So. Here it is, my Christmas present I gave myself! A new Arctic Cable for Focal Stellia, which is an 8-Core Neotech UP-OCC Pure Silver 7N LT-6 Cable (with Neutrik plugs on the phone and Viablue 3.5mm plug for the DAP -> Calyx M -> Vorzüge VorzAMP Duo II)
This is it. End game. Easy as that. It was a pleasure to deal with Roy (as always, because I already own a UPOCC 4 core copper cable that matches nicely with the brown/black coating ... well, I guess I won't use it that often anymore, now that I have this silver beauty)
I had a Silver Lavricable once and can tell you: This is no contest. UPOCC is on another level compared to a "normal" silver cable.
I never thought I would write that stereotype cliché, but I really can hear details I never heard before in tracks I know by heart. I also made a blind test with a friend of mine and could tell in an instant which cable is which after a few seconds (compared to the Focal stock cable).
For starters: There seems to be more room. Not exactly in width but more in height and depth. Especially when listening to very complex songs, such as "Before your very eyes..." from Atoms For Peace, it´s such a pleasure to listen to this tidy stage where every nuance is heard and the voice of Thom Yorke is right there in the middle, clear and with this great reverb (thanks to the genius producer Nigel Godrich!) Also the separation is clearly making a step up. Pin point. I am in honeymoon, I know, but it is that good.
This cable takes everything what's there and makes it better. Bass, mids, treble. I am sorry to boast here, but it really is unbelievable what a cable can make a difference. It´s not that the Stellia sounds different in any way. It sound refined. I always found the upper mids a bit shouty. This shoutiness is gone without taking away anything of its resolution. In the contrary. The resolution is like I have never heard it before out of these phones.
The cable manages to extend the treble (and bass) without adding something that isn't there. It is a neutral cable, if you ask me. The Stellia doesn't sound "brighter" at all, like you would expect from a silver cable. It doesn't sound warmer either. The treble is just "there". On spot. The mids are present. The voices so nicely rendered. And then the bass. I didn´t expect the subbass to be elevated, but it somehow did by a small margin. That's a very welcome alteration, too, as I always found that the very low sub frequencies of the Stellia somehow were too gentle (primarily compared to the mid bass).
Oh, and by the way: As you can see on the pictures: The cable looks absolutely stunning. In real life even better than on any photo I have seen (and made of them). They are completely pliable (laughable when compared to the stock cable!), and there are no microphonics whatsoever.
I am not a reviewer, just a musician / engineer and a guy who loves to listen to the music on the go and that needs to feel all the emotions that are evoked when I listen to the records as well as to hear the accuracy and beautyness of the production.
So, what can I say as a conclusion: It is a balanced cable. No frequency is exaggerated, no frequency suppressed. It reminds me when I was at a mastering studio for finishing a recording I produced and when I heard some albums I love on those great loudspeakers and I thought screw, that's what music is supposed to sound!
And here some eyecandy
