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On looks we both agreed instantly. These cables didn't... er, look. The shrink-wrapped connectors on the speaker cables were covered with an extra imprinted wrap and the cable itself arrives in a generic black weave. The interconnects aren't much different with heat shrink of uneven lengths. Admitted Element47 states that they don’t go for looks but sound quality. We started our listening sessions with the Prelude combo. As we had just undergone various cable permutations for our review of the Pancin VZ1 loudspeakers, we still had a firm grip on what our specific cable combinations did. Crystal Cable, Acoustic System International and Nanotec Systems all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Introducing the Element47 Prelude was no different or a paradigm shift. In this company the Prelude showed itself to be a good cable, slightly warmer than the Crystal Cable or Acoustic System International and more similar to the affordable Nanotec SP#79 & SR combo. An important cable issue is equality. Four lengths of speaker cable and two lengths of interconnects should be of precisely the same length as their companions. With electrical traffic approaching the speed of light, a few millimeters or even centimeters of offset in a 2.5m cable shouldn't matter but they do and precise construction pays off. Beneath its casual appearance, the Prelude is made with proper attention to such details.

Though we enjoyed a wide variety of music, we eagerly anticipated the introduction of the Black Master loom to our system. Whilst the speaker cable looks massive and resilient, it's as slinky as can be to install like a dream. Back in the listening seat with the remote at the ready, we really weren't prepared for what came next. We anticipated a nice open detailed sound with good spatial definition. What we got was different. Yes the sound was open and detailed but the sense of space was simply way beyond expectation. The musical data suddenly disclosed far more information than it had before the Black Master's introduction. Of course this information had been there all along. Now it simply was no longer obscured or muddled up.

This wasn't the same as adding a subwoofer to handle the lowest octave and thus add spatial clues below 40Hz. The additional dimensional clues started much higher in the aural spectrum. Always a spoiler for 3D imaging is our tacit sense of a speaker’s physical presence. We perceive its workings as a mechanical-acoustical source. With the Black Master that perception occurred at a much lower level if it occurred at all. Perhaps it is a strange use of the word but our system had gained in maturity. It was more seasoned, with the sound a bit bigger and very much at ease. This maturity surfaced not only in the Pancin VZ1-based review system. It held when we transferred the loom to our resident Arcadian Audio Pnoe single-driver horn system. Any decent recording opened up wider than before and offered more insight into the performance. Connecting the cables to the Pnoe incidentally wasn't the easiest thing as their Eichmann cable pods sit at 1.3 meter height and aren't the sturdiest. We had to revert to gaffer's tape to offload the added strain but it worked.

So far we had used the interconnects together with the speaker cables. What would be the result of just the Element47 loudspeaker cable with a non-S.C.T. interconnect? This was a quickie. With the first tone it was clear how there's a strong symbiosis between these cables where the combination enhances the individual players. In our cable storage we have a prototype Siltech interconnect built from amorphous metal, i.e. an alloy with no crystalline structure at all to be like glass. Because reliable material sourcing, construction and consistency proved impractical, Siltech never progressed beyond the prototype stage. But it was this cable which restored the combined effect of the all-Element47 loom.

Especially with their Black Master, Patrick Rindisbacher's Element47 offers a serious option for anyone in the market for expensive cables. With its extreme pricing there are but a few customers and competition in this sector is fierce. Nordost, Stealth and Siltech are just a few brands which operate in these leagues. Theirs are established names to generate trust that one's serious investment is sound. Element47 are a new kid on this uptown block. It won't be easy for them to secure a seat on this illustrious board but they deserve one. About the inevitable question: is the price worth it? That answer is never easy. First there is the present-day formula of hifi pricing where cables tend to offer extreme dealer margins often up to 70%. From the remainder another 30-40% go to the distributor. From what's left for today's maker, there's a lot of manual labor. We were told that the four leads of a pair of 2.5 meter Black Master loudspeaker cables take over 40 hours to assemble. Add upfront investments, operational and other business expenses plus the obvious fact that this will never be mass-produced or sold at high volumes. Is the price still in line with sonic performance? Here we must plead the fifth and let you decide. We will only say that should you find yourself in the mood to invest in a Nordost Odin or Siltech Royal Signature, also have a private audition of the Element47 Black Master interconnect plus loudspeaker cable before you decide. You could thank us.
Condition of component received: Excellent.
Reusability of packing: Product arrived in demo flight case.
Website comments: In English and Spanish.
Completeness of delivery: All we needed.
Pricing: Very high.
Human interactions: Kind and responsive.
Remarks: Although the name Element47 suggests silver, it is the element 29 of high-purity copper that's in use. The company name arose because their first cables still used an alloy of pure silver with 24K gold.

Element47 website