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

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/201...1f7883a04d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c150670a09.jpg

Sent from my 9001X using Tapatalk

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 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

---

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

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by richard_crl032

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

---

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