plusSound Apollonian+ IEM Cable

MikePortnoy

Reviewer at The Headphone List
Pros: Transparency, Resolution, Built Quaility
Cons: May be a bit heavy for outdoors use, it wouldn't fit well to already bright sounding IEMs
Introduction:
 
plusSound Audio is an American store, which is located in California. Primarily, they offer many aftermarket cables such as interconnects, headphone and IEM cables. They also offer a portable amplifier called Cloud Nine that I am interesting in trying it in close future regarding its affordable price.
 
Additionally, we can find some DIY parts as well as Audeze headphones in their store. We have three options to make orders: on ebay, on their online store and on Etsy.
 
plusSound offers a wide variety of cables from 99 USD X series to 299 USD Echo+ cable. We can easily choose a cable that suits our needs and budget. They also have many different options in terms of lower heat shrink color, lower sleeving, Y splitter, slider, L/R heat shrink colors. According to these options, we can customize our cables as we like.
 
There are also many wire options in their store such as differently cryo’ed copper selections, silver plated copper, silver+copper+gold and silver+gold combinations. In sum, they have a very rich cable range with beautiful options.
 
Honest, I am very satisfied with their customer service plusSound provides. Christian is very friendly person and replies mails within minutes if he is at work at the moment that he receives them. I had no difficulty communicating with him. Such a great customer service.. 
 
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Built Quality:
 
The reviewed cable is Apollonian+ and made from pure copper and utilizes an interesting and new technology including tri shield, multi-damper and dual insulation to get the best result and make it noise free. We don’t have option to select the wire type on Apollonian+ and Echo+, but other cables such as X series, standard Apollonian or X8 etc. have all options available.
 
apolloniantech.jpg
Picture from plusSound
 
 
Even though Apollonian+ is made from 4 wires of copper conductor, it is neither too heavy nor too thick. However, to me, it is not lightweight enough to be used outdoors easily.
 
I am not sure how plusSound’s silver series are, but Apollonian+ is quite flexible and soft; also easy to use and wrap, thanks to the nature of copper conductors. Reviewed Apollonian+ has a rhodium plated straight plug and good quality pins, which fit well to both recessed and non-recessed/flush sockets.  plusSound offers many kind of connectors for popular IEMs/CIEMs as well as ViaBlue, Oyaide and balanced plugs for RSA/ALO, A&K and Hifiman.
 
The reviewed cable has a premium looking with its sleeving , colors and logos on its connectors. Truly, it is one of the most beautiful cables that I’ve ever seen on the market. Honestly, the Poetic series from plusSound looks better than Apollonian+ and it is my favorite in terms of beauty, but I wouldn’t be sure about Poetic’s built quality since I don’t have one in my hands.
 
apollonian2.jpg
Picture from plusSound
 
 
Sound:
 
Apollonian+ has a bit laid back presentation with a better resolution compared to the Earwerkz stock cable. Overall sound is a bit warm due to nature of copper cables, but it doesn’t focus on low frequency band.
 
I made a comparison between EW stock and Apollonian+, and the reviewed cables are burned in more than 100 hours for the critical listening.
 
Low Frequency:
 
Compared to EW stock cable, Apollonian+’s sub bass has cleaner and more resolved punches with a bit more power coming from an area of impact between large and medium. Hitting to depth ability gets better, so that depth of the stage becomes more successful.
 
Mid-bass of the Apollonian+ comes from a bit larger area on the stage with clearer and a bit more prominent notes. Its resolution is significantly better than EW stock, but both cables don’t tighten the stage. Apollonian+ lows also have better dynamism and add a bit more weight to entire spectrum; its low frequency is fuller and richer than the stock. 
 
apollonian3.jpg
 
 
Mid Frequency:
 
Apollonian+ has a bit laidback and balanced mid frequency presentation compared to the stock. Mids have better resolution with similar average note thickness. EW stock cable is closer and less resolved overall and there is a veil, while Apollonian+ has more detailed and significantly more transparent as well as refiner presentation.
 
Even if Apollonian+ has a bit laid back mid frequency compared to stock, the vocals don’t loose much emotion; they are still good and resolved without being sibilant. It also adds a bit more detail on upper mids, but it doesn’t get bright.
 
High Frequency:
 
Apollonian+ has a bit more prominent treble with a bit more sparkle compared to EW stock. It also has a good high frequency weight with natural and thick notes. Resolution is a bit better than the stock with better extension by adding a bit more detail and clarity on lower treble; the overall control is still here.
 
Even if Apollonian+ has better and fuller highs than the stock, it can turn our already sensitive earphones into less forgiving against bad recordings. Also, if we have an earphone, which has already too much treble, Apollonian+ may not be the best option due to its sparkle.
 
apollonian4.jpg
 
 
Soundstage and Separation:
 
Apollonian+ adds effective depth to the stage, while the width becomes only a hair better. By adding depth, layering gets better and that helps to create an improved instrument separation.
 
Apollonian+ locates the stage a bit away from the listener and still keeps coherence and focus quite good. Thanks to the location of the stage, Legend R becomes a less forward sounding CIEM and we can have longer listening session with it.
 
Apollonian+ adds a bit more blackness to the background and creates a bit better stability. By adding depth to stage with improved background and better-portioned instruments, separation gets better. However, it can’t create a neutral air between instruments; while the distances are improved, the air is still warm.
 
Final Words:
 
Apollonian+ cable from plusSound creates a definite improvement on the entire presentation with its stage depth, resolution and transparency. Additionally, it has an exceptional premium looking with a quite good built quality and customization options.
 
The regular price of Apollonian+ is 280 USD; we need to add some extra fees if we do a customization on it.
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MikePortnoy
MikePortnoy
Thanks much my friend. I am trying to do my best :)
twister6
twister6
I always appreciate replacement cables and have reviewed a number of them on head-fi, but looking at this cable and the contrast between a thick shielded common 3.5mm side and twisted cables after y-splitter going to headphones - just doesn't look right.  You did a great job with a review, no criticism about it.  This cable looks like two different pieces glued together, it just doesn't flow together?
MikePortnoy
MikePortnoy
Thank you for your kind words mate. Well, some may see it as you said. It is about the thickness difference of shielded part. However, the cable is a single piece and there is no glue or something like this on it. 
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