Topic: Review : Atlas Equator and Atlas Explorer interconnects

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Smooth operators

By LAM SENG FATT

Model: Atlas Equator and Atlas Explorer interconnects

Price: RM385 / RM795

Distributed by MACRO ELECTRONICS ENTERPRISE (Tel: 03-6273 2505), Lot 4.35, 4th floor, Kompleks Desa, Jalan Kepong, 52100 Kuala Lumpur.

ARE you totally confused by the types of copper and purity figures offered by cable manufacturers? If “five nines” copper, OCC or OFC copper do not mean anything to you, then a brief lesson on audio cable metallurgy can be found in Atlas Cable’s website (www.hifi.org.uk).

This site contains some detailed information on copper types, ranging from tough-pitch, oxygen-free copper (commonly known as OFC), Linear-Crystal Oxygen-Free Copper (LC-OFC) to Ohno Continuous Casting (OCC) copper. After reading the pages on the website, you will realise that one manufacturer’s Long-Grain Copper is actually LC-OFC while the monocrystal copper used by others (some call it “zero” or “single” crystal) is actually OCC copper. A crystal in an OCC conductor drawn to 0.3mm diameter is 125 metres long! Thus, when the conductor is cut to 1m-3m lengths, there is only one crystal in the wires. This product is also sometimes marketed as UP-OCC (Ultra Pure OCC) and PC-OCC (Pure Crystal OCC). The former merits some attention as a continuous-casting technique is used in its manufacture, a process discovered by a Professor Ohno of the Chiba Institute in Japan.

Of late, some cables using OCC have been launched in England. These are actually made by Wan Lung Electric of Taiwan, which sells them under its house brand, Neotech and it OEMs for other cable brands as well. Wan Lung Electric is also responsible for Atlas Cables, which are sold exclusively through the Mountain Snow dealer chain in Britain.

This brings us to two pairs of interconnects under review this week, the Atlas Equator and Atlas Explorer.
Exploring the equator

The Atlas Equator is a double-shielded, 75-Ohm, asymmetrical OFC hybrid interconnect with gold-plated RCA plugs, jacketed in a matte pearly-white insulator. The connectors look a classy affair, with lustre reminiscent of some cosmetic products, the gold-plated plugs well made and fit snugly – I was suitably impressed.
THE HOT ZONE: Let the Atlas Equator interconnects set your system alight.

The Equator is shielded with a close-lapped 99.9997% pure oxygen-free copper multi-stranded screen providing 100% RFI (radio frequency interference) rejection, or so the manufacturer claims. The dielectric is low-loss foamed polyethylene while the conductor is concentric-stranded 99.9997% pure oxygen-free copper.

Moving up the sonic ladder is the Explorer, a double-shielded asymmetrical OCC copper/OFC hybrid featuring a concentric-stranded 99.9997% pure OCC conductor. It is double-shielded with aluminium mylar, with a close lapped 99.9997% pure OFC multi-stranded screen and a low-loss foamed polyethylene dielectric and a blue jacket.

Just like the Equator, the gold-plated plugs are a snug fit. I must say that it has been quite some time since I have come across such smooth and snug-fitting plugs. It was a welcome change to be able to plug and unplug the interconnects without twisting, turning and tugging at them. Seriously, manufacturers have paid too little attention to this aspect of cables and several inputs of my Audiolab 8000A have become loose from the constant interchanging of interconnects over the years.
All in the family

It was just a matter of plugging and unplugging the interconnects, with Eichmann Audio Express 4, Express 6 and Alphacore Micropurl Silver as references to compare with the Atlas models.

It is obvious that Atlas cables have a family sound that is best described as a smooth top end with a similarly smooth midrange and a well-rounded, rich-sounding bass.

This sonic signature may not go down well with components that are already smooth sounding – such as German amps and speakers – but it will certainly tame the edginess and brightness of some budget Japanese components.
HUNTING HIGH AND LOW: The quest for quality cabling ends with the Atlas Explorer interconnects.

Thus you will have to take into account the overall sonic signature of your system before buying Atlas cables – too much smoothness may not be a good thing.

I had no complaints about the speed, dynamics and the bass. But it would have been better if the soundstage was a bit deeper, wider and taller, but the sound was grain-free and non-fatiguing.

The Atlas Explorer sounded smoother than the Equator, thanks to the OCC conductors. It was obvious that fewer grain boundaries in the conductor will result in less distortion and smoother sound; and better quality dielectrics help too. It is no wonder that top-end interconnects use Teflon (which is costly) as a dielectric.

The main difference between the two models is that the more expensive Explorer brings out more detail and is more transparent. It is easier to pick out details like the shimmer of cymbals, a solo sax or an acoustic guitar from the mix.

The Atlas cables have been widely praised for its bass. However, when I switched to Eichmann cables, I noticed a dramatic difference in the bass quality. The bass delivered on the Atlas cables is best described as rounded and rich in comparison with Eichmann’s leaner presentation. However, the bass on the Atlas cable went quite low without sounding bloated and there were moments when I thought I felt things vibrating in my stomach.

Now, should you buy them? It is a question of the sonic signature of your system. If you need to smooth things out, then the Atlas cables are good picks. But remember this: just like a real-life smoothie may seduce you with his charm and sweet talk and then leave your high and dry, the Atlas interconnects may render music so smooth that there may be a lack of vitality and sparkle.

For: Well made; good snug-fitting plugs; smooth sound; ample bass.

Against: May make things too smooth.

Source : http://202.186.86.35/audio/story.asp?file=/2004/6/24/audiofile/24atlas