Some days ago I posted a review of the MMR Homunculus, which I had somewhat mixed feelings about - the cable that comes included with it however, the Eletech Prudence, I've fallen in love with and already placed an order for. I had to ship out the Homunculus for the tour but I've already been missing the Prudence quite dearly.
The build quality is nothing short of exceptional - I hold that Eletech has the absolute best hardware in the industry, and it's good to see that this quality has been maintained throughout the entire lineup. The Prudence doesn't quite ooze luxury like the Iliad, but I still find it's build better than any other cable I've owned, including any of the big name brands that sell cables at 10x the price of the Prudence. What I find quite remarkable about Eletech is just how well the pins fit my IEMs - other brands are often either too tight or too loose, which I can't attribute to anything but lack of proper QC.
The cable's sheathing is something that I initially had some quarrels about as it felt quite stiff, but Eletech have changed that since their very early days, and I'm happy to report it's as supple as they come. The Iliad still has the upper hand in that respect, and I'd say the Leonidas II by EA remains slightly softer than the Prudence, but even for someone who's ultra pretentious about cable softness (I found the PW1950s way too stiff for example), the Prudence delivered.
I personally also appreciate that they've taken the time to create a unique design for each of their cables instead of slapping the same hardware on their lineup - it makes each one feel like a unique product.
Where sound is concerned, I found that the Prudence has a gentle touch with a certain low/high focus. The bass feels slightly elevated, not too unlike that of the Iliad, with wonderful vocals - I liked female vocals on it better than I did male vocals, as it gave the Thumimm a slight upper midrange bump. The Prudence is also rather technical, providing a holographic soundstage, with reasonable width. The detail retrieval is something that I can't judge all that well coming from the detail monster that is the Iliad, but it certainly stacks up well against other cables I've listened to.
Eletech have once again created an absolute masterpiece of a cable, and I am most certainly glad I got to try their entry level offerings after having spent a considerable amount of time with their TOTLs!
