Hi all,
Well, here I am again, with a short cable review.
I asked John Prator, from Koolcables if he would send me the other two cables in his lineup: The Mandarinas, and the Fireflies. Now, I didn't want to review the Silkworms, because frankly Stereo Mojo did such a good job with their review of them. Besides, I really didn't want to break them in.
The Fireflies, are Silver 24 gauge wire, tucked in an oversized Teflon tube wrapped in silk and then put in a tekflex tube. These cables are very light. The ones I have have the Silver Eichman RCA connectors. The price is $349.00.
These cables are fast. Now if you are in to detail like me, then you'll love 'em. The bass is very tight, but defined. To say that these cables are bass shy, would not be correct. I would say these are ruthless in character, and just play whatever is being put through them. If there is a bass note, you will hear it. These are not forgiving as to how they present themselves.
The topend amazingly enough is not! in anyway screechy. There is a lot of info here. So you could if you have either tone controls or controls on your speakers pull some of that back just a bit. A lot and I mean a lot of detail is present here.
The mids are not warm at all. They are neutral in character. I don't think I'd say cold. I think I'd say laidback, not in your face. Again, if there is a recording that is warm sounding, then you will hear that warmth in the voices. If not well ...
The Fireflies do have good PRAT. (Pace rhythm and Timing) I did find myself tapping my toes to some good tunes. By the way, I had mentioned on the Soundbolts about this sustained bass note from Susan Ashton's Amazing Graceland. It shows both the upper octive and the lower note coming through.
This cable would be good on a tube system, where the top is laid back a bit, and the rest of the spectrum is a warm mids and good bass. The system would want to involve you in the music. These cables would then strike a nice balance, letting the system sound good, and let loose details that you might have otherwise missed.
Probably the only weakness here is they don't really have to much fenness. They aren't very organic sounding at all. However, that's not necessarily bad. In the right system, the Fireflies would be a God send. Again, if Detail is your thing, then these cables are just waiting to be put in your system
Bottomline here is you have a cable that is truly a tactless wonder. They just show you what is being played, and they're not interested if you like what you hear, The cables just give you what the music presents. These would be great in a recording studio. I truly feel with the right equipment, these Fireflies cable would shine.
Admittedly, this is my first experience in the highend arena with reference to cables, so I in all fairness can't comment as to the bargain aspect.
Happy Listening,
Ray Bronk
