| XLO Purple Rush™ AC Power Cable Model PR-6 |
XLO has been regarded as one of the pioneering companies in high-end
cable technology ever since its founder, Roger Skoff, designed
the first interconnects in 1988 for his own use and then introduced
the brand at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Ultralink
purchased XLO in early 2002, and a year later Roger left his progeny
in the hands of Allen Sung and his production team. XLO has manufactured
a number of excellent cables, some of which I have auditioned and
reviewed. In particular, I recall testing their earlier top model,
the Limited Edition™ Series cables, and how I enjoyed and
appreciated the performance as well as the fit and finish of the
XLO products.
The Purple Rush PRT-6 under review here is the top model of four
in the no-holds-barred Purple Reign series™, designed to
achieve ultimate performance, regardless of cost considerations.
In addition to the PRT-6, the series also includes the PR-14, PR-12,
and PR-10 models of AC power cables. Each of the four models incorporates
the same construction geometry, blended in such a way that the
limitations of each model won’t upset the delicate balance
XLO intends to achieve.
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The design philosophy of the entire series, according to company President
Allan Sung, was to create the best the industry has ever seen (or heard).
I believe he may have done just that. According to Sung, the Purple Reigns™ series
is the result of ten years of research, the investigation and application
of newly developed technology, and countless hours of lab work and listening
tests. No fewer than six separate patents are employed in this cable. The
attention devoted to research and design is matched only by the skilled craftsmanship
that is put into the creation of the final product.
Before we get to the nitty-gritty, I’d like readers to know that I have
been listening to the Purple Reigns series finished prototype speaker cables
and interconnects and one AC cord. However, for this evaluation I received
a completely finished pair of the PR-6 (to accommodate mono-block amplifier
systems) with purple braid jacket, sealed plug termination, etc. This brings
me to the newly designed look of the Purple Rush.
Appearance
Well, one can’t miss them, as they are around one inch in diameter and
do not bend readily in any direction; the terminating AC plugs are set to be
part of the entire cable design — solid as the proverbial rock. This
means that they will be visible when connected to a pair of monoblocks. But
then again, given how striking and professional they look, they should be visible.
The cable’s purple colour is well chosen as it complements almost all
other colours without appearing ostentatious. Though finished immaculately
with a touch of masculinity that will appeal to the end user, the most appealing
design elements of the Purple Rush are under its handsome outer jacket. (see
Technology section)
The Sound
This is the most interesting part of an evaluation process, but also the most
difficult to describe. Auditioning begins with checking a cable’s handling
of dynamics, harmonics and frequency range — the basic functions. To
ascertain a credible/reliable conclusion, I connected three different components:
the solid state Bryston 7B SST Squared monoblocks, the single-ended tube
Wyetech Labs Ruby monoblocks and the hybrid Magnum integrated amplifier.
The two sets of monoblocks in my house were always connected with $4k and
$5k AC cords and changing to the XLOs was easy enough. After the initial
shock, and a few days, I found myself listening more to the music rather
than the cable as I quickly became accustomed to the sound of my audio systems.
At any rate, all systems showed how well the PR-6 managed dynamics and dynamic
range. It handles dynamics with the speed necessary to follow the nature
of the (audio) signal. This is generally desirable, of course, although speed
may also affect tonal balance and dynamic range. Well, the PR-6 showed no
such behavior and controlled dynamic range better than I have ever heard.
It delineated program material that included the most delicate tinkle of
a triangle as well as the clamour of a kettledrum, even when this occurred
simultaneously (you’ll find such material written by most romantic
classical composers). The ability of a cable to handle this range further
indicates that its tonal equilibrium is excellent. I did get more bass, more
midrange and more highs out of each system, but because emphasis was not
on any one range, the overall sound simply became more fulfilling, more harmonious.
I didn’t get a sense of the cables’ timbre, but did recognize
the timbre (much improved over my old cables) of the various piano recordings
I always use for my listening tests. Timbre, hue, texture, delicacy, detail,
refinement and sensitivity all combine in this design and show that the BP-6
literally extracts harmonics, thereby elevating the entire listening experience.
The Purple Rush’s level of performance is practically off the scale,
which became (painfully) apparent to me when I had to disconnect and return
them. The cables I had used all along (and I consider way above average)
diminished the performance of the systems I used for this evaluation by as
much as 30% — a substantial and very conspicuous decline in the overall
audio presentation.
 Synopsis
The listening test results were nothing short of spectacular. Definition and
resolution throughout the deep middle and high bass regions is the best I
have v heard. While the PR-6’s mid-range and high-frequency performance
of the connected equipment in my systems had a blossoming and transparency
I haven’t heard before, its chief accomplishment is the way it delivers
the musical information without inserting even a hint of noise. Though difficult
to ascertain scientifically, I believe that the cable manages to be out of
the way of the music and simply provides an organic means to hear it — and
to also hear the quality of the connected electronics.
Commentary
I have often stated that all cables have a sonic signature unique to their
design, but with the Purple Rush, I didn’t get a clear enough impression
to ascertain its characteristics. It simply enhanced all musical material,
likely because it allowed me to hear more of the music’s complex harmonics.
