The Hitachi SAX-102 interconnects - Are the oldies the best?

[The Black Adder]

The other week I replaced my Mark grants with these beauties.

A full set of Hitachi SAX-102 interconnects. I don't know how old they are but they are pretty amazing.

Not sure but I think they were made in the 80s.

Amazingly precise bass, nicely set/balanced mids and high. Nothing is overcooked, just clear, natural and fluid.

Don't get me wrong Mark Grant IC's are also brilliant but these win over in transient detail reproduction and the bass.

My only question is, does anyone recommend slightly twisting these?

Highly recommended interconnects.

Has anyone tried these?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190806/09250adb6d2e5424d7e70b1f7883a04d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190806/71e800ff2d635c52eb2a12c150670a09.jpg

Sent from my 9001X using Tapatalk

[Johnny nocash]

Can't comment on the twisting question Josie but I'm sure they're a very good cable if they perform like the SSX-102 speaker cable. There's loads of Living Voice users who used this as their 1st cables on the recommendation of Definitive Audio. The interconnect probably came out the same time judging by the similar labelling & you've got yourself a little gem.

[Macca]

Never tried them but I have read that they are highly rated.

[Yomanze]

All of my cable is either LC-OFC (like these Hitachis) or OCC, and Hitachi were doing this stuff years before most. For me, linear crystal copper offers a very natural sound, with less grain than normal OFC copper.

[The Black Adder]

Thanks guys. They are very good indeed.

I'm surprised in the quality of the presence they give.

They do seem to have a bit of a following.



Sent from my 9001X using Tapatalk

[Barry]

I bought a pair of these in the mid '80s. They are so-called semi-balanced design, so can be directional.
I thought them no better than the interconnects I was using at the time and passed them on to a friend, who didn't find them an improvement in his system either.

But they are well made and are more flexible than the Mark Grants, so worth keeping.

[alfaati]

Hitachi was the brand that could not make any fame in Europe, however in Japan they are well regarded as a brand.

In case you did not know about it:

Their high-end audio gears can be found under Lo-D brand.
They were experimenting a lot with exotic materials in their speakers and used them in their speaker driver materials.
When they entered into the Turntable market under Lo-D name, they have taken over a big slice of the Japanese market straight away as they had advantage in making motors compared to others. So, the direct drive motor units they have made are well regarded even today. As they had huge experience in making electric motors they managed to come out with a direct drive motor unit called Lo-D TU 1000 Uni-torque which has 5kg-cm starting torque! Most high end DD motor unit had around 3kg-cm starting torque or even less! Like Pioneer Exclusive P-10 or Victor QL-A95 they have had 3kg-cm torque and came out nearly same time like Lo-D. The year is around 1980-81. The TU 1000 DD unit became Nagaoka Tetsuono's reference TT in those years.
Lo-D HT 880 turntable was also a great player. I want to own one once. It is kind of affordable.
Only Technics and Micro were able to achieve such a high torque in their motor units in the early 80's.
Hitachi spent crazy money on developing and experimenting. I have red somewhere Hitachi and other Japanese companies are even accepted custom orders from individuals in the golden age, because the demand was so huge for sound quality among Japanese audiophiles. These custom projects sometimes costed 250.000 Yen or even more for individuals to receive a customized very unique product. 250k Yen (1980) is around £5000+ considering inflation.

[Made in 1968]

I had some Hitachis in the 80's but they were like a fawn colour. Cant remember the name of em. Got em from an Hi-Fi show

[richard_crl032]

Thanks guys. They are very good indeed.

I'm surprised in the quality of the presence they give.

They do seem to have a bit of a following.



Sent from my 9001X using Tapatalk

Hi Adder,

QAX-102 is the lowest grade available some 20+ years ago.

QAX-112 is the bigger brother with bigger copper strands and sounds significantly better.

6NAX-210 is the premium version above these QAXs when they are in the market before internet was prevalent and hence little known.

I have all of them to compare .. warm and endearing, organic etc. but not high resolution or clear especially the QAX-102 but will suit some bright system since we have all learnt that cabling is really the final touch to tune to your preference and system's weakness.

Cheers,

Richard

[Barry]

QAX-102 is the lowest grade available some 20+ years ago.



Are those the same cables as the SAX-102 as used by Josie?

[hifi_dave]

i played around with these in the late 70s. I believe they were made by Furukawa, who made cables for many other brands.

[Pieoftheday]

Thanks guys. They are very good indeed.

I'm surprised in the quality of the presence they give.

