Thanks Eric for hosting me yesterday at the Eletech's lab! Enjoyed the generosity of your team greatly!
I arrived late evening yesterday and was treated to a nice array of cables and displays! Eric had insisted that I have a beer and kick back to enjoy the session xD
Eric sat in and patiently explained his products and the company's operation ethos to me and while we chatted mostly about our audiophile journey before diving into the cables which were the main treat of the day! Unfortunately Socrates was not available to test out here but nonetheless an extremely enriching and satisfying experience!
I brought my AKSP1000m with my VE8 and Tia Fourte for the day and started with the lower range of Eletech Cables.
Fortitude / Prudence was introduced to me as being Eletech's elementary / entry offerings. The build quality and finishes are anything but low range imho. I'm thoroughly impressed with both the build quality as well as the performance levels put forth. A closer look at the individual parts is rather interesting. What beautiful barrels and parts they use for the lower range of cables. Outstanding attention to detail even on the pin barrels. From Eletech website photos, I thought that it's been photoshopped but hey, I managed to capture nice shades with just an iphone.
Fortitude
Unlike the previous copper cables that I've heard, I find the Fortitude to be rather neutral with energy. Quick and precise combined with clean crisp highs. Definitely not a warm and dark sounding copper as i've envisioned. Midrange is a touch accentuated and bigger sounding while the lows are slightly warmer and rounded with my VE8. Pairing with the VE8 is more preferable to the Fourte. The Fortitude also extends the soundstage width quite noticeably with little to no changes in depth / height.
Prudence
Surprise surprise! Who would have thought this neat little package to have caught my attention the minute I have it plugged in. The Prudence is an energetic piece! Running the Prudence with EDMs feels like having a sugar rush, its jam packed with details and momentum. I feel that the overall presentation is a slight boost in all frequencies with more emphasis on the mid and lows. Sound stage is satisfyingly large and deep. It's quite a wonder at this price point. Pairing with both the Fourte and VE8 are both great. I also seem to be able to listen at a lower volume with the Prudence and still achieve the same details levels.
The Prudence comes with this nifty cable tie that is quite well made. It feels like the kind of leather that is used for wallets. Too bad no leather cases included in the package. Eletech leather cases are pretty and well built. (My wife would probably not be too happy, Prudence is one of the cable(s) i walked away with)
Moving on to the big guns, Plato and Iliad! Again, unlucky that the much buzzed about Socrates isn't around today, I would love to spend some time with it.
Plato
Very very interesting component design choices and the blacked out look against the contrasting Silver cable core works very well here. I've heard much about this product and how it's being deployed at TOTL levels of pair-up. The Plato to me sounded very rich and transparent. It boosts the ingenious traits of my IEMs without overly boosting any frequencies. Highs and lows sounded fuller and more quantified whilst the mids are a touch cleaner. It feels like a veil being taken off. Quite a significant boost to the general staging, it feels like I'm in the centre of a concert with array speakers coming from the front. Very very impressive but not looking good on the wallet now..
Also heard on multiple accounts that it's a Non-Litz cable so I took the chance to ask Eric about it and to understand his thought process on this topic. To my surprise, he brought out a prototype Litz Plato for me to listen and compare, saying that the main driver behind choosing an unLitz Plato configuration was purely due to SQ considerations.
On the left -> a shinier silvery Plato (Non-Litz)
On the right -> a pale and matte look finish of the Plato (Litz)
Eric told me that both cables were built with the same configuration, geometry as well as materials ratio with the difference of one being litz and the other not. I certainly wasn't expecting a night/day difference between the 2 but i was proven wrong. The Litz Plato transformed into what you would call a "Silver signature". Thinning out the mid lows and lows and adding quite a boost to the mid high and highs. Presentation was overall a lot brighter and thinner with slightly wider soundstage. Though i may not look forward to the possible aesthetic changes to the Plato non-Litz but i understand why Eric and his team has chosen going down that route. If only there could be a solution to combine them both!
Iliad
The flagship and marvel of Eletech! Without even talking about sound, it sure is a looker! I love the complete synchronicity of the entire cable look from parts to the cable material itself! The attention to detail on the brushed matte metal parts is off the charts. Unfortunately duty calls and i have to pick up my wife for dinner hence i do not have much time to test out the Iliad fully. My brief listening thoughts were that it has a seductive vocals and bass with airy headroom. I'll definitely be back to try out the Socrates and Iliad again!
Thanks again to Eric and his team for hosting me for a cables party and for showing me the inner works of Eletech!
I was also shown a W-I-P that I will be keen to listen to the next time I'm back!
Really interesting stuff regarding the litz vs non-litz Plato! Seems like a great time. Hope I can make the journey one day. Can't wait to see you guys again when things get better, missing CanJam dearly <3
