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Another impressive aspect was the wonderfully quiet backdrop from which music emerged. Until now, Wireworld’s latest Series 6 cables were the quietest I have sampled. The Teo cables now went even further. With a quiet background—or so the theory goes—subtle musical details become more readily apparent. Here it was accompanied by a more realistic and natural presentation that ultimately reduced the sense of the artificial to hopefully increase one’s musical enjoyment. Hypothesizing, I’d say this quieting effect was due to the absence of electrical interactions between solid wire strands inside cables. Those generally manifest as an almost subliminal layer of low-level hash that obscures fine detail and increases the sense of artifice.


Wireworld combats this to a significant extent with their new proprietary dielectric to reduce exactly those strand interactions. Teo of course goes further by eliminating solid strands altogether. Whatever the reason, it was one of the most noticeable traits I observed with the liquid cables.


They are certainly not for those hankering after sharp leading edges, a leaner tonal balance, bright airy space and a heightened edge-of-seat excitement. I find most modern cables—not to mention most electronics and particularly speakers—balanced excessively hot to give the impression of greater detail retrieval and excitement, albeit at the expense of harmonic richness and ease. Maybe that’s impressive at first but they always grate on me after a spell. No such problem with Teo. These cables will only sound bright or edgy if your source material was recorded accordingly.


By comparison, the considerably less expensive Wireworld Equinox 6 I purchased after reviewing them tended to shift tonal balance up a few notches, with more explicit leading edges and a slightly more dimensional soundstage. As good as the Equinox are, the Teo cables were more dynamic, with a deeper more resolved bass along with a quieter blacker background. However, the Equinox 6s still get my vote as one of the best cable values around. In overall musicality, they come awfully close to the Liquid Cables at a fraction of the price.


MIT’s Magnum 1.3 series which I am currently evaluating are similar in many respects but don’t quite exhibit the same degree of eerie blackness and sense of natural flow as the Liquid Cables do. On the other hand, the Magnums have a unique way of presenting instruments and voices that is quite extraordinarily tactile and visceral. However, that’s a story for another day. Suffice it to say that the Teo Audio PDL interconnects and SPDL speaker cables are in a similar league.


The current cables du moons seem to be Frank Tchang’s LiveLines which I haven't tried. Based on Srajan’s, M&H’s and Frederic’s takes, I’d say they exhibit a different set of strengths than the Teo cables. In fact, they would seem to be diametrically opposed to the LiveLine’s emphasis on dynamics, speed detail and articulation. [Having reviewed both, Paul is spot on. The LiveLine is more lit up, lean, jumpy and exciting while the Liquid Cables I heard were darker, rounder and more focused on temporal flow than attacks – Ed.]


Is one right and the other wrong? I don’t believe so. When it comes to audio, there are no absolutes. Which cable system works best depends, as always, on your system and sonic preferences. Overall I enjoyed my time with the Teo Audio Liquid Cables. They made music more natural and organic and a lot less of an electronic recreation than most wires I tried. It’s not a cable to pick out every detail with. It's for those who take a more holistic view of  music listening within their homes. Innovative and impressive but also expensive.
Quality of packing: Excellent. Cables ship in heavy-duty Pelican cases.
Reusability of packing: Appears reusable several times.
Quality of owner's manual: None required.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect.
Website comments: Could use more info on models, prices, technical details and explanations.
Human interactions: Professional and friendly.
Pricing: Divorce inducing for the average ‘phile, probably quite reasonable for the well-heeled.
Final comments & suggestions: None.

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