Belgian Melanie De Biasio released her No Deal in 2013. This album is an aural film in the minimalistic tradition. In a reverb-rich wet milieu, voice, piano, keyboards and drums are the main ingredients. The title track ends with almost subsonic bass from a keyboard. That sound was almost deleted by the generic cable while the braided white cable caused the subwoofers to do what they do best – move lots of air.

Rodrigo y Gabriela, the Mexican duo who were part of a heavy metal band before traveling to Europe where they picked up acoustic guitars to perform in the streets and eventually in concert halls, have always been a personal weak spot of ours. With Mettavolution they released their fifth album this year. It's again a mix of original compositions by the Sanchez/Quintero duo plus works by the likes of Roger Waters, Nick Mason and David Gilmour.

Indeed, an 18-minutes cover of Pink Floyd's "Echoes" closes out the album. Instead of  the original truckload of electronics, here it's just acoustic guitars which prove the versatility of this instrument which can be played as a guitar, drum or percussion. The above clip conveys the general notion but in our room the impact was far bigger between the transitions from small and demure to full-rush Rock whilst preserving the striking original melody. In the final seconds of the track, even the echo ping was included.

In all honesty, we loved what the Audiocadabra Ultimus3 Plus Dual-Headed Solid-Silver did for our system(s). Relative to the €189/1m asking price, it's a real-world proposition that improves the sound quality in an impressive way.

Manufacturer's comment: "Every audio cable and system is a balance between performance and penalties. Our pursuit has always been to optimize performance by tweaking that balance in our audio accessories which we design with a careful selection of custom materials and construction techniques. This also makes our products unique. We have delighted audiophiles in 35 countries over the last 14 years and we always get appreciated for how open, transparent and neutral our cables are compared to the competition regardless of price. At Audiocadabra, 95% of what you pay for is actually the product and not fancy packaging or marketing. Our products also come with a 20-year warranty, regrade options, a 30-day money back guarantee and free worldwide shipping."