In 2012 Pete built a cable with these connectors, and said
"I will leave the listening impressions & comments up to my audiophile customer!
However, I have experimented with other rhodium plated connectors quite extensively and they tend to produce a bit more "sizzle" to the upper treble frequencies. As an engineer, I'm not a huge fan of rhodium since it's really a lousy electrical conductor, worse than gold, aluminum & brass...
I'll stick to the best electrical conductors, silver & copper!"
Now, he obviously has come around on his thinking in the past 4 years, so it;s not like his Obsession Cables aren't awesome,
But - so much of audio is about what is right for YOU and YOUR system, and YOUR music, and YOUR room,
I have a pair of old fashioned TWL 8+ with copper connectors that I can send you to try
Yes, I have changed my viewpoint on only "super high quality" Rhodium plating. IMHO, there are three companies that get rhodium plating to sound brilliantly correct... Cardas (with their silver plating under rhodium plating), IeGO (with their SOLID SILVER connectors under rhodium plating) and finally Furutech, especially their FI-50 NCF series (with their α (Alpha) Pure-Copper Rhodium-plated Conductors).
I was so impressed with the new Furutech NCF series that I even changed my hi-fi receptacles to the GTX-D NCF(R) series.
Yes, it takes awhile longer for "The Obsession" as well as "The Silver Statement" (with IeGO Solid Silver w/ rhodium plating) to "burn-in" and "settle" into one's system. Perhaps it is the rhodium-plating and/or perhaps that my two Statement power cord products have 20% more conductors than the "Seven Plus" series...
My design goal is to produce affordable cable products that are very balanced sounding (from the lowest bass notes to effortless highs), that sound natural, organic & real and most importantly, that does not color the sound in any way; cables that "get out of the way", by being neutral, letting your components shine through...
Additional "burn-in" time on "the Obsession" should improve smoothness further over time. Keep in mind that the "rest period", where the cable is not being used, is also beneficial to let the dielectric "settle" and let the cable sound its best. It sounds like "Afterimage" cables are getting there, since he said, "
What I was trying to say that the positive is my system sounds more smooth and relaxed, which is exactly what I wanted." That's great news! I believe things will improve even more over time!
At the recent Capital AudioFest, the entire Triode Wire Labs loom was in two rooms with 3 different types of speakers... All of the attendees feedback & professional reviews were extremely positive... There was an "Obsession" power cable in both systems, letting the electronics do their thing...
I firmly believe (as I've been told by several reviewers & customers), that you would have to spend multiples more (up to TEN times as much) to get the same performance...
Mono and Stereo, an European Audio webzine, commented the following conclusion on my three high-end power cords (
http://www.monoandstereo.com/2015/10/triode-wire-labs-powercords-review.html)
"
ConclusionAll Triode Wire Labs powercords show stunning sound performance levels and this,
way, way above what their prices would suggest. Actually, they bring a level of sonic excellence which just recently seemed totally out of reach in their respective price regions. I can only recommend them very strongly to all who seek
phenomenally capable powercords regardless of the price considerations. They have set a new price-performance ratio that surely will leave a great impact in this market segment. The Triode Wire Labs powercords are very well thought out products, built with utmost care, attention to detail and an incredible sense for visual excellence.
Already the "High Power Digital American" shows staggering sound performance attributes and with the "Silver Statement" and even more so with the "Obsession", the music just begins to sound decidedly more natural and above all, very believable.These powercords are true gems, worthy of inclusion in top class systems regardless of price and my final verdict can only be:
highly recommended!"
Any other questions, let me know!
Cheers,
Pete