They do seem to have a bit of a following.



Sent from my 9001X using Tapatalk

Josie, you seem to be suggesting that cables make a difference?:lol:

[Audio Al]

Josie, you seem to be suggesting that cables make a difference?:lol:

:sofa:

[chris@panteg]

I still use Hitachi 102 ssx speaker cable, still very happy with it and no intention of changing it.

[The Black Adder]

:sofa:

Moi?... Yes.. I do. :)

Cables do make a difference but only certain ones do it for the better. - Now, if that's not a brilliant quote I don't know what is. LOL

[richard_crl032]

Are those the same cables as the SAX-102 as used by Josie?

Hi Barry,

Sorry but did not visit and not sure who is Josie.

Photos are my qax-112 and new 6nax-210 ... look for qax-112 if you like qax-102 since more of all the positive "presence" or "naturalness" mentioned here aka midrange. Dun bother with the elusive 6nax-210 as it is near impossible as it was 4 times of almost 40k yen and not many sold 30 yrs ago like the 10k qax-112 or cheapest qax-102.

Last that I should mention ia that both qax-102 and qax-112 should be with original factory tetminated ofc rca ... I see a lot reterminated one and they are probably with intention to mislead that they are original.

Cheers.

Richard
2784927850

[richard_crl032]

i played around with these in the late 70s. I believe they were made by Furukawa, who made cables for many other brands.

Furukawa and Hitachi differs:

Is it the mid-1980s, the heyday of audio?
It was a time when it was widely recognized that the sound changed with a cable.
In Japan as well, major electric wire manufacturers enthusiastically developed and each was a masterpiece.
Broadly classified, the direction is to remove impurities from conductors and improve the purity of materials.
The other is a vector that improves signal transduction loss by reducing boundaries at the copper crystal level.
(Later, materials that have pushed these two directions will be developed.)
The former is typically Ortofon, Acrotec, SAEC, etc. (8n / 7n / 6n, etc.)
The latter was famous for Furukawa Electric's "PC-OCC" and Hitachi Cable's "LC-OFC".
Both Furukawa and Hitachi supplied OEM products to each company, and there were examples of adoption by many manufacturers.
Unfortunately, both FURUKAWA and HITACHI have stopped production for management reasons.
I think the contributions made by the two companies to the audio world have been enormous.

[Barry]

The other week I replaced my Mark grants with these beauties.

A full set of Hitachi SAX-102 interconnects. I don't know how old they are but they are pretty amazing.

Not sure but I think they were made in the 80s.

Has anyone tried these?

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190806/09250adb6d2e5424d7e70b1f7883a04d.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190806/71e800ff2d635c52eb2a12c150670a09.jpg



I had a pair of these in the early '80. I thought them no better than other cables I was using at the time. They are of so-called "semi-balanced" construction; that is they use a double core screened cable, where the signal return is connected to the screen at one end only. They are thus directional so that the screen is connected at the source end (with the arrows printed on the cable's outer jacket points away from the source and points towards to the load).

By chance I have just unearthed the Hitachi data sheet that came with the cables:




HITACHI LC-OFC INTERCONNECTING CABLE

SAX-102 is a high grade interconnecting cable for Audio and Video equipment, using LC-OFC (Linear Crystal Oxygen-Free-Copper) as conductor.
LC-OFC is the most suitable material for Audio and Video purposes.
This product is a pin-cord made with SAX-102 for use with Audio and Video systems.

FEATURES


1. Clear sound with minimal distortion.

2. Superior electrical distortion

3. Durability due to inner plastic molding of the pin-plug

4. Use of 24k plated pin-plugs

CONSTRUCTION AND CHARACTERISTICS

Conductor: Size 0.2mm2

Conductor: Stranding 50/0.08mm

Conductor: Diameter 0.65mm

Insulation (Polyethylene) Diameter: 1.65mm

Inner Jacket (Polyethylene) Diameter: 4.00mm

Shield: Braid

Jacket (PVC) Diameter: 6.00mm

Conductor Resistance (at 20oC): 80 Ohm/km

Capacity (at 1 KHz): 50pF/m

Impedance (at 10 MHz): 65 Ohm

[richard_crl032]

Hi Barry,

Found answer to your query ..

No, sax-102 is lower grade to qax-102 that is preceded by qax-112.

Original price of 1m was about 5kyen vs 7kyen vs 10k yen respectively.

Cheers.

[richard_crl032]

https://www.hifido.co.jp/sold/15-87219-46844-00.html?LNG=E