ANALYSIS PLUS Oval 9
Speaker cables
I was impressed by the Analysis Plus’ proprietary solid bulk of pure copper – and gold plated – spades. They are really made from a billet of metal and milled into the shape - the mass of the single spade equals the mass of a fistful of spades from a competitor. I have never seen anything like that.
Function and form
Analysis Plus Oval 9 (2x1,8m) looks very copper, at least half of it looks liket that. The cable is a wide flat oval that reveals copper shielding under transparent polyethylene from one side, the other side being black. Visually (and technically too) the Oval 9 makes a nice pair with the Copper Oval-IN, both using copper for their conductors and hornet camouflage for their terminations.
What Analysis Plus engineers say about the design:
Most of the popular cables on the market employ round diameter cables as conductors. Unfortunately, cylindrical cable designs have a number of serious drawbacks, including current bunching, skin effect phenomenon, and frequency effects that lower the performance of the cable. After many computer simulations and other exhaustive tests, we determined that a hollow oval cable constituted the best possible conductor design.The primary advantage of an oval conductor design rather than cylindrical conductor geometry is that the oval shape allows more of the return current to be closer to the outgoing current, thus reducing the negative effects associated with excessive current bunching.
Since the center part of the conductor is not used at high frequencies, we can simply eliminate it. By using a hollow conductor, we help minimize the change in resistance with frequency and the cable becomes more efficient.
Bass management
The Oval 9 makes a positive jump from the quality of the Analysis Plus's cheaper 12/2 speaker cable. The bass that I criticized is now more contoured and punchy and the midrange is better filled in. The Oval 9 is, above all, a neat sounding cable bordering with certain euphony. The piano notes in Hurt (Johnny Cash, American IV: The Man Comes Around, American) as well as guitar tones had a tendency to sustain a few microseconds longer than I was used to, the decays took their time to trail off.
Clarity & delicacy
Tonal accuracy
It was like the sound was a bit sticky and could not detach from the speakers which resulted in somewhat lazy presentation, as if the sound waves did not want to obey the laws of physics and did not want to travel to my ears. It was quite an unusual experience as the rest - details, transients, frequency balance, soundstage and whatever else may come up to your mind - was fundamentally right.
Spatial resolution
The Analysis Plus is a nicely resolved on top and I liked especially how it handled stringed instruments – guitars and banjos were analytical yet smooth and without any trace of hardness or etch. Its top balance also helped uncover tiny nuancees in Suzie Suh’s Shell.
Still, to me, the Oval 9 is a pretty good cable for its price, yet it did not come to life in my system and therefore I would advise for a certain cautiousness before you buy.
Recommended resellers
Audiostudio s.r.o., Olomouc, tel. +420 608 752 475
Manufacturer's website: http://www.analysis-plus.com
Associated components
- Sources: Accuphase DP-78
- Amplifiers: Accuphase C-2410 and Accuphase A-60
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Krautwire Fractal, Analysis Plus Oval 9, Analysis Plus Copper Oval-In, Analysis Plus Silver Oval, Cardas Clear, Audioquest Wild Blue Yonder, CrystalConnect Piccolo Diamond, Homegrown Audio DNA
- Loudspeakers: Bowers & Wilkins 802 Diamond
- Power conditioning: Nordost Thor (modified), Nordost Valhalla, Shunyata Research Black Mamba HC CX, Python Z-tron and Cobra Z-tron, Snakeblock
Gallery
ANALYSIS PLUS Oval 9
I was impressed by the Analysis Plus’ proprietary solid bulk of pure copper – and gold plated – spades. They are really made from a billet of metal and milled into the shape - the mass of the single spade equals the mass of a fistful ...
Recommended resellers
Audiostudio s.r.o., Olomouc, tel. +420 608 752 475
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Audiostudio s.r.o., Olomouc, tel. +420 608 752 475
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