with razor-sharp edges, as if they were sonic cutouts, to my ear, this sounds anything but natural. At live events, with my eyes closed, I have never heard etched images. The further away I sit from the stage, the less precisely am I able to locate individual performers. Overdoing the imaging thing only serves to remind me that I am listening to a system. With the Audience cables in place, the images came across very naturally. While instrumentalists were easy to locate, there was no line of demarcation between or around performers. Studio recordings, where performers are isolated in booths, are of course the exception…
Beyond definition, hard to define... Price, it is cheap in HI-END standard! Given the prices of audio cables today, these Audience cables occupy the low-to-moderate end of the high-end scale. I find them to be a very good value in terms of their performance. If it is your intention to use interconnects and speaker wire as tone controls or equalizers, then you should look elsewhere. If, however, your goal is to achieve a sonic signature that is balanced from top to bottom with that elusive truth-of-timbre, then the Audience line belongs on your short list…
Can I add more comments? I don’t know. Isn’t that what Hi-Fidelity is all about? Isn’t that what audiophiles are dreaming for? Henry Wilkinson didn’t mention much about the depth and musical layering as he claimed his room is not sonically ideal. One thing I can assure you is, Audience cables offered the most accurate soundstage depth and layering I have ever come across. Furthermore, although the word “Audience” can never be associated with quietness, all Audience cables are absolutely ‘Very Quiet’. Using Au-24 and powerChord, the noise-floor can be significantly lowered to even below ground level (???). Remember, you can’t hear the noise or quietness; but everyone can feel them!You are absolutely SAFE! Don’t forget, seven-days money back guarantee always apply for Audience Cables sold by 1388 in order to protect our members’ interest. You are absolutely at a NO LOSS situation to try out these superb cables and experience what is meant by the term “Sonic purity Second to NONE” (quoted by the manufacturer). Besides, the manufacturer also provides ‘Unconditional Life Time Guarantee” for their cables. Let me end this message with Henry Wilkinson’s comment: “…Simply return any defective or damaged cable and Audience will repair or replace it free of charge. How many companies can you think of that stand behind their products this way?” http://www.stereotimes.com/Audience_Cables_Wilkenson.htm 
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