Audience AU24e Tonearn cables

Audience Au24e High Resolution Tonearm cables
The tonearm range is exclusive to High End Cable

Audience Au24e Phono Cables have just been reviewed by 'Le Magazine Son and Image'.
"The Au24e Low Z distinguished itself with the Dynavector XX2 MKII moving coil cartridge bringing a lot of life to music and an addictive desire to constantly renew the pleasure."

Michel Leroux | Editor-in-Chief Link to review

Given the extremely fragile nature of the phono signal, every effort must be pursued in order to preserve the integrity of that signal throughout the signal path. One area where the signal can suffer significant damage and loss is in the phono cable. Cartridge output levels are quite low, typically in the 3-5 millivolt range and often as low as 100 microvolts. Audience use of continuous cast high-purity copper as well as low loss cable geometry preserves the purity of this low level signal. Consumers often choose a phono cable based upon brand recognition alone. However, such a choice can inadvertently compromise a phono playback system due to mismatched impedance characteristics between cartridge, cable and preamp.

Audience has conducted considerable research into the electrical characteristics of phono cables and has concluded that a single cable cannot possibly serve as an optimal tone arm to phono stage interface. The different internal electrical characteristics of phono cartridges make choosing a cable designed to preserve and enhance those characteristics an all important issue. By choosing the wrong cable you can lose precious low level detail information that is essential to the overall sonic presentation.

For these reasons, Audience offers vinyl lovers a choice of three impedance-matched phono cables. Each model is designed to carefully optimize the electrical characteristics of the cartridge to the cable and to preserve signal flow to the phono stage without detrimental influences as follows:

Low Z – for moving coil cartridges with internal resistance up to 30 ohms.

High Z – for moving coil cartridges with internal resistance between 30 and 100 ohms.

MM – for all cartridges with internal resistance above 100 ohms which includes high output moving coil cartridges rated at 47k ohms and most moving magnet or moving iron models.

Additionally, the thousands of crystalline barriers present in all conventional copper wire requires energy to pass from one barrier to the next. This energy, which is part of the signal becomes lost in this process. When dealing with ultra low level signals, particularly in phono cables, these harmful crystal barriers are significant impediments to the transmission of critical musical information. For this reason all Audience phono cables are constructed using the highest purity oxygen free continuous cast copper.

For other length requirements call Dave on 01775 761880

The last word
Audience's Au24e interconnects and speaker cables perform as well as any cables I've heard. What's more, they compare favorably with other reference-quality cables, not only as an overall package of strengths and weaknesses, but line by line, in any sort of audiophile accounting. Differences in rooms, equipment, listening preferences, etc., make it unrealistic to pronounce any one cable "the best"—but you can't go wrong with Audience's Au24e family. They're superb.

By Brian Damkroger • June, 2010

A few comments about the new "E" version of the Au24 interconnect after an initial listen. The basic character of the cable is retained. Tonally very neutral. Timbrally accurate. Just gets out of the way. Where I hear the big difference is in what I'll refer to as speed or timing. To me the cable sounds very fast-perhaps warp speed. By this I mean leading edge transients on instruments like cymbals, acoustic guitar and piano are portrayed with speed and clarity adding a sense of realism. On acoustic bass the leading edge of notes seem crisper and tightly controlled. The initial slap heard before the thud of a kick drum is more apparent. Sibilants are not exaggerated but seem clearer and more natural. Sounds seem to emanate with clarity from a more focused space within the soundstage. Harmonics are portrayed without excessive bloom which will probably make for a good match with tube based systems such as mine. I suppose this all hinges on getting leading edge transient information timed properly so that the ear/brain mechanism can interpret it as more lifelike. Overall, very impressive.

Robert Townsend -- Jan 08

The Audience Au24e interconnects and speaker cables along with their companion power cords are truly the product of new thinking and execution. The interconnects are the new best of class [Best under $1000 per meter] and rival some of the finest interconnects costing five! times more with quiet backgrounds, airiness, snap, and neutrality. On the very best reference systems, you may hear some reduction of dynamic range and definition… but it's not much. A lot of cable for the money, the Au24e sounds its very best when used system wide with all Au24e wires and their top Au24 power cords. The Au24e interconnects and speaker cables are a heck of a deal! Very highly recommended.
Robert H. Levi POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLINE - ISSUE 49

Audience believe the Au24e cables attain the elusive goal of combining exquisite sonic detail with the beauty of true musicality. This is due in large part to the Au24’s incredible time domain performance. One look will tell you these are not "me too" products. The materials, design and construction techniques utilized in the Au24e cable line reflect the latest thinking in state of the art, high-resolution technology.

