ALO SXC Cryo Products

[KB]

I am very happy to announce that we have a couple of major developments. First we have launched the new website and I hope many will find it much easier to navigate and have the use of FedEx as well. Second I have finally integrated the new ALO wire (ALO Cryo SXC) into the line of standard cables. I am very pleased with this new raw material. I spent a lot of time and capital developing this wire. I am happy to report that this stuff totally fits the bill for what I have envisioned in a wire. Some of the major features of this wire are an improved physical handling; it is very soft and bendable, does not put any stress on your jacks. The wire is a Certified Ohno continuous cast copper (OCC)*. I have specifically asked for a very fine strand size for this wire. Then I had the manufacture silver plate each tiny strand. The reason for this is twofold, one to guard against future discoloration of the wire caused by oxidation, second to provide the wire with an increased detail on the top end. Next I asked to have this wire jacketed in a clear PE jacket, because I think the wire looks as good as it sounds and I wanted this to be anything but boring.

Finally in an effort to gain (squeeze) all the possible advancements and edge sonics in a cable I have hooked up in partnership in with Lee at Cryo-Parts to have them Cryo treat as many parts as I can. See "news" here. I have sent Cryo-Parts my entire shipment of my ALO SXC wire for treating as well as just about every connector I own, even my ipod connectors. In fact many of the parts I use, be it a female mini jack or 1/4 plus has been cryoed by either Cryo-Parts or JenaLabs at one point. While I might not advertise that the part has been treated and it most likely was, it was just easier send Lee my entire inventory of parts for treatment. I know there might be some why will say ill things about the cryo claims and its benefits, and while I do not want to open a debate on all this I did want to take advantage of Cryo-Parts service regardless of what some might think. I simply want to make the best sounding and best looking audio cable I possibly can. So please check out these and many other cables and products at our new web store soon.

*The OCC process.

As for conducting materials, normal, high purity copper has about 1500 grains in each foot (5000/m). The signal must cross the junctions between these grains 1500 times in order to travel through one foot of cable. These grain boundaries cause the same type of irritating distortion as current crossing from strand to strand.

The first grade above normal high purity copper is called Oxygen-Free High-Conductivity (OFHC) copper. In fact, this copper is not Oxygen-Free, it should more properly be called Oxygen-Reduced. OFHC is cast and drawn in a way that minimizes the oxygen content in the copper: approximately 40 PPM (parts per million) for OFHC compared to 235 PPM for normal copper. This drastically reduces the formation of copper oxides within the copper, substantially reducing the distortion caused by the grain boundaries. Additional improvement can be attributed to OFHC copper having longer grains (about 400 per foot), further reducing distortion. The sound of an OFHC copper cable is smoother, cleaner, and more dynamic than the same design made with standard high purity copper.

Not all OFHC is the same. If the poorest copper were given a value of one, and the best was a ten, then OFHC ranges from two to four-it is actually a range rather than a single performance level.

The next higher grade is an elongated grain copper sometimes called "linear-crystal" (LC-OFC) or "mono-crystal". These coppers have been carefully drawn in a process that results in only about 70 grains per foot. Cables using LC-OFC have an obvious audible advantage over cables using the same designs with OFHC.

In 1986 the Ohno Continuous Casting (OCC) process was introduced. The world patent "UP-OCC" (Ultra Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting Process) was developed by professor Ohno of Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan. This technology has been applied to the manufacturing of single crystallized copper with the process of heated mold continuous casting. The resulting product are small rods of OCC pure copper, from which the wire can be drawn and which can have Copper grains of over 700 ft length.

Because of its characteristics of single crystal, unidirectional, free of impurity, flexible fatigue-resistance, corrosive-resistance, low electric resistance, none-crystal boundaries, rapid transmissibility, perfect in structure, and easy to process, all make it an ideal material for making rapid transmission lines. From inner hook up wires to interconnect cables, they can be widely applied to Hi-Tech products such as Hi-Fi stereo system, high resolution TV.

A couple of years later the "nines" race began. This refers to how many times the number "9" can be repeated when specifying a metal's purity. The prime contaminants in very high purity (99.997% pure, four nines) copper are silver, iron and sulfur, along with smaller amounts of antimony, aluminum and arsenic. The purity of OCC Copper can reach up to 99.9999% and even higher.

[ElChupahueso]

So does this mean that you'll be possibly using your new cable to recable headphones? More than anything i'm curious as to what the differences are sonically in comparison to the JenaLabs cable that you've been using for some time.

