Country of Origin
Reviewer: Simone Ragionieri
Source: Generic 5G router into Taiko Audio network switch (both powered by a ferrum Hypsos); Taiko Olympus XDMI Server; LampizatOr Horizon 360 DAC
Headphone amplifier: Riviera Audio Labs AIC-10
Headphones: Spirit Torino Valkyria, Raal 1995 Immanis
Loudspeakers: Diesis Audio Aura SE
Cables: Digital – Sablon Ethernet; Amphenol DAC cable; KBL EXtreme XDMI; Analog – Acrolink 7N-2090 Special Anniversary
Power delivery: Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Hurricane power cords, Shunyata Alpha HC power cord, Furutech NCF AC wall plugs on a dedicated spur
Room size: 5 x 4.5 x 2.7m
Room treatments: Eight ceiling diffusers, floor-to-ceiling acoustic curtains on sidewalls, Vicoustic VicTotem Ultra VMT in front corners
Review component retail: click here for PDF
Cables are one of those controversial topics which arouse animated "discussions" in audiophile circles. Objectivists and subjectivists take opposite fronts with little to no chance of ever finding enough common ground on which to calmly argue. Here I define myself as pragmatic fatalist. As an engineer by trade and very analytical person in general, I always start with best intentions of comprehending the inner workings of hifi gear intellectually. Then I put my ears on it, trying to be as open as possible. If I hear something for better or worse, I accept it as a factual truth regardless of my understanding of why. Already decades ago this approach had me at peace with the fact that cables do make a very audible difference to my ears. This is only more so today with the increase of electromagnetic radiation everywhere. I don't imply that more expensive cables are always better nor do I fall into the camp of claiming that cables can transfigure a system by an order of magnitude. More modestly, my take is that once the major components of a system are installed, it's well worth experimenting with cables to extract the most from our hardware. Where this leads in money and sonic gains depends on countless factors but by not making this effort we will positively leave a part of our system's potential untapped. While I have accepted this as a necessary evil, I remain uneasy over the sheer number of variables at play in evaluating cables in a separates system. The permutations from trying to find for each component the ideal cable are mind boggling, not to mention that every time we change a cable in the system, the system itself changes and the outcome depends on the previous install, making it virtually impossible to truly absolutize the assessment of a single wire. For this reason I prefer to tackle cable testing and selection with single-brand looms instead of focusing on single cables to play mix 'n' miss. Aside from reducing the number of options to a more manageable set, adopting full looms allows for a better understanding of the sonic identity which a brand implemented in their designs. With a typical separates system like mine needing 3-4 power cords, 3 interconnects plus speakers cables, this is easier said than done. One needs a supplier willing to loan a substantial amount of kit but when possible, it really helps. So when I proposed to Fabrizio Baretta, founder of Faber's Cables and Faber's Power, a review consisting of all their top cables plus their most advanced power distributor plus grounding box and he accepted, I was eager to start this rather daunting yet compelling endeavour.
Faber's Cables are a family business started almost 20 years ago by Fabrizio Baretta who still runs it with his son Enrico. Like many boutique brands, it was the solidification of a passion into a business. This process took Fabrizio a few decades since he started by experimenting how electrical power and signal-carrying cables affect the sound. Focusing on power supplies, the effect of electrical phase and cable topology wasn't yet popular in the early '80s but Fabrizio discovered that only by paying utmost attention to these aspects was he able to achieve the 'disappearing act' of his system when the sound seems to materialize spontaneously instead of being projected by easily identifiable sources. What started as an enthusiast DIYer who soon built for close friends formalized into a business in 2006. While proudly maintaining an artisanal approach where each item is made by hand in Italy, today the brand has gained worldwide recognition within the high-end audio sector. The brand name mirrors Fabrizio's nickname but also pays homage to Fabrizio de André, one of our country's most beloved singer/songwriters. De André was many things, sometimes apparently contradictory. His songs combine sheer poetry, storytelling and vivid imagery around very human characters, are minimalistic and often almost archaic in their use of sound while his uniquely profound voice creates strong emotional reactions. Both artistically and intellectually his approach was deeply honest and this trait fits well into the Faber's Cables design philosophy where equipment pursues the goal of liberation. The sound should be left free to express itself. Unhindered. Uncorrupted. Intact. In more practical terms, Faber's products and their deployment aim at preserving the electrical signal which enters then circulates throughout the audio circuit as isolated as possible from pollution, distortion and interference. An important keyword is 'circuit' as Fabrizio strongly believes that every electronic device in the audio system and by extension our house has some degree of electromagnetic interaction on the other. Hence the hifi system must be treated as a single organism. Under such conditions, a single weak link in the chain holds back its full potential. Especially with highly sophisticated components and their inherent resolving power, pollution effects become apparent once we start to recognize their signature. Accelerated listening fatigue, a flatter soundstage and impoverished harmonic structures are typical symptoms.
