Graham Slee Audio
Interconnect: Cusat50
The Cusat50 Audio Interconnect for reliable low-noise wide-band performance |
Extending bandwidth beyond the box...
The benefits a wide bandwidth audio design brings to music won't go very
far if the Interconnect can't deliver it to the next stage. That's why we
decided to make the Cusat50 Interconnect. Capable of working from DC to a few
Gigahertz, it is also double-shielded to keep out radio-frequencies which
cause audible low frequency imaging distortions and often, radio-breakthrough.
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The Cusat50 Interconnect is based on the test leads we use in our own
product tests
The tests we do are both diagnostic specification testing as well as
critical listening tests. In both cases the wrong type of Interconnect can
give rise to misleading results - if precise distortion measurements can be
severely corrupted then what do you think the wrong Interconnect will do for
your listening?
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The right connections...
Phono connectors aren't exactly the best idea in the world, so it pays to
have phono plugs that take up the slack. The Cusat50 centre pin is split to
accommodate different tolerances on phono socket centre contacts, and the
ground contact is a collet type which tightens onto the socket by rotating the
barrel of the phono plug. The plugs are Teflon insulated so as not to
compromise the Cusat50 speed.
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Price
Cusat50 Interconnect
from
270.00 USD
135.67 GBP
1 metre
(USD price is approximate)
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Stereo imaging, instrument separation and musical
clarity can be lost through another kind of imaging...
Mix two frequencies and they produce an image frequency. Mix two notes
and you get another. Motorists sometimes hear the phenomenon in traffic
queues or following a heavy goods vehicle up hill, when the two engine
notes combine and give a low throbbing note that doesn't belong to
either. Any unwanted frequency appearing on a musical signal, whether
it's audible or not, will have an audible effect. Radio and other
electromagnetic interference should therefore never be allowed to
contaminate the music and the Cusat50's highly effective double
shielding will go a long way to prevent it. The problem of imaging is
compounded if the signal is slowed by the narrow-banding techniques of
some Interconnect manufacturers, as a filter pole is introduced altering
the phase of the musical signal, again introducing more unwanted images
to blur and veil the sound.
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Good shielding is a prerequisite of wide-bandwidth performance
In recent years I have been shocked to hear about Interconnects that flout
the rules of good audio by either being insufficiently shielded or having no
shielding against radio frequencies or other electromagnetic interference at
all. They are bad news for all seekers of better musical performance taking the
wide-bandwidth approach like we do. They have caused our customers numerous
problems which have been solved simply because we are aware of the situation and
publish our views. Such Interconnects also flout the EMC regulations and
European Union CE marking legislation designed to minimise interference between
electronic equipment operating in different frequency bands. I have also seen
the prices of some of them, but realise some people, including a handful of
reviewers, have been taken in, and although they may spice up an otherwise dull
sounding system, it is through improper means. Such, it seems, is today's Hi-Fi
industry.
Graham Slee |
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