You are reading the older HTML site
Positive Feedback ISSUE
40november/december 2008
cable research labs
Copper Series interconnects
as reviewed by Robert H. Levi
|
|
|
|
You are reading the older HTML site Positive Feedback ISSUE 40november/december 2008
cable research labs Copper Series interconnects as reviewed by Robert H. Levi
|
|
|
These may be the bottom of the CRL line, but they would be the top of the line for a number of other manufacturers I could name. The CRL Copper Series Interconnects, sold direct by CRL and made to order, are a superb design and excellent performers produced by the super friendly Chip Winston. With lots of fine detailing, neutral with a touch of warmth, very good speed, and always offering the musical tambours one craves, these right sounding cables are a bargain and a half at $895 for a single ended meter. They have such low resistance and are so well shielded that they can even be used as top notch phono cables with a low output moving coil cart. Very nice Chip. Flexible and magnificently terminated with expensive Bochino connectors, the Copper Series are about half as thick as the killer Silver Series and sound just a bit thinner and less detailed overall. What they do have is a slice of life sound, a realistic presentation, and a lack of any colorations that get in the way of the music. Like the Kimber Hero at $200, the Copper Series is the go to cable for most applications for audiophiles at its price point. Offering solid performance across the board, I was particularly surprised by its ability to offer the delicate, micro dynamics of the much more pricy designs. I could live with these cables and not look back. I am a big fan of harmonious neutrality and the Copper Series deliver and do it in any real world system around. They are also flexible and easy to work with. A must for audiophile interconnects is their ability to deliver an evenness of output at all frequencies …no lumps or bumps. The Copper Series is the best interconnect I have tested at this price with no obvious humps or suck-outs in frequency response on either of my reference systems. Even mannered, they just work predictably right out of the box. Yes, CRL breaks in their cables before shipping! How nice folks! These cables are both sophisticated and realistic on classical, and very, very good on jazz and rock. Quibbles? They are not quite as fast as I’d like overall or as richly detailed as say their $1500 CRL Silver cables. They certainly sound cut from the same sonic cloth. I know lots of folks want to spend less than $1000 on interconnects so the CRL Copper is a perfect choice for you and should be on your very short list. My reference cables are $3000 per meter and I can tell you the CRL Copper Series will deliver a big majority of that performance and have no problem colorations to report. The Copper Series CRL Interconnects are a serious contender for the best of class of under $1000 per meter. The Copper Series is the least colored, most truly neutral [in a musical sense] and linear interconnect from $20-20k I’ve encountered to date at this price point. This is no small achievement and CRL has done their homework. Even usable as excellent phono cables, I did not find a system, tube or solid state, where the Copper Series did not excel. What a deal! Highly recommended for audiophiles who are searching for that interconnect overachiever at real world pricing. Robert H. Levi
Cable Research Labs
Revised Interconnect rankings to include the highly recommended CRL Copper Series Interconnects with cables ranked within price categories as follows:
|
