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“Mr. Kiyoaki Imai of Tokyo/Japan is the creative force behind Audio Tekne and has been crafting audio products for 25 years. Imai San's Audio Tekne ARSP-500 speaker cables and ARC-500 interconnects utilize 500-strand pure copper Litz with minimal insulation, small inductance and identical plus and minus geometry - all of which are factors that he insists are necessary for the most natural sound. The speaker cables are rather unique in that they include a separate ground wire from the cable shield that is supposed to be grounded to the speaker frame and amplifier. Imai San says there is about 1 volt of potential difference between speaker frame and amplifier and that by grounding them together through the cable shield, the S/N ratio improves for quieter backgrounds. My speakers don't have a separate grounding point on the drivers so I used the chassis grounds on my Leben integrated amplifiers instead. The interconnects are made like the speaker cables, except without the additional ground wire.
The Audio Tekne cables are beautifully fabricated both in appearance and quality of construction. The ultra-flexible conductors are covered with a striking and finely-woven metal sheath that is an almost iridescent green and red for the left and right channels respectively. The interconnects are finished with a nicely contrasting gold finish on their RCA connectors and feature a flexible wire wrap to protect the conductors as they enter the RCA connectors - a high quality, technically adept and attractive implementation.
The Audio Tekne cables provide a natural and musical presentation while maintaining formidable sonic prowess. In fact, they have taken my Leben - Harbeth rig to a new level of musicality that I just can't seem to get enough of. They are by far the best cables I've tried yet for music lovers and they are a bargain too from a cost-versus-performance perspective.”