Opinion 1

At the very beginning I would like to warn you, that this time the review will not be very typical, but even against all the dogmas told by the marketing gurus. Two and a half years have passed from the very secret debut, on our pages, of the cable, that resembles the post-industrial exterior power installation, the power cord Argento Audio Flow Master Reference Extreme Power, and still there is no mention of it either on the manufacturer’s web pages, or on the distributor’s (but the latter is the result of the former). Not to mention there is no information available on the characteristics, build, or even the model line and pricing. In short there is absolutely no information, no media buzz, no activity, which could be interpreted as marketing, nothing at all. So are we dealing here with an almost perfect example of the cable underground? Or maybe with such a strict limitation, that only a very selected few are being informed about its existence, and are able to hear them only if extremely lucky? I do not exclude such options, but I was told by the manufacturer, the case is much easier to crack – the FMRE (Flow Master Reference Extreme) is selling pretty well, especially for a high-end product, despite not being marketed, and behind the “Danish extremists” there is a whole group of distributors and happy clients. You need to be aware, that the audiophile community is quite scattered around our blue globe, and those little enclaves tend to give more credence to opinions from other members of the audiophile world, rather than to even the most colorful commercial descriptions. But you are reading those words, and this does mean, that even such underground delicacies come to the surface in official mass-media. Hence with great pleasure let us invite you with a complete set of cabling provided but the Katowice based RCM, the Argento Audio Flow Master Reference Extreme, comprised of the earlier mentioned power cord, balanced interconnects and loudspeaker cables.

Against the common opinion stating, that black color thins, the attached pictures clear show, that if there is a grain of truth in this opinion, it does not work with the tested cables. You cannot deny, that the flagship Argent have an impressive size, and also their weight is similarly significant. Those are not the openwork constructions like the in-akustik Reference LS-4004 AIR Pure Silver, but classy cables with tightly packer silver conductors. The sheaths resemble velvet upon touch, while the plugs are also stunning. And here a functional remark. Every cable tested today requires a lot of free space to have it placed, and also to connect. Yes, yes, three parallel cables for the power, monstrous casings of the XLR and loudspeaker plugs require you to have at least a few dozen centimetres of free space behind your system, if not more. Additionally the wall plugs of the power cord are only compatible with Schuko sockets (without the grounding bolt typical for Polish sockets). And here is also something interesting, the differences to the “plain” Flow Master Reference. While the “lower grade” power cord is placed into a single sheath, here we have three parallel ones with distancers keeping them in equal distance. Yet with the XLRs the roles get reversed and the FMR have a construction similar to the FMR Extreme Power, while the FMR Extreme XLR have the form of two runs, woven together loosely. Only the loudspeaker cables, letting aside the difference in color, seem to be very similar to their predecessors. Regarding the metallurgical and technical differences I have to disappoint you, as the manufacturer keeps quiet about that, probably thinking, that you do not need to know anything about the internal composition of their cables, as this knowledge does not have any influence on the sound. So there is no need to prolong the discussion about things you can see with your naked eyes and feel with your fingers, hence I am suggesting to move on to what we can hear.

