Statement e SC Cryo

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (4GHz quad-core with Turbo, 32GB RAM, 3TB FusionDrive, OSX Yosemite. iTunes 14.4), PureMusic 3.02, Audirvana 3, Qobuz, Tidal, Denafrips Terminator+ clock-synced to Gaia reclocker, Avatar CD transport, Soundaware D100Pro SD card transport; Preamp: icOn 4Pro SE; Power amps: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos; Headamp: Kinki Studio; Phones: HifiMan Susvara; Loudspeakers: Audio Physic Codex; Cube Audio Nenuphar; Aurai Audio M1 [on loan], Zu Submission subwoofer; Cables: Complete loom of Allnic Audio ZL; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra on all source components, Vibex One 11R on amps, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc Krion and glass amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, LessLoss Firewall for loudspeakers, Furutech NCF Signal Boosters; Room: 4 x 6m with high gabled beam ceiling opening into 4 x 8m kitchen and 5 x 8m living room so no wall behind the listening chairs
2nd system: Source: Soundaware D300Ref SD transport; DAC: Denafrips Terminator; Preamp/filter: Vinnie Rossi L2 Signature with Elrog ER50, icOn 4th-order 40Hz LR hi/lo-pass filter; Power amplifier: Crayon CFA-1.2; Loudspeakers: sound|kaos Vox 3awf, Dynaudio S18 subwoofer; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Audioquest Fog Lifters; Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~4x6m
Desktop system: Source: HP Z230 work station Win7/64; USB bridge: Audiobyte Hydra X+; Headamp: COS Engineering H1; Phones: Final D-8000; Powered speakers: Fram Audio Midi 150
Upstairs headfi/speaker system: Source: Soundaware A280 SD transport; Integrated amplifiers: Schiit Jotunheim R, Bakoon AMP-13R; Phones: Raal-Requisite SR1a, Loudspeakers: Acelec Model 1
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; DAC: Kinki Studio; Preamp: Wyred4Sound STP-SE II; Power amp: Pass Labs XA-30.8; Loudspeakers: German Physiks HRS-120; Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: $1'730/pr/10ft

If bling-a-ding is your thing, this skinny cable from Southern Cali could be your rope-a-dope. Then a contender draws non-injuring punches to out-fatigue an opponent before executing devastating offensive maneuvers. It's how Muhammad Ali taunted George Foreman with endless 'is that all you got?' quips to exhaust a younger stronger man in their legendary Kinshasa meet of 1974's Rumble in the Jungle. Here our smaller cable allows itself to be pummeled by the shiny metal splitters of fatter snakes, by their central noise traps, their engraved termination barrels, big names and heavier stickers. Just when you imagined a bloody pulp in the offing, the underdog unleashes rapid counter strikes of comprehensive cryo treatment, single-crystal copper with silver-plated copper conductors, finally solder-less premium Furutech plugs with nano-liquid treatment all sleeved in deceptive everyman Techflex.

Sub placement compensates for its 2.5ms DSP latency which equals 86 centimeters of distance delay.

Called Statement e SC Cryo, this is the premium speaker wire from our value-conscious San Diego maker. Can it mount a sly sonic offensive to upset predictions which quick judgments will make based on its unassuming appearance and relative thinness? When first Henk then Marja left our earthly realm within a week of one another, it fell upon me to find out. After some remote arm-wrestling with a notary who oversaw their estate without the help of a specific will, the Statement was successfully retrieved from their home. Then I had it picked up and shipped to me to honor our review commitment. So here we are, many months late—apologies to Robert Fritz!—but finally ready to rumble. First up, this upstairs system with a word to the odds makers: Rob's chosen Furutech FT-212R locking bananas are the nicest such connectors I've yet used. Wow!

For a brief presentation on the benefits of cryogenic immersion, here's a video from Børresen Acoustics:

When cryo first made the hifi rounds, the peanut galleries predictably snickered. 10+ years later and these deep-freeze benefits are fully accepted. They are widely applied wherever makers embrace the additional outsourcing expense and involved time delays. After all, few hifi houses have Audio Group Denmark's resources to bring this process in-house. Titan Audio in Northern Ireland have used the tech lab of Belfast's university to show that mono-crystal conductors enjoy measurably higher conductivity than standard conductors whose extrusion process caused molecular breaks. By applying cryogenics to already slow-drawn single-crystal copper with far fewer molecular boundaries, Audio Art Cable further emphasize its superior conductivity. That's what your cashish smokes here, not aluminium trim bits meant to add weight and impress your eyes; not radical geometries hoped to bamboozle your mind. On these counts, today's Statement goes quite without. It asks us to listen, not ogle. That's what we'll do then.