Laying down my first impressions of the Prudence before the Lunar new year takes over my life for the next few days. Excuse the poor image quality as I am literally listening in bed.
The mission was to find an ideal cable for my Lime Ears Aether R, a balanced IEM with good timbre. Thought of doubling up on the timbral goodness and bought the pure copper Brise Audio STR7-SE for the job.
Yup the tone is excellent as predicted, but I began falling asleep at the wrong places during listening stints with the Brise/Aether pair-up. No matter how smooth and organic it felt, notes lacked bite and urgency, and that last burst of air for excitement. For reference, LCD-2 was one of my least favorite headphones.
So when Eric came along and recommended the Prudence, marketed as a best-in-class SPC cable for vibrancy and dynamics, I thought why not. No actually I thought hell yeah!
These are initial impressions, and I did some a/b-ing with both cables until I noticed the differences consistently that it was unlikely to be placebo. Listened to Tay-tay's 1989 because it's one of the first albums listed in alphabetical order.
The bass is tighter and digs deeper, hits harder. Unlike the soft, tender loving caresses of the Brise cable, Prudence is no-nonsense and incisive, delivering the vital punch and leaving a trail of air behind. Notes are well-defined and textured, and more dynamic than the Brise.
Mids and treble tell the same story. The timbre is maintained, and kept the way I like it from attack to sustain. Crucially, the Prudence adds crispness, urgency and air to the decay of the notes. Soundstage is rendered deeper and layering is immense, although the Brise Audio is wider and shallower.
So yeah, do believe it. The Prudence is indeed a lively, vibrant and dynamic cable that pairs amazingly with the Aether R, making it a fun, balanced IEM, and I will let this combo stay for awhile more.