Is it audible?
OK, so your equipment is impeccably designed for RFI rejection (it says so right here in the fine print of your bank balance) and the only noise of any concern is then that due to interchassis potential. The question then becomes whether or not this whole mess is even audible in the first place. And therein hangs a tale.
I, for one, never considered this much of a problem as it's just so obvious that the noise must be so small that it can't possibly be heard in a normal listening environment at normal listening levels, right? Well, not so fast, it turns out life just isn't this simple after all (did he say simple?!). There's this little matter of common-mode resonances in the interconnection that just didn't get mentioned in too much detail above but the reader who is an electrical engineer will likely have clued into the fact that the loops discussed above are a series and parallel combinations of R, L, and C and that means resonances where the loss in the loop (the R) controls the Q of those resonances.
Figure 1a shows a configuration that is not uncommon with a digital source. The Noise Current Loop drawn in the picture is the mesh to solve for the noise voltage that appears across the return path of the interconnect as a function of the interchassis potential. The solution of this mesh indicates that either Rcs or Rcd, or both depending on relative values, controls the Q of the resultant voltage divider with smaller values contributing to a lower Q. Note that in Figure 1b, the loop is a different topology but its solution is effectively identical. This indicates that lifting the earth of the power cord might make an audible difference but it can't eliminate the problem entirely.
At high frequencies though, the loop can be viewed as a simple inductive voltage divider. This means that the ultimate rejection of the noise potential driving the loop is a direct function of the ratio of the common-mode impedances of the interconnect and the power cords. Since the common-mode impedance of a power cord is usually quite low, it is critical then that the common-mode impedance of the interconnect be as low as possible in order to minimize noise in the unbalanced signal. This remains true regardless of the damping in the loop. It should be noted at this point that in reality, the return path impedance of the interconnect contains the contact resistance of the connectors as well. Since the resistances involved are quite small, the contact resistance then becomes a critical issue as well. The use of locking RCAs then seems mandatory in this context.
Additionally, it seems reasonable that instead of attempting to reduce the common-mode inductance of the interconnect below that of the power cord, measures could be taken to increase the common-mode impedance of the power cord with ferrite beads or the like. While this makes sense based on the math of the solution, adding ferrite beads to the power cord should be approached with caution as they act much like an inductor in parallel with a resistor. The inductance due to an unwise choice of bead type can be such that the resonant frequency of the loop is then shifted down in frequency closer to the audio band thus making damping of the loop more critical in avoiding spectral contamination effects. While adding beads to the power cord can be a touchy operation, it is by far more preferable than adding them to the interconnect and often a suitable adjunct to reducing the common-mode impedance of the interconnect.
Ferrite beads are however often the only effective way to reduce the RF noise current induced in any loop antenna. Since adding ferrite beads to the interconnects has been shown in the preceding paragraphs to be unwise, the best approach here is to place beads on the power cords that are as lossy as possible at as low a frequency as possible with as low an inductance as possible so that low frequency damping characteristics of the loop are not compromised. This set of parameters is discernible only through evaluation of the impedance curves for any given bead and the relation of that impedance to that of the power cord. Unfortunately that information is rarely available to the consumer making the application more of a crap shoot than it would first seem. It is possible though to experimentally find a bead and power cord pair that can reduce the overall noise floor in the system but the user should bear in mind that if it makes a significant difference, the source of RF that the bead is working against is most likely being generated locally in the system and that the correct solution is to stop the noise at its source rather than trying to filter it out somewhere else. This comes down to locating the source and either modifying or removing it from the system. Minimization of the EMI emissions from any given piece of equipment is however entirely the responsibility of the designer and not the user.
Note also that the loop antennae formed by pairs of interconnects between chassis in the system cannot be treated in this manner since it would require placing beads only on the interconnects and this would raise the common-mode impedance of the interconnect itself, thus actually increasing noise in the signal due to the noise current flowing in the main Noise Current Loop. Thus, the only way to reduce RF-related noise riding the signals in these loops is to make certain that the transfer impedance of the interconnects is as low as possible and that the equipment is designed for minimal conducted and radiated susceptibility as well as minimal spectral contamination. The clever reader will see that simply making a twisted pair out of the two interconnects would strongly reduce the RF-noise current flowing in that particular loop, and that would be correct. It isn't perfect, and it might not work in all systems, but it is far more preferable than adding ferrite beads to the interconnects.
