Arctic Cables- Sonoro
High purity cables made from premium materials will enhance your experience in comparison to the stock cables, whether you will hear better bass performance, wider soundstage, more vivid midrange, etc…
When I adore a headphone, the hunt begins to first find the best amp and dac for it, and my journey with that led me to buy the Holo Audio Bliss and Gustard R26, and with all honesty those 2 gears are simply an outstanding combo that will push the listening experience to the max and both are reasonably priced
After I nailed the Amp and DAC, my journey started in finding the best price/performance cable for my ZMF Caldera.
I contacted some companies and my search led me to Arctic Cables, and I started to correspond with them on emails and told them about my quest to take the Caldera to the next level.
Caldera has some issues and that is a fact shared even in the Caldera head fi thread, which is that it has some issues with the highs being a bit too much peaky, in addition for me at least I found also the soundstage was a bit constrained and not wide as I like it. So my discussion with Arctic cables was to address those, and after lots of front and back, Arctic cables informed me they were designing a great cable which in their opinion and after they themselves tested it on Caldera could be an answer to my quest.
The Sonoro is
- X3 20AWG clear pure occ litz copper
- X3 20AWG dark pure occ litz copper
- X2 18AWG clear pure occ litz silver
- cotton+kevlar centeral core per wire
Before I had the Sonoro I heard it with the Lavri Grand cable and with both my Norne cable Silvergrade and Moon Audio Silver Dragon, and the experience was good, but the Sonoro was more impressive in every aspect
After long thoughts, I took the decision and placed an order for the Sonoro and waited. I thought well even if it will not give me a wow effect I know it’s beautiful and made of best materials.
I received the cable and once I unpacked the box and held the cable in my hands, I was mesmerized by its built quality that gorgeous cable was something I never held before from any company
Arctic Cables informed me to burn in the cable for 100 hours. So I will not dive too much about my experience once I received it, but I can say I was super impressed.
After 100 hours of burn in, the cable evolved and started to show its real character and capabilities. I can tell you all this cable is something even cable doubters should try
So how did it affect the Caldera, well I will not write big long articles about how each song will now sound and make the reader of my impression get lost in words. I will keep things simple and straight to the point
Bass: the bass of the Caldera is great but I felt it could be more refined and shine through and have more impact, and that is what the Sonoro brought to the table, a better bass experience and definition of notes and I can tell you the punch and impact of the bass is what will draw your attention from the first time you will experience this cable
Mids: fuller mids with more resolution and clarity. You will feel that the Mids have a more accurate presence and are allowed to shine through with such a grand experience. The notes are more natural and rounded. It’s difficult to say in words that experience. The mids are showcased with more fullness and more resolution. The vocals whether male or female vocals simply became more natural and had this great texture shining through with grandiose feeling. I am a person who simply cannot tolerate a headphone that does have issues in the mid range at all. As such my tonality chasing journey is all about the mid range experience. And I can tell you this, the Sonoro simply took the Caldera to another resolute level in the mids. Simply full, organic, natural with a lot of texture
Highs: As some experienced that treble issue in Caldera, I did too, but not that it bothered me at all, but it was there. Here comes in the Sonoro and just irons out those imperfections, So that any treble peaks are now rounded and smoothed out with great extension. It is an absolute noticeable effect that you will hear so clearly how the highs are so well addressed
Stage: Well, dare I say that the Caldera went from good stage to really wide and holographic. Yes. I dare and that is something all my friends who auditioned the Sonoro and Caldera agreed on. It simply allowed the stage to take a bigger dimension which was a bit confined with the stock cable or some of the other aftermarket cables I experienced. The stage became deeper, wider and fuller. That stage simply made me now declare that the Caldera has a bigger stage than my Susvara for now. I do not know if I will use a Sonoro cable or any other suggested cable by Arctic cable on my Susvara what will happen, that is something that I will try next.
Thanks to Arctic Cables for being so professional and so tolerant. They simply care about customer experience and they do not push a customer in any direction. They simply aim to get the best customer satisfaction
Finally being so impressed by Arctic Cables, as they use top notch premium materials in making their cables and impressed by their amazing customer service I am now planning to buy a cable from Arctic Cables for both my Susvara and Utopia 2022
