September 1999

JPS Labs Superconductor+ Interconnects and Speaker Cables

by Ken Micallef

Review Summary Sound Subtly better clarity and soundstaging, "but negatives were also accentuated" in older recordings; "come as close to having no sonic opinion of their own as any cable I’ve encountered." Features Locking RCA connectors and Cardas rhodium spades; outer mesh jacket that should help repel static electricity. Use More flexible than their predecessor, so connection, especially in tight areas, is easier. Value "A great deal all around" with the 75% trade-in allowance toward the best cables that JPS Labs makes.

Over the past few years JPS Labs cables have made quite a name for themselves. One of the first hi-fi manufacturers to become popular over the Internet by much audiophile word-of-mouth praise, JPS Labs has upped the ante in the cable conundrum by offering innovative, reasonably priced products that provide the elusive bang-for-the-buck performance that we’re all trying to find.

"JPS has been belly good to me," I might add. In my quest for cable truth, I finally bought a used pair of JPS Labs Superconductor interconnects from a guy in a Borders’ parking lot. Those original JPS Labs interconnects blew away my then much-loved Tara RSC Reference Generation IIs (still got ‘em on the tape deck) with a flood of neutrality and transparency. By comparison, the Taras sounded synthetic next to the JPS Labs cables, which allowed the music to flow more naturally. The difference was even more apparent, even startling, when I went from AudioQuest Midnight 3 speaker cable (and some ugly XLO stuff, and cheap Tara) to JPS Labs speaker cables. My speakers suddenly projected bass I never knew existed, while the treble was crisp and non-fatiguing. Later, I replaced an excellent Illuminati D-60 digital cable with a JPS Labs digital cable as well. I still plug the Illuminati on occasion, but always return to the JPS. It just sounds right.

"The JPS Labs Superconductor interconnects and speaker cables are unique," wrote Marc Mickelson in his review of the original Superconductors, "because they each use a copper-coated aluminum conductor surrounded by a corrugated tube of high-purity copper which fully shields the conductor from RFI and EMI." This may help explain why the JPS cables, each one of them, present the music so naturally. For an in-depth explanation of cable physics, you might check Doug Blackburn’s recent Nordost review ‘cause buddy you won’t get it here. I’m a well-read audio nerd, and I believe in sonic truth, all those numbers and bar-graph charts be damned! But there have been a few changes in the Superconductor series since I bought my cables, changes which, with the help of Joe Skubinski, I will attempt to explain.

The plus in Superconductor+

My original gold-spaded 8' bi-wire JPS Labs speaker cable has all the flexibility of an old garden hose. And with its speaker terminations of equal length, which makes it very hard to get on the binding posts, connecting the original Superconductors resembled taming a bucking bronco. I exaggerate-- a little. The new Superconductor+ speaker cable features a meshy, flexible covering that makes the cables easier to work with and it retains the excellent connectors. The bi-wire speaker-cable terminations are now staggered, so connection to parallel binding posts is a breeze. And the termination wires themselves are also much more flexible. Hurrah!

"About the beginning of 1998 we made some internal changes to the cable," says Joe Skubinski from his Lancaster, New York base. "We changed the dieletrics and the aluminum/copper alloy slightly, and these offer more of a sense of openness and clarity. We came out with a different cable that was pretty much implemented in the Superconductor line without any fanfare.

"We also changed the speaker-cable terminating wires to a new flexible eight-gauge. That wire, the blue/clear, was actually created for the NC Series speaker cable, which is our best stuff. We used to use gold spades, but now we use the Cardas rhodium spades. Finally, in the fall of ‘98, we changed the look of all our cables with the more aesthetically pleasing cloth-like jacket we use on the Super2. The jacket material, because it is slightly conductive, adds some anti-static properties. And it also acts as a barrier if laying the cable on the carpet. We are trying to eliminate static problems so you don’t have to worry about them as much. This, along with change in labeling, is why we call it Super+. So anybody who bought our cables after the first of ‘98 pretty much has the Super+, but they just don’t have the new jacket or labeling."

And were the same changes made to the interconnect as with the speaker cable? "It’s the same with the interconnect," Joe assured me. "The material inside changed along with the jacket and labeling. They have the same connectors, but the solder changed. The change in the alloy interior of the solid-core center conductor causes the wire to be a bit more flexible. It’s a similar cable in design, but as we’ve learned with the Super2, we’ve made changes which resulted in the Super+."

The Super+ is much easier to use, particularly if you have limited space to work in. When my box of review cables and AC Power cord showed up, I wasted no time in getting it all wired into my system. The immediate effect of total cable change is a visceral slam to the senses, like jumping from a hot sauna into a cooling river. But I tried not to think too much about it, I just wanted the cable to settle in to the system zeitgeist.

After a month or so, I pulled out all the Superconductor+ and reinstalled the original Superconductor. Holy moly! As with many changes to a system you’ve already tweaked for ages, the effect was very noticeable. How can you quantify terms like sibilance, bass smoothness and soundstaging ability? Well, let’s start one cable at time.

System

At this point, we need to get to the skinny on my rig, to further aid in explaining my cable routing: Muse Model 2 DAC, Genesis Digital Lens, Theta Data II transport, Audio Note M2 line-stage preamp, Cary SLM-100 monoblocks, and JM Lab Daline 6.0 speakers. All of the gear rests on sorbothane doodads, Townshend Seismic sinks, Black Diamond Racing cones, and a Standesign rack.

