The Article

HYPER RCA R1 INTERCONNECTS FROM ATLAS

6th May 2026

Direct from the Scottish outfit Atlas, these rather svelte interconnect cables proved to be a minor revelation to Paul Rigby

A long-established, high-respected HiFi outfit of many years standing, well the year 2000 to be exact, this Scottish outfit has been pushing cables from its base in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire to just about every variation you might wish to consider and across all price points.

This time around, I’m looking at single-ended interconnects utilising OCC (Ohno Continous Casting) high purity copper conductors with a PEF (Foamed Polyethylene) dielectric. The idea is to keep RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) out and the music in.

The Hyper RCA R1 features a balanced design. That is, two internal OCC conductors are held in a double-layer metallised/woven OFC screen, connected in a symmetrical pseudo-balanced configuration.

Adding a cold-welded connector (that is, no solder is used to improve conductivity) with a black fabric outer skin and Integra termination plugs, what struck me was the rather thin nature of the cabling itself. This meant that it was easy to install across any HiFi system I tried being able to turn corners, dodge under and over other cables and snuggle into cramped spaces with ease.

SOUND QUALITY

To begin, I connected my Benchmark DAC2 HGC, hooked up a CD source via my Audiolab 6000CDT and played the acoustic guitar of Adrian Legg and the album, Wine, Women and Waltz. I also used my Origin Live Sovereign turntable and played Mott The Hoople’s self-titled album from 1969 via Island.

VS TCI MOCCASIN

First up? I undertook the ‘What’s the Point?’ test. Grabbing a pair of TCI Moccasin Interconnects priced at £150 the pair, I wondered why I would need to spend more on the Atlas Hyper RCA R1 cables.

I placed the cables at the rear of the Benchmark DAC and my Icon Audio PS3 phono amplifier and compared the two.

First up? There’s a tremendous amount of air and space across the midband that just wasn’t there from the TCIs. More than that, that Hyper R1 space had depth. To such an extent, the plucked string from the bass guitar offered a sustain that seemed to hang in the air forever from the Atlas cables. Much further than the TCIs.

Similarly, percussion offered a more naturalistic sound with a fully rounded impact sound from each strike. Backing voices sounded like a batch of individual voices flying in close formation instead of a muddy noise and guitars had an extra metallic sheen to their twang.

VS TELLURIUM Q ULTRA BLACK II

How about a tougher proposition? I tried the more expensive Tellurium Q Ultra Black II cables (£597 for a 1m pair). The latter should be far superior but I wanted to know how the Hyper RCA R1 cables would cope.

And yes, the Ultra Black II cables were superior in terms of midrange detail. The Hyper RCA R1s were getting there though, they are on the same track but the Ultra Black IIs just offered more. But that was no surprise considering the price difference. Bass? That was a closer-run thing. You could say that the Ultra Black IIs offer a better integrated bass response that sat well in the mix although the Hyper RCA R1 cables provided more impact and grunt.

Even so, despite their lower price, the Hyper RCA R1 cables performed wonderfully.

VS ORIGIN LIVE SILVER HYBRID E

Comparing the Hyper RCA R1 to the Origin Live Silver Hybrid E cables (£320 for 1m pair) I was impressed at how closely the Atlas cables compared.

The Origin Live designs offered a massy bass punch, as did the Atlas cables. The upper mids and treble from the Origin Lives may have been fuller in detail terms but the the Hyper RCA R1 had a slightly better balance in terms of overall presentation.

CONCLUSION

For the price, I was surprised at just how good the Atlas Hyper RCA R1 interconnects were. I must emphasise that I compared them against my elite references.

As such, the Atlas designs not only kept up but competed well and did so at an often lower price meaning the Atlas Hyper RCA R1 cables not only provided great performance but value for money, to boot. Combine that lot with the svelte design which means installation will be a breeze and I reckon we’ve got ourselves a pair of winners on our hands here.

ATLAS HYPER RCA R1 INTERCONNECTS

Price: £395 for 1m pair

Website: www.atlascables.com

GOOD: meaty bass, upper frequency detail, balanced presentation, installation

BAD: nothing