Opinion 1
According to the practice developed over the years, if something catches our eye and ear during a collective test, then after the publication of extremely subjective opinions about the main tested set, we also take this item that tipped the scales and devote our attention to it alone. This was also the case this time, because as you surely remember, along with the XACT S1 file server/transport, Marcin Ostapowicz – the mastermind of all the fuss and at the same time the creator and owner of the JPLAY, JCAT and XACT brands, was so kind that he included a set of top PHANTOM™ USB and LAN digital interconnects, which so effectively aroused our interest, that we unanimously considered it appropriate to look at and listen to them as part of a separate test. And since you are reading these words, it is a sign that the relevant procedures have come to an end, and thus we can share our own observations with you.
Both cables are extremely elegant and minimalist at the same time, because their design is mainly based on timeless black – both the outer nylon, iridescent braid, as well as the plug bodies, and inconspicuous aluminum used for coupling boxes decorated with the company logo and model name. And here is a note of a utilitarian nature, because while the USB connector is extremely flaccid and easy to position, the LAN cable is characterized by noticeably greater rigidity, which, with the small stature of some switches (vide QSA) may result in their tendencies to … levitate.
It takes more than seven hours to make a single conductor, which is the result of the need for mechanical and impedance pairing and proprietary braiding of high-purity copper conductors. Not without significance is also the confectioning with massive plugs with aluminum bodies and gold-plated terminals (in LAN these are Telegärtner’s RJ45 – MFP8 IE GOLD) and solid shielding, invisible to the naked eye, if you abstain from the bestial evisceration of the received cable. Although in the price list and on the website, both versions of the interconnects coming from Wroclaw are available in one and only correct length of 1.2m, nothing stands in the way of ordering sections more suited to your own equipment and premises, but it is worth bearing in mind that the maximum length is 3m, which is more than enough for USB connections, but with LAN things can be different.
The XACT PHANTOM™ USB is a beast, offering powerful, open, phenomenally resolving and dynamic sound. The space in „Vígríðr” by Gealdýr reached an almost intimidating intensity with it in the sound path and, what can I say, it left my on-duty Zorro in the dust. In addition, the Polish cable sounded louder, and at the same time with more freedom and spectacularity. It is interesting, because the increase in volume did not result from boosting the extremes of the sound band, or from artificially increasing the dynamics, but only from improving the precision of its gradation by eliminating all anomalies and parasitic artifacts that clutter the sound. A lot of merit should also be attributed to total blackening of the background. It was similar with the mentioned spectacularity, because instead of pseudo-audiophile gigantomania and artificial enlargement of the virtual sources, their dimensions remained fully realistic, and only the ability to reproduce even the lowest frequencies made the whole seem more impressive than with competition more modest in this aspect. In heavy rock („Disobey” by Bad Wolves), XACT perfectly accentuates feistiness and garage dirt, but not through granulation, but by being faithful to reality. So the possible granulation and roughness result from the realization/production of the recordings, and not from the possible intrinsic features of the cable. Please, a bit out of defiance, reach for „Pilgrim” performed by Trondheimsolistene and Gjermund Larsen to see for yourself how engaging, fascinating and at the same time rough the sound of the strings can be and how much musicality is hidden in this roughness. Through the same prism of accentuating textures, the vocal parts are presented; from crystalline sopranos (our beloved Roberta Mameli and her „’Round M: Monteverdi Meets Jazz”) to low and hoarse male stories at the end of earthly existence (Leonard Cohen’s „You Want It Darker”), making us realize that beauty has more than one name.
The XACT PHANTOM™ LAN turned out to be surprisingly similar to our Next Level Tech NxLT Lan Flame in terms of resolution and openness. On the other hand, during parallel and long-distance sparring, it sounded a bit lighter and maybe not less energetic, but not so ruthlessly „kicking” on the bass. A re-listening session of the quite uncompromising „Disobey” by Bad Wolves used with the USB cable showed that even among the extremes, one can find harmony, but not by softening and averaging them, but by emphasizing the coherence and logic of choosing a given means of artistic expression. Without a doubt, the Wroclaw made interconnect clearly represents the school of sound on the faster and more resolving, rather than the soft and vivid/round side of the power. So if you are looking for an element that masks and tones down any imperfections of either the music, or not entirely right hardware choices, then the PHANTOM™ LAN will not work as such a panaceas. Because its task is not to (over)interpret and play in its own way, but to reproduce it as close as possible to the truth – the original. Against this background, the NxLT sounds deeper and more structured. However, to be clear – the above differences do not mean a difference in class and positioning of both cables in some ranking, but only an indication of their native features allowing for a more optimal adaptation to a specific system. This is an example, not only obvious, but also fully logical, because this speed, agility and resolution correspond very well with the elegance, sophistication and truly „analogue” density and apparent „composure” of the company server.
