[yrstruly]

Magnus a bit too smooth/mushy for Lirics IME. I would recommend OCC silver cables or maybe silver/copper combo.

Ah, my sense was that going for a silver cable could exacerbate the sibilance / brightness. Interesting.

 

[jz520]

hello guys..newbie here is the Artic Prisma a good cable for the Utopia 22? thanks

 

[OnlySoMany]

hello guys..newbie here is the Artic Prisma a good cable for the Utopia 22? thanks

I may get some pushback for this, but generally any cable over a grand is a great cable worth keeping forever. Longer length will push up price as well, so keep that in mind. Copper wire is a bit fuller sound, silver wire is a bit faster and energetic. I prefer silver personally as I listen to a lot of edm and modern drum and bass while working.

I have 3 arctic cables. Utopia, susvara, and rosson. All are great and would buy again without question. Susvara cable is pure silver and was a lot, but damn do you hear it lol.

 

[redmonddad]

Brand-new Grandis cable for Focal Utopia!

Even though I'm a very happy owner of a Focal Stellia, I just couldn't pass up the recent sale at Headphones.com and finally succumbed to the temptation of a Focal Utopia (2022 edition). Comparing the Utopia with it's stock cable to my beloved Stellia with a Arctic Cable Integra cable, I noted that the Stellia had better detail but that the Utopia had a wider soundstage. That said, there was a hard-to-describe greater lushness or fullness of the sound on the Utopia that kept me gravitating to it (as long as there wasn't a lot of ambient noise in the house). If you believe in ASMR, that was the feeling I got with the Utopia: a pleasant tingling in the back of my neck listening to certain musical passages. Yet when I really listened with an "analytical ear" and tried pick apart what I was hearing, I still felt that the Stellia was more incisive and revealing of details.

Eventually and perhaps inevitably I started browsing Arctic Cables for an upgraded cable. Reaching out to Val to answer some questions, he suggested I try out a brand-new Flagship series cable, the Grandis, that they have recently added (at the time the order page was already up, but it was not yet in the catalog from their homepage). I have yet to regret taking his suggestions so I soon ordered one with an XLR terminator.

At this level of headphone, I expected that the cable would have just a tiny incremental improvement since I expect and accept that at a certain point you pay exhorbitantly for diminishing returns. Therefore, I was taken aback at how the Grandis cable changes my perception of the sound I had from the Stellia vs the Utopia. The Grandis brings up the level of detail on Utopia on par with the Stellia/Integra while still preserving the wider soundstage. I wonder if the Grandis is helping a bit with the dip that the Utopias have in the mid treble range. Whatever the reason, this is way better than I was hoping for; afterall, as I mentioned earlier, I was willing and expecting to pay a lot for incremental improvements. Used with the Grandis cables, the Utopia is definitely my first choice headphones unless I need the isolation of the Stellia (which is pretty often in my house I admit).

Regardign the phyiscal build, as always Arctic Cable does a stellar job. While it's purely cosmetic, this is the first cable where I requested a square rather than a round braid. I was worried that it might be more prone to "memory", but it is just as supple as my other AC cables. Indeed, it looks very elegant and well suited to the number of wires used in the Grandis. Also, while purely about aesthetics, I chose the ebony splitter as the simulated wood grain seems to my eye a better match to the carbon fiber grain of the Utopia's yoke than the carbon fiber weave splitter.

Finaly, I want to make note of the CuTECH XLR connector I chose for the termination. It is very heavy and sturdy and looks incredible. However, I have to note that the thick plating used results in a very tight fit on my Burson amps. It requires very firm insertion force on my Burson Conductor 3X Reference amp, but is not unreasonable. However, on the Conductor 3X Performance on my desktop I must use one hand to brace the back of the amp in order to apply enough force with the other to fully insert the XLR plug. Arctic Cable will reterminate my cable for free if requested, but it makes a very solid connection to the jack even if it is not inserted far enough for the lock to click in place. For now, I'm planning to leave it as is, although I might ask for a retermination with a Furutech or AECO XLR connector in the future.

 

[OnlySoMany]

One of these days I am going to buy their Opera flagship for all of my zmf sets. Just have too many other expenses at the moment. I do agree they make a great cable.

 

[XP_98]

Short testimony:
My Signum+ interconnect bought a little longer than 2 years ago had an issue. Arctic Cables repaired and sent it back for free
Top notch customer service !

 

[Sound Eq]

I have many headphones and the top 2 are susvara and caldera, and those definitely deserve totl cables, I have been reading this thread and some of the impressions. I will order totl cables from Arctic Cables and report back, it seems they are a top notch company and I am so eager to try some cables

 

[Sound Eq]

Brand-new Grandis cable for Focal Utopia!

