ANALYSIS PLUS Silver Oval 2
Speaker cables
Everytime the Silver Oval 2 returned to my system it reminded me of the immediacy of a live performance. Johnny Cash’s vocal was very emotional and communicative, it created a strong emotional link between the music and the listener. Should I wish something I would personally prefer a tad deeper soundstage that was too forward to me through the Silver Oval 2, but considering the other strengths it is a minor quibble.
Function and form
Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 is a neat slim and silver wire. Both its conductors are not placed next to each other, rather the cross section looks like a wide flatten figure of 8. My sample of the Silver Oval was equipped by the bananas with extremely firm grip of terminals. The Silver Oval is not directional yet its both ends are marked to exclude any uncertainty.
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
After I had auditioned the Analysis Plus’s 12/2 and the Oval 9 I was a bit afraid to review the Silver Oval 2. It is not that cheap and if it should copy any of the issues of the forerunners than it would be waste of time. Fortunately the Silver Oval 2 proved to be a very competent speaker cable. It basically improved on the strengths of the Oval 9 plus removed the slugginess and stickiness in favor of aliveness and musical joy.
Clarity & delicacy
Tonal accuracy
Instead of a tired band I was listening to a well-oiled rock machine. Pink Floyd’s The Wall (Mobile Fidelity Remaster) pleased me with saturated and rich sound, the Analysis Plus managed to balance well between the bass heaviness (the bass is intentionally a bit prominent in the MoFi mix) and its definition so it was neither bloated nor incisive, but rounded and analog-like, supported by punchy kick drum and warmth of the Hammond organ.
Spatial resolution
Initially I thought the Oval 2 was less detailed than my reference but it was not - a listener receives tons of details, they are, however, very well integrated and blended into the music.
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
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Everytime the Silver Oval 2 returned to my system it reminded me of the immediacy of a live performance. Johnny Cash’s vocal was very emotional and communicative, it created a strong emotional link between the music and the listener. ...
Recommended resellers
Audiostudio s.r.o., Olomouc, tel. +420 608 752 475
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