Perhaps due to the expected price at the checkout, the tested XACT PHANTOM™ USB and LAN connectors cannot be considered propositions for all music lovers of playing from files. However, if we focus only on their sonic qualities, it will be much easier for us, or it at least it could be easier, to accept this minor inconvenience. There is no denying that both cables are characterized by strictly high-end refinement and resolution, and thus looking at them, both at their advantages and the cables’ exterior, through the prism of belonging to this elite group, the financial issues become more attractive. Speaking openly and playing with open cards, it is clear that at its price level, the Wroclaw cables can be safely considered an extremely attractive proposition for sophisticated audiophiles and music lovers. So if you are serious about the representatives of the digital domain in your audio path, then trying both cables seems to be justified and advisable in all respects.
Marcin Olszewski
System used in this test:
– CD/DAC: Vitus SCD-025mkII + 2 x Quantum Science Audio (QSA) Blue Fuse
– Network player: Lumïn U2 Mini + Farad Super3 + Omicron Magic Dream Classic; I-O Data Soundgenic HDL-RA4TB
– Turntable: Denon DP-3000NE + Denon DL-103R
– Phonostage: Tellurium Q Iridium MM/MC Phono Pre Amp
– Digital source selector: Audio Authority 1177
– Integrated amplifier: Vitus Audio RI-101 MkII + Quantum Science Audio (QSA) Violet fuse
– Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Contour 30 + Brass Spike Receptacle Acoustic Revive SPU-8 + Base Audio Quartz platforms; AudioSolutions Figaro L2
– IC RCA: Furutech FA-13S; phono NEO d+ RCA Class B Stereo + Ground (1m)
– IC XLR: Organic Audio; Vermöuth Audio Reference; Furutech DAS-4.1
– Digital IC: Fadel art DigiLitz; Harmonic Technology Cyberlink Copper; Apogee Wyde Eye; Monster Cable Interlink LightSpeed 200
– USB cables: Wireworld Starlight; Vermöuth Audio Reference USB; ZenSati Zorro
– Speaker cables: WK Audio TheRay Speakers + SHUBI Custom Acoustic Stands MMS-1
– 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; Esprit Audio Alpha
– Power distribution board: Furutech e-TP60ER + Furutech FP-3TS762 / Fi-50 NCF(R) /FI-50M NCF(R)
– Wall power socket: Furutech FT-SWS(R)
– Switch: Quantum Science Audio (QSA) Red + Silent Angel S28 + Farad Super6 + Farad DC Level 2 copper cable
– Ethernet cables: In-akustik CAT6 Premium II; Audiomica Laboratory Anort Consequence, Artoc Ultra Reference, Arago Excellence; Furutech LAN-8 NCF; Next Level Tech NxLT Lan Flame
– Anti-vibration platform: Franc Audio Accessories Wood Block Slim Platform
– Table: Solid Tech Radius Duo 3
– Acoustic panels: Vicoustic Flat Panels VMT
Opinion 2
I assume that you know this Wroclaw-based and undoubtedly recognizable, by most of the advanced audio world, originator of the program for playing music from files (JPlay) and recently also the manufacturer of the XACT S1 file player; if not from the opinions of satisfied users, then at least from a test session on our portal. Perhaps for many of you it is surprising that despite the fact that the brand is small, with a not particularly wide portfolio, yet it appears on the lips of a wide group of lovers of music played from a stream from the internet or local discs. Of course, the reason for that is trivial, and it is the excellent quality of music served for many years by the original program, and now also by the streamer decoding those musical zeros and ones. And if this is true, it is probably not surprising that the head of this entity followed the flow and while designing the player, made an attempt to bring to life appropriate cabling that would work best with its products and be adequate for the flagship brand. In this way, thanks to the involvement of Marcin Ostapowicz – the founder and owner of the above-mentioned entities, in this episode we will take a look at the XACT Phantom LAN and XACT Phantom USB digital cables.
What do we know about our tested heroes? From the manufacturer’s brief information, we know that the signal conductor in both cases is high-purity copper. The signal routing itself is carried out according to the company’s specifications, which, together with precise mechanical and impedance pairing of the conductor, should result in minimized interference and a very clean audio signal. When it comes to terminating both wires, the USB boasts specially designed aluminum connectors, to stabilize and make a very solid connection. On the other hand, the LAN cable, in addition to more solid shielding compared to USB, uses RJ45-MFP8 IE GOLD plugs from the Japanese brand Telegartner, considered to be the best in the world. Both come in standard length of 1.2 m – other lengths can be individually ordered, and thanks to the technologies used, they are to provide us with a coherent and clear sound.
