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Positive Feedback ISSUE 79
Audio Ramblings - the Skogrand
SC Beethoven Speaker Cables
So here we have the Beethoven loudspeaker cables from Skogrand that at $22K are something I tend to never review. Actually make that never ever ever review. Just not at a price point that I am comfortable with, or one that I would ever consider as a purchase option—and yes, even with an industry accommodation. Meaning that if it is not something I could ever afford, then it is not really something for me to write about, therefore not a price point I am familiar with either. But here they are all the same. Left with me since mid 2014 and, well, yeah damn I have had them in and out of the system since then and, well, yeah damn it has been a struggle to put into words what I have been hearing with them in the system… though easy to express what I hear with them out of the system. I have bounced around with verbiage to communicate for the past five months and at this stage the best I can do is say that they have really no sound of their own. I love my music with the Skogrand Beethoven cables, but damn if I can say what they do…. they let the signal, or music, pass with no sound of their own. At least that is what I think the cables are doing when connecting my Clayton M100 amplifiers to the Reimer Tetons. See I have always argued that everything in your system and room has a sound or does something to the music… sometimes it is easy to describe what it does because it does so much or has such an obvious impact, and sometimes it is impossible to describe it simply because it does so little that perceptible differences are either trivial or miniscule. And in this case I am leaning heavily to the side that the Skogrand Beethoven cables simply get out of the way and let the signal, or music, through unscathed by whatever.
I realize that many readers will find this is hard to accept, even though this is exactly what so many manufacturers try to do; impart no sound or whatever with their wire either into or onto the music (signal), but in this case, Knut Skogrand appears to have accomplished just that. Well at least when compared with the other speaker cables I have inhouse. Of course for those who claim that cables do not have a sound, or that they cannot change the sound unless they are so poorly designed, then what I heard (or didn't hear) could be used to defend their case. Of course at $22k they would scream bloody murder and consider us all loonies. Guess I'm loony. Our music, as heard with the Beethoven cables, comes across with such a wonderful flow of musical engagement… yeah, all the clichéd adjectives fit here: clean, articulate, expansive, quiet, loud, airy, solid, pace, rhythm, energy, dimensional, dynamic, extended, deep, propulsive, detailed, hard, soft, and grainfree, gritfree, freefree. But then am I describing what our music sounds like, or the sound of the Skogrand Beethoven cables—what it is imparting into or onto the music?
Nah, the Skogrand Beethoven cables are not imparting anything. There is no sonic 'carry over' or coloration, there is simply no sonic signature being imparted into or onto the music. At least nothing that I can hear or put a nail into. Too often cables make your music sound more alike than different by adding some sort of sonic seasoning—lean, fat, bloomy, dull, bright, forward, laidback, etc. We have all heard this from various products with the better ones doing it way less. But it is still there: a family sound of sorts. Not a bad thing at all. Certainly a useable thing for doing whatever might be needed to be done to get the system 'just right.' It is all a matter of taste and preference. I have always seen cables to be that last thing we do to make the magic happen. That last step to add that bit of flavoring so our music tastes just so right. Which is why I have what I have here in my system. The cables I use do what I want them to do to balance things out. Yes, they have a sonic signature, but one I appreciate and like with my music and system. They make the music sound the way I want it to sound. And they do so with little to complain about. Sadly, when compared to the $24k Skogrand Beethoven cables I am able to hear their shortcomings. Nothing to lose sleep over, but yeah, they are there all the same. Can I still live with them? Damn straight. Good stuff. Now, my cables fall more to the middle of the manufacturer's range, so perhaps if I moved further up their product offerings I would experience what I hear with the Skogrand Beethoven cables? Maybe. Don't know. Speculating… no doubt the top would be better. Certainly different.
With the Skogrand Beethoven cables I hear no coloration or whatever going on across my music. The recordings are just there—good and bad. That is, there is more of a difference sonically than ever before between and among our music. Good recordings sound better and bad recordings sound worse. It is what it is. You simply hear more and not less… and less of what one might hear with lesser cables or ones that impart something into or onto the music. The Skogrand Beethoven cables are not going to act as a bandaid. Along with that, you hear more of what the rest of your components are doing; also a good thing. Make that a really good thing if you got the synergy right… and that I do. So what else is there to say? If I continue on all I will be doing is both describing what I hear with my recordings, meaning this will become a music review, and how the components in my system sound, and then this becomes a hardware review. This has been my struggle for the past five months… how to describe what is going on, or not going on, with the Skogrand Beethoven cables. Damn you Knut. These are so fucking good. I love what they do to my music, well… make that what they don't do. Damn you! Read Myles Astor's review HERE From Knut Skogrand… All our cable models are named after well known composers. When looking for a name that would best suit our top of the line cable model our choice was Beethoven. His musicality is beyond question. His ability to create works based on strictly following the rules of composition and yet expanding these into something larger than the individual components is striking. His mastery of both the complex and simple, the balance of the components through multiple layers of intertwining melodies working sublimely together. Beethoven is known throughout the World for his phenomenal compositions. But also for being almost completely deaf while creating some of his greatest works. The signature trait of the Beethoven cable model is its ability to convey musicality, to be silent and let the connected components sing only restricted by their own limitations. To let all other noise be blackened out to give every nuance of the music room to blossom to their fullest. Breathing life into the music by giving it a perfectly quiet background. Specs:
SC Beethoven Speaker Cables
Skogrand
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