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How > Audio Cables
Audio Cable Design
Geometry
With a Twist
Precision geometry controls noise and helps Transparent consistently create audio cables with our desired electrical characteristics. It is the key difference between Transparent and the many audio cables that are available that are merely off-the shelf designs with a brand name printed on custom-colored jackets.
The construction of most audio cables is loose and uneven which results in more noise and inconsistent signal transfer characteristics. In lesser cables, the copper strands are loosely bundled. Most cable manufacturers also do not go to the trouble or expense of using adequate fillers to hold the conductors in place within the cable jacket, and the jacket itself is also most commonly a simple tube that does not hug the cable package. Conductors in these poorly constructed cables easily shift position within the jacket when the cable is pulled or flexed, thereby changing the cable’s intended signal characteristics.
By contrast, even with Transparent's most basic audio cables in the Hardwired lineup, every Transparent Audio Cable is precisely designed and manufactured to exacting specifications. Transparent uses OFHC copper, proprietary lownoise dielectric insulating materials, and twisted pair technology in all audio cables. The copper strands in each conductor are uniformly twisted to precise specifications, and the signal conductors themselves are uniformly twisted with properly sized and positioned soft, vibration-damping fillers to achieve the consistent noise-nulling effect of + and – conductors. In addition, the cable jacket is pressure-extruded around the conductors and fillers to hold everything firmly in place.
As performance level increases, so does the level of complexity increase in the use of geometry to stabilize the cable design and to insure optimal performance in the audio range. This design approach creates an ideal conduit for powerful and quiet audio signal transmission and a stable design platform for Transparent Network Technology.
These extra manufacturing steps and materials cost a little more than typical cables to manufacture, but Transparent's superior construction results in less noise and optimum audio signal transfer.
Networks
Why Networks
Every type of cable has its unique balance of electrical properties. Typical cables have electrical properties that make them inherently superior at passing ultra-high frequencies, not audio range signals. Transparent Audio Cables have built-in low pass filter networks that balance out the inherent electrical properties of each cable design to create a better conduit for audio range signals. Transparent Network Technology is the result of decades of listening and measurement research. After numerous technology mileposts, the Transparent design model has become highly evolved and increasingly more precise. With each generation, Transparent has been able to offer customers more listening enjoyment and more value.
Adjusted for Length
The balance of a cable's electrical properties changes according to the length of the cable. Transparent not only optimizes for the cable design itself, it optimizes every network for every length of cable to meet that specific product's design criteria. Regardless of the length of cable required for a particular system layout, the performance will meet the standard for that cable design. With Transparent, there are no compromises for needing a longer or shorter cable.
Custom Calibrated
Transparent REFERENCE, XL, OPUS, and MAGNUM OPUS Series Cables take Transparent Network Technology to a whole new level. Transparent not only takes into consideration the type and length of cable, we design the cable’s networks to work ideally with the electrical output characteristics of its connected component. This level of calibration requires a huge data base of information about different components that are available in the high end audio industry. Assembling cables to this high standard requires frequent measurements throughout the assembly process and a very high degree of skill to achieve the precise specifications required of the design model. This level of precision is required, however, to achieve the ultimate "you are there" listening experience.
Connections and Configurations
Connections and Configurations
Transparent designs and specs all cable connectors to fit each cable design precisely and securely. All materials used in our connectors are carefully chosen for their reliability and sonic qualities. Our technicians use proprietary assembly and soldering techniques to prevent noisy vibrations from affecting cable performance and to preserve the integrity of the cable design at the termination juncture. Transparent connectors and terminations are not off-the-shelf shiny objects. Like every other aspect of our designs, they have been purpose-built to do their job and stand alone in the audio cable industry in terms of durability, beauty, and performance.
Transparent connectors come in a wide array of options to suit the nearly endless connection requirements of today’s amplifiers and speakers.
We offer a wide selection of most common cable lengths, configurations, and connection options in stock. If your system requires a combination that we do not have in stock, our in-house custom lab is there to help make your cable investment fit perfectly and seamlessly in your system.