JPS Labs UltraConductor Test of loudspeaker cable
by Milan Cernohorsky, Editor AMP from Czech Republic, January 2001
When
the designer and the establisher and current president of the JPS
Labs Company,
Many of audio fans fancy the immense ropes twining behind the devices,
which do no good to your wallet neither to the connectors in many times.
'The thicker, the better', this argument can be heard often.
But is the thickness of a cable the most important for the sound quality?
The Joe Skubinski UltraConductor
models turn this philosophy upside down. He
took a different path and he has gained. He
focused on the production of a totally new building stone of his cables.
He has chosen an ultra-pure alloy wire called Alumiloy.
I entered into correspondence
with him last summer and it has soon become clear Joe Skubinski is a very modest
and friendly person having enormous experience in the audio field, which is of
value to any audio fans. The
products he developed over last couple of years are of the top quality.
How does he do it? If necessary, while testing the products, for a better judgment
he uses not yet tired out ears of his little sons!
Joe Skubinski has established
the JPS Labs in 1990.
I am sure the beginnings were not easy, because there have already been
many of the specialized producers.
Material-Construction: The tested UltraConductor
model is a solid but yet very flexible core.
The cable topcoat is made of blue insulation.
The exposed positive and negative ends are covered in a red and black protective jacket and are secured in place with white heat shrink tubing.
The familiar JPS Labs logo finishes off the cable's visual
presentation.
In
the UltraConductor, there is no
copper shielding as in the more expensive JPS
Labs models, but I did not find it to be a handicap.
In the UltraConductor product
line, there is also a bi-wire version and an interconnect cable.
The interconnect cable we tested last autumn during our big autumn test.
This
fine cable was curled up in the see-through plastic box like a snake, when it
came rolling to me in Prague. The cable is 6 foot long, which equals to 180 cm,
which I think, is long enough. Joe
Skubinski recommends 20 hours for the cable to get aquatinted with the
connection to its new audio environment, which is quite short burn-in time.
As I experienced the Swedish loudspeaker cable Supra
Ply 3,4 S, I approximately let it double time (40 hours).
Sound:
I was really surprised with the 'dwarf''s' performance.
The acoustic instruments were reproduced clearly and they kept their
natural volume and character. This
I appreciated the most while listening to the top vocal jazz singer Rachelle
Ferrell with George Duke. The sound was full, dynamic and on top of that I was
happy to hear the bass stayed solid and fast.
Listening
to the recordings I took in all the three space dimensions (width, high, depth)
and a large amount of details without a problem. I smiled away when I had realized this model was on the
lowest rate of the JPS Labs offer.
The
performance remained perfect on mid-frequency of oscillation, mild though rich.
There was no sign any other sound spectrum parts were prioritized. The same I
could say about the high frequencies.
After
a while I interrupted the test and changed the JPS
Labs model for the Czech KrautWire-model
3SE. Well, I was not as happy
listening anymore. The Czech model is a supreme component, I have got to admit
that, but while connected to my cheaper devices, in comparison to the JPS Labs model, the end sound was more of an analytical character
and some of the wooden instruments lost their natural sound.
I noticed that mainly on the higher sound - attitudes of violin and
cello.
But
in the combination of the KrautWire-model
3SE and the Copland CD player+ Primare amplifier, the Czech model sounds
really great. I verified this finding with Jirka Michalek, with his audio
equipments - the Czech cable can be called
daredevil 'Mr. Cable'.
The
fact that the JPS Labsâ UltraConductor
fits any composition of devices is very favorable. The UltraConductor
can be easily connected with the best High-End devices. And I really appreciate that.
I would say, only God and Joe Skubinski know what the reason for this is,
I deduct it is the unique alloy wire; at least I do not know to
ask any other 'why's' to come up with any different answer.
At
the end I examined the UltraConductor
and the Swedish Supra Ply
3,4 S cable.
The Swedish participant gained more points for the bass, which was slightly deeper, but initially less controlled. The other sound spectrum regions were identical.
At
the end:
The JPS Labs cable have had a
positively good time at my home, it did not trouble my current device
composition and it enabled my devices to perform a bit better than ever before.
I
recommend this product to everybody who considers the sound quality an important
criterion. The money invested to this cable is then a great investment.
(Please note that UltraConductor of today is a stranded flexible cable with even better sonics)
Device
used during tests:
Amplifier
Cairn 4807 integrated 2*60Watt / 8 Ohm
CD
player Kenwood 5090
Loudspeakers
Protagonist - prototype with Audax / Scan-Speak drivers
Loudspeaker
Cables from Swedish Supra - Ply 3,4 S
Interconnect
cables Purist Audio Design - Proteus;
Ales
Koudelka's ALK-2;
Maple
Audio Works - Ambiance;
Granite
Audio Model #470
Music:
Rachelle
Ferrell 'Individuality' with George Duke
Rosemary
Clooney 'Brasil' with John Pizzarelli ³
Frank
Sinatra 'Duets'
Susannah
McCorkle 'Hearts and Minds'
Jay
Beckenstein 'Eye contact'
Nnenna
Freelon 'Soulcall'
Bach/Vivaldi/Marcello
"Violin and Oboe Concertos"
Patricia
Barber "Modern Coolä and few pieces of Jarek Nohavica.
Misc.:
I
used the Caig- ProGold a Deoxit Company products for the cable maintenance.
Heroically produced at:
JPS Labs
Web:
http://www.jps-labs.com/
E-mail: info@jpslabs.com
Tel.: 001-716-714-5710
Many thanks to Mr. Joe Skubinski of JPS Labs company who has given us a chance to examine such a well done piece!
Milan Cernohorsky, Editor AMP from Czech Republic, January 2001