Moving to critical listening, and still remembering what the earlier tested power cords could do, and probably still can do, I was wondering, if having other members of their family plugged into the system will not cause an abundance effect. But before I could find an answer to my dilemmas, I had to be very patient and have confidence in Jacek’s thoroughness, as the attempts to use the Danish cables in my system turned out to be almost impossible. While I could fit the power cables fairly easily, the interconnects, due to their stiffness and very wide connectors, required a far going re-arrangement of my setup, and I could not fit the loudspeaker cables onto the terminals in my Bryston amplifier, as the manufacturer probably did not foresee the use of such extreme plugs. In summary I could have a foretaste of 2/3 of the set in my room, while to be able to hear the complete set I needed to visit our official listening room. However in both cases the presence of the Danish extremists gave very unequivocal results. First of all I need to ease down all interested readers, that there was no oversaturation of the company signature sound, and secondly, you could easily bust the myth, which makes rounds amongst audiophiles, and I really do not understand why, that the sound is being dried and thinned by silver conductors. Well, if someone uses improperly implemented and contaminated raw materials, then you can encounter such anomalies, but in the top Argento such things are nowhere to be found. The Danish cables sound very resolving, and please do not confuse this with being detailed, something typical for much less sophisticated cables, very vivid, bordering on slight darkening and toning down of any kind of granulation. It is maybe not the same kind of weighing and spectacularism as with the Siltech Triple Crown with turned on shielding, but you can talk about a similar aesthetics, with keeping a slightly higher distance to the listener. As an example on the phenomenal, polyphonic “Alpha & Omega” by Capella Nova, the first row of vocalists is not pushed out in the direction of the listeners, a very simple, and in most cases successful, move to intensify their apparent palpability. Instead of that, the distance between the performers and listeners remains as it should be, and conform with the idea of the sound engineer. This allows us to have a complete insight into the structure – placement of the vocalists of Capella Nova but also to hear other sounds that reach our ears, like reverberations, reflections and echo captured by the microphones. So we get a full package of information about the performers, but also about the room, where the recording was made. This might be a small thing, but a very positive one, as nothing is so deteriorating, at least in my case, to the joy of listening to such kind of music, extremely soulful and demanding a lot of attention, like cleaning it up, concentrating on the soloists themselves, moving them from a church or other chambers, similar in size, they are being transferred to almost reverberation-free cabinets.
Fortunately the FMRE show their potential also on less pampered material. And although this does not mean, that all kinds of garage recorded EPs, or recordings made flat like a table, will now enchant with three-dimensionality and holographic effects, as no-one with at least acceptable hearing and working common sense will not claim, that such miracles could be done by cables… Well, someone can promise you that, but he or she will not be able to keep it. It will still be flat and with clamour, and the misery of the recorded material will be exposed by the Argento, maybe not brutally, but without any special emotion. But if we would use material with the recording and musical quality similar to “Black Market Enlightment” by Antimatter, then we would not need to worry about the final effect. Dynamics will be phenomenal, palpability similar to a live event, and the juiciness of the midrange … accurate. I am writing this with pure joy, as the Danish cabling is far from an artificial, although expected by some potential buyers, boost and oversaturation of the timbre. Instead it emphasizes on truthfulness, the ability of reproducing a natural, real timbre of the played vocals and instruments. Adding to this the fact, that we are operating on a strictly high-end level here, then we have a recital only for ourselves, and the space we are in, will depend only on the disc we will be playing. No compromises, no simplification, only us and the music in its prime, native form.

Similar to the mentioned in-akustik Reference LS-4004 AIR Pure Silver and Siltech Triple Crown the usage of silver by Argento was not a goal in itself, but only a way of reproducing every information enclosed in the source material fully. Although I would be a bit cautious in using the loudspeaker cables Argento Audio Flow Master Reference Extreme with low-powered, triode amplifiers, they will fare great with strong solid-state ones. Regarding the interconnects and power cables I have almost no remarks, I mean concerns, besides common sense and real assessments of their “carrying force”, with which I mean avoiding situations, where they could move the gear around or make it levitate. Now seriously, the Argento Audio Flow Master Reference Extreme are truly the masters league, and if they are in your reach, I warmly recommend to have a listen to them, as chances, that their refinement and refraining from claptrap, while emphasizing on linearity and transparency, may cause you to end your search for the ideal cabling. If you allow such thing to exist of course.

Marcin Olszewski

System used in this test:
– CD/DAC: Ayon CD-35 (Preamp + Signature) + Finite Elemente Cerabase compact
– Network player: Lumin U1 Mini + I-O Data Soundgenic HDL-RA4TB
– Digital source selector: Audio Authority 1177
– Turntable: Kuzma Stabi S + Kuzma Stogi + Dynavector DV-10X5
– Phonostage: Tellurium Q Iridium MM/MC Phono Pre Amp
– Power amplifier: Bryston 4B³ + Graphite Audio IC-35 Isolation Cones / Synergistic Research MiG SX
– Integrated amplifier: Wzmacniacz zintegrowany: Pathos Inpol² MkIIPathos Inpol² MkII
– Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Contour 30 + Brass Spike Receptacle Acoustic Revive SPU-8 + Base Audio Quartz platforms
– IC RCA: Tellurium Q Silver Diamond
– IC XLR: Organic Audio; Vermöuth Audio Reference
– Digital IC: Fadel art DigiLitz; Harmonic Technology Cyberlink Copper; Apogee Wyde Eye; Monster Cable Interlink LightSpeed 200
– USB cables: Wireworld Starlight; Goldenote Firenze Silver; Fidata HFU2; Vermöuth Audio Reference
– Speaker cables: Signal Projects Hydra; Vermöuth Audio Reference Loudspeaker Cable
– Power cables: Furutech FP-3TS762 / FI-28R / FI-E38R; Organic Audio Power + Furutech CF-080 Damping Ring; Acoustic Zen Gargantua II; Furutech Nanoflux Power NCF
– Power distribution board: Furutech e-TP60ER + Furutech FP-3TS762 / Fi-50 NCF(R) /FI-50M NCF(R)
– Wall power socket: Furutech FT-SWS(R)
– Anti-vibration platform: Franc Audio Accessories Wood Block Slim Platform
– Switch: Silent Angel Bonn N8 + Silent Angel S28 + Silent Angel Forester F1 + Luna Cables Gris DC; Innuos PhoenixNet
– Ethernet cables: Neyton CAT7+; Audiomica Anort Consequence + Artoc Ultra Reference + Arago Excellence; Furutech LAN-8 NCF
– Table: Rogoz Audio 4SM
– Acoustic panels: Vicoustic Flat Panels VMT

