I was ready to start formal listening. As always, caveat emptor. The observations made were specific to this system. Your mileage may vary. The tests started with the Masse 3 interconnect between the Wyred4Sound DAC2 and Tortuga LDR6 passive preamp replacing the Arkana Physical Research link. All other cabling stayed put. I chose this sensitive juncture since any comparative differences would be magnified down the line and easily repeatable. Break-in time was relatively quick and painless. The character settled in quite rapidly. Bass extension was deep and clean, mids and treble silky smooth if a touch soft. There was a small amount of leanness in the upper bass compared to the Arkana but the most obvious change really was a major increase in detail. Since the Arkana is no slouch and there did not appear to be any drastic HF emphasis (if anything, the upper end of the Brandt was comparatively subdued), there had to be another reason I listened deeper and investigated. Was there an absolute increase in resolution? Not really. Listening indicated that the quantity of detail between cables seemed similar. What the Brandt cable accomplished instead was an old tube trick. It raised the dynamic floor by compression to make low-level information more noticeable.

Now I decided to strip down the system to its leanest fighting weight. Out went the subwoofer, crossover and associated cables. Out went the Tortuga preamp. The Wyred was reconfigured as a DAC/pre feeding directly into the Bel Canto Evo 2004 amp driving the Apogee full range. The Arkana Physical Research speaker cables remained as reference point. Tonal balance remained very smooth but somewhat dark and muted in the upper mids. Detail was good but came at the expense of constricted dynamic range. Was this a case of Brandt Audio and Arkana Physical Research fighting each other? Time to bring in the Brandt Audio Cristal 1.3 speaker cables and see what family synergy might accomplish.

The slight upper bass leanness filled out and became rich and meaty. Yet the darker upper-mid demeanour that had existed prior remained, bringing an end result that was weighted to emphasize upper bass and lower mids. In this range the cable’s tonal authenticity and instrumental weight were quite convincing. Dynamics however remained severely constricted and caused compression in the depth dimension as well. The disproportionately louder low-level cues pushed background instruments and singers forward to compete with the leads, making all of the presentation nearfield. There was tremendous amount of information about the venue but little ability to actually reproduce the space. In a balanced setup or one already inclined to the warm organic side, this would be a step in the wrong direction. As a corrective measure, it would aim at a system characterized by a tonal balance skewed to the upper octaves and possessing a soundstage with excessive depth and limited projection. So far, the approach was quite interesting but not suitable for my hardware or ears. It was time to move on to the next cable.

The Masse 4 interconnect moved tonal emphasis squarely into the midrange, shedding greater light where there had been darkness. Proportionately the new weighting brought significantly more life and agility to the vocal band, extending a more natural balance down into the lower mids and upper bass as well as in the opposite direction of upper mids. With increased tonal contrast also came an improved dynamic palette. Percussion gained some snap and instruments like the piccolo acquired more energy. Spatially, the depth plane kicked back a few feet, affording an overall larger soundstage with a more balanced spectrum of projection and depth plus increase in width. The Masse 4 offered a presentation that was basically organic and of an overall natural balance. Whilst in my system this was a marked improvement over the Masse 3, it was still guilty of some spotlighting. High frequencies didn’t emerge dramatically from a dark background but spoke politely. Dynamic range, though improved, was still somewhat reserved. Transient attack favoured pleasant push to high-drama punch. Mr. Brandt indicated that this cable was the safest bet for most situations. It appears engineered to give a subtle nudge away from overly sterile or hyper transparent into a little more organic solidity. As a standalone combo, it was close to ideal in some respects but my system still needed a little more zest. Perhaps even greater mass would bring the full spectrum of virtues? Now our final number took to stage.