Throwing Down The Gauntlet or the tale of the AerØ coax silver
While reading Poseidonsvoice’s review of the AerØ USB-AG, I commented on his write up and stated that owning the CU USB version is great BUT if Jason would come up with an AG version in "coax", I’d be interested.
Well, next thing I know Mr. Wong is contacting me asking if I am serious. This is just after purchasing the ACCU (AerØ coax copper) rca ended cable that literally changed my system. Being very intrigued to see if the AG version would up the ante I took him up on his offer. Not having previously made an ACAG (AerØ coax silver), Jason seemed to be excited about this venture. In no time I found a package from Hapa Audio on my step. Thus, he (we) began a journey to my reason for this write-up.
The cable arrived double boxed with the inner box being Hapa’s and their nice drawstring bag inside of that. Built quality and physical feature of the ACAG is off the charts. The outer jacket is fittingly silver with ETI SilverLink connectors that have the Hapa insignia and just really sets the aesthetics to top notch.
The ACAG cable connects my Arcam MCD to the Musical Fidelity M1 dac. The dac to Accuphase C11 pre is Hapa Quiescence Silver and same from pre to Musical Fidelity M6s PRX amp. I use Triode Wire Lab speaker cable and jumper to my Fyne 501SP speakers. I use the C11 headphone jack to listen through ZMF Auteur Headphones with their 2K cables. Most listening has been through the headphones due to conditions in the house and the speakers when possible.
Critical listening turned into predominately just plain enjoyably entertainment due to the sound through the system and I’ll list some of the albums I found highly delightful:
Buddy Guy- Blues Singer / Close miked with great instrument separation and detail.
Neil Young- On the Beach, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Silver and Gold, Americana/ Young at his best and so hard to replicate the sound properly.
David Grisman and Tony Rice- Tone Poems / Acoustic at its best with great separation.
Van Morrison- The Healing Game / Many layers of instruments and Vans voice.
Bach- Harpsichord Concertos / Time period instruments and 415 tuning.
Herbert Von Karajan / Beethoven’s 5th, 6th and 9th symphonies.
Joni Mitchell- Blue / Awesome female vocals.
I’m not going to go into each listening session to describe how each sounded Cause ACAG performed incredibly well with all of them. I will say that picking each was to see how well they sounded. On Blues Singer album, Buddy being close miked can be strident. Neil’s voice can be in-grating if not through the right equipment. Van’s music just gets better through the right equipment. The Bach harpsichord pieces really have a great fundamentality. The Beethoven works are just magnanimous and hard for most systems to play. Joni is at her best on Blue.
I could have lived happily with ACCU because it made one of the most amazing differences I’ve experienced switching equipment in a very long time. The sound ACCU produced was just an incredible awakening to my audio enjoyment. I stand by my previously written explanation of it full heartedly. It brought out instruments and voicing I have never experienced before with an incredible black noise floor. Then came ACAG! I was able to compare the silver and copper since I had them at the same time (I wasn’t sure which one I would be retaining) and spent a week doing just that. ACAG took each and every attribute ACCU has and just clarified it. There was better definition Throughout. Everything I compared had ACCU’s great smooth and detailed sound and took it to the next level. ACAG doesn’t know the meaning of noise floor cause it disappears completely. It is the blackest background I’ve ever experienced. Notes seem to be coming from actual instruments right in front of me with none of the edginess that silver can produce. These are the most non-silver, silver cables I’ve ever heard. It puts forth not just a natural sound but a natural feel to instruments. It’s almost as if I could reach out and touch the note or voice being presented.
Final thought is, did I get the same wow factor as I did going to ACCU from my previous digital cable, no, that was a leap beyond imagination. Am I impressed enough with ACAG in my system that it has become an integral part of my system, ABSOLUTELY. Once you hear it, you can't go back.
Thanks Jason for the opportunity to take my system to the next level. One that is truly awe inspiring.
Don Fleenor