Opinion 2

One of my colleagues tends to say: if you want to have fun – have fun, and not just pretend to. But what does this have to do with what we are going to look at today? Actually quite a lot, as after two years since we had a look at the top power cord Argento Audio Flow Master Reference Extreme, we went fully out and asked the Katowice based distributor RCM for a full set of these extremely expensive cables, starting with the power cord, through an interconnect and finishing with the loudspeaker cable. As many of you know, the owner of RCM is quite an energetic person, so we did not need to ask twice, before we received a few dozen kilograms of silver wires, sufficient to cable a complete audio system, being a logistical feat on itself. So what did we get? Let me tell you. The parcel contained two power cords, one XLR interconnect and one set of speaker cables. In our case, using the variable output of the dCS Vivaldi DAC 2.0 allowed to fully satisfy our needs. And what was the effect of applying those cables? Of course the introductory chapter is not the best place to reveal everything, so if you are interested I warmly invite you to read through a few concise paragraphs with my observations from the battlefield.

As it sometimes happens, due to the increased interest of competition trying to copy everything you can come up with, similar to the recently tested cable David Laboga System Audio Ruby Ethernet, also in this case, the information about the construction of the Flow Master Reference Extreme series is very sparse. From what I could gather, the conductors are made of woven silver wires. Trying to describe them better, while being able to only use my eyes, I can only tell, that the power cords are placed parallel on most part of their run, as you could expect from a model called Extreme, by using special spacers to keep them in place. This however, has a significant impact on the cables’ size. The interconnect consists of two runs woven together, something that you tend to see more often in this kind of cables. Finally the loudspeaker cabling consists of four independent runs, each the size of a garden hose. All cables were enclosed in identical, opalescent black sheaths and terminated with proprietary plugs. As the dot on the “I” the cables – except for the interconnect – were packaged in a kind of natural leather, rectangular bags, which not only gave them a touch of exclusivity, but also served as protection during transport.

Starting the description of the influence of the complete set of Argento cables in my system, I cannot get around mentioning my positive surprise from the fact, that the big asset of those cables is brilliantly reproduced energy and vividness of the sound. And it gets even better. I was very happy, that this, very audible immediately after the cables were plugged in, structure of the sound of those Danish cables did not surpass a common sense approach to such aesthetics, even when all the cables were used together. Yes, I like when the sound has a strong and vivid midrange, but when everything turns into a sonic pulp, without defined boundaries and too heavy to reproduce any volatile elements, music becomes not only tame, but just plain boring. Fortunately, in this case things are perfect, so I practically could not find any musical material, that would not be reproduced properly. Of course, when someone likes overinterpreted freedom and immediacy of rising signals, then that person could feel that some of the rock roughness from bands like Nirvana, or some electronics from acid labels are too tame, however when looking from the side of absolute values, anyone would agree, that with the whole game around making the sound a tad rounder, does not carry any signs of fatting or slowing down. Absolutely not. Do you need an example? Let us take a look at the disc “Nevermind” by Nirvana. I agree, this grunge music gained some body in my configuration, and due to that some additional saturation, what caused its slight politeness in terms of drawing sharpness, but on the other hand presented the very important, for that genre, guitars in a more energetic way, and the vocals of the frontman brilliantly, adding some extra strength to it. It was similar with electronic music. It cannot be denied, that on the upper end it was a tad smoother, but for sure not dull. And in the mid and lower ranges, it was much more talkative in the form of those rarely heard murmurs, something of outmost importance for many lovers of that genre. Even I, who is rather distant to it usually, played a few discs from artists like Depeche Mode or Massive Attack. And not just one piece each, to satisfy my testing spirit, but full discs, all songs those contained.
Things went off in a similar way when I confronted the cables with sacral music, which is very important to me. Compared to my master, you could hear a shift in the sonic priorities of the music reproduced, but not as something bad, but rather turning my attention more towards the instruments played and the vocals, rather than the echo of the rooms hosting the musicians. This happened especially during listening to baroque music like „El Cant De la Sybil.la” by Catalunya Jordi Savall. Of course the effects of reverberation were still major players, but you could feel a slight shift of emphasis towards the more pleasantly timbred sound generators. And after the whole session of listening I can say, that this shift is planned, and not by chance. And this is just the beginning of the nice interpretation of this kind of music, as usually better saturation and essence of such presentation makes them more palpable, in a sense, bringing us better there and then. So if anyone likes this kind of music, he or she will be very pleased with what Argento Audio offers here.
Finally a few sentences about jazz. This, similar to the baroque performances, had nice feedback regarding the instruments, as this upping of saturation I mentioned, did not negatively influence the readability of, for example, something so difficult to reproduce, as a solo double-bass, and it did not turn off the lights on the stage, something also very important for this contemplative music. True, the sparks on the percussion instruments were maybe a little too golden and too darkened, with regard to my preferences, but to my surprise, and in the final parts of the test to my acceptance, they were still very volatile and vibrant. How is this possible? Maybe the key to that is the combination of silver and copper in the tested configuration – I am thinking here about the two different materials used to construct those cables. I do not know. However I do know for sure, that despite slightly higher weight, everything sounded with appropriate drive and swing.