[puft54cs]

Wondering what the difference is between the Jumbo Cryo x Silver iPod Dock Cable and the new ALO Cryo SXC 18G iPod cable, since they are the same price.

[soulsword19831213]

I'm now using IPOD CLASSIC+PICO+UE-11, mainly listening to POP and ROCK. Can you give me some advice on ALO SXC Cryo 18awg and Jumbo Cryo X Silver, which one is more suitable for me? Thanks

[HeadphoneAddict]

I have the new ALO SXC iMod LOD and my old Jumbo Cryo Silver X (JCSX) iMod LOD here with me now, and I have been testing them since last Monday. It sounds very good and I mostly listened using my iMod and Livewires and iBasso D2 portable (with opamps rolled to a LM6172 in ground channel and LM4562 in main amp).

First off, the SXC iMod cable is much fuller and transparent sounding than my 22g cryo iMod LOD. Next, vs the Jumbo Cryo Silver X that I have had for about 9 months the SXC sounds very similar, but not quite. I'd have to say there is more body to the instruments and the SXC sounds better, which isn't what I wanted to hear because the Jumbo Cryo Silver X is mine, and I have to return the SXC when I am done evaluating it. I don't need to spend $200 on another LOD, but yet I may have to.

There is something about the SXC that I can't put my finger on yet, but it has to do with the soundstage I think. It's like the SXC LOD is more transparent and more open sounding - venues sound bigger and the echos off the walls don't seem so close. It's almost like the Jumbo Cryo Silver X with JL wire has it's own echo or reverberation to it, which the SXC cable is able to eliminate. Regardless, I really like the JCSX a lot, but I like the SXC more.

My Ranking for the iMod LOD are:

1st - ALO SXC
2nd - ALO Jumbo Cryo Silver X (almost a tie but not quite as good)
3rd - ALO 22g Cryo

If using all the LOD on a 3G Nano, then I can include 4 more LOD:

4th - barqy built silk insulated solid silver (sounds very detailed and transparent vs the 22g cryo LOD with slightly less bass impact)
5th - barqy built silver plated copper (slightly less transparent but very good)
6th - S2 Audio silver plated copper (compared to 2nd - last place previously but sounded nice yet I sold it in July)
7th - eBay generic LOD (that looks like a ZY cable from head-direct, but isn't - gave to my son)

I will be taking some photos of the LOD's, as well as posting a review of some SXC interconnects that I have been testing once I take the pix (the writeup is already complete).

[HeadphoneAddict]

[KB]

Hey Larry

Is that shag?



Thanks for the input! and photos.

Note that the SXC Cryo 18awg also sports a gold plated mini plug and brass handle, black. These are IMO the best mini plug ( Switchcraft 35HDBAU) sold today for our applications used for small portable amplifiers VS the Canare F-12. I also feel that the sound of the Cryo X Silver and the new ALO SXC Cryo is quite similar, very happy about this because they both are doing what I wanted them to do in terms of sound performance. I have lowered the price of the Jumbo Cryo X Silver because I feel that the new ALO SXC Cryo 18g simply has a performance based value that is greater than that of the Jumbo Cryo X Silver -> superb sonics, iTouch/iPhone and backwards compatible with ipods, gold mini plug, a physically softer and more flexible cable = takes the mantel of best ipod line out dock.

KB

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by KB

Hey Larry

Is that shag?



Thanks for the input! and photos.

Note that the SXC Cryo 18awg also sports a gold plated mini plug and brass handle, black. These are IMO the best mini plug ( Switchcraft 35HDBAU) sold today for our applications used for small portable amplifiers VS the Canare F-12. I also feel that the sound of the Cryo X Silver and the new ALO SXC Cryo is quite similar, very happy about this because they both are doing what I wanted them to do in terms of sound performance. I have lowered the price of the Jumbo Cryo X Silver because I feel that the new ALO SXC Cryo 18g simply has a performance based value that is greater than that of the Jumbo Cryo X Silver -> superb sonics, iTouch/iPhone and backwards compatible with ipods, gold mini plug, a physically softer and more flexible cable = takes the mantel of best ipod line out dock.

KB

Yep, best sounds about right. I now need to discuss with you about maybe my getting an ALO SXC iPhone/Touch cable (not for iMod), so I can use it to feed my portable vCap dock from my iMod, as well as with my 3G iPhone. All I have right now is a couple of $50 generic LOD from barqy for the Vcaps, which have been nice but now I know what I'm missing. If I am not using the iMod/Vcaps then my old Jumbo Cryo Silver X iMod LOD should be acceptable, otherwise I'd offer to trade you for the loaner iMod cable here Bummer, more wallet damage - I need to take out a health insurance policy for my wallet.

