Ultimate Speaker Cable (For
more economical options see our Home
Theater Series Speaker Cables)
Following in the footsteps of the highly acclaimed ANJOU Analog
Interconnect, the ANJOU Speaker Cable strives to offer the highest
quality speaker to amplifier connection possible. A no-compromise
speaker cable optimized for the most accurate sound, the ANJOU Speaker
Cable allows new levels of sonic accuracy to be explored. At almost
1 inch in diameter, the seemingly innocuous giant is a complex masterpiece
beneath the deceptively simple outer layers of insulation. While
the design of this cable required several years of development,
the first production run itself took over 1 year to accomplish,
with more than 4 months of machine time alone required. The result
is sonic beauty without compare. This US made cable is meticulously
manufactured by machine for accuracy, terminated by hand with attention
to detail, and fully customizable to meet the specific needs of
individual customers.
TECHNICAL DETAILS:
Proprietary Hybrid Geometry
Never seen before in audio cable design, Pear Cable has developed
a new and completely unique hybrid geometry for the ANJOU Speaker
Cable.
Using broad categorization, most speaker cable designs fall into
1 of 3 categories: coaxial, litz, or twin parallel conductors. Coaxial
speaker cables can be as simple as a braided shield over a solid
conductor, or as complex as 2 circularly spaced groups of conductors.
Briefly, these designs offer excellent general electrical properties,
but do not really offer breakthroughs in any particular category.
Litz designs minimize skin effect, can offer low inductance, and
braided litz designs have good rejection to Radio Frequency Interference
(RFI). However, these cables can suffer from excessive capacitance,
poor mechanical integrity, or poor RFI rejection for non-braided
designs. Finally, twin parallel conductors can be as simple as a
standard zip cord, or as advanced as two flat “plates”
with a thin layer of dielectric between them. Zip cord is quite
a poor design from almost every aspect (electrical inductance, noise
rejection, etc.). Flat “plate” designs can offer the
lowest inductance possible, but suffer from excessive capacitance.
Traditionally, these have been the only available speaker cable
geometries.
The ANJOU Speaker Cable utilizes a new proprietary geometry that
is best described as a hybrid combination of coaxial and braided
litz configurations. The result is a geometry that offers the best
characteristics of each design individually, but minimizes or eliminates
the negatives.
Ultra Low Electrical Reactance
The ANJOU Speaker Cable electrical properties begin with ultra low
inductance. At just 0.025 microH/ft, the high current signals flowing
through these cables will lose a minimal amount of energy. What
is perhaps more unique, is the ability to achieve impressively low
capacitance at the same time. The capacitance of the ANJOU Speaker
Cable measures just 114 pF/ft, thus minimizing dielectric absorption.
This is one of the lowest, if not the lowest capacitance speaker
cables that is able to achieve such low inductance. While some cables
can achieve lower inductance, these cables typically suffer from
capacitance 50% to 10 times higher. Cables that achieve lower capacitance
cannot match the low inductance of the ANJOU Speaker Cable. The
ultra low reactance allows for extremely accurate energy transfer.
Finest Materials
The ANJOU Speaker Cable utilizes the finest materials to maximize
sonic performance and provide years of stable operation. Teflon,
air, cotton, and fully annealed 99.999% pure oxygen free Copper
are the 4 fundamental materials utilized in the cable. 32 individually
insulated solid conductors resulting in a net 10 AWG cable are precisely
manufactured to all have the exact same length per unit of finished
cable. Solid Teflon, foamed Teflon, Teflon air tubes, air, and cotton
combine to minimize dielectric absorption while still providing
superb mechanical integrity.
The choice of metal for the conductors of interconnect cables is
guided by a completely different set of goals than those for loudspeaker
cables. This results in the conductor material of our ANJOU Interconnect
being different from the ANJOU Speaker Cable. While the conductivity
of the metal used in interconnect cables is relatively unimportant,
the same cannot be said for loudspeaker cables. In addition, interconnect
cables are highly affected by the capacitance of the cable, and
thus are highly sensitive to the energy absorption by corrosion
that forms on the surface of conductors. Loudspeaker cables, on
the other hand, are far more sensitive to inductance rather than
capacitance due to the relatively high current nature of the signal.
