TorsionAfter listening to Lumaca’s setup, we switched back to the Companions. Brian had something he wanted to show me—his speaker cables, Jena Labs Ultra Wire. I had brought along Torsion Cu for comparison. In the Companion system, Torsion delivered a warm, well-balanced, and enjoyable listening experience. The Jena Labs wire, by contrast, had a harder edge to its sound, but its overall balance was excellent.
Then Brian played a track that took me by surprise. It featured a pronounced maraca. Through Torsion, the maraca sounded calm and recessed. With the Jena cables, however, it was vibrant, bold, and forward. The difference was unmistakable. Torsion, designed for speakers in the 5-500+ watt range, was a poor match for the ultra-efficient 107dB 1w/m Companion speakers. In fact, any speaker above 100-103dB efficiency would be less than ideal with Torsion. Hearing this firsthand was an eye-opener. Brian had successfully demonstrated that I needed to step up my game for high-efficiency (H.E.) speakers.
The ChallengeBrian had ideas he wanted me to explore. He was convinced that the only way to achieve the level of detail and texture he sought was with stranded wire—specifically, the finest stranded wire available. The Jena wire he used had an incredibly fine strand diameter of 0.1mm—the width of a human hair. Additionally, he wanted me to integrate my proprietary Aerogel dielectric into the design.
I remember sitting in his kitchen, petting Lily, and thinking, How am I going to tell this guy that what he just asked for is impossible? I had spent the last five years developing aerogel cabling with solid-core wire, refining the polishing process to an astonishing 120-nanometer scale. That ultra-fine polishing was the key to Hapa Audio’s signature level of detail retrieval and sound quality. I had written numerous articles on the subject (read here). The idea of applying the same principles to stranded wire was daunting—it felt like trying to paint the Mona Lisa with a toothpick. But I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
Leaving New Jersey, my mind was consumed by the challenge. Even in the TSA line at the airport, I was so lost in thought that I barely noticed when an officer told me, “Sir, you’re not just in the wrong line—you’re in the wrong terminal. You need to catch a bus and go through standard screening for Terminal A.” Oops. Clearly, this was going to occupy my mind for a while.
The Struggle BeginsBack home, my obsession with this challenge became obvious. I had to explain to my wife, “I’m not daydreaming—I’m deep in thought about a design I need to create. Please don’t distract me when I’m like this.”
Determined, I began sourcing the necessary materials and tools. I purchased a top-of-the-line cable stripping machine and reached out to the team at Jena Labs. I was officially off to the races. Almost immediately, I hit my first major hurdle—removing the dielectric layer from the Jena Ultra Wire.
This was no ordinary task. The dielectric was thick and tough, yet the wire itself was so delicate that even slight mishandling could break individual strands. Successfully removing this layer was crucial for two reasons: first, I needed to eliminate the oxide layer present on all factory-made wire—one of the key steps in achieving my level of sound quality. Second, I needed to apply my proprietary aerogel dielectric.
Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find a way to remove the dielectric without damaging the wire, even with my new expensive fancy cable stripping device. Frustration set in. Finally, I called Brian.
Before/After photos of my polishing process to both remove the oxide layer off of solid core wire and bring a 120 nanometer polish to the surface. Cleaning the oxide layer off of stranded wire is impossible using this method
“Hey, buddy, I’m at a loss here,” I admitted. “If I can’t strip this dielectric, I can’t even start my R&D.”
Brian listened patiently. After a pause, he said, “Give me a couple of days to think about it. I’ll get back to you.”
And so, the challenge remained—an unsolved puzzle demanding a solution.
Brian for the win! Brian got back to me very quickly, he had come up with a solution that seemed to be ideal. He shipped off his new jig and a few days later, I was able to test it out. What can I say, He nailed the design. His jig allowed me to remove the dielectric layer without any damage to the delicate internal wire.
I set off to figuring out a solution to cleaning the wire. I will post this information in a separate thread as it is the basis for the product releases that will be coming this year.
