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For this review, I was given two 1m lengths of Sablon Audio’s Panatela LAN. I connected one between switch and NAS, the other between laptop and switch. The LAN was of far sturdier physical construction than my generic samples. It was thicker, stiffer and terminated with the Cadillac of Ethernet connectors, the Telegaertner RJ45. The biggest difference with the LAN over its generic brethren was a quieter background that allowed better realization of instrumental and vocal timbres and greater clarity and transparency. Overall balance was considerably fuller and richer. The CAT5/6/7 cables tended to not only obscure nuance but also made music sound more distant, smaller and thinner. For some perspective, the difference was on par with going from cheap no-name interconnects/speaker cables to decent audiophile quality.
A recent favorite album is Daft Punk's Random Access Memories (24/96 FLAC) which has seen heavy playback since I downloaded it a few months ago. The other evening I had it cranked and my eldest son popped into my den for a spell. He commented that this was the best he's heard this album in my system and asked what had changed. To his ears, "everything sounds bigger and more real but also smoother and I can feel the beats better". I showed him the Panatela LAN cable. The look on his face was priceless. He didn’t believe me and kept looking for some mystery component I had hidden away.
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Listening to "Honeysuckle Rose" from Jane Monheit’s Taking a Chance on Love album (16/44.1 FLAC), her voice was notably clearer, richer and more refined. The double bass was better delineated, weightier and more propulsive. Both Monheit and her bassist were more present and alive. Inserting the generic CAT5/6/7 cables back into the chain pushed them further back and obscured nuance as if a fine gauze curtain was pulled across the room in front of my speakers. Monheit’s voice became slightly thinner and bass lost some of its woody resonance and texture. I also noted a slight glassy hardness with the generics.
I also swapped in the JCAT LAN cables I reviewed some time ago. As superior as those had been over the generic stuff, the Panatela showed them a clean pair of heels. Furthermore, the JCAT displayed lower transfer speeds than the Panatela and was therefore not Gigabit Ethernet compliant. I understand JCAT’s creators have issued an improved LAN cable which supposedly offers true 1 Gigabit/s transfer speeds and superior sonics. It also sports some serious shielding. Audioquest’s top-of-the-line Diamond Ethernet cable features robust shielding and connectors as well. Is more efficient noise rejection key? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it had something to do with timing as well and the physical interface between cable connector and Ethernet port. |
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As for the latest Petite Corona, I have written at length on Sablon’s power cables in past reviews. There’s not much to add other than that the new Petite brings performance a step closer to that of the upscale Gran Corona which for me remains the king in unleashing dynamics, bass slam, lifting veils and image density. While the original Robusto was certainly firmly planted on the warm side of the tonal spectrum, the Corona series have gradually shifted more to the center of neutral. Fast, lean and mean these cables are not. That is okay by me as far too much of audio these days seems to me overly bright and analytical.
And, these cords don’t seem to prefer one type of component over another. Amps, phono stages, DACs, computers/streamers and even turntable power supplies all benefit although I’d suggest that the Coronas offer the greatest overall impact on amps and digital components.
My system sounds bigger, bolder, purer, clearer and more dramatic with the Coronas than pretty much any other power cable I have tried. Compared to the Gran Corona, the new Petite Corona offers perhaps 75% of its performance and for many systems might be the more cost-effective power cable in the Corona range.
Compared to the earlier Petite, the latest version was a tad more resolved, cleaner, sweeter and more extended on top with a bit more leading edge. The older one was a bit more laid back and forgiving. Tonal balance was a tad warmer. I like them both but the P/C-004 terminated Petite was clearly the more interesting and thus superior cable.
In summary, the Panatela LAN is perhaps Mark’s most diabolical offering yet. If you stream audio and are satisfied with your system, the Panatela LAN just might be the ideal finishing touch. With my system wired stem to stern with Sablon, I thought the Panatela LAN tied everything together nicely by allowing for greater transparency and naturalness. The new Petite Corona is a great multi-purpose power cable and easily my favorite in this price range. In hockey parlance, it’s like a good reliable third-line centerman who can play a solid two-hundred foot game and chip in 15-20 goals a season.
Both cables are worthy of serious consideration. Considering how the Petite alone is equipped with $300 connectors, includes worldwide shipping plus a further 10% discount on future purchases, it is in fact priced quite aggressively.
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