Country of Origin
Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac late 2020 with Ventura 13.4, 40GB RAM, Audirvana Origin, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-6 & SW-8 network switches, Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box at 100Hz/4th-order hi/lo-pass; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & EX-M7 stereo; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Phones: HifiMan Susvara; Loudspeakers: Qualio Audio IQ w. sound|kaos DSUB 15 on Vibra 68 footers, Audio Physic Codex, Cube Audio Nenuphar Cables: Complete loom of Kinki Studio Earth; 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: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7, Soundaware D300Ref; DAC: Sonnet Pasithea; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box at 60Hz/4th-order hi/lo-pass; Amplifiers: Gold Note PA-10 Evo monos; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini, Dynaudio S18 sub on sound|kaos Vibra 68 footers; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF + Akiko Audio Corelli; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Audioquest Fog Lifters; Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
Desktop system: Source: HP Z230 work station Win10/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; Headamp/DAC: iFi iDSD Pro Signature; Masterclock: LHY OCK-2; Headphones: Final D-8000; Headfi/speaker amp: Enleum AMP-23R; Loudspeakers: EnigmAcoustics Mythology M1
Upstairs headfi/speaker system: Source: smsl Dp5 transport; DAC: Auralic Vega; Integrated amplifier: Schiit Jotunheim R; Phones: Raal-Requisite SR1a
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: starting at €1'800/m, details on page 2
Hey Maro. Resequenced it's the name of Maro Filicic's Marohei cable house in Croatia's port city of Rijeka whose 19th-century National Theatre has ceiling paintings by Gustav Klimt. Maro was introduced to me by Sasa Cokic of Serbia's Trafomatic empire. Sasa informed me in early January that Maro was hoping for a review. I followed up. After proper crossing of sabres, foaming at the mouths, outlandish claims and throwing down gloves, this assignment took shape.
Actually, all Maro wanted to know were the lengths and types of wires I'd need for my usual review loom. Some things are very simple. I find high-end cable reviews in general to be mostly proof-of-life notices with often quite stiff ransom demands. To reach a bit deeper than shallow sticker shock, the lure of unobtainium alloys or esoteric quantum behaviours, I tend to request complete looms. Rather than have a single short leash bed into competing wiring of dissimilar materials and concepts, I prefer to replace the lot. It contravenes cables becoming politicians to speak in forked tongues. Singing with singular voice hopefully struts any given sonic profile to the max.
With cables, max can mean quite mini. Unlike a dress, that may not impress. Now stacking potential to hear difference is good if we hope to have something to say. After all, "it made sound" tends to be just a bit too short. To grow longer and perhaps harder, Maro would dispatch 2.5m speaker cables, a 6m XLR pair, 2m AES/EBU, 1.5m XLR and 1.5m RCA. When I agreed, I had no idea yet from which of his four cable ranges he'd pick and what the associated freedom tax might be. Other than mentions of manual manufacture, silk insulation, long-grain silver or copper, cryogenics and domestic Olivewood anti-vibration barrels for his Statement range, his website just then was a bit shy of hard intel. I had to trust that Sasa had good reason to play Balkan facilitator and wouldn't land me in oxygen-starved Nordost territory.
Rijeka port.
That's because after rewiring my analog loom with Kinki Earth last year, my pain threshold for costly cables sits at an all-time low. Anything crushing the Chinese Crystal Cable lookalikes under mountains of coin best kick them sonically and on build to the curb, then drive right over them.
"The cable set I'll send for review will be our ultimate to incorporate all our experience and advanced engineering. The name of the range is Statement Special Edition and we're aware that due to relatively high price, there won't be large sales. This is no problem because we have a basic Statement series that meets our needs and expectations on sales. We also have two more series in the lower price range to cater to a wide range of users. The Statement SE is special in that we make it in house from our latest generation of very high-purity long-crystal silver after many years of experience and work. In addition to silver, we make our own copper, a few types of silk insulation and the final braided sleeve. The Statement Special Edition has been given particular attention to structural design to eliminate the negative effect of ground loops especially at high frequencies. There's also anti-vibration protection shared with some of other models all designed by our electronic engineer Mr. Nastasic. We craft all our products by hand and each passes very stringent listening tests and measurements. The only parts we outsource are silver-pin XLR from Neutrik and 102ag RCA from WBT. Soon we'll even produce our own silver spades and bananas."
This distinguishes Marohei Cables from brands who dress up off-the-spool wires from OEM suppliers like Taiwan's Neotech. We expect and pay for proprietary silver/gold alloys with established concerns like International Audio Holdings, umbrella for Crystal Cable, HMS and Siltech. We don't anticipate a small Croatian boutique to extrude their own copper and silver then roll in-house connectors. It shows dedication, know-how and investment not unlike speaker houses which pivot from off-the-shelf drivers to producing their own. It just predicts nothing as yet of sound quality. Many well-respected loudspeakers from Mårten to Wilson drive stock. Such details simply grow into a brand's image and mystique. That needs managing when forum chatter identifies a Dayton plate amp in a Wilson sub; or an Oppo player tucked into a swish Swiss Goldmund. It's why good marketing pulls. It tells stories. And we all love a colorful yarn well apart from basic hardware. Some brands are simply better at it; or affluent enough to hire a full-time brand ambassador like Magico did with SoundStage Ultra's former editor Jeff Fritz. We expect nothing of the sort with Marohei. Now product is mostly left to speak for itself. Let's find out what that had to say.
