ANALYSIS PLUS Silver Oval-In
Interconnects
After many computer simulations and other exhaustive tests, in Analysis Plus they 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.
Function and form
Analysis Plus Silver Oval-IN resides at the top of the Analysis Plus´catalogue. The hornet image is abandoned in favor of silver braided shield that is visible through the transparent polyethylene jacket and violet & white combination of shrinking tubes on XLR Neutriks. Sonically the Silver Oval-IN preserves everything I liked with the previously reviewed Copper Oval-IN, squared however.
Bass management
Along with the hollow oval conductor design in our Oval cable product line, we also determined that a braided conductor was superior to solid core conductors for two significant reasons.
The most obvious advantage of a braided conductor is that it yields a more mechanically reliable cable than solid conductor designs. A woven or braided cable is more flexible and resistant to stress fractures resulting from continual flexing than a solid cable. Braided cable has yet another advantage over solid core conductors. Analysis Plus, Inc., uses a woven pattern in its Oval cables where every wire is statistically as close to the return current as every other wire. The current density is now more evenly distributed between the strands. As a result, the resistance of our Oval cables is extremely constant over a variety of frequencies--much more so than solid-core cylindrical cables.
Clarity & delicacy
After few days of listening to the Silver Oval-IN I found it to be superior to both similarly priced Homegrown Audio DNA and renowned Kimber Kable KCAG. In Light On my Shoulder the vocal of Suzie Suh was projected into my room three-dimensionally and palpably, with solid contours and lifelike realism. At times the Silver Oval-IN reminded me of Nordost Norse interconnects with it’s a tad lighter and transparent voicing (yet without the Nordost’s transient attack precision) or of Cardas with its relaxing and colourful presentation. Looks like impossible but the Analysis Plus Silver Oval-IN has managed to make a bridge between both worlds with great success.
Tonal accuracy
I also listened to notoriously known You Can Leave Your Hat On that is a wonderful example of seemingly simple yet quite complex and richly weaved instrumentation (Joe Cocker, Organic, Parlophone). Two guitars, piano, hammond organ, conga, drums, another drums, bass guitar, synthesizer, choir and Joe Cocker’s raspy voice. To keep everything under control is a difficult task for any component or a cable. The Silver Oval-IN did not lose its breath, it moved the piano a bit further back and the singer a bit closer to me in the room (compared to the DNA), which helped creating a sense of scale, and threw nicely layered and organically glued soundstage that was not limited by the speakers.
Spatial resolution
The guys in Analysis Plus recommend to burn-in new cables quite extensively before they are ready to perform optimally – I found their recommendation 200-300 hours unreasonable for the review as it would take me half a year to get the cables into shape. Therefore the two-day conditioning on the Blue Horizon ProBurn that should correspond to around one hundred hours had to suffice. Still, if the Silver Oval-IN is capable of further improvement throughout the standard use it is a good news as it sounded wonderfully already. Highly recommended.
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
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After many computer simulations and other exhaustive tests, in Analysis Plus they determined that a hollow oval cable constituted the best possible conductor design. The primary advantage of an oval conductor design rather than ...
Recommended resellers
Audiostudio s.r.o., Olomouc, tel. +420 608 752 475
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