An unequalled quality in it's price-class. Beautifully round sound while not loosing any detail.

None within it's class. But knowing JPS now I'm sure the Superconductor FX will bring the same sound on an even higher level.

My first encounter with the Ultra Conductor Dual Bi-Wire was while I was still quite happy with my Cardas Quadlink-Five C Bi-Wire and planning to upgrade to the Cardas Golden Cross eventually (I already had these as my interconnects) First I discovered the Superconductor 2 interconnects and my Golden crosses were sold right after. So I auditioned 18 ft. of the Ultra Conductor Dual Bi-Wire cables and they sounded absolutely awful. But I knew they can take quite a bit of burning in, so I patently waited and after a little over a week they revealed all of their beauty. So the Quadlink-Fives are gone and I'm saving money for the Superconductor FX Bi-Wire.

Similar Products Used:

Monster Audio Quest Kimber Nordost MIT

Clarity, musical, flexibility

Needs its break in time to perform, RCA plugs needed a little tightening

(The Power AC+ was the first powercord I bought after having upgraded my system with a new high-end amp and speakers.) - I knew JPS Labs from the special Ultraconductor interlink they manufactured for me to connect my Naim CD player with DIN-style output to a normal RCA. There are just a few adapting interlinks available. Naim advises to use Chord interlinks to connect their equipment to non Naim stuff, and I think and experienced that as wrong. There is more and different in the world and you miss something by not trying that out. The special Ultraconductor interconnect cable that JPS produced for me proved to be way better than the standard delivered and advised Chord Cobra. Period. For little more money as I think the Ultraconductor is a very high value audio cable for its price. This also is the only JPS cable that can be fitted into a DIN plug I believe, because all other cables are much thicker. The Ultraconductor interlink (as the speakercables) I have found really need their time to break in. In the beginning there was just too much high together with the revealing detail. Spending some time to break in the interlink rewards you with a really good cable and proved to be worthwhile. Be patient and don’t judge for the first 50 hours or so.. Luckily interconnects can break in ‘in silence’, speaker cables however.. The Naim player with the Ultra conductor interlink connected, proved to be an easy match for a Meridian player fitted with a Cardas Golden Cross. (Of course due to the Naim DIN connection no cord exchange try outs were possible). The same combination fitted with the standard Chord Cobra cable however I found a rather sad experience after. JPSLabs gave great service by specially manufacturing this cable for me in DIN > RCA style. (RCA > DIN has different connection inside the DIN plug (on different pins) but can be manufactured as well for connecting RCA output to a DIN input). Very high quality at a reasonable price. You just have to know about it. Luckily I found an article about this JPS version on a forum. Naim would provide a great service mentioning this JPS Labs one at least together with the Chord. So that people have another choice and can enjoy their music more. Info about JPS Labs and cables are on www.jpslabs.com

Similar Products Used:

Chord Cobra

Top end became silky smooth, fast, and detailed without losing any sparkle. Midrange was true, neutral, and natural. Bass was more controlled. So much so that I bought an additional pair to run to my subwoofers.

These cables are stiff, and will not accomodate tight spaces. A small price to pay for the sound you get. Equipment: B&K amp and preamp Modwright modified Pioneer DVD player Custome built loudspeakers from GR Research (see them at www.webgeekdesign.com/guide/).

An improvement from top to bottom in sound quality and detail. Everything you read in the reviews of this product are right on. I really cannot add much more. Definately THE budget audio interconnect cable to have.

Similar Products Used:

Kimber PBJ Silver signal tape Modern Audio Designs Pearl I

Neutral sound, natural treble

Somewhat inflexible due to aluminum alloy

The JPS Labs UltraConductor are the most neutral speaker cables I've heard. I'm using a 6' pair and am very impressed!

Similar Products Used:

Kimble 4TC

About six months ago I went on a fairly extended research run to replace the existing cables in my system (an assortment of low-to-mid price range Audioquest, plus a 8 meter run of homebrewed interconnect running from my pre-amp out to where I can place my amp to minimize loudspeaker cable runs). Given the need to have a very long run of interconnect I eliminated thinking about anything which would run more than $200 for the first meter, and also eliminated some of the fine unshielded cables out there from Kimber, Nordost and the like. I finally settled on the JPS Ultraconductor on the enthusiastic recommendation of the folks at System Design Group in Redondo Beach. They had recently switched their reference speaker cables over from AudioTruth Dragon (which runs about $4500 for an 8 ft. run) to JPS Superconductor (which runs for around $800 for an 8 ft. run), were starting to connect the majority of their gear in-house with JPS stuff, and thought the Ultraconductor might do the trick for me.
The Ultraconductor is a thin, blue cloth-covered cable with high quality RCAs. It runs $120 per meter terminated, plus $50 each additional meter. The conductor is a solid-core proprietary aluminum-copper mix. They are fairly flexible, but somewhat fragile. Out of the box they are way too bright, taking at least 10-20 hours of play to become fairly listenable, and probably over 100 hours to really break in. Once they do, they get out of the way of the music better than any other cable I have heard, other than their big brothers.

