The "MYSTERY CABLE" - revisited.

[Effem]

The "MYSTERY CABLE" - revisited.

A lot of things can happen in a few months . . . . . .

David Brook has finally created the production version of the prototype cable he sent me way back in November of 2013. He has also set a price now for people to consider, which takes away the hot controversies the last time this cable appeared via me. It also has a name now, so watch out for the "SLIC Innovations Eclipse" because presumably it is firmly aimed at eclipsing it's rivals. In that intervening period too I have changed my CD player which meant I couldn't EXACTLY match the system I had when the prototype cable was sent to me for evaluation.

My current resident CD player doesn't have the same bass depth and definition the aforesaid Parasound player had, nor has it the beguiling treble and midrange either for that matter, so my second liaison with this cable has been difficult to say the least with a CD player that varies by a fair degree from the trusty old Parasound player I had previously. This has been remedied by having to hand another superb CD player, which I will also do a reviewette of very soon.

David tells me that improvements and enhancements have been made to this latest version by the inventor and there is no disputing that from what I can hear. It has the ability to dig even deeper into the music than the prototype could, so there has been quite a few more "blimey, not heard that before" moments which the prototype cable didn't give me, even though that one was a truly stunning cable in it's own right, which is no mean feat given how much the original cable wowed me right from the outset.

This cable has a better treble resolution than the previous incarnation and best of all, a unique trait I have never heard before from any other cable. With this cable is situ, the system just BEGS to be cranked up and to let the handbrake off. The more you turn the volume up, the LESS the distortion appears to be, so an increase in sound pressure levels has no commensurate perception of the sound being at all "louder". Sorry if I have confused anyone by the statement, but I believe that too many folks think that high volume levels should also sound "loud", so one can attribute this to the extremely low noise floor this cable has. It really does draw you into the music and more than once I have been shocked at how the time has simply flown by just enjoying the music.

Construction and appearance has improved too; this one has well defined shape and tautness to it in the construction, although it doesn't have any sooper dooper high grade audiophile plugs attached to the sample I have been given, although I am told the cable available for purchase will have, so I would expect this cable to yield even more performance with high quality plugs attached.

I did say that I would want one of the cables no matter what the final price was, so I will conclude this brief second review with a follow-up statement that I have one on order from MCRU, because the sub-£500 asking price is well within the price/performance envelope I can justify spending on because I have spent a lot more money and got far less performance on interconnects in the past. And no, I am not getting a few quid knocked off the price either

[da2222]

Hi Frank. Out of interest, have you ever tried the cables made by Mark Grant or RFC prior to this?

[Effem]

Hi Frank. Out of interest, have you ever tried the cables made by Mark Grant or RFC prior to this?

I have dropped a couple of subtle hints for Paul at RFC to send me one of his Plutos to play with but no joy. Haven't tried one of Mark's either for that matter, but I can say the same of a very long list of cables that I haven't heard either, but the list I have heard is rather esoteric and dare I say, expensive.

My favourite interconnects for a long time have been the Lessloss "Anchorwave" which are another awesome sounding cable that nobody has heard of The SLIC Eclipse easily beats those.

[Effem]

Hi Frank. Out of interest, have you ever tried the cables made by Mark Grant or RFC prior to this?

Sorry Drew, only just made the connection between your name and your Italian location. How remiss of me. Bad Frank

[da2222]

No problem Frank :-) The reason I asked is that on this and other forums it may be fair to say they are held by many as the tacit 'benchmark' cables for performance and price. How the new one compares would be interesting..

[Effem]

No problem Frank :-) The reason I asked is that on this and other forums it may be fair to say they are held by many as the tacit 'benchmark' cables for performance and price. How the new one compares would be interesting..

I couldn't agree more Drew and as we well know, the cables market is as dense as a forest with as many leaves to match the sheer number available, so none of us can wade through all of them to produce a meaningful ranking of what's good, bad, or indifferent. I simply ask that folks have no arguments with my hearing acuity and musical tastes, coupled with that long list of the cables that I have tried.

[Ninanina]

The sub-£500 asking price is well within the price/performance envelope I can justify spending on because I have spent a lot more money and got far less performance on interconnects in the past. And no, I am not getting a few quid knocked off the price either

Frank do you know what the exact price will be? I'm guessing if it's "sub-£500" that probably means it's £450'ish or so

The thing I can't get my head round is if the cable is 'near' to £450 it makes your system very one sided... your speakers are worth maybe £100 your amp maybe £800, CD player £800'ish and speaker cable £80'ish... if my brain is working right that equates to about 36% for amp and cd, speakers about 4%, speaker cable about 4% and interconnect about 20%

Am I missing something?

[jasonC]

your better at maths then me Nina

[Ninanina]

your better at maths then me Nina

It was just a thought.....

[Effem]

Frank do you know what the exact price will be? I'm guessing if it's "sub-£500" that probably means it's £450'ish or so

The thing I can't get my head round is if the cable is 'near' to £450 it makes your system very one sided... your speakers are worth maybe £100 your amp maybe £800, CD player £800'ish and speaker cable £80'ish... if my brain is working right that equates to about 36% for amp and cd, speakers about 4%, speaker cable about 4% and interconnect about 20%

Am I missing something?

I have just looked on the MCRU website and "sub-£500" is £492 in cold hard cash for a cable up to and including 1 metre.

Thank you for the generous estimates of my system's value Bev, because the actual value is a lot less than your thumbnail sketching Speakers = £100, Amp = £125, CD player around £250, speaker cable = £90

I am then asking you to accept my word alone that my truly humble system sounds like a £3k+ one, JUST by the addition of this cable. I took it all to a bakeoff last weekend and it saw off a system costing considerably more with some famous names on the fronts. I seem to recall in my previous tome about this cable that I would equate going from a £1k amp to a £3k amp because the amp hierarchy has to contend with the laws of diminishing returns, but I don't see this cable being saddled with that problem. It is what it is and rather than read the garbage I may write about it, you should ask Mr MRCU if you can have a play with one too.