Fabrizio is fondly dedicated to his customers and poses mostly as a consultant rather than manufacturer. Whenever possible, he likes to visit clients to get direct exposure to their systems and assist them during the cable selection with his experience and ultimately an in-home demonstration. Before introducing his own products, Fabrizio assists in assessing the system against existing disturbances or inconsistencies which he detects immediately thanks to his experience. The things he focuses on are a) the electrical phase of every connection¹ and b) the effect of extraneous devices on the audio system.
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¹ Inverted power polarity is peculiar to the European Schuko plug which can insert two ways. US and UK plus only work one way so unless equipment or wall sockets are miswired, there's no way to make a mistake. On the other hand, it doesn't allow experiments which in Simone's case meant a preference for running his Taiko switch and Sky decoder with power polarity inverted to how their makers wired these components.
Fabrizio explained that for any given component depending on its electrical and mechanical design, the voltage differential produced by stray currents running through the chassis depends on whether it is powered in or out of phase. He has measured 100V or higher variations in some cases. When components connect via cables, the higher the potential difference between their chassis, the higher interference and ground noise get. Switching the orientation of the power plug to change AC polarity helps identify the configuration that minimizes the voltage differences between components throughout the system. During my time with Faber's products, we flipped the polarity of each and every power cord until the best combination established. We also identified a security camera and power supply of my satellite receiver that were affecting the sound, an impact which could be minimized by flipping their polarity or moving them over to a different wall socket. This optimization alone would have been worth a consultancy fee to Fabrizio as my system already sounded better without any hardware upgrade at all. He told me that in several situations during this assessment stage he can remove from a customer's system a number of tweaks like mechanical isolators, noise traps even acoustic treatments which were introduced by the owner to fix issues that, once their root cause is removed, no longer need fixing. His point translates directly to Faber's Cables designs. Hifi products should never act by subtraction because each time we try to remove something from the signal we judge detrimental, we invariably end up removing a part of what makes the signal complete and alive, especially low-level information and high-frequency content. For this reason, all Faber's Cables and Faber's Power products are passive so don't include any kind of filtering or noise-shaping devices but instead aim at the simplest possible signal path, along which every element is designed, manufactured and selected for best quality. One foundational design principle is to use inductive coupling between the primary current-carrying elements of a cable and its ground to dissipate noise. In this photo showing the cross section of the RCA cables up to the Fifth-Element, the main conductors show in red and blue, the grey ones are the noise drains.
Moving up towards the higher levels in the catalogue the number of conductors and complexity of their geometrical arrangement—always based on a double-helix topology with opposite turns to minimize interference—increases as does the quality and number of PTFE dielectric and screening materials, a mix of aluminium sheaths and hybrid polyester/copper/nickel braiding. All Faber's Cables products use mil-spec multi-strand OFC silver-plated copper conductors to combine the advantages of silver's superior conductivity where most the current follows the skin effect with the ductility and durability of copper. For my review Fabrizio supplied a full set of flagship La Potenza cords for power and grounding and Sixth-SenseSpecial digital interconnects. Among other unique noise-rejection addresses Fabrizio preferred not to disclose, La Potenza features -180°C cryogenic treatment and top-line Oyaide plugs. Due to the complexity of their design, La Potenza cables are necessarily hand-made. All Faber's products I handled exhibited extreme care for the quality of manufacture combined with refined aesthetics and ease of use. La Potenza power and speaker cables, while being massive where I prefer less intrusive girth, were lighter than expected and flexible enough to pose no problem during their deployment. The interconnects and speaker cables use top Oyaide and ETI connectors which aside from sonics are very solid and stable.