Even though I'm a very happy owner of a Focal Stellia, I just couldn't pass up the recent sale at Headphones.com and finally succumbed to the temptation of a Focal Utopia (2022 edition). Comparing the Utopia with it's stock cable to my beloved Stellia with a Arctic Cable Integra cable, I noted that the Stellia had better detail but that the Utopia had a wider soundstage. That said, there was a hard-to-describe greater lushness or fullness of the sound on the Utopia that kept me gravitating to it (as long as there wasn't a lot of ambient noise in the house). If you believe in ASMR, that was the feeling I got with the Utopia: a pleasant tingling in the back of my neck listening to certain musical passages. Yet when I really listened with an "analytical ear" and tried pick apart what I was hearing, I still felt that the Stellia was more incisive and revealing of details.

Eventually and perhaps inevitably I started browsing Arctic Cables for an upgraded cable. Reaching out to Val to answer some questions, he suggested I try out a brand-new Flagship series cable, the Grandis, that they have recently added (at the time the order page was already up, but it was not yet in the catalog from their homepage). I have yet to regret taking his suggestions so I soon ordered one with an XLR terminator.

At this level of headphone, I expected that the cable would have just a tiny incremental improvement since I expect and accept that at a certain point you pay exhorbitantly for diminishing returns. Therefore, I was taken aback at how the Grandis cable changes my perception of the sound I had from the Stellia vs the Utopia. The Grandis brings up the level of detail on Utopia on par with the Stellia/Integra while still preserving the wider soundstage. I wonder if the Grandis is helping a bit with the dip that the Utopias have in the mid treble range. Whatever the reason, this is way better than I was hoping for; afterall, as I mentioned earlier, I was willing and expecting to pay a lot for incremental improvements. Used with the Grandis cables, the Utopia is definitely my first choice headphones unless I need the isolation of the Stellia (which is pretty often in my house I admit).

Regardign the phyiscal build, as always Arctic Cable does a stellar job. While it's purely cosmetic, this is the first cable where I requested a square rather than a round braid. I was worried that it might be more prone to "memory", but it is just as supple as my other AC cables. Indeed, it looks very elegant and well suited to the number of wires used in the Grandis. Also, while purely about aesthetics, I chose the ebony splitter as the simulated wood grain seems to my eye a better match to the carbon fiber grain of the Utopia's yoke than the carbon fiber weave splitter.

Finaly, I want to make note of the CuTECH XLR connector I chose for the termination. It is very heavy and sturdy and looks incredible. However, I have to note that the thick plating used results in a very tight fit on my Burson amps. It requires very firm insertion force on my Burson Conductor 3X Reference amp, but is not unreasonable. However, on the Conductor 3X Performance on my desktop I must use one hand to brace the back of the amp in order to apply enough force with the other to fully insert the XLR plug. Arctic Cable will reterminate my cable for free if requested, but it makes a very solid connection to the jack even if it is not inserted far enough for the lock to click in place. For now, I'm planning to leave it as is, although I might ask for a retermination with a Furutech or AECO XLR connector in the future.

wow man that is very intriguing, will get some totl cables soon from them

 

[mattiastomas]

Talos v2 dark blew away all my expectations. This is a stunner for sure, and exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again to Val and team at Arctic Cables!

How are you liking the Talos with the AC? I got an AC not too long ago and am looking for a cable for it. The Talos looks pretty sweet!

 

[shwnwllms]

How are you liking the Talos with the AC? I got an AC not too long ago and am looking for a cable for it. The Talos looks pretty sweet!

It’s a great cable, but I preferred it more with my VO than my AC (it was slightly too warm for my taste on the AC in my setup, but had excellent synergy with my VO). Ultimately I ended up preferring a hybrid with my AC.

 

[mattiastomas]

It’s a great cable, but I preferred it more with my VO than my AC (it was slightly too warm for my taste on the AC in my setup, but had excellent synergy with my VO). Ultimately I ended up preferring a hybrid with my AC.

Thanks for the info. Which cable did you end up with for the AC?

 

[Tubewin]

Anyone try to opera v2 cable? I'm thinking about getting one for the Susvara.

 

[raydenray]

Anyone try to opera v2 cable? I'm thinking about getting one for the Susvara.

I have them! Really nice cable! Using them with my Stellia

 

[Tubewin]

I have them! Really nice cable! Using them with my Stellia

What's the overall character you think? Is it thin sounding?

 

[Tubewin]

Well, pulled the trigger on the opera v2 for my Susvara. I'll let you guys know when I get it.