Silver Diamond Waveform hf Digital RCA: High-End Bits

24th November 2017

Looking beyond pure ones and zeroes, Paul Rigby seeks digital perfection as he reviews Tellurium Q’s Silver Diamond Waveform hf Digital RCA

Apart from plugging one box to another box or the mains to lots of boxes, one of the biggest jobs any cable can do is to become invisible. The problem with cheap cables is that they tend not to be. There’s all kinds of reasons for that which would take a few thousand words to explain fully. Suffice to say, in addition to the rest of your hi-fi and the room it sits within, your cables will add a little bit of noise here and there to the hi-fi and, hence, your music. The better they are, the less noise they introduce. The better they are, the more transparency they introduce. Basically, the better they are, the more music you hear. Music that’s always been there, by the way. It’s just that noise masks it.

Don’t confuse price with ‘better’, either. I’ve heard many (too many) cables that cost an arm and a leg but add a suite of horrendous frequencies into the soundstage, adding terrible colouring to the music itself.

Tellurium Q’s Silver Diamond Waveform hf Digital RCA

A sense of transparency what what I was looking for from the Tellurium Q cable here. I’ve already reviewed it’s sister cable, the Waveform II HERE. This cable, with the rather shy lower case appellation ‘hf’, is an upgrade from that.

Like all TQ cables, there’s not a great deal to talk about because, well, the company doesn’t. TQ likes to keep quiet about its technologies, therefore.

Tellurium Q’s Silver Diamond Waveform hf Digital RCA

So, what does it sound like?

SOUND QUALITY

I began by hooking my Leema Antila IIS Eco CD player (as a transport) to my Benchmark DAC and played Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence.

Three things struck me with the Waveform hf cable. Firstly was the reduction in noise. That reduction removed the irritating, distortive effects that make the ear cringe and withdraw. Hence, the noise reduction gave the impression that the volume had decreased. This necessitated a rise in gain via my pre-amp by two clicks to attain the same volume as before.

Next was the concurrent smoothness from the mids, especially the upper midrange. All of the synth lines flowed while the lead vocal from David Gahan eased into the song. His, now more relaxed, delivery also offered great emotion and a presentation which added subtlety and a sense that he was enjoying himself.

Tellurium Q’s Silver Diamond Waveform hf Digital RCA

Thirdly, was the bass. My goodness the lower frequencies added power to burn. Not so much in terms of punch just a hefty weight, a real force of nature. The bass controlled the foundation of this song, giving it an incredible momentum that was elemental in its authority. Impressed, I felt that I’d received a left hook from a heavyweight boxer. One second I’m standing up, the next I’m flat on my back and I had no idea what happened in the middle bit: that sort of effect.

The transient attack from the guitar plucks displayed an impressive focus and precision while the instrumental separation, enhanced by the low noise, allowed the ear to pick up secondary rhythms that occurred way off into the rear of the mix. Previously merged into one, these rhythms could not be picked up and followed independently. Similarly, background vocals were picked out as separate items being joined to the lead vocal but adding enough space to be isolated by the ear too.

Tellurium Q’s Silver Diamond Waveform hf Digital RCA

I then moved to jazz and Mel Torme with George Shearing. He sang Born to be Blue, a live cut. I was impressed by the nature of the vocal delivery. Live albums are notorious by their decidedly un-audiophile nature. They offer the worst of sonic solutions. Even the best recorded live album is an unhappy compromise. Here, though, the vocal was clear with a sense of transparency that aided the ease of the Torme tone. The sense of live space was also noticeable here. You could hear the air around the Torme vocal.

The accompanying Shearing piano, an instrument that is tremendously difficult for any hi-fi to ‘do well’ due to the chaotic nature of the piano itself in tonal terms, offered a sense of balance and control that was a pleasure to hear on a live disc.

More than that, the upright bass was never wholly lost. The latter can often bloom into a cloudy boom in a live setting but the  Waveform hf cable managed to hang on in there, allowing the bass cabinet to give enough resonance to retain a sense of bass personality.

CONCLUSION

The basis for the top notch performance from this cable is the reduction of noise. Noise to hi-fi is like Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes: a nemesis that threatens to destroy all it touches. The lowering noise allows the music that is already there to emerge and light the ear. The TQ Waveform hf cable is able to do that well and successfully producing, ultimately, a superb final sound that delights in terms of detail and power.


SILVER DIAMOND WAVEFORM HF DIGITAL RCA

Price: £1,200 for 1m

Website: www.telluriumq.com

Tel: 01458 251997


GOOD: impressive bass power, low noise, midrange detail, airy soundstage, instrumental separation 

BAD: nothing

RATING: 9


REFERENCE SYSTEM

Leema Antilla IIS Eco CD Player
Aesthetix Calypso pre-amp
Icon Audio MB845 Mk.II monoblock amplifiers
Quad ESL-57 speakers with One Thing upgrade
Vertex AQ & Tellurium Q cables

Blue Horizon Professional Rack System

Harmonic Resolution Systems Noise Reduction Components

All vinyl was cleaned using an Audio Desk’s Ultrasonic Pro Vinyl Cleaner