August 28, 2012

• XLO Signature 5.1 Speaker Cables, Pt 1

  This review will serve as an introduction to the XLO Signature 5.1 speaker cable.  The subject set was purchased used on Audiogon, is 10 feet long and terminated on both ends with spades.  

  XLO introduced the 5.1 series of speaker cables c. 1994 and they retailed for $240 per foot for a stereo pair plus $150 for termination.  Thus this pair would have retailed for $2,550 when new.  Not an inexpensive item and especially so for the mid 1990s.  Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator, that translates to almost $3,950 in 2012 dollars.  Definitely not inexpensive but still not in the stratosphere considering how much certain cables are priced nowadays.

  Each leg (this is a four legged creature) of the Signature 5.1 cables is comprised of 30 strands of 23 gauge wire.  The cables are insulated with Teflon but I have been unable to determine whether the wire itself is all copper, or silver-clad copper, all-silver, etc. and what the purity of the wire may be.  The cables are silver/grey and lavender.  You get to pick which is positive and which is negative.  I chose the lavender leg for the positive in my set-up.    As usual, I made sure that the positive and negative connections were inverted (at the speaker side, in this case) since my conrad-johnson Premier 16LS2 preamplifier inverts phase.  The cables are marked with directional arrows indicating the current flow from the amplifier to the speakers.

  These cables are heavy (eight pounds for the stereo pair), very stiff, and unwieldy.  It's easiest to work with the natural bend of the cables when installing them otherwise you may be asking for trouble.  Make sure to tighten the spade lugs as securely as possible because the weight of the cables may naturally loosen the connection over time.  Periodically checking and tightening the connections is probably a good idea.  Finally, these may not be the ideal cables for light and/or stand-mounted speakers where the cables' weight would definitely come into play.  

  This set came in a hobbit-sized knapsack                                                XLO Signature 5.1 Speaker Cables
       
  

  Directional Arrows Showing Speaker End                                                  Spade Lugs Showing Some Wear
       
  

  I've only clocked about six hours on the cables so far, but even not fully settled-in, I'm very impressed.

  Stay tuned.

   

   

   

   

     

  • 7:11 am
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