Opinion 1

The Americans have their Independence Day on July 4th, with the huge parades, family picnics, fireworks and other spectacular events (you know – everything is bigger on the other side of the big pond). In Poland the Independence Day falls on November 11th, when the weather is not so good, and allows only for marches of extremists with shaved heads, having regular battles with store windows. Around that time you could also usually see some audiophiles moving around the venues scattered around Warsaw, which hosted the Audio Video Show, when it was held on that date. But regardless of that, today, as we have November 11th again, we decided to approach a Polish product, which comes from a manufacturer embedded in the professional market, and who has not only local influence, but is also recognized abroad, especially in the USA. His products are used by artists like Al Di Meola, David Eleffson (for now ex-Megadeth), Jeff Waters (Annihilator), Steve Lukather (TOTO) as well as by sound engineers like Hiro Furuya (Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmonics, Eric Clapton, Elton John and Billy Joel), Maor Applebaum (Annihilator, Faith No More, Rob Halford, Sabaton, Sepultura), Ross Robinson (Korn, The Cure, Sepultura – yes, He is responsible for the sound of “Roots”, Machine Head, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit), etc., then this manufacturer must be doing things right, as all those mentioned people are not following any trends, as if you could talk about trends with regard to cabling, and they do not need to prove anything to anybody. So when those big fishes reach out for the wires made in Wroclaw, then it is time we have also a look at them (wires – not fishes) and have a listen. But to make things more interesting, instead of analog wires, which provoke only mild emotions, we were very satisfied and are looking forward to have a close contact with the top LAN cable – the David Laboga Custom Audio Ruby Ethernet.

According to the rule, that you can only make the first impression once, David Laboga did not leave anything to chance. Starting with the wires themselves – hand made and placed inside calf leather sheets, though the wood-linen-leather etui and scented (true, true!) plug covers (something that should not be a surprise, as the input plug has a real ruby installed in it – visible on this photo) and finishing with everything being worked out to the most minute detail (I recommend you to view the unboxing photoshoot).
And please do not try to claim it not being ecological, telling the sheath could be made from so called eco-leather. Because the natural leather used here is just a by-product of the food industry, with the only change being, that it was not wasted, but used for a very exclusive purpose. You could say – I pay – I demand, but in this case, the approach of the manufacturer, bordering on perfection, reminds me of Japanese manufacturers, where nobody is in a hurry, everything has its own place and time, and choosing their products you know, that you are dealing with something absolutely proprietary and special. As proof to my words you can look at the cable 聖HIJIRI ‘TAKUMI’ MAESTRO and headphones Final Sonorus X or Denon AH-D9200, where I felt similarly flattered during my first contact with them / unboxing. A nice company, don’t you think?
So we have a hand sewn leather sheath, not in a ruby color, what the name could suggest, but more a burgundy one, with the, typical for this company, black, pressed plugs with markings indicating directionality and the logo. We know almost nothing about how the tested cable is setup on the inside, as the only thing I could get from the manufacturer, is that the wires are made from copper of different diameter and purity. But this all is still nothing, as true issues started, when I tried to get the information, in which category the cable is made. And? And it turned out – in … none. Interesting, that despite the fact, that after initial connection to the Silent Angel switch it changed the LED color from green to worrying orange, and the Lumin started to show networking errors, everything returned to normal a moment later. I mean, that the Lumin stopped showing errors, and while the switch remained lit orange, it did accept the cable and provided the player with data. As it turned out, that when transferring “civilian” data, the increase in throughput / speed of transmission means progress, then with audio, the way of transfer, quality of the wiring and low amount of interference, both intrinsic as coming from outside, matters more. It is also worth mentioning, that the inside of the sheath is filled with some soft fibers (wool?) what allows the wires inside to have an additional, anti-vibration isolation.

