Country of Origin
This review first appeared in November 2021 on HifiKnights.com. By request of the manufacturer and permission of the author, it is hereby syndicated to reach a broader audience. All images contained in this piece are the property of Dawid Grzyb – Ed.
Reviewer: Dawid Grzyb
Sources: Innuos Statement, LampizatOr Pacific with KR T-100 or LV 300B and KR 5U4G
USB components: iFi Audio iGalvanic3.0, micro iUSB3.0, 3 x Mercury3.0, iPower 9V
Preamplifier: Trilogy 915R
Power amplifier: Trilogy 995R
Speakers: sound|kaos Vox 3awf, Boenicke udio W11 SE+
Interconnects: Boenicke Audio IE3 CG
Speaker cables: Boenicke Auduo S3, LessLoss C-MARC
Power components: GigaWatt PC-3 SE EVO+ w. LC-3 EVO cord, LessLoss C-MARC, Boenicke Audio Power Gate, IOSL-8 Prometheus
Rack: Franc Audio Accessories wood block rack
Network: Fidelizer EtherStream, Linksys WRT160N
Retail price of component: $1'428/1.0m/pr, $1'688/1.5m/pr, $1'948/2.0m/pr, $2'210/2.5m/pr, $2'470/3.0m/pr
LessLoss are gradually applying their unique conductor-aging method across their entire cable catalog. Recently that found its way into their Entropic Process C-MARC RCA interconnects. I've used them for several weeks in my main system. Now the time has come to go public. Upon seeing two identical audio cables, would you believe in one's noticeable sonic superiority? Until recently I wouldn't have but that changed immediately with the LessLoss C-MARC Entropic Process power cord reviewed here. Unpacked from a standard UPS envelope it looked, felt and manually behaved exactly as its sibling which I'd been using for nearly three years. Had it not been for the orange stickers inside the Entropic plugs, my eyes wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. Yet my ears very quickly did. Although aural silence with its enjoyable benefits was common ground, the treated C-MARC noticeably pushed more speed, directness, immediacy, spatial openness, clarity and oxygenation for a somewhat leaner profile that was sportier, more powerful and with a softer treble so substantially superior. This evolved character matched the type of easily traced progress which many manufacturers would dress up to visually separate old from new and create a multi-tiered ladder of models. At Camp LessLoss technological advancements that lead to quality leaps occur internally. They remain unseen and unaccompanied by bling or any external makeover. These goods aren't TrophyFi but SmartFi targeted at keen enthusiasts who first and foremost focus on performance.
Let's take a quick detour into their proprietary Entropic Process which separates today's C-MARC cable from its predecessor. The process drastically ages a conductor material to change it molecularly and exhibit new properties like strong directionality and far less susceptibility to physical micro vibrations for extra noise resilience. The process softens the copper to easily deform, hence the first product so processed—the Firewall for Loudspeakers—has its delicate internals locked inside hard translucent resin barrels. Meanwhile the flexible Litz strands of the C-MARC cables have their conductive hairs protected by thin lacquer coats wrapped in surrounding cotton layers. They can undergo the Entropic treatment without risk of deformation and are meant to be flexible anyway. The measures used during the process are a secret and might involve specific chemicals, specialized equipment, environmental controls and accuracy. We know that no regular current-based burn-in devices are involved. Cryogenic treatment is common to all C-MARC products so also the non-Entropic versions. It's worth noting that LessLoss Entropic-processed copper veins still undergo burn-in but at a much faster pace. They are claimed to clock about two centuries worth of constant use within a mere several weeks so preserving their embedded factory-marked directionality is crucial. In a sense, the user completes what the Entropic Process started at LessLoss HQ. Hence their constant appeal to heed the directionality markings. This technology gets applied to every stage of the cable's manufacture so standard LessLoss cables can't be upgraded after the fact. Take a look at Srajan's article for lots of extra info on the subject.
As for C-MARC, it's a geometry based on two counter-polarized fractally replicated coils of the same diameter and step, one turned clockwise, its equivalent twisted in the opposite direction. They superimpose mutually to form a bucking-coil connection originally developed in the 1930s. Noise induced on these balanced strands cancels electrically due to opposite polarity of matched geometry. That nets a high S/N ratio so particularly silent backdrop. One RCA cable comprises 24 uncolored cotton fiber strands at its core surrounded by 192 conductive copper strands individually insulated followed by 96 gassed/mercerized black cotton strands. The copper component then replicates and sits under two black outer cotton layers made of 128 gassed mercerized strands each. One RCA run incorporates 760 strands of material while its 384 enameled 0.125mm Litz wires form 4.608mm² of total conductive cross-sectional area that is very low in internal resistance.
There's no better time than now to mention that today's loaner was the brand's first interconnect I sampled so comparisons or references to the non-Entropic version were off the table. As a C-MARC specimen, it's quite inconspicuous and mechanically most nimble. I found it exceptionally easy to use and at $1'428/1m/pr realistically priced. Should you need a single counterpart of the same length for digital, that's $858. It's the same coaxial cable whose price/foot reduces with longer runs and ordering multiples. For some years they terminated in Xhadow plugs which have since been replaced by ViaBlue. LessLoss dislike synthetics so strip the stock plug of everything but the electrical contacts. The ViaBlue barrels and plastic inserts replace with fabulously finished Wenge chucks laser-engraved with four logos: LessLoss, Entropic, C-MARC and a directional arrow. At 17.5mm, these nicely polished wood barrels are fairly thick so check that your component's sockets are properly spaced to accept them.
