A further gain in clarity and definition happened when I replaced my reference loudspeaker wires with the Swiss Cables References. The upper bass region saw a slight attenuation as my Lumen White monitors don’t emphasize this region, something one becomes occasionally aware of when playing less accomplished recordings. Despite their considerable length of 6 meters, the Swiss Cables interconnect stayed true to the brand’s signature qualities, revealing that my down-to-earth EAR 912 preamp is capable of more detail and sound-field extension than I had previously imagined possible. Thus inspired, I ordered a set of the – physically surprisingly light – Swiss Cables loudspeaker cables with spades so I could use them with my Ayon power-amplifiers. 

When the loudspeaker cables arrived, I inserted them into my system and reinstalled the Swiss Cables interconnects for further listening, when, on a very quiet evening I suddenly became aware of a nearly inaudible hiss emerging from my speakers. Something neither Anton Suter nor me had noticed during our initial listening session which had simply overwhelmed us with the Swiss Cables’ leap forward in transparency and dynamic impact. With the EAR 912’s output transformer-balanced and the Ayons featuring a symmetric circuit, complete silence is the usual outcome. The riddle`s solution: the Swiss Cables are available shielded or unshielded, with the latter considered sonically preferred, where suitable. In my listening room however, in which every nonsymmetric phono-stage will morph into a radio receiver whether on single-ended or symmetric cables, shielding is a must. My order redefined, a set of the shielded version of the Swiss Cables Reference interconnects were dispatched my way. In the meantime I left the loudspeaker cables in my system, allowing them plenty of additional hours of burn-in.

When Thomas Wendt, owner of Genuin Audio and Swiss Cables’ German distributor visited me with the shielded version of the interconnects, I took the occasion to insert them right away into the system and embark on a listening session with numerous of our habitual superbly recorded test tracks put to work. The session yielded a consistent and conclusive outcome with both of us preferring the better defined,dynamically more differentiated sound and superior sound-space projection of the Swiss Cables over my previous reference cables on all tracks. While listening to multiple test tracks in a row is an efficient way to map the sonic capabilities of components under review, such sessions are not primarily designed for listening pleasure. Hence, after our firework of reference tracks, Thomas Wendt suggested that we conclude the evening with Pink Floyd's „Money“ – strictly for entertainment only. Out of convenience, I selected to play a version I had on my hardisk, originally ripped via iTunes, but that quickly turned out less than an audiophile revelation. So we switched back to my old interconnects as their fatter upper bass helped to gloss over the slightly harsh accents of the originally thinly recorded track. I then remembered that I still owned a version of the track on vinyl, on the 4-LP “Echoes” album. That remastered edition of the classic is said to have seen significant input from analog recording virtuoso Tim de Paravicini. Via the Brinkmann-EMT cartridge the LP revealed lots of low frequency information, but already at the beginning of the track, during the ringing of the cash register, we both yearned for more resolution. Exactly that more in transparency we got when we re-installed the Swiss Cables Reference interconnects. Whenever we listened to well recorded tracks, the loudspeaker cables and interconnects from Switzerland became our first choice.

As the sonic signature of the Lumen White monitors and the Swiss Cables is nearly identical, when combined, their outstanding transparency, exceptional bass control and love for detail can occasionally become too much of a blessing with poor recordings. As I write this, the Swiss Cables reign undisputed in my system, connecting my preamp, mono-blocks and Lumen White reference monitors. While they don’t put any lip-gloss on bad recordings, there is no way to live without these cables, once one has experienced the wide, airy sound-space they project, their wealth of details and abundance of timbrel colors, their superbly resolved dynamic gradations, all fully and harmonically embedded as natural attributes of an integral musical wholeness.

As my colleague already mentioned in his introduction, the Swiss Cables are not a five dollar buy. During the past 15 years, I have reviewed a lot of cables, including some very expensive ones, and some where the pricing logic was clearly beyond comprehension. The latter is not the case here: while, ticket-wise, the Swiss Cables are not cheap, they clearly stand out in the overheated high-end cable market by offering an extraordinarily attractive price-performance ratio.