VINCENT Premium

TR19.11.2011

Speaker cables

The Vincent Premium is a true highend in its appearance. Without knowing its price one would guess thousand euros per meter. The cable is strongly inspired by Furutech’s Lineflux and Speakerflux cables: it combines black nylon, decent golden threads and carbon fiber-glass clamps outlined by chrome.

Function and form

78%

Ease of use

31%

Sound

88%

Appearance

The Vincent Premium is produced as a bi-wire cable. It uses strands of fine 0,1mm2 OFC copper conductors on a cotton core that absorbs humidity and dampens micro-vibrations inside the cable. The strands are insulated in PE and the outer jacket is made of PVC and protected by a nylon sheath.

Despite the cable is very sturdy and wear-proof it surprised with very good bend radius of 45mm. The cable in test was terminated in gold plated bananas – the springs of the bananas did not have such a firm grip as those of the Oehlbach or Xindak, however, and needed to be checked for the connection perfection occasionally. I therefore recommend using spades instead for which Vincent provides an instant solution: in the box you will find both type of terminations and it is a matter of few seconds to unscrew the bananas and replace them with the spades.

Bass management

Weight

Slam

Articulation

This review is a part of The Low and Mid-tier Speaker Cables Megatest that includes 18 different speaker cables. The pilot article is available at SPECIAL EDITION REVIEWS section of Audiodrom.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail

Air

Transparency

The Vincent is a confident and competent cable and I did not experience an issue no matter what I paired it with. Deep lows are the most convincing element of the Vincent’s sound – they extend deep and with their punch they outperform the competitors in the Vincent’s price category and were excellent in the context of the mid-tier cables too. If the bass of the Vincent Premium could be decoupled from the cable and grafted onto another cable I would not hesitate to do that. Not only is the bass of the Vincent well contoured but it is fast too, and smoothly integrated with other frequencies as well. The electric bass of Roger Waters and the Nick Mason’s kick drum in Young Lust radiated energy and INXS swept my room with lively and expressive performance of Devil’s Party.

Tonal accuracy

Timbre

Dynamics

Temporal resolution

Well, the Vincent Premium has its limits and although it looks highend it is not highend yet. I missed finer textures, more colorful harmonies, more sound highs and more expanded dynamics, but who cares, especially when it can entertain so enthusiastically? The soundstage extended well behind the plane of speakers and to the sides, the depth is not as realistic as with the best cables in the test, however. I would not use the Vincent for classical stuff or big bands (the Rapport could be a good alternative for its richer portrayal of the orchestral sound) but it is perfectly at home with rock, pop and jazzy numbers.

Spatial resolution

Holography

Soundstage width

Soundstage depth

Considering excellent workmanship and the price, the Vincent Premium speaker cable is a great performer.

Price as reviewed:6 500,- Kč

Recommended resellers

Hifi studio MeLissa, Brno, tel. +420 777 041 313

Manufacturer's website: http://www.vincent-tac.de

Associated components

Sources: Primare CD32, Luxman D-05 and Accuphase DP-510
Amplifiers: Primare I32, Luxman L-590AX a Accuphase E-560
Interconnects and speaker cables: Krautwire Fractal, Cardas Clear, Homegrown Audio DNA
Loudspeakers: Audio Physic Virgo V, Dynaudio Confidence C1 and Xavian Giulia, Chario Constellation, Xavian Preludio, Revel Ultima Studio2, B&W 805 Diamond and Atohm G 1.0
Power conditioning: Nordost Thor (modified), Snakeblock, Nordost Valhalla

Gallery

39%

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