The Au24 cables

We believe the Au24 cables attain the elusive goal of combining exquisite sonic detail with the beauty of true musicality. This is due in large part to the Au24’s incredible time domain performance. One look will tell you these are not "me too" products. The materials, design and construction techniques utilized in the Au24 cable line reflect the latest thinking in state of the art, high-resolution technology.

Contributing to the excellent time domain characteristics of the Au24 cables are high quality materials and proper configuration. Most audiophiles are aware of the importance of good insulating and conducting materials.

The Au24 cables are constructed of OHNO continuous cast single crystal copper conductors with polypropylene insulation and cross-linked polyethylene jacket material. Relatively few people are aware of the role geometric configuration plays. If a given cable is not optimally configured to perform the task it was designed to do it will never sound as good as a cable with the correct physical/electrical characteristics regardless of which exotic materials are used in its construction. All Audience cables and especially the Au24 series are designed for low eddy-current resistance. This is the key electrical characteristic for good time response. Eddy-currents are created by the magnetic field found around a cable when an electrical signal is present. This magnetic field builds up and collapses as the signal varies. When the field collapses it induces an opposing voltage back into the cable. This opposing voltage causes eddy-currents in the conductor. If they could be seen, eddy-currents would look like swirling water in a river. This late arriving, opposing voltage disrupts the original signal by inducing a time-smearing artifact. These effects are clearly audible. Cables that sound "detailed" or "powerful in the bass" are usually victims of high eddy-currents. Eddy currents plus high capacitance can cause a cable to sound overly "relaxed." The particular type of coloration caused by eddy-currents is dependent on the materials, construction techniques and the geometric configuration of the cable. The Au24 cables exhibit extremely low eddy–current resistance.

Many cables are designed for the lowest possible capacitance. Other cables are designed for the lowest possible inductance. Actually, for properly balanced sound reproduction these inductive and capacitive values should both be minimized and the ratio of inductance to capacitance (L:C) must be optimized. By designing for the lowest possible eddy-current resistance at the correct specific frequency, proper L:C ratio is naturally arrived at and both of these properties are minimized. The result is natural reproduction as heard in real life without added emphasis or editorializing. The Au24 cables may not sound as exciting at first but the virtues become apparent as the listener becomes familiar with them. Perhaps even more importantly, the musical overtones arrive in their proper time relationship with the fundamentals. This creates a more convincing illusion of reality and improves sound staging. For example, when properly recorded, a drummer’s cymbals will now be placed back with the rest of the drum kit instead of appearing to emanate from the speakers.

There is a common misconception that loudspeaker cable must be large in diameter and have a low DC resistance in order to provide good bass response. DC resistance is relatively unimportant. What really matters is the characteristic impedance (AC resistance) of the cable. Music is an AC signal after all. Most of these large diameter/low DC resistance cables have excessively high characteristic impedance anywhere from 100 to 600 ohms with some measuring in the 1000’s of ohms. The Au24 Loudspeaker Cable is only 4mm or 1/8" in diameter. Although the DC resistance may be slightly higher than the garden hose variety speaker cables the characteristic impedance is only 16 ohms. Musical signals from the bass to the overtones pass through this cable with less actual impedance than a cable with a lower DC resistance. The Au24 Loudspeaker Cable provides nearly perfect bass timbre and extension. Plus, the low eddy-current resistance means the cable is very quick and linear in the time domain. Voices and instruments sound strikingly real with this loudspeaker cable.

In developing the Au24 line we discovered how important simplicity is when highest possible performance is the design goal. Fancier connectors and layers of cosmetic sleeve would have made the cable look more expensive. However every time we made it look better it sounded worse. We were truly amazed at the sonically detrimental effects caused by bulky high-end connectors. The lessons learned with the Au24 cables have now been applied to our lower and mid-priced cables as well.

Audience exclusive Au24 RCA connectors are used on all cables requiring RCA termination. These simple, high quality connectors are far less colored than bulkier, fancier connectors. They are an advanced, minimalist design and have excellent grip and low contact resistance.

Audience balanced analog and AES/EBU digital interconnects are terminated with Neutrik XLR plugs. Audience loudspeaker cables are terminated with rhodium plated spade connectors. Audience will provide custom lengths and termination. The Au24 cables will begin to sound good after 2 to 3 hours playing time and will continue to improve for approximately 50 to 100 hours