But the most important things are still ahead of us; till today I did not have any conscious contacts with David Laboga Custom Audio cables, I only heard about them from other people, so they remained a mystery to me. In addition the cable received was only initially burned in, so it needed thorough accommodation, and this meant, that it will not be a short-lived, maybe a week long contact, but we will need to spend much more time together. And this is what happened, although the Ruby just taken out of the box showed surprising maturity and refinement. However with each day the volume of its assets grew.
But let us start at the beginning. When the changes resulting from burning in the cable in and having it aligned with the rest of the system, what confirmed that our guest reached full stability and I started to listen more attentively to it, as against opinions of cable sceptics and people theorizing on internet forums, for whom having a cable transfer data, confirmed with a screenshot from Speedtest.net, is all they need, I must tell you, that ethernet cables do have influence on the sound of audio systems, of course those that utilize streaming and play files. We have confirmed this, more or less aptly (this is for you to decide) when discussing the offerings from Fidata (HFLC), the Polish Audiomica Laboratory (Anort Consequence, Artoc Ultra Reference, Arago Excellence), Furutech (Lan-8 NCF) or the extreme Synergistic Research Galileo SX Ethernet. And it is also the case here. The Ruby “sounds” in its own way, completely different to most of the previously mentioned competition. I put “most of” on purpose, as in some aspects, the Wrocław made cable shows many similarities to his Japanese counterpart, the mentioned Fidata HFLC. I mean the effect of „unplugging”, opening up the communication channels – transfer of data. Additionally this was shown in a very distant way to the certain dizziness caused by the scale of changes I felt when testing the top of my references to date – the Synergistic Research Galileo SX Ethernet. Instead of stunning you with its absolute, like the American cable, the Laboga Ruby uses a much softer way of entangling you – it allows to get acquainted with the above average resolution, which is de facto on the same level as from the Galileo, step by step, making you drown in the world of sounds created by the Polish cable slowly but surely. The tested cable builds the stage a little bit further away that its mentioned competitor, presenting it from a bigger distance, so while the amount of details is the same, their presence is less, I would not call it obtrusive, as this statement carries some negative connotations, but it does not invade our comfort zone. We can see everything, when we decide to see everything, in contrast to the Synergistic, which puts everything in front of us. As an example we could take the blues album “The Bookends” by Eric Gales, recorded by the late David Bianco and finished by Matt Wallace, and then re-mastered by Maor Applebaum, what implies using cables made in Wrocław, both the mournful, as well as the more funky blues enchanted with density and brilliant placement on bass foundation, providing full information about its differentiation. So we have here a situation, where musicality does not mean any mudding, but phenomenal coherence, combined with the mentioned resolution. So you can hear everything, but without any laboratory coldness or excessive analyticity.
On the “Isa” by Zaz it became clear, that the resolution I was talking about does not mean, that our ears would be mercilessly beaten by French sibilants, which while indisputably communicative, gained not only politeness, but I would even say refinement. I mentioned a few times, during reviews of extreme high-end, that from a certain threshold, true, an irrationally high one, some “artifacts” native for certain performers, like for example underlining sibilants, or even lisping, stop being parasitic anomalies, but become unbreakable characteristics of those performers. And this is how it happened this time – Zaz can rustle, but this is not an error in post-processing, but her charm. Interestingly, Natasha St-Pier on “Croire”, softened in post-production and fit in commercial, slightly plasticky, frames, was far from becoming overly sweetened and sticky. Seemingly the depth of the stage was reduced in a noticeable way, but the accent placed on melodicity and digestibility showed clearly, that you will not find any audiophile charms there.
However my biggest surprise was for me the listening to the album “Unto the Locust” by Machine Head, an album to date categorized as garage-ruthless. Yet with the Laboga in the sound path it transformed in a dreamlike butterfly with a murderous temper, or even the contemporary version of a dragon, forgotten by God and people, which tempts with brilliant colors, just asking to come closer to see them better, just to spit venom in our eyes, in a moment of our inattention. Please forgive me those extensive metaphors, but on the above example, you can clearly see, what this ruby sheathed cable really can do. While keeping full dynamics in micro and macro scale as well as timing of the mad tempos, the Ruby was able to make things slightly denser and move the stage behind the line of speakers, thus creating a truly apocalyptic scenery. With inborn grace it created a picture of destruction based on ruthless guitar riffs, ecstatic (including the blasts in “This is the End”) drums of Dave McLane and the raging roars of Robert Flynn. I will tell you, that the compression that troubled me during listening earlier, was put in the background, as through the presentation being moved to the back, it also became less constraint, and the wider perspective turned out to be the bulls-eye.

So are we dealing here with an ideal cable, suitable for everybody? Well, regarding the first part of the question it is not me, who can judge it, but regarding the second part, then … absolutely not. It is hard to expect, that a buyer expecting a blast directly in his/her face and expansive aesthetics, where only the first line of offence counts, would appreciate the refinement, multi-layered planes and precision in depicting the further planes offered by the David Laboga Custom Audio Ruby Ethernet. But returning to the beginning, the ideal, you must regard the Ruby as a connector of highest quality, what I somehow suggested comparing it to the Synergistic Research Galileo SX Ethernet, showing only the differences between them, which are not class differences, but just different ideas of how a cable should sound. This is why I warmly and honestly recommend to test the Wroclaw made cable in your own system, as this is proof, that reference can come in many flavors, and only we can choose which path to audio-nirvana we will follow.

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

Trying to introduce you smoothly into today’s theme, I will repeat once more, that I am certain about my knowledge regarding the influence of analog audio cabling – signal, loudspeaker and power on the audio system, based on my own experience. Even more, after years of battling audio-voodoo hunters, I think I have a similar certainty regarding digital cables like SPDiF, AES/EBU, USB or Ethernet. But probably not many of you know, that lately our Polish manufacturers have a lot to offer on markets abroad. Yes, in the world market. Unfortunately in some cases this is something so stigmatizing, or engaging so many resources, that those companies do not bother with our local market. Of course for them this is not something they care too much about, as when they fare well abroad, then they are happy enough. But from our point of view, it is good to know, what products our indigenous companies have, that could conquer the international markets. This is the background for today’s test, a presentation of the Wrocław based David Laboga Custom Audio. Do you know that company? No? No need to worry, this is not so important, as this manufacturer provided such an interesting product, that regardless of that knowledge, I suggest you to read on. What will we be talking about? For me this is an element of contemporary audio systems, as the first item, from hopefully a longer term cooperation, is the digital cable Ruby Ethernet. Interested? I think that in today’s world, where streaming is very important, you should be. And if so, please be invited to read my impressions below.

