Eletech Aristotle

Preamble​

Many thanks to @Damz87 and @Eric Chong for arranging the Australian Head-Fi tour of the School of Athens series of cables (Aristotle and Euclid)

The world of audio cables is one that is fraught with danger. Considering one of more commonly discussed topics is whether they make any difference at all, one would imagine that this is not exactly a cakewalk of a market. Eletech has managed to be one of the top choices within the IEM cable market however, seemingly focusing on ergonomics with their thinner and lighter offerings that seek to extract as much sonic benefit from as little conductors as possible.
Today’s review concerns a departure from such a philosophy, opting more for a thicker gauge of wire in the same vein as Eletech’s main rival, Effect Audio and more specifically, the Code series.
The Aristotle is one of two cables from their new “School of Athens” series and one must wonder how these compare to Electech’s own offerings, their main competitors and the constant spectre of ‘snake oil’.

The Factual Stuff​

Featuring twist of two 18AWG wires fashioned out of oil-soaked copper litz, the Aristotle is a departure from the usual 4 wire higher gauge combo that Eletech have traditionally enjoyed using.

The wires are also shielded with a 24 AWG “Active Shielding” and ohno continuous casting (OCC) copper shielding. These wires are terminated in your choice of termination and connectors (this review unit is 4.4mm and Versa, Eletech’s own interchangeable connector system).

Eletech opts again for some rather chunky and cool looking milled hardware to accent these rather thic wires.

The Opinion Stuff​

I can (or think that I can) hear differences with certain cables with IEMs. The magnitude of these differences differ from cable to cable and from IEM to IEM but I do indeed believe in them. Should you not and feel the need to berate me and question my intelligence, feel free to do so below.

The following impressions are written utilising the following IEMs:
- Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite (multi BA mid-fi);
- CCA Trio (triple DD cheapy);
- Campfire Audio Supermoon (Single planar kilobuck); and
- Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor (TOTL-ish hybrid).
Paired with a Shanling M6 Ultra (M6U).

Cables do not immediately carry over a specific sound signature in my experience, the extent of its sonic change changing with the IEM being used but there is a tendency to find some constants which I will speak about below.

Sound​

Bass​

The Aristotle presents with a healthy amount of lower end oomph, more often than not, imparting some additional emphasis in the bass frequencies with my IEMs when compared to the stock cable.
The sub-bass seems to emphasised somewhat, generating greater physicality in the low-end. Mid-bass also gets a slight heightening with punchiness becoming somewhat more prominent in the mix.
With certain IEMs, there is a loss of texture and detail in the low-end with the Aristotle seemingly emphasising it to the point of losing some greater granularity in the low-end. This was most apparent with the likes of the Mentor but this was not wholly detrimental.
I am of the opinion that any sub-bass focused element in your chain is not exactly a terrible thing to have. Sub-bass rears its head in more modern productions and a healthy shelf in this region is something that I find completely non-offensive. The mid-bass boost is subtle but on the Trio, it generated some slight muddiness in the crossover to the mids. This cannot be chalked up to the cable itself in isolation but rather a demonstration of the synergies that one must keep in mind.

Mids​

Moving to the mid-range of the Aristotle, I felt that the aforementioned mid-bass punchiness imparted a good sense of weight and depth to the lower-mids. With male vocalists on songs such as “What You Won’t Do For Love” and “Out of Time” presenting in a manner that was very endearing. On the latter song, which samples form a 1980s City Pop song, the lushness and warmth of the song is accentuated to a point that feels almost gooey to listen to (in a good way) with the Mentors. The Aristotle in this regard presents a more euphonic and warmed approach, eschewing clean and clinical for, dare I say it, a more ‘analogue’ presentation.
Female vocalists such as Arian Grande on “34+35” has a tendency to come off as overly thin and sometimes shrill on certain IEMs. The Aristotle seemingly recessed the upper-mids as Ariana felt less forward in the mix when compared to some of the stock cables with the IEMs I was testing with. There was a greater smoothness to her voice and the sibilance that was apparent on the likes of the Trio and the Supermoon fell away to a more relaxed presentation. The caveat of this was that notes felt less well defined but the comfort and ease of listening were definite benefits.
Overall, I feel that the Aristotle presents a more smooth and easy listening approach to the mid-range and imparts a sense of warmth overall. This is well suited to the sharper and edgier IEMs in this review, being the Supermoon mostly. On warmer IEMs such as the Trio and the Mentor, this felt a little overindulgent at times.