Since so little equipment is designed to take this effect into account, at least from the limited number of pieces of equipment that I've seen over the years, a high Q resonance can exist that causes a peaking of the noise voltage in the ultrasonic to low RF frequencies making it much more difficult to filter out the noise at the destination end, thus increasing the likelihood of spectral contamination in the destination equipment's circuitry. The point is that direct reduction of spectral contamination cannot be accomplished through the choice of interconnect alone, it is a function of the interaction of the interconnects, the power cords, and the equipment design. However, it is possible to minimize the effect through a judicious choice of the first two items along with an optimal selection of ferrite beads. Again, as with EMI emissions, elimination of spectral contamination is ultimately the responsibility of the equipment designer.
Back to the Superconductors
The Superconductor interconnects have an extremely low return path impedance, aided by the use of locking WBT-like RCAs, which seems to work well in minimizing the effects of spectral contamination and direct noise current conversion. Since the return path impedance is so low, it is likely to make the issue of common-mode resonances in most systems a moot point as well. This can be a nice benefit for most users as it is quite a bit cheaper to replace interconnects than equipment. The user also is spared the pain and agony of attempting to understand the arcane field of common-mode network analysis in order to make rational modifications to their equipment, although in reality modifications of this nature couldn't hurt. Considering the labor necessary to terminate this type of cable, I consider the choice by JPS Labs to use the locking WBT-like RCAs a wise one and well worth the incremental cost of the interconnects in my estimation. I suppose it is also possible that the tighter compression fit of the locking RCAs might also serve to minimize point contact oxidation effects without resorting to heavy molecular weight contact enhancers, etc., but that is a minor point I think.
Some months ago, prior to working through these issues and equations, I had replaced the Monster wiring in some old M350i cables that I had been using with some Canare GS6 cable that seemed reasonable for use with unbalanced signals based on an assumption I made about the shielding effectiveness and the differential mode lumped parameters. It was a significant improvement in my system, the magnitude of which I didn't honestly expect. Now it seems plausible that the twisted-pair construction of the M350i, which has a rather large impedance in the return path when compared to that of coax like the GS6, might easily have been responsible for the noticeably smoother and more pleasant sound the change produced. There was also a clearly audible decrease in glare and haze that I typically associate with a reduction of RFI in the system. Consideration of the common-mode parameters of cable construction now seems like the only rational explanation for the distinct difference in sound between the two cable construction methods, at least to me.
Sound thinking
After this little experiment, which prodded more work on the analysis presented here, it seemed rational to investigate different ways to achieve even lower return-impedance methods of cable construction in order to find out if it could make a difference again. Since the system sounded pretty good at the time, I didn't pursue it very strongly until I stumbled across the JPS Labs Superconductor cables. The literature seemed to indicate that they would be even better than the GS6 in terms of common-mode parameters as well as transfer impedance, so they seemed like they'd be worth a shot.
The differences as I heard them then and now? A much greater sense of presence and clarity, verging on crystalline in their presentation of the upper octaves, was immediately noticeable, making it seem as if the GS6 cables were as bad in comparison with the JPS as the Monster was in comparison with the GS6. The ease with which the music flowed is of a character that didn't exist emotionally with me to this degree before the change in cables. I must admit that I wasn't prepared for such a dramatic change, and it wasn't just me. My wife, not knowing anything about the change at the time, noticed the sound differences immediately and expressed that it was as if the system were transformed in terms of its quietness. She felt that a layer of noise had been wiped away that apparently wasn't noticeable before. It was noise that seemed always to be part of the sound yet not part of the sound, making it quite difficult to explain, but the effect was clear to both of us. Without any coaching or discussion, she had come to the same conclusions I had using the same words I was thinking. It seemed sufficiently conclusive for me.
During the following days, I took pains to perform comparisons with the GS6 cables as best I could and it did seem as if the noise floor were dramatically lower with the JPS cables. I spent a few weeks looking for a downside to all of this and simply couldn't find one. While the sound was amazingly transparent, there was no evidence of glare, haze, smearing, edginess, brightness, or anything else that would induce listening fatigue. The upper octaves seemed so much more lifelike and relaxed, for lack of a better choice of words. Peculiar that such a change could cause such a change. Then again the math says this must be true if the noise level, and the resultant spectral contamination, were indeed audible, which this series of tests, and I use the word loosely here, tends to indicate.
The real kicker though was the improvement, subtle as it was, in the sense of space and depth as well as the improvement in imaging specificity. Bells, cymbals, etc. don't sit on the speaker baffles anymore, but float freely in space, immediate and realistically detailed and as airy as anything I've heard shy of live. That sense of perspective and the ease with which the upper octaves seem to bloom without any hint of artifice contributes greatly to the beauty of the music in my estimation, and it simply didn't exist prior to the installation of the Superconductors. I must admit to being dumbfounded by the changes wrought by these cables. At first, I naturally assumed that the mere act of changing the cables out was sufficient to clean the contact surfaces, but care was taken to clean the contacts with 1,1,1 TCE between changes so as to minimize the possibility that perhaps some contaminant on one or the other might be responsible for perceived differences. Regardless, the choice was obvious and unanimous that the Superconductors were more pleasant and realistic to listen to -- if only by a small margin in absolute terms, but by a wide margin in subjective terms. In a related set of tests, the GS6 cables were essentially unlistenable in contrast to either.
