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When stripped back we saw that for these models Nanotec went away from using the rice paper and cotton strings. Here the copper is directly surrounded by the PE insulation. Next we found the 7 copper threads fairly stiff for their diameter. Being coated with oil made removing the required length of inner insulation very easy. As with previous Nanotec reviews, Mr. Hayashi had dispatched a complete set of terminations. These are of the threaded kind and either spades or banana plug may be screwed to the bare posts. The package included all necessary heat shrink tubing too. Assemblage was no chore at all.
The biggest difference between Special and SR is the use of 5N PC-OCC. Unlike the OFC-type cable, a 92.5:7.5 nano3 colloidal mix is applied to enhance tonal quality. The insulation is PE inside a PVC outer sheath. Dimensions of both cables are the same and both feel heavy for their size. This weight and relative stiffness makes laying them out easy.
On the outer sheath of both Nanotec has printed directional indicators to make consistency easy. Before serious listening started, we ran the cables in for around ten hours each by using them in the video setup between a Devialet D-Premier and our egg-shaped Vaessen Aquarius loudspeakers.
While still in video mode, some music DVDs showed that both cables shared the same heritage. Both gave the sound a very nice lightness and airiness. As we noticed already with the spoken word when the TV was on, this lightness adds to the intelligibility of conversations which are sometimes hard to follow. Comparing Special to SR, the latter was able to reveal slightly more detail. Individual placement of singers and instruments was a little more outlined where the black-clad Special clumped them more together.
Moving to the setup around our Avantgarde Duo Omega horns we could swap Special and SR between mid and tweeter horn. Because these cables share most characteristics and only their copper differs, it was not easy to determine the best combination. Were midrange frequencies most suited for the OFC copper in the SP#79 Special or was the combination with the PCOCC more favorable?
Luckily swapping cables was very easy and after various trials the conclusion became that the SP#79 Special was most suited for the midrange and the SP#79 SR for the high frequencies. In a context without crossover filter—the midrange horn—the black SP#79 Special was more in control than the SP#79 SR. The latter had the same effect on the tweeter where there is a filter in the circuit. In this biwire configuration the entry-level Nanotec rivaled our much more expensive ASI and Crystal Cable alternatives.