Treble​

In terms of treble performance, I felt that the Aristotle recessed certain instruments in this region. Percussion on “Reckoner” by Radiohead is a very prominent feature of the song and compared to the stock cable, the Aristotle seemingly pushed it back further into the mix. Despite this, there was no real loss of perceived energy as it sounded quite energetic and sparkly, which in my case was quite enjoyable to listen to.
“The Demon Dance” by Julian Winding has a brush on a hi-hat that underlies the entire song which is a quite dark and moody in character. The recessed nature of the brush was somewhat disappointing on the IEMs such as the Mentor as it felt more monotone and less engaging but a more critical listen yields that it still holds energy, just not as prominent in the mix.
This treble performance worked well with the Supermoon, which I find at times, quite fatiguing overtime. This is not to say that it is inherently sibilant or shouty but the edginess of notes in this region combined with its somewhat unnatural timbre often leads me to taking some breaks from time to time. The Aristotle seemed to synergise well with this as it simply pushes it back further and seemingly dampens some of its aggression.
Overall, treble performance is quite good despite recessing notes in this region. There is a retention of energy but overall, the Aristotle doesn’t place huge amounts of emphasis in this regard and for that, I feel like it is a good match for IEMs that you are trying to relax slightly.

Technicalities​

Technical performance of a cable may be a laughable matter for some individuals in this hobby, but I feel that certain cables yield greater performance in this regard. The Aristotle is an example of this in my mind as I heard a more grand and complete staging with the majority of my IEMs in this review save for the Mentor. The stock cable on the Mentor imparted a greater sense of holography and enveloping headstage but the Aristotle was no slouch.
Staging feels nice and open, with a good sense of depth and width when compared to the stock cables on the other IEMs. Detail and resolution was also quite good, there was no night and day difference here but perhaps due to the better staging, IEMs like the Trio and the Orchestra Lite sounded more coherent and articulate with their rendition of certain notes. Things were easier to pick out for me and felt more well detailed when compared to the stock cables.
Overall, the Aristotle’s technical performance is not a night and day difference, this is something that is quite rare with most cables that I have tried with the exception of the likes of EA’s Code 23, Fusion 1 and Cleo 8W Octa. The Aristotle doesn’t really reach this level of difference but it is a strong performer nonetheless.

Comparison​

vs Effect Audio Fusion 1 (from memory)​

The Fusion is a similarly configured 2 wire cable and comparing the two from memory, I note that the Fusion presented a greater revelation in terms of technical performance presenting a more complete stage and a more highly detailed note rendition.
Sound signature on the Fusion presents fairly similar to the Euclid with the exception that bass boost on the Fusion is more aggressive than on the Euclid presenting with greater decay. I recall that the Fusion did come off as a little too smoothed out in the upper end without the same etched nature as the Euclid and as a result I would state that the Euclid did a better job in the upper end of the FR curve compared to the Fusion. Quality of life wise, the Fusion was slightly more pliable and didn’t have as much memory as the Euclid but overall, both did respectfully for their rather thick wire configuration. TermX on the Fusion with its interchangeable terminations may be a benefit over the Euclid but I found that it was too easily detachable and poorly suited to my 4.4mm only setups.
ConX, the interchangeable connector system for the Fusion is not as secure as the Euclid’s Versa system which relies on screw down caps to keep the connector perfectly aligned and secured.
Overall, I found the Fusion to be the safer choice overall for those looking for a more prominent sonic difference but the Euclid’s treble performance seemed to outstrip the Fusion as it remains a distinctly prominent feature of my notes compared to the Fusion 1.

vs Eletech Aristotle​

The Aristotle and the Euclid embody some time-tested tenets relating to silver and copper with the former providing a greater level of low-end oomph and forwardness. I believe that the Aristotle has a stronger and more visceral sub-bass and mid-bass performance when compared to the Euclid which relies on more speediness and detail. Despite this focus, I believe that the differences are minute enough that the Aristotle handily wins this match-up.

In terms of mid-range, the Aristotle imparts some more warmth and smoothness than the Euclid. This is a particularly good feature in my books as I quite enjoy 'soulful' lyricists but the Euclid feels more immediate, less lethargic and more resolving with instruments such as piano. I believe that the Euclid imparts greater influence in this region compared to the Aristotle but overall its a matter of pick your poison.

