Miracle cable, a polished performer

Today I am going to write about a humble speaker cable, code name Miracle. This is a prize I brought back from Taiwan. This speaker cable was a plain jack transparent PVC jacket loosely housed 4 twisted solid wires in a pair, 2 twisted wires cable per terminal. Not a whole lot of copper inside. It looks like a Nordost clone but not in sound.

I was warned they sound best at 2.46 meter or even better in 3.69 meter, an exponent of 1.23 meter. Miracle has been rigorously tested to come to such conclusion, it allows the fullest sonic flavor. Mine is a 3 meter in bare cable, no banana plug or Y spade. Hooking them up directly without banana plug or Y spade aka poor man's audioing. Connectors introduce sonic signatures or sonic contaminants, depends how you look at it. The cheap is of brass. And brass conductivity is not good, 28 as in reading compares with 100 with copper. Anyway, the cost of fitting the entry level Furutech connectors exceed the cost of cable. You can figure the price of Miracle.

Miracle is of high purity virgin oxygen free copper from Finland and cable drawing is done in France. One has sourced from the same vendor and draw in Taiwan but the sound was not convincing. So, there are some hidden manufacturing techniques in the drawing. The reviewed Miracle comes from France.

Sound impression

Without much ado, I hooked the cables up in my system to hear what they have to offer. A minute into the track, I found myself melting in my chair. Hardly any break in, Miracle sent my resident cable, Canare packing. No, I ruled out anxiety as excitement when assessing Miracle. Worst case scenario, I just chuck Miracle aside and bury the story. They are not thick enough to hang my neck and I hate the acetic of being a Jackass.

Let start with vocal, aha, this is where the prize is laid. The vocal regains succulent, fertile voices. The forwardness in the mids largely responsible to this bodied display. I welcomed the slight chestiness, to accord voices a touch of groan. This brings about a perceived maturity, more fat under the skin. What's a smooth performer. I know one guy who incorporated a small sub to his center speaker, loving it.

I want my Luciano Pavarotti to sound like Luciano Pavarotti not Placido Domingo or anybody else. Nobody comes close to Pavarotti's iron hung, not Jose Carrerras, not Mario Lanza. Powerful, deep voice. And Jacky Evancho had me fooled for a mature soprano belies her age. Anyway, I rediscovered her silky voice with Miracle which I had misjudged her in the past. Her tone is polished, the sax sounded sexier, the drum has more drum skin effect and the violin has denser tone. Bye-bye jarring notes. But, will the forward mids tips over the tonal balance to cause adverse effects? Read on.

Highs has profound effects on listening fatigue. Our ears have limited tolerance to screeching highs. I know it will make me turn off my stereo. Likewise, highs must also behave like sub bass, not calling attention to themselves. I have long dumped the grandiose sound inclination that Hong Kies were heavily propagating, a coat of gleaming fie sugar on your doughnut. Not real, man. Highs should only present when called upon. The quality of highs is measured by extension and graininess. The ease of extension makes the sound airy, relax and respond to music swing. Spiccato and staccato, you can hear the fascinating the string reverberations at ease. And the overtones, the second order harmonics is fantastic, our hearing is adept at discerning these things. The soundstage expands laterally.



Typically French, Miracle presents highs with a degree of coquettish. As with everything French, listen to the works of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Camille Saint Saens or Hector Berlioz, not to wander too far. Operatic Bizet's Carmen suite is one exemplary of Gypsy influence. Django Reinhardt not excluded. France is a lovely melting pot where the cultures from eastern Europe and northern and western Africa meet. The extended highs is a glaring trade mark of French. Images benefit from specificity, it makes possible to follow the movement of images like Harry Belafonte live recording. Harry talks to musicians behind him, turns head, teasing the crowd etc. Mr Belanfonte is such a crowd pleaser. Strings, guitar, chimes, cymbals, triangle and bell shine, giving a sizzle to the music. Sopranos and female voices enjoy an ethereal beauty, certainly not mechanically cold and robotic.

Miracle does not offer much bass volume, this is not to say the bass is deficient. Bass grunt is relatively shorter. What Miracle lacks, it makes up with bass agility and bounciness. Miracle redefines double bass and cello while others murk them, giving ways to percussion to make greater impacts. There are many speaker cables that deliberately boost the bass to meet pop, jazz and rock appetite. To be honest, all are not in the wrong. Just different in sonic expression and how you look at thing.

Conclusion  

I waxed lyrical about Miracle here not because I bought it. Miracle is a great speaker cable for entry level or even mid fi. It is said Miracle replaces many garden hose speaker cables costing many times more. The owners are cashing in on these garden hose variants relegating them into reselling markets. The expensive one could be a different story. Personally, I prefer thin and not too stiff cable. The fact that Miracle makes me discover how grainy my speaker cables suffice for the switch. I also can't stand sluggish and vibrance-less sound. Better go fly kite. As Miracle done its time, it has got even better. Thumb up!