Any headphone ethuthisast will tell you that if you spend enough time in the hobby, you are eventually going to need some adaptors. Balanced, single ended, micro XLR, RSA… the list goes on and on. While headphone companies rarely agree on a single connection type, there is a certain added element of fun when it comes to decorating your gear with new appendages.
Now, I will leave the sometimes controversial discussion of the sonic attributes of cabling for another time, but I can tell you from experience that occasionally stock cables will fall apart. After all, on a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a little ascetic fun to be had with cables given the proper budget. I see no wrong in dropping a few percentage points of your total rig budget on wire if the spirit moves you. With that being said, on to the news.
Loudspeaker cable manufacture WyWires has recently sashayed its way over to the personal audio side of the table with a new line of headphone assecories called the “Red Series”. I had a chance to sit down with company president Alex Sventitsky at both Capital Audiofest and a recent Head-Fi meet in Los Angeles.
Being a reviewer requires that I have nearly every combination of connection type at my immediate disposal. So at our first meeting I grilled Alex on common adaptors, and he passed the quick pop quiz with flying colors. He response was simple, he makes them all. In addition to adapters of course, a solid end to end cable of your favorite connector is available as well. Alex let me know that he even makes both adapters and cables for the new AK240 balanced mini jack output. All his USA-made cables are tested and burned in before shipping and come with a one year warranty.
The rig he had in tow with him at the Head-Fi meet did sound quite amazing, although many of you might recall that it is a very similar combination to one of my show favorites, Cavalli Liquid Glass to a pair of Mr. Speakers Alpha Dogs. It is a very easy rig to love and perhaps a testament to Mr. Sventitsky’s refined ear for audio.
More information is available on their website: http://www.wywires.com