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I mentioned the Signature Plus loudspeaker cable. While the Indigo is quite expensive at least in absolute terms already (though its comparators called upon were much more expensive still), the loudspeaker cable is indecently cheap. Taking into account that this is the top Chord cable, it's a true value defined by its price/performance ratio. Once we disregard price and look at that cable from the top, compared to the best cables we know, there are only a few aspects that differ from the most renowned competition. And it was not even my favorite. I thought the interconnect far more interesting at first. While the Indigo was very good, it was the Signature Plus however which kept me in front of the speakers the longest. It was so interesting that I kept it for two months.

Most of all, it is very resolving. The Velum already is very good here but the midrange and treble show more information with the Chord. The vibraphone from Salzau and Invitation by the Milt Jackson Sextet, the piano from Willisohn's Hold On or even Benny Green's trombone from Walkin'&Talkin' had a very strong palpable sound. The Velum has a rather dark upper midrange and the treble, although very good for the money, had better definition over the Chord. The British cable better showed what was happening on stage between the instruments but also the instruments themselves. Except for the bass. Here the Polish cable is splendid and a far more expensive cable is needed to repeat its performance. The Chord sounds lighter and has less definition in the lower bass. It reminds me of the Acrolink Mexcel 7N-S9000, which has a similar treble and overall character. Only their 7N-S20000 model integrates everything into one beautiful whole.

And this is how I outsmarted myself - because that Acrolink is a dozen times costlier than the Chord. It would be hard for me to name a loudspeaker cable in this or a similar price range that does so well. The slight leaning out can be forgiven when we compensate for it with the character of the components or interconnect. In a system with Indigo Plus, we will get a very precise sound full of details and timbres and very good definition and pace. The soundstage will also be fantastically drawn out. The loudspeaker cable can be compared to far more expensive competitors and although we will find some shortcomings here and there, no shame is implied. In fact, I became so convinced by this sound and probably also used to it so much that I did not want to return to the Velum which, while better, has its own flaws. Now I would like to closer look at the Acrolink Mexcel 7N-S10000. It follows the same sonic philosophy but is priced much lower than their top model which I cannot afford. A special characteristic of the Signature Plus with its all transparency is vividness. This was confirmed by one of my guests, the winner of the Cover of the Year 2008 issue.

In closing, this was my first contact with a company so respected by my favorite magazine, the British HiFi Plus. It turned out to be great fun and a learning experience. The interconnect is splendid but must be verified in a given system. Placed between preamplifier and power amplifier, it fared worse in mine than other similar priced cables. But when we talk loudspeaker cables, I see no competition. The Chord probably won't fit all systems but that will then be the flaw of the system, not the cable. It will not warm up anything or increase weight. But it won't brighten up anything either or sharpen it. It will just show a very balanced true picture of what the amplifier presents. I recommend it!

Description
As mentioned, the Indigo Plus interconnect is made from silver-plated copper strands insulted by Teflon. Every channel consists of two runs - one contains the signal and ground wire, the other a separate return. The cables terminate in special plugs with acrylic covers and silver-plated contacts. The loudspeaker cable is made from copper strands covered in foamed polyethylene. The company claims that foaming the dielectric with gas lowers its dielectric constant and assures better consistency in longer runs. Each channel consists of one black and red leg each (plus and minus) loosely twisted together for RF rejection. The cables themselves are double shielded with foil and copper strands. This makes for a claimed 90dB noise reduction. Close to the banana plugs, both legs tie together with aluminum clamps. The gold-plated bananas made in Great Britain don't look very good but seem to be a good compromise between price and quality.
The Chord Company website