What I’m hearin’

With the original JPS back in, I began by changing the digital cable to the Superconductor+. Playing the old-school funk of black-ploitation, Harlem Hustle [Global Television RADCD92], I choose the Brothers Johnson’s "Strawberry Letter 23," which is laced with stereo bass guitars, female chorus, harpsichord, and the funky concert toms of drummer Harvey Mason. Another track is Donald Byrd’s "One Gun Salute," a classic Dirty Harry-styled number with killer brass and soaring strings over a 3/4 jazz waltz. The difference with the Superconductor+ digital in line was subtle but pronounced, if you know what I mean. Percussion was better articulated and the bass clearer and warmer, while Mason’s tom tolls were distinctly cleaner. The Byrd track became smoother, its big horn accents better defined. But as with many old recordings, negatives were also accentuated, with Byrd’s low-end bass now presented in all its thin, stifled glory. The Superconductor+ more closely revealed both the majesty and muck of these old recordings.

Leaving the Superconductor+ digital in, I moved on to the latest recording from Jim Hall and Pat Metheny, titled Jim Hall & Pat Metheny [Telarc CD 83442]. This is a very warm (almost too warm) recording of the two master guitarists playing in both studio and live settings. Hall is exclusively on electric, while Metheny moves between acoustic and electric, so the dynamic range is great. It is a very rich, natural-sounding recording with its share of little effects. "The Bird and the Bees" glistens with the Superconductor+ , but with the old digital back in the track sounds slightly less alive, with seemingly added focus on the midrange. The soundstage also recessed slightly.

Next I popped in Beaucoup Fish from techno masters Underworld [V2 27042] ‘cause we all know how much I love the stomach-displacing low end that only techno can deliver. The first track, "Cups," is very compressed, an airless production with shimmering keyboards and vocoderized vocals with lots of creepy effects and even a detuned banjo. On a different tack, I also listened to Diana Krall’s latest, When I Look In Your Eyes [GRP 90137]. Krall’s version of "I’ve Got You Under My Skin" is a languorous, simmering affair, her purring vocals dead center and huge in the soundstage, with slight sibilance. Bass is well delineated, strings hovering like slowly moving clouds. This is largely a see-through production highlighting Krall’s sexy performance.

Changing the interconnect to the Superconductor+ between the Muse DAC and the Audio Note M2 preamp again provided subtle but sustainable results. With Underworld, the sequencer bass grew more taut, the robotic bass drum suddenly revealed a tone of sorts, and the keyboard melody became more bubbly and full.

Each instrument in this synthetic palette was rendered with greater detail and clarity, but also with greater roundness and smoothness. Ditto for Krall. The strings, which simply hovered before, now seemed to sail between the speakers, and Krall’s voice now achieved greater focus and clarity in the center of the mix. Sibilance disappeared, while cymbals and tom-tom work became more pronounced and more natural. These, again, are very small and subtle changes, but they were distinct nonetheless. As you know, the higher up the food chain you ascend, the smaller and more focused are the rewards. But this first interconnect change was more noticeable than the prior digital-cable change.

Sticking with the Krall disc, I then changed the interconnects between the Audio Note preamp and the Cary monoblocks. This revealed much more studio ambience and air, a greater impression of actual studio space. Now Krall’s voice looms larger in the mix, almost too large for the accompanying instruments, but we are looking at the making of a star here, so…. Every girlish nuance and big-breasted baritone note is now immaculately present. The gentle vibes and cymbals are given more body as well, the strings now billowing like the wind. The aforementioned Underworld track "Cups" took on a more metallic, colder, futuristic edge as well. This is the biggest difference yet, probably owing to the closer proximity to the speakers. The soundstage has come alive and my speakers sound great. I stress that while each change is small, the cumulative effect is not. Even before changing speaker cables, my system is now smoother overall, with silkier highs and better-defined bass. This is not as dramatic as when I went from all Tara to JPS Labs interconnects; it is a change of sophistication over weight, of definition over actual soundstage size or depth.

Now for the biggie

I connected the JPS Labs Superconductor+ speaker cable to my bi-wirable JM Labs Daline 6.0 speakers, hit play for the Krall again, and sat back. Instantly, I could pick out a lone flute in the back of the orchestra that I hadn’t noticed before. Bass weight was palatable -- a big change. Lewis Nash’s brushstrokes were now individually detectable, as were the bass notes present on each downbeat. Krall’s piano became more resonant. Even a bad guitar chord at 5:22 leaped out at me. The instruments took on a more natural, spacious tone, just as Krall’s voice seemed to rise higher in the actual soundstage. Overall, a greater sense of air around instruments was easily definable, while the biggest changes were the bass definition and dynamism.

Conclusion

Should you jump whole hog and change your entire rig from original Superconductors to the new Superconductor+ series? For me, the speaker cables made the most apparent difference, followed by an interconnect change between preamp and power amp. If you don’t own any JPS Labs cables, the interconnects are a no-brainer and will give you new levels of neutrality and naturalness. The JPS Labs cables don’t add anything, and they don’t take anything away. They come as close to having no sonic opinion of their own as any cable I’ve encountered. And you get a 75% trade-in allowance toward a new purchase of JPS Labs’ top-of-the-line cables, which makes the new Superconductor+ cables a great deal all around.

...Ken Micallef
ken@soundstage.com

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