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When Takashi-san of Nanotec Systems solicited us for a review of two of their latest loudspeaker cables we were pleased to accept. We asked for different lengths than standard and with our previous Nanotec cable assembly still in mind, we opted for off the reel. We received 7 meters of Golden Strada #79 nano3 Limited and an equal length of SP#79 Mk4 loudspeaker cable. The GS#79 nano3 Limited is an improvement over the cable we reviewed before. Again a colloid contains 90% gold and 10% silver particles but now in a three times higher density than the original #79. The copper is PCOCC from Furukawa Denko (Furutech) as developed by Dr. Atsumi Ohno at the Chiba Institute. The abbreviation PCOCC stands for Pure Copper by Ohno Continuous Casting. This casting process creates only 0.008 copper crystals per meter. The electric signal propagating along the wires has a very small chance to encounter a boundary ‘bump’ between crystal lattices as these wires will be mono crystal. Compare this roughly to a train running on a welded track or an older track that goes clicketty clack. In practice PCOCC defies the nnnn purity race by providing clean sound without the high costs of copper purification.

In the Limited Nanotec runs 50 x 0.18mm strands of this PCOCC wire per leg. Aside from the signature colloidal coating there’s a Japanese paper wrapper and pure cotton cover to dampen mechanical vibration. An outer 10mm red PVC sheath covers the innards. While researching improvements for their existing cables, Nanotec found that the addition of woven strings further tightened the sound. The terminated version of the Limited sports aluminium dampers on the ends. The Limited just as the Mk4 lets the user decide on spades or banana as the ends are detachable. For our DIY off-the-reel leads, termination materials were amply provided.

The other cable from Japan is the SP#79 Mk4 whose extension denotes a biwire affair. It is not simply a doubling of the conductor pair but a hybrid version of Nanotec’s standard #79. Here one pair of leads consists of 7 x 0.5mm OFC conductors surrounded by 26 x 0.18mm OFC equivalents. For each of these pairs, one leg is soaked in a colloid of 92.5% gold and 7.5 % silver, the other in  90% gold and 10 % silver. Two leads are insulated with PE, the other two with PVC. All four leads are embedded in pure cotton strings followed by Japanese rice paper and a transparent outer PVC tube. The whole assembly is 9.8mm thick and solid but not inflexible.

This hybrid construction of various OFC diameters and dissimilar colloidal mixes allows system tuning. Nanotec recommends to use the red/white PE insulated pair for the high frequencies and the yellow/black PVC pair for the lower frequencies. However the user determines the final combination. Even between the PE/PVC insulated pairs one can contrive an asymmetrical setup like ASI does with copper and silver leads. Having such options at least on paper makes the SP#79 Mk4 a versatile cable and thus it became game for review. Just like with the Limited we received a DIY termination kit with a raw 7-meter length of Mk4.


We cut both cable lengths in half and started the relaxing handiwork of terminating. Tools on the table, the music in the player was Ludovico Einaudi Divenire which is a bit cheesy here and there but well-suited for background fill. Measuring and cutting was easy and with the help of an automatic wire stripper the insulation removed without damaging the delicate conductors. The Limited arrived with aluminum dampers which attach to the outer mantle with tiny bolts. More of these bolts, three per connector, insure an electrical as well as mechanical connection, the latter for strain relief. For the final touch a hairdryer at high setting fitted the heat shrink tubing. Assembling the Mk4 biwire cable made a little more work to affix 16 x 3 mini bolts. Nanotec’s guideline with the Mk4 advises to strip the white and red sheaths with a heated knife. This can be accomplished by inserting an eXacto blade in a light soldering iron by replacing the tip. In practice the automatic wire stripper perfectly and gently did the same job.
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