I also have my more complete review on both the ALO SXC XLR interconnects and the ALO SXC mini-RCA interconnect linked here: Mini-Review ALO SXC XLR balanced interconnects vs Anti-Cables XLR, mmwwhats "Whirly Wisp", and generic Mogami starquad & SPC

Enjoy!

PS: not shag carpet - medium length regular in Macro mode looks just about as cool though...

PPS: I have two Punnisher low profile non-iMod LOD that I haven't had time to test vs the others because they are so new. I might update this later with that. KB, YOU NEED TO CONSIDER MAKING LOW PROFILE LOD THAT HAVE THE CABLE COME OUT OF THE SIDE OF THE DOCK CONNECTOR, WITH A 90 DEGREE 3.5MM PLUG.

[Sasaki]

This is my impression on the new ALO Cryo SXC 18awg iPod(not iMod) Line Out Dock.
I mainly use it hooked up with Nano2G and SR71A. ESW9, HD25 and Sleek customs.



The new ALO SXC 18awg is open and sharp like silver, warmer and fuller as copper.
Overall, the SXC18 is smooth and much detailed but not harsh nor bright. The SXC18 also has good punchy bass and sparkle highs, the sound stage is fairly wide and large.
I now have ALO SXC cryo Audioengine A2 cable as well and I feel the same fairly large spacious sound too. It is also fuller and detailed. This must be a virtue of the new cable.

Anyway I think this is very good cable for iPods. Whenever I got the iMod version, I will compare it with my current iMod LODs.

[FishSauce]

Wait until I get a new amplifier and I'll get these cables for sure.. ahh my wallet starts to shake in fear..

[HeadphoneAddict]

I'm sitting here listening and still blown away by these SXC XLR IC and this SXC mini-XLR interconnect that I linked to my review in post #8 - be sure to read it!

Mini-Review ALO SXC XLR balanced interconnects vs Anti-Cables XLR, mmwwhats "Whirly Wisp", and generic Mogami starquad & SPC

[kimura]

wow new stuff, looks awesome!!!

[mrarroyo]

Man, I want one so bad! Anyone need a kidney or similar? :-)

Beautiful, just beautiful!

[mrarroyo]

I have one on its way!

[tnmike1]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

I have the new ALO SXC iMod LOD and my old Jumbo Cryo Silver X (JCSX) iMod LOD here with me now, and I have been testing them since last Monday. It sounds very good and I mostly listened using my iMod and Livewires and iBasso D2 portable (with opamps rolled to a LM6172 in ground channel and LM4562 in main amp).

First off, the SXC iMod cable is much fuller and transparent sounding than my 22g cryo iMod LOD. Next, vs the Jumbo Cryo Silver X that I have had for about 9 months the SXC sounds very similar, but not quite. I'd have to say there is more body to the instruments and the SXC sounds better, which isn't what I wanted to hear because the Jumbo Cryo Silver X is mine, and I have to return the SXC when I am done evaluating it. I don't need to spend $200 on another LOD, but yet I may have to.

There is something about the SXC that I can't put my finger on yet, but it has to do with the soundstage I think. It's like the SXC LOD is more transparent and more open sounding - venues sound bigger and the echos off the walls don't seem so close. It's almost like the Jumbo Cryo Silver X with JL wire has it's own echo or reverberation to it, which the SXC cable is able to eliminate. Regardless, I really like the JCSX a lot, but I like the SXC more.

My Ranking for the iMod LOD are:

1st - ALO SXC
2nd - ALO Jumbo Cryo Silver X (almost a tie but not quite as good)
3rd - ALO 22g Cryo

If using all the LOD on a 3G Nano, then I can include 4 more LOD:

4th - barqy built silk insulated solid silver (sounds very detailed and transparent vs the 22g cryo LOD with slightly less bass impact)
5th - barqy built silver plated copper (slightly less transparent but very good)
6th - S2 Audio silver plated copper (compared to 2nd - last place previously but sounded nice yet I sold it in July)
7th - eBay generic LOD (that looks like a ZY cable from head-direct, but isn't - gave to my son)

I will be taking some photos of the LOD's, as well as posting a review of some SXC interconnects that I have been testing once I take the pix (the writeup is already complete).

Am I missing something?? Went to the ALO website and do not see the ALO SXC for the Imod. Is it just not on the site yet??? And if not, how do we order it???