Closing of the test, I can be certain of one thing. The described cables, despite having their own way of sounding, know how to dose it, to not kill the artistic spirit hidden in any genre. When there is need to smash, Kurt Cobain pushed me down in my seat with his vocals and guitar riffs. I case of electronic music of Acid “Liminal” it still hit me with strong distortions and beeps, having some extra weight introduced as added value, so it also had no problems in creating mini earthquakes in my listening room. And ethereal jazz and ancient music carried me to their recording sessions, in the magical ways only they possess, regardless if the recording was made in the studio, or in some other location. So are those cables for everybody? One thing is sure – if you are able to take their price tag for granted, then you should try out their way of sounding, as in my opinion they have something interesting to offer. You may ask what that is? I have written everything above. Nice timbre, expected energy and vividness of the musical spectacle, which is nicely perceived. What else do you need?

Jacek Pazio

System used in this test:
Source:
– transport: CEC TL 0 3.0
– streamer: Melco N1A/2EX + switch Silent Angel Bonn N8
– DAC: dCS Vivaldi DAC 2.0
– Master clock: Mutec REF 10 SE-120
– reclocker: Mutec MC-3+USB
– Shunyata Research Omega Clock
– Shunyata Sigma V2 NR
– Preamplifier: Robert Koda Takumi K-15
– Power amplifier: Gryphon Audio Mephisto Stereo
– Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Consequence Ultimate Edition, Gryphon Trident II, Gauder Akustik Berlina RC-11
– Speaker Cables: Tellurium Q Silver Diamond
– IC RCA: Hijiri Million „Kiwami”, Vermouth Audio Reference
– IC XLR: Tellurium Q Silver Diamond, Hijiri Milion „Kiwami”
– Digital IC: Hijiri HDG-X Milion
– Power cables: Hijiri Takumi Maestro, Furutech NanoFlux NCF, Furutech DPS-4.1 + FI-E50 NCF(R)/ FI-50(R), Hijiri Nagomi, Vermouth Audio Reference Power Cord, Acrolink 8N-PC8100 Performante
– Table: SOLID BASE VI
– Accessories: Harmonix TU 505EX MK II, Stillpoints ULTRA SS, Stillpoints ULTRA MINI, antivibration platform by SOLID TECH, Harmonix AC Enacom Improved for 100-240V, Harmonix Room Tuning Mini Disk RFA-80i
– Power distribution board: POWER BASE HIGH END
– Acoustic treatments by Artnovion
Analog stage:
Drive: SME 30/2
Arm: SME V
Cartridge: MIYAJIMA MADAKE
Step-up: Thrax Trajan
Phonostage: Sensor 2 mk II

Polish distributor: RCM
Manufacturer: Argento Audio
Prices
Argento Audio Flow Master Reference Extreme XLR: 17 000 €/2x1m; 20 400 €/2×1,5m
Argento Audio Flow Master Reference Extreme Speaker: 25 000 €/2x1m; 43 000 €/2×2,5m
Argento Audio Flow Master Reference Extreme Power: 12 000 €/2m