The net effect is that higher conductivity copper is a far superior
choice of conductor material for the ANJOU Speaker Cable when compared
to the gold used in the ANJOU Interconnect.
Mechanical Stability
The ANJOU Speaker Cable has been meticulously designed to minimize
physical movement within the cable. Movement of conductors relative
to themselves or insulation material will cause energy to be either
subtracted from or added to the audio signal. Vibration caused by
sound waves must be dealt with in all cables. In addition, speaker
cables can resonate from the electromagnetic force caused by the
current within the cable itself. There are 3 important elements
to consider when minimizing mechanical movement within a cable:
ability to absorb or dampen mechanical energy, the strength to prevent
motion, and the electromagnetic forces that will be will be created
within a cable. The ANJOU Speaker cable has been designed to have
exceptional strength and stability, requiring large amounts of force
to create any movement. To complete the spring and damper system
that is analogous to the shock and spring on a car, cotton is strategically
placed within the cable as a dampener to arrest resonance. Finally,
the geometry of the cable itself has been designed to minimize the
force that conductors exert on each other when current flows.
Dual Layer Primary Insulation
While it is easy to place air around a conductor to minimize the
energy absorbed by the dielectric material, many techniques utilized
to accomplish this task result in adverse side effects. Some manufactures
simply lay conductors loosely within various types of tubes, exposing
conductors to considerably higher rates of corrosion and eliminating
essential mechanical support. Other common methods of reducing dielectric
contact are to wind filaments around conductors or to place a foamed
dielectric directly on a conductor. Both of these techniques result
in local variations of electrical properties on a conductor that
have been shown to decrease signal bandwidth. In addition, both
of these techniques can expose conductors to corrosion.
Pear Cable utilizes a dual layer primary insulation technique to
avoid all of the above issues. An extremely fine layer of Teflon,
0.002” thick, is applied to conductors in a first step that
protects the underlying copper. In a second step, foamed Teflon
is applied on top of the first layer in order to provide superior
dielectric properties and complete mechanical support. The final
insulated conductor does not suffer from local anomalies in the
electrical or mechanical properties, and minimizes conductor corrosion.
Noise Rejection
Noise rejection is a problem that is significantly less important
for speaker cables than for interconnect cables. Low level interconnect
signals are far more susceptible to noise pickup than the high level
signals leaving an amplifier. However, Radio Frequency Interference
is still a concern for speaker cables. Although this high frequency
noise cannot be heard directly, it has been well documented by professional
organizations such as the American Radio Relay League that RFI can
still be a problem in audio applications. Loudspeaker cables can
act like antennae, carrying high frequency noise into amplifiers
where it is electrically rectified into noise that is audible. The
ANJOU Speaker Cable utilizes its proprietary hybrid geometry to
effectively inhibit high frequency noise pickup without the use
of a deleterious shield.
Machine Made
Most ultra high-end audio cables are at least partially, if not
completely, hand made. The ubiquitous nylon mesh that is used to
provide a more finished look to the end product can be used to easily
spot these hand made cables. The primary reason for hand making
very high-end cables is due to the exorbitant cost associated with
manufacturing extremely complex, low volume cables on professional
equipment. Unfortunately, no hand can match the precision and repeatability
of a machine-made cable. The ANJOU Speaker Cable itself is completely
machine-made ensuring the maximum repeatability required for cables
to sound their best. The final products are of course hand terminated
and inspected to ensure the highest level of quality.
Connection
The ANJOU Speaker Cable utilizes connection methods consistent with
the design principles utilized in the cable itself. To begin the
process, conductors are terminated with a gold plated copper crimp,
installed under extreme pressure promptly after the removal of insulation,
resulting in a permanent and stable cold weld. Following crimp installation,
WBT 0645, 0660 Cu, or 0680 Cu spade or banana connectors are installed.
These connectors all ensure a solid mechanical connection at each
contact point to prevent vibration or time from compromising the
connection. Gold plating eliminates deterioration from corrosion.
Cables are available either in either single wire or single bi-wire
configurations.
While Pear Cable has evaluated numerous connectors and found the
standard connectors to be the best available, we recognize that
some audiophiles have specific connector preferences. Cables can
be factory terminated using other types of connectors upon request.
Pricing and availability of non-standard connectors is to be determined
at the time of order.
Made in the U.S.A. for superior quality

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