TelluriumQ Black interconnect XLR 1mtr
We are focused on performance and our aim is to set a new standard. Hi Geoff,
It's been more than a month that I have been enjoying the services of TQ U/Black on a daily basis and the more time I spend with it, the more I am convinced that its rightness and balance is miles away from anything else at the price (or more for that matter). I still can't get over the way leading edges of notes are presented allied by superb bass performance that is unlike anything I have ever heard of. Not to mention its spot on tonality and timbre resolution.
.......Vassilis
Tellurium Q footnote:
We can now claim that we have developed a set of parameters that has managed to overcome phase distortion and we believe that we are the first cable manufacturer to have successfully managed to do this - possibly one of only a handful that had even looked at the problem.
Ground-breaking cables, delivered with your choice of musical toppings”
Tellurium Q have won the “Cable of the Year” award from the UK magazine HiFi+, plus full 5 Globe Awards from Hi-Fi World (for ALL of their cables) and we are excited to be able to offer this very high value for money range of cables exclusively in Somerset.
We have tried out their cables here and found that even the lowest priced cable performed beyond expectations, allowing the system on dem at the time (based around a Naim Supernait and CDX2) to truly breath and flow. Considering that we traditionally demonstrate with either Chord Odyssey 2, Chord Epic Twin or Mogami speaker cable, this is really a very potent appraisal of Tellurium's cable!!!
Flat, thin and easily concealed, their speaker cables are just the sort of cable product our customers have been asking for. At last we have a top performing cable at a very reasonable price that shocks the established players.
The step up to their Ultra Black cables gives a defined, and markedly musical improvement. All other cables come across as, to put it bluntly, decidedly crude and mechanical sounding.
This ground-breaking company also have a phenomenal range of interconnects, with RCA connections and highly innovative DIN based interconnects. These feature highly secretive circuitry which Tellurium Q have taken great lengths to protect.
Reviews
Overall then, whichever termination you choose these represent excellent value, with construction quality and superlative sound.
Verdict:
Super value, high end interconnects offering a satisfyingly natural and expansive sound.
FOR
- inky black tonality
- excellent soundstaging
- overall musicality
- no-nonsense packaging
AGAINST
- nothing at the price
Tellurium Q has expanded its popular cable range with three new interconnects.
David Price listens in.......
Launching a new cable brand is never easy, but Tellurium Q have fast made a mark for themselves. Technical director Colin Wonfor, a man who has my great respect for being the designer of the Inca Tech Claymore amplifier, has again proved his mettle by coming up with a range of speaker cables of exceptional ability. Not surprising perhaps considering his CV includes everything from designing Magnum amplifiers to working for NASA. Indeed you can even find his name on the patent for the quietest solid state relay in the world, I am told!
Well, subsequent to the launch of the loudspeaker cable range, we now see these three interconnects, the Black RCA & XLR and the DIN. The maker claims they have excellent bandwidth, exceptional phase coherency and “increased detail compared to other cables". Apart from this he remains deliberately vague about the construction and inner workings.
I can confirm that they arrive with rubbery dielectric (which unlike so many cables isn’t microphonic, instead sounding very ‘dead’ when you tap it). The RCA cables are directional and fitted with gold plated phono plugs with locking collars. The XLR sports Neutrik XLRs, whilst the DIN leads sport metal ‘Ream’ DIN plugs and are directional.
The company adds mysteriously that they’ve been designed “with an electronic circuit in the end that has a profoundly positive effect on the purity of the signal transmission”; all I could glean from Tellurium Q is that this is “a specific unique matching pad that’s been miniaturised and shoehorned into the DIN plug”.
SOUND QUALITY
It was fascinating to get three different connector variants of the same cable to try, as it showed surprising contrasts in sound, but first of all I kicked off with the 1m RCA. All cables got a good twenty four hours of use beforehand, via my Densen burn-in CD. Starting with the RCA cable running from a dCS Debussy DAC to my Musical Fidelity AMS35i, and it sounded superb. I was struck by its wide open soundstage, and the expansive nature of the recorded acoustic which gave a vast enveloping effect. Tonally it proved much as per the speaker cables, which is to say there was very, very little in the way of shrillness or edge, even on challenging program material. The cable sounded deep and velvety via The Doors’ ‘The Crystal Ship’, but still very detailed too. Conspicuous was the lovely flow of the music, with none of the ‘analysis paralysis’ that other more forensic cables suffer from. The music just flowed along in a natural and beguiling way, devoid of coloration yet without the slightest trace of grain. Certainly in my system I’d say it sounds one of the very best cables at the price.
Moving to the XLR, and switching to balanced outs on the DAC and the Musical Fidelity’s balanced input, and I was struck by the improvement in sound. By comparison the RCA sounded like it had been passing through a tea-strainer; the balanced cable was larger in all dimensions, sounding altogether more powerful and majestic in every way. Bass was significantly enhanced, seemingly going slightly lower and certainly possessed of extra kick. It didn’t just boom more; the lows weren’t overpowering just for the sake of it, but when bass guitar notes really pushed I could suddenly feel it in all its taut, vice-like splendour. Treble, as per the RCA, was atmospheric and spacious, but deliciously devoid of smear or grain – hi hats appeared to ‘glint’ in the background beautifully.
The DIN was closer to the XLR than the RCA, surprisingly. It too give a wonderfully light, open and airy sound yet powerful and three dimensional. Seal’s ‘Crazy’ was rendered with poise and precision; I loved the way I could hear right into the complex mix, lock onto individual elements and follow them effortlessly, yet I could also ‘switch off’ and relax into the general morass and enjoy the supple rhythms and the grain of Seal’s soulful vocals. It seemed just a tiny bit firmer than the RCAs, with a greater depth of field and tighter image location. The XLRs of course were best though, so if you’ve got
the option of balanced operation then this is what you should take. Just one other observation on the DIN; it was far more compact and less fiddly than either of the others – why did we give up on it?