The treble on the Aristotle is more laidback and smooth compared to the more etched and brighter Euclid. I found that the Euclid's impact on treble performance was very pronounced with a greater impartation of detail and resolution compared to the slightly darker Aristotle. In this regard, I found the Euclid a more exciting and addicting listen whereas the Aristotle failed to make anything really stand out in this regard.

Technical performance on the Aristotle is more suited to my tastes. In terms of staging, the Euclid seems more 2 channel in nature wheras the Aristotle seems to have a more 'wrap around' headstage. The former is not exactly bad as it does very well to resolve details within this unique stage well whereas the Aristotle seems to have some ineffectual notes in this wraparound stage and its smoother nature. Detail retrieval goes slightly to the Euclid as a result of that etched and drier sound signature but the difference, in my books, do not warrant the significant difference in price.

Overall, I find that Euclid is a more critical listening cable that is not nearly as versatile as the Aristotle. The Euclid is the master of its class whereas the Aristotle is a jack of all trades.

Quality of Life and Value​

Eletech are quite renowned for ergonomics opting to avoid overly cumbersome 8w cables for 4 wires. The Aristotle represents a departure, opting for 2 wires albeit with a thicker gauge of wire that is also shielded. The result of this is a rather sleek looking cable which doesn’t feel overly bulky but has some ergonomic issues. The Aristotle is not very pliable nor flexible and retains some of its memory when unfurling it from its case. The result of this is some minor annoyances when compared to their traditional 4w cables but when compared to the competition in the form of Effect Audio’s Code series, the Aristotle remains quite good. The Code 23 was unbearable, the 24 acceptable and the 24C being the best of the bunch. I feel like the Aristotle remains the best of these and I would definitely recommend it ergonomically over the Code series.

The inclusion of Versa, the interchangeable connector system that allows users to change between major conector types is a valuable one in my mind. I have qualms with competing solutions such as ConX by Effect Audio which remains quite unsecure (it unscrews itself from time-to-time) and may have issues with alignment. Versa features a rather elegant locking mechanism and I feel that it gives me a lot more comfort than EA’s solution. Furthermore, the use of Versa also means that the Aristotle is versatile enough to be used on all your IEMs in your collection. From Elysian’s using P-Ear, Campfires with MMCX and all your greatest Chi-Fi hits in 2-pin or QDC, the Versa can do it all.

749 USD is no slouch in pricing and for that you could buy a wealth of options in the IEM space which I feel your funds are better deployed. However, should you have something already quite expensive and are looking to eek out more performance, the Aristotle does a good job. It is however, more expensive than the likes of the Code 23 and Eletech’s other offerings such as the Raphael which contains some of the same sound signature.
One must wonder how much of this pricing is dedicated to the fancy looking hardware, the sleek unboxing experience and the cool leather case. All of these elements definitely adds to the wow-factor of the Aristotle but also raises questions (at least in my head) as to what percentage of my 749 USD is going to these elements as opposed to just good wire for my IEMs.

Overall, I feel that the Aristotle is decent cable ergonomically when looking at the competition in this product category. The Raphael, which is cheaper and more easily usuable on the go, is able to achieve similar sound but at the cost of some technical performance (more confined staging, less resolving from memory). If you’re already reticent to accept cable rolling as a valuable exploit then I would give this a miss. However, if you are looking for a good companion for even TOTL IEMs with already “good” cables, then the Aristotle presents a strong competitor in this market.

Conclusion​

The Aristotle represents a new design from Eletech who, in my mind, have limited themselves to thinner gauges and less wires when all I desire is 8 wire or 12 wire behemoth. And Eletech have done well, the Aristotle presents a ooey gooey listening experience that is wonderfully musical and well articulated. I do not feel that it was at a loss when comparing to the likes of the PWAudio Deep of the Universe that comes with the Mentor and it was a tangible upgrade on multiple IEMs which, admittedly are cheaper than the cable itself. With excellent sound, respectable ergonomics for the product category and the versatility of interchangeable connectors combined with the finish and design that Eletech brings, the Aristotle presents a good wow-factor to your cable rolling experience and I feel that you are an individual with a stable of multi-kilobucks, the Aristotle is a great choice.