What did the construction activities articulated in the previous paragraph result in? I admit that I was a bit surprised, but each cable was characterized by a slightly different approach to the subject of building the reality of music. It is not bad or good, because while sounding different, they still did it very interestingly, but it is interesting, that there is such a diversity, while the cables are based on similar half-products – we are talking about the conductors and the overall design here. And so the LAN in my system showed the more beautiful side of music, giving the presentation a large dose of vividness, and thus pleasant smoothness, while the USB turned out to be a cable, that in the good sense of the word, guarded excellent drive and contour of the sound. What was the result? Well, while each of them separately gave the impression of a slight skew to their side – but here I would like to point out, both of them did not degrade anything, only the music listened to accentuated different aspects more strongly – then when working together the sound seemed to hit the sweet spot between sharpness, saturation and speed of signal rise. Thanks to this, each played material defended itself easily, showing the artists’ idea of its creation. Bands from the Hard Rock or Heavy Metal genre, as well as works from the Baroque era, showed up with very good results. The first creative duo seems similar, but let us not fool ourselves, AC/DC has a slightly different energy than Iron Maiden, which the system was able to articulate without any problems, thanks to the clear accentuation of the attack and the appropriate fluidity supported by the mass of the sound. In the second musical case, it was similar. Of course, with less focus on aggression and more on spirituality, but the cooperation of the tested digital cabling set also coped with this minor problem. I did not have to look too far, it was enough to take Jordi Savall’s material, like many of his productions, recorded in church interiors, to see how easily the system changed the way it influenced my musical sensitivity. Suddenly, I got a beautifully sounding virtuoso performance, full of vibrating notes, even the smallest ones, thanks to which it hit deep layers of emotions. With excellent positioning of virtual sources, taking into account the height of the building used for recording, appropriate articulation of the sharpness of their drawing and the color scheme that hit the mark each and every time. Everything is clear and tangible, not allowing you to change the repertoire until the album ends. As you can see from the above examples, the combined two aesthetics of the presentation were both musical and expressive, which only confirmed the reputation developed over the years by the owner of the XACT brand in terms of knowledge of how to not only successfully write a program that plays music from files, but also how to design a device that uses it and how to make cables, that transfer the digital data with proper quality.
Where would I see our tested heroes? I will not dwell too much, because it is a banal statement. Now, if we consider both, I see no objection to recommending them to everyone. And if each of them individually, I rather see the USB in systems suffering from excessive obesity, and the LAN in the opposite, i.e. as a rescue for setups that are too lightweight. As I have indicated, the matter is simple and, as these three examples show, it is enough to know which group of music lovers you are closer to. However, apart from your possible problems, one thing is certain, the tested cables are worth it. And taking into account the conclusions formulated a moment ago, worth it three times.
Jacek Pazio
System used in this test:
Source:
– transport: CEC TL 0 3.0
– streamer: Lumin U2 Mini + switch Quantum Science Audio (QSA) Red
– 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: Gryphon Audio Pandora
– Power amplifier: Gryphon Audio Apex Stereo
– Loudspeakers: Gauder Akustik Berlina RC-11 Black Edition
– Speaker cables: Furutech Nanoflux-NCF Speaker Cable
IC RCA: Hijiri Million „Kiwami”, Vermouth Audio Reference
IC XLR: Tellurium Q Silver Diamond, Hijiri Milion „Kiwami”, Furutech DAS-4.1
Digital IC: Hijiri HDG-X Milion
Ethernet cable: NxLT LAN FLAME
USB cable: ZenSati Silenzio
Power cables: Hijiri Takumi Maestro, Furutech Project-V1, 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, Synergistic Research Galileo SX AC
– Table: BASE AUDIO 2
Accessories: Quantum Science Audio Red fuse; Synergistic Research Orange fuse; Harmonix TU 505EX MK II; Stillpoints ULTRA MINI; antivibration platform by SOLID TECH; Harmonix AC Enacom Improved for 100-240V
– Power distribution board: POWER BASE HIGH END, Furutech NCF Power Vault-E
– Acoustic treatments by Artnovion
Analog stage:
– Drive: Clearaudio Concept
– Cartridge: Dynavector DV20X2H
– Phonostage: Sensor 2 mk II
– Eccentricity Detection Stabilizer: DS Audio ES-001
– Tape recorder: Studer A80
Distributor: JCAT
Manufacturer: XACT
Prices
XACT Phantom USB Cable: 3 000€ / 1,2 m
XACT Phantom USB Cable: 3 000€ / 1,2 m
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