Of the many brands AC cords I have auditioned, none has reached the level
of the PR-6’s sonic distinction and noiseless transmission attribute.
I thought about the Purple Rush cable’s influence on my systems and found
that the electronics I had in-house actually provided far more harmonics, better
resolution and much better dynamic range than I would have thought possible.
The PR-6 cable, it appears, was simply able to liberate that information. This
is why I believe that the Purple Rush cable is unique; it does everything better
than all other cables I have auditioned. It provides better high, better midrange,
better bass, better imaging, better focus and, most importantly, wide-ranging
harmonics that communicate the essence of the music. However — and here
is where it differs — it combines all these elements into a comprehensive
sonic panorama that leaves nothing incomplete. It may well be the best AC power
cable on the market today.
| MODELS & PRICING |
MANUFACTURER |
XLO Purple Rush™ AC Power Cable Model PR-6
$5,000.00 CDN for five feet (5')
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Ultralink / XLO |
| RATING |
CONTACT |
| OFF THE CHARTS!! |
www.xloelectric.com |
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TECHNOLOGY
AC power cable design has been addressed by many high-profile brands
and they all focus on quality parts and expert workmanship, but I
know of none that took design to a higher level than the one employed
in the Purple Reigns series. XLO’s performance goals for the
series focused on creating a perfectly balanced AC power cable. The
cable’s geometry combines
a variety of gauges and shapes to achieve a perfect balance of the three
groups of the lower frequency range (at and below 60Hz) — deep bass,
mid-bass and high bass. According to the XLO design team – now headed
by industry insider Jay Victor who holds five of the patents employed in
the new series – the most difficult area is the mid-bass. The upper
bass region follows this, while deep bass was not an issue. Established by
earlier research, the XLO design team knew that that multiple gauges of the
conductor material worked very well, but hadn’t yet addressed the scientific
problem of how to exploit the dimensional accuracy of the conductors without
diminishing or adding any influencing characteristics.
In previous generations of AC power cables, XLO relied on varying the wire
gauges to perfect the performance of each of the three groups (deep bass, mid
bass and upper bass). In these earlier designs XLO used multiple gauges of
wire which proved to be quite effective but not perfect. It was known that
large gauge conductors work well for deep bass and small gauge cables work
best for the upper bass. Thus, common sense suggests that medium gauge wires
would work perfectly for the mid-bass because of the increased surface area
and core material. Extensive tests showed that, while this is in fact true,
it was almost impossible to attain the exact surface area and core size to
achieve the desired goal XLO wanted in the mid-bass. What they required was
more surface area than core size, but to achieve that classic ratio was impossible
with existing technology. After much experimentation, XLO found the solution — now
patented and licensed as 6,969,805 of the U.S. patent office — a rectangular
conductor. Envision a round conductor and flattening it into a thin sheet or
rectangle. The amount of surface area is now increased dramatically, while
the overall gauge (American Wire Gauge or “AWG”) or amount of material
remains identical.
Its outer diameter (surface area) is a fixed ratio with the inner diameter
(core of the conductor). Any change in either would affect the other in a predictably
symmetrical fashion. This constant enabled the design team to control the exact
amount of skin effect needed without changing the core of the conductor and
to achieve the perfect blend of surface area and conductor core.
XLO states that it was an even more difficult challenge to find the correct
ratio for the upper bass conductor where they needed to find a way to have
almost no core and increased surface area. Ultimately, it was done with a very
thin flat rectangular conductor to maximize surface area and a hollow spiral
tube with an extruded DuPont™ Teflon® jacket around the conductor
bundled together in multiple strands. Teflon has a relatively high dielectric
constant (compared to air) that constrains the electric field close to the
conductor itself, thereby lowering the chances of interference with the other
conductors and fields. This technique, as well as unique geometry and conductor
configuration, is used throughout the entire Purple Reigns series of cables
and met XLO’s design goal.
The conductor material used in the cables isn’t merely oxygen-free copper,
it is PC-OCC mono crystal copper. The OCC stands for Ohno Continuous Casting,
named after Professor Atsumi Ohno who holds a patent for a casting process
that can produce single copper grains of over 700 feet in length — virtually
no crystal structure. (High grade OFC has approximately 400 grains or crystals
per foot while linear-crystal LC-OFC only has 70).
The termination plugs of the Purple Rush™ are connectors built out of
a solid block of high copper content brass, polished to remove any surface
irregularities. To achieve the best possible connection of the conductor to
the machined prong, XLO employs cold welding — done by exerting thousands
of pounds of pressure to actually fuse the two metals together — and
hot welding with high content silver solder. This method is said to create
the perfect bond, and thus the most reliable electrical link.
In the Purple Rush™ Series, XLO did not rely on a single shield (found
in most power cables). Instead double shielding is employed in the PR-14, PR-12
and PR-10, while the PR-6 — under review here — boasts a quad shield.
This assures that the conductors do not pick up extraneous noise or any noise
generated within the cable itself (it is not uncommon for AC power cables to
feed noise into ground, thereby adding hash and hardness).
There are more details available on line (www.xloelectric.com), to be sure,
but the proof of puddin’, as they say, is the listening test. |
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