I should also mention that prior to receiving the Superconductor cables for review I installed a homemade active isolator box to break the ground loop generated by connecting the TV/VCR feed to the passive controller. This allowed the cable feed to be connected directly to the wall and that provided the earth connection for the VCR, an important consideration as it's a dirty chassis design. Prior to this change, the VCR's floating chassis (54V rms open circuit) found its way to ground through the commoned returns on the passive controller and through the low-impedance signal return to chassis bypass of the DAC -- quite a serious case of noise current if you ask me. At the same time, my Krell KSA-150 chassis could then be grounded without the excessive hum otherwise created prior to this installation. Overall system sonics were improved considerably in the process, and the noise level in the system seemed to drop dramatically as well. Yet with all the reduction in interchassis potentials afforded by this change, the JPS type interconnects still made a clearly audible difference. Again, it seems the only way to eliminate the problem of noise in unbalanced interconnects entirely is the application of balanced power. But would this mean that the use of balanced power would obviate the differences in unbalanced interconnects?
Well, there is one other source of noise that all cables exhibit to one degree or another, and that is triboelectric noise. That's noise generated by friction between conductors and dielectrics and between dielectrics and fillers, for example. This noise is also a function of the materials themselves. The Superconductor cables are built such that the dielectric is bonded to both the center conductor and the shield. Thus there can be no relative movement, so there is no friction generated and no triboelectric noise. The materials used, copper and foamed polyethylene, are two of the lowest triboelectric generators available as well. I suspect, but can't prove, that this might also be another source of the improved clarity of sound over that of the GS6 which uses the common technique of serving a conductive nylon tape between the shield braid and the dielectric to drain off the triboelectric charge induced by vibration and flexing, apparently not effectively enough though compared to the construction techniques of the Superconductor cables.
Since the destination input impedance is rather high in most installations, this is not something to be dismissed entirely and again is an effect well known among cable manufacturers, especially for high-impedance sources and those requiring high-gain amplification. Does it apply to high-level line signals? Possibly, but I couldn't tell you for sure. Instead, the construction of the Superconductor interconnects eliminates this problem entirely, yet does not add significantly to the cost of the finished interconnects. Thus, to my mind, another source of worry is simply removed free of charge. Sorry about that -- don't you just hate a bad pun?
Findings
Regardless, in terms of purely technical issues, the Superconductor interconnects seem to meet all the requirements laid out so far and are built quite well to boot. My conclusion is that the combination of very low return impedance, low transfer impedance, and bonded dielectric seems like it would be of great benefit in keeping the noise floor as low as possible in an unbalanced interconnect when used in most any system.
The very low capacitance and inductance of the cables are not unimportant as well, especially for use with passive controllers. At about 25pF/ft, these cables are about half as capacitive as the GS6 cables. While this may have something to do with the sound differences, the rolloff difference is totally negligible in my system with a source resistance of about 75 ohms in the DAC and a maximum of 1k ohms in the passive controller with most listening done with an output resistance below 200 ohms. DAC to passive length is 0.5m and the passive to amp length is 1m, making the capacitive loading of the cable negligible in context. It is hard to imagine that such a small change in capacitive loading could cause such an easily perceived difference in sound quality. Thus my above conclusions relative to common-mode impedance, transfer impedance, and triboelectric noise instead.
Bottom line? I'm keeping 'em and will likely buy another set for the tuner and TV/VCR isolator feed paths as well. Returning to the GS6 interconnects after this more extended period is quite disappointing now and clearly inferior, even more so than during the initial comparison testing where the cables were swapped in and out of the system over the span of several days. The clarity and precision of presentation with the Superconductor interconnects is quite addictive, and I can't recommend them enough if your system components tend toward neutrality or warmth. I would suspect that a naturally bright system would be exposed by these cables for the pain that it usually is, whereas a competently assembled system should shine even brighter with their use. If you find these cables to be unnatural-sounding, I would suspect that the components are either overly bright in their character, or there is some other source of error in the system that these cables are merely bringing to your attention.
There may be better interconnects available to the consumer, but frankly I'm hard pressed to imagine what they might be or how they could be better. And the cost is low enough to make the Superconductors one hell of a bargain compared to a lot of the truly high-priced stuff out there vying for your dollar. Give 'em a try. I'd be amazed if you weren't