Loom

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea, Cen.GRand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW, Laiv Audio Harmony; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF on source gear, Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to COS Engineering D1; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx + Dynaudio S18 sub; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF, Akiko Audio Corelli; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
2nd headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 work station Win11/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC/headamp: iFi iDSD Pro Signature; Speakers: DMAX P61 Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: $4K/USB/1m, $15K/speaker/2.5m, $8K/RCA or XLR/1m, $6K/power/1.5m

Another day, another cable brand? If you're feeling snarky, such could be your attitude given our newer Korean brand's pricing for its best of three ranges. Eureka is the foundation, Artes the middle ground, Miracle the top. For me it began with an email from Seungyoung Oh, a Korean YouTube reviewer. It continued with an email to Sung Jin Yang, CEO of Athenamuse. He confirmed looking for his first global English review so was keen to submit his best effort. To document that he has arrived despite still being more newcomer than mainstream brand, Sung Jin began showing at his country's International Audio Show in 2022 with Hifi Rose, Ella Sonika and Verity Audio. Then he made the pilgrimage to Munich again with Hifi Rose. The following year he rejoined Seoul and Munich with Hifi Rose. By 2024 his domestic show presence had added Simon Audio Lab, Accuphase and KALS, his annual calendar Axpona with Orchestalls, Orchestalls at Munich and the Warsaw fall event with Ellasonika. This year he already joined Seoul in the Titan Acoustic room with Wilson Audio and Mark Levinson, in the Hifi Rose room with B&W's 801 D4, in the Quality Cast room with Davone and Accuphase. He's expanding his presence. With that comes desire to sell beyond one's domestic borders.

He launched in 2019 and remains tight-lipped on design specifics. He opines that many cable companies still rely on manufacturing methods from the 1980s whereas he embraces current tech. That means custom-commissioned conductors from overseas factories which undergo a number of pre-processing steps that vary with the copper or silver in use. His dielectric of choice is Teflon though cotton too makes an appearance. He acknowledges circumstances where 100% shielding is required but finds that in other scenarios, such comprehensive shielding diminishes certain sonic aspects. He remains equally vague about various post-processing steps and simply calls the removal of magnetism the most basic. His EU power plugs carry polarity markers in blue and red. His entry-level range is pure copper, the Artes middle range OCC silver, the top Miracle family a mix of OCC silver and copper. Beyond his present RCA/XLR analogue interconnects, speaker cables, jumpers, AC cords and USB, he's already working on LAN and coaxial cables. For review he proposed a full loom. This resonated strongly. Inserting a single wire into an off-brand loom or arbitrary mishmash is rarely a good way to hear a particular execution at its clearest best. Just so, with my main system configuration of low-level kit on the sidewall and four mono amps between/behind the speakers, there's one long 6-metre XLR bridging both halves. That can prove prohibitive with hand-assembled wires. Before this assignment could sign off on the full-loom ideal, Sung Jin had to confirm that he could make such a stretch and was happy to. At $8'000/1m, I wasn't really happy to ask for a prospective $48K XLR cable pair but such is the pre-vetting of reviews. There are dream scenarios, there's the bite of reality. Usually somewhere in the middle, there's common ground.

After explaining my setup, we decided to leave my existing LAN untouched and begin the Athenamuse intervention downstream of my iMac/Audirvana source as follows:

1 x 6m XLR Eureka analog interconnect between DAC and active crossover – $7'500
2 x 1.5m RCA pairs of Miracle between crossover and four mono amps (two for the speakers, two for the 2 x 15" subwoofer) – $10'500/ea.
1 x 3m Miracle speaker cable pair with Athena muse custom gold-over-copper spades – $16'900
2-4 1.5m US-terminated Miracle power cords for the mono blocks – $6'000/ea.
2 x 1.5m US-terminated Artes power cords for DAC and USB bridge – $4'000

[Depending on individual markets and their VAT, these prices could vary slightly with territory.]

"I've been preparing the Miracle cables for several weeks already to send them as quick as possible. Their burn-in is about 300–500 hours. Therefore all cables for review will arrive with at least 300 hours of burn-in but your requirements mean I have to build your loom from scratch. The Chicago audio show is in April, the Munich show in May. Shipping will thus likely be just before or after the Munich show." Instead of seeing red, Sung Jin was grabbing this bull of a loom by the horns. If only other makers were as considerate when talking lengthy break-in then dispatching virgins. "At this year’s Munich Audio Show, Athenamuse cables were in the HifiRose, Orchestalls and Ellasonika exhibits plus one extra. Last year I met a speaker manufacturer at the Warsaw show and suggested he try our cables for future exhibits. He said he'd consider it but never followed up. This year he was in Munich using a very expensive cable loom from a famous brand. Being far better known than us, I understood. I then met this designer in the lobby the next day and he now wanted to hear my cables. We arranged a pre-hour demo on the show's final day. I didn't have spare Miracle models so used Artes2 speaker cables and Eureka LAN. For the comparison he played two tracks. When Zhao Peng's "The moon represents my heart" began and the vocals entered, he showed me goosebumps on his arm. He called over other staff members to share the experience. After the second track which I didn't know, he said that he wants to use our cables at future shows. He also continued his last day's demo with my set." While Sung Jin revealed what the competing cable loom was, he didn't want it mentioned. He merely shared the anecdote by way of personal satisfaction when cable brands rely on collaborations with speaker and electronics brands to gain trade-show traction. With so many cable brands to team up with, it's very hard for new brands to become visible.

From the distance, Sung Jin struck me as possibly a young South Korean Richard Cesari, Fabrizio Baretta or Mark Johansen so the respective founders of France's Esprit, Italy's Faber's Cables and Denmark's ZenSati. Their operations differ from giants like AudioQuest as well as lab kings Siltech/Crystal and Shunyata. "On the RCA and speaker cables there is a small triangle on the metal part to indicate directionality. The sound can vary slightly depending on the direction though there is no absolute rule. If you determine that in your system the opposite direction is superior, the indicator triangle helps to insure that both channels in fact orient the same way."