Unfortunately in this case the description of the construction of the tested cable will be extremely short, as most strategic information is the manufacturer’s sweet secret. The only thing I managed to find out, was, that the conductors are OFC copper wires with different diameters and purity, and after appropriate shielding, the whole is put into a hand sewn, natural leather. The whole production ends with the linen protective caps being soaked in a luxury smell, what gives the final product an extra feeling of exclusivity. Is this all a bit sparse? For many of you probably yes. But frankly speaking, for the end user the technicalities are something secondary, so without trying to find issues where there are none, I will move to the paragraph describing the influence of the cable on the existing system with joy.

Maybe this will be a bit perverse start for the description of the sound of music reproduced with the tested cable, but I would like to remind you, that a quite important aspect of the final perception is the way each individual component sounds. It is known, that in our game, we come across three main ways of creating music. The first one is when clarity is placed above everything else, thus ending above the line of neutrality. The second one is kind of common sensual walk following the path of balancing the mass, timbre and freedom of presentation. The final one is the other pole to the first, strong compaction and coloring of the sound waves coming from the instruments. But what is the goal of what I am telling you here? Very simple. It is about the fact, that if a product is holding too much to one of the characteristics mentioned, it sometimes voids the music from the so much needed soul. So in the end this means, that the final assembly of different products, of course depending on the requirements of the listener, should contain bits and pieces of all the mentioned characteristics. And those are the symptoms presented by the tested product, as on one hand it offers great vividness, timbre and mass of sound, on the other, it did not forget to have enough breath. This, with a pleasant weight of the sound, translated into very interesting expanding of the virtual sound stage with information. And all that without any irritating elements like overblown sibilants, but only as a light of resolution shining on the back of the stage.
This state was really a grist to the mill for almost every genre of music. True, compared to the recently tested Synergistic Galileo SX the weight and vividness of music drifted in their bigger presence, but as I mentioned, the added value despite the increased density was the nice uphold of the extended stage width and depth. How is this possible? The key word here is probably the great resolution of the cable, which gave the music appropriate amounts of information without moving its essentiality down on the spectrum. This then resulted in the fact, that regardless of the music played, starting from classical, through jazz, including heavy rock, all the time, the system involved me so much, that I unknowingly listened to each disc from beginning to the end. Was it AC/DC with the strong guitar riffs on the disc “Power Up”, RGG with the great piano with a strong, but not fattened double-bass – “Szymanowski”, or the brilliant violin work of Salvatore Accardon on “Diabolus In Musica”, every time, despite being in theory moving away from my usual sound aesthetics of more aggression towards more calmness, I still perceived the whole as a splendid interpretation of the same material, only now with the difference, that it was placed a little lower with the timbre and essence. Seemingly it was darker, juicier, and due to that slower, but consistently, with enough vigor and freedom. Without looking for extra praise in the area of signal rise speeds, but still with proper drive. Usually such influence ends after listening to a few discs with symptoms of boredom, yet with the Laboga Ruby Ethernet I have not felt this for even a moment. And what is the reason for that? In the first case, it was the encounter with the increased energy of the guitars of Angus and Malcolm Young. In the next, it was the nice build-up of the depth of the sound stage. In the third – the phenomenal timbre of the violin of S. Accardo. Is this still not enough? Not for me. If everybody knew how to do that. Even more, I would not be sincere, if I would not mention, that a few from the many albums I listened to during the session, were shown from a more intimate side, than I have usually, what, based on the master of maximally common sensual freedom, I account to very rare, but positive phenomena. I did not think, that departure from my usual preferences, supported so well by the tested cable, could be so interesting. Kudos.

Now based on the text above, can I claim, that the David Laboga Custom Audio Ruby Ethernet is a cable for everyone? Not for everybody, as there is no one out there, that can satisfy each and every person alive. But I can with confidence say, that the things it does, and the way it does those things, makes the impression, that the majority of people potentially interested in buying it – even when they have a densely sounding system – will find common grounds with it. The reason for this supposition is of course my test, which showed clearly the assets of the cable, despite my system being in the realm of solid saturation. And we are talking here about not very small assets, as it is not easy to give an audio system another dose of saturation, while not losing control over the readable presentation of the whole, not only in the light and shadow part, but also reproducing the reality of the sound stage properly. This only a select few can accomplish, and among them, you will find the tested Polish cable. So if you are looking for an Ethernet cable, there is no way around trying it out. In my opinion it is really worth your time.

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

Manufacturer: David Laboga Custom Audio
Price:9 039 PLN/1m; 9 859 PLN/1,5m; 10 679 PLN/2m; 12 319 PLN/3m