Over the past 5 years I have owned and evaluated a conga line of cables ranging from foils, commercial helix designs, liquid metal, stranded and solid OCC Copper and Silver conductors retailing in excess of $5K and they all had positive attributes.
As an avid DIYer/tweaker and the builder of 5 variations of the Helix Design, mines are configured with KLE Absolute Plugs, 1 run of Neotech OCC Solid Silver/1% Gold and 1 run of Neotech OCC Solid Silver as the signal and a double run of Mil-Spec Silverplated Copper as the neutral which is known as the Schroeder Method “SM” and in my opinion has been the best sounding cables I have ever heard in my system regardless of cost…
My audio (signal) senses went up another level when I saw the launch of Hapa Audio and I immediately delved into the technology of his DCSG - Dual Chirality Star Geometry which went much further in reducing crosstalk and inductance but would I be able to discern any difference over my already phenomenal sounding DIY Helix cables?
The Hapa Audio Breathe C Tour Cables arrived in excellent condition and presented in a very professional manner with the Hapa Logo on the internal box and 3 sets of cables individually secured with Velcro straps and protected in nice cloth-type draw string bag; very classy. The cables build quality are outstanding and are very flexible and almost weightless.
After 4 days of continuous burn-in, I was eager to hear the DCSG typology in my system with my own ears and with the music I typically listen to; Classical Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Cello and some Jazz.
Cued up 5-7 CDs of my favorite string instruments (play so often, the kids hum the notes : ) and was AMAZED! Tonality was the first thing I noticed with the Breathe C, Acoustic Guitar’s/Cello’s sounded fuller with more body, resonances, decay and “REALISM” … The instruments themselves were more life-like in size/scale and had an intricate and delicate sound that was not present with my previous cables.
After many A/B comparison between my DIY Silver/Gold Helix and Hapa Audio, the Breathe C just has more transparency and clarity without any brightness, forwardness or harshness. What you hear is a much wider/deeper and expansive soundstage, tighter image focus, better layering and the “chameleon illusion” as if your speakers are not even there…The level of detail and fluidity you hear between and beyond the boundaries of your loudspeakers with the Breathe C is quite astonishing and with the Beauty of Copper…
Being that the DCSG typology is similar to my DIY Helix Coax, I decided to try the Breathe C as a digital cable. My DIY Helix Coax has the same cabling as mentioned above but the coatings have been stripped off (naked) and placed inside 2 separate Teflon tubes and lightly twisted together. This “Air” Version yields better separation, better detail retrieval, more air and better image focus. The moment I inserted the Breathe C into the mix, I noticed the same attributes of textural body, resonances and a beautiful organic naturalness that exuded from wood-based instruments that the analog cables provided…
The supplies to build a DIY Helix Cable will cost you north of $230+ depending on your choice of conductors and that does not take into account all of the labor necessary to build a quality sounding cable. Hapa Audio Breathe C is more than worth the price of admission and at a price to performance ratio, the Breathe C wins hands down…
As with all cables, it comes down to system “synergy” and listener preferences but I can say without hesitation that the Breathe C is the best sounding cable I have heard in my system and I have owned and evaluated over 25+ brands…
If you are looking for a reference quality cable utilizing the latest techniques with proven noise/crosstalk rejecting, the finest Angel Litz Copper with vibration damping properties, I would highly recommend that you give Hapa Audio Breathe C or their other versions a try; As for me, my system will be outfitted with Hapa Audio Breathe C…
System Components:
Purity Audio Harmonia V2 2A3 DHT Tube Pre-Amp
Luxman Mq Uc KT88 Triode Tube Amp
SW1X Std III+ DHT Tube Dac
Jay’s Audio CD2 MK3 CD Transport
Puritan PSM 156 Conditioner with Ground Master
Liberty Audio X-VOX Loudspeakers (PBN Audio Company)
Power Cables:
5 X DIY Helix with Neotech OCC Solid Copper wiring/Furutech/Parts Connexion CF Plugs
Interconnects & Digital Cables:
3 X DIY Helix with 1 run of Neotech OCC Solid Silver/1% Gold and 1 run of OCC Solid Silver
Speaker Cables:
Kirmuss Audio Adrenaline 7 AWG Litz Array Cabling
Accessories:
Audio Rack sitting on Symposium Roller Blocks
4 X 2” Solid Maple Shelves for each component
IsoAcoustics Isolation devices installed on all components and under Loudspeakers
Wig