I have a very hard time characterising their sound as anything but "real". If you are looking for cables to work as tone controls to sweeten up or brighten up the sound of your system don't buy these interconnects. They are uncanny at correctly conveying pitch across the entire sound spectrum (I can still hear up to close to 20Khz), imaging and dynamics. Instruments sound more like real instruments, voices more like real voices. There is no artificial bloom to the sound, no overetching of images once they have broken in, no grain. They really don't seem to have a signature sound, don't sound like anything else I have heard. In fact, the fact that they don't sound like anything else kept me from submitting a review for quite a while--I wasn't sure whether they were just doing something different from other cables or whether they really were more accurate. My only quibble is a slight reduction in soundstage depth, but even with this I'm not sure if it isn't that they are simply more realistic than other cables.

In a nutshell, I don't think I'll ever run anything else in my system from now on than JPS Labs. I'm giving the Ultraconductors four stars, just because I know the twice the price JPS Superconductors and Superconductor 2s do sound 5-10% better.

Do cables make a difference? Most if not all of the enthusiasts that peruse these pages have already discovered the answer to that question. In fact, a great number of us have already set our sights on our next upgrade and read these pages for confirmation.
After finally piecing together an audiophile grade system which started 4 or 5 years ago, it was time for me to look towards upgrading my interconnect cables. I was using Monster 550i to connect most of my system. It was a significant upgrade from my previous cables from more than a year ago, which consisted of a hodge podge of interconnects that came with equipment and a few pairs of low-end Monster. After the 550i's were installed, the sound opened up, bass became more pronounce and over-all clarity became the theme.

As much as the Monster 550i upgrade had prepared and convinced me that cables do make a difference, I wasn't prepared to hear the sonic transformation the JPS Labs Ultraconductors would impart to my system. With no burn-in, the cables instantly revealed the presence of musical material I'd never heard before. Almost all of my CD's, including favorites that I'd listened to for years had something more to offer me. Once singular bass notes now revealed their true complexity. Voices, especially female voices, were so vivid and clear, I sometimes open my eyes in disbelief. From top to bottom, the music was as effortless as I'd ever heard in my system.

So how do these cables sound after the burn-in? In a word, phenomenal. All the attributes above are there, but there's just more of it. Imaging, which wasn't a strong point out of the box (or cylinder in this case), has now settled itself to a natural, almost live presentation of music. I'd describe the sound as big, and complete rather than razor sharp and analytical. It doesn't exaggerate placement of instruments in space, though you will get a clear picture of the space between sources. It's somehow more natural and less distracting than ghostly sounds that come from beyond the main body of the music. In short, the Ultraconductors are probably the most honest piece in my stereo chain and have me scrambling to upgrade my speaker cables. And isn't that was this "bug" is all about?

I recently purchased a pair of Ultraconductors on the strength of the review in The Inner Ear Report. At the same time, a purchased a pair of Wireworld Atlantis II interconnects. I am very happy with both. Both resulted in a noticeable improvement in sound reproduction (which surprised me, as I was very skeptical). As for the difference between the two, I find the Ultraconnectors to be the most neutral. The Atlantis interconnects seemed to impart more information than I had previously heard, although this came with a (slight) emphasis on higher frequencies.
Related equipment: Audio Refinement Complete amp, Arcam alpha 5+ cd player, Rega Planar 3 turntable with Bias cartridge, Totem Mite speakers and a/d/s subwoofer.

Clean, rich and full sound, excellent imaging, great bass. Price paid is for biwired cables with spade ends.

Thin, kinda brittle conductors require careful handling when bending the cable ends to fit speaker/amp binding posts.

I don't have much to add to what has has already been said here, but I think you get the picture that these are very good cables. The Ultraconductor cables deliver sound with clarity and majesty, from top to bottom, and should be considered as serious contenders for use in any hi-fi system. The AP Oval 9s were nice but lacked the clarity and imaging provided by the Ultraconductors. The DH Labs Silversonic sounded much better than the Oval 9s in my system but the highs were a bit too shrill for me.

System:
Rogue Audio Tempest Tube Integrated Amp
Merlin TSM-SE Speakers
Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 cdp
Musica Hall MMF-5 TT with Reson Reca Cart
Monlithic Audio PS-1 Phono Stage
JPS Labs Ultraconductor Speaker Cables & Interconnects

Similar Products Used:

Analysis Plus Oval 9, DH Labs SilverSonic T-14

Refined, detailed sound, rich from top to bottom, revealing in the best way

None at this price point

I'm tremendously impressed with these cables. Having recently upgraded my system (Arcam Diva CD92, PS Stratus Gold), my cables suddenly became the weak link. Though I know the Golds have garnered good reviews, as has the Arcam, I wasn't getting the performance out of them that I'd heard in store. Rather than being satisfied with these new acquisitions, I felt there was something seriously missing: namely refinement, detail, and control throughout the whole audible spectrum. I've lived with budget cables for years, having been skeptical of shelling out big dollars for even 'moderate-priced' interconnects and speaker cables. Having read through many reviews, I finally tried the AudioQuest line. The Corals and Vipers did improve the smoothness and detail by a fair margin, especially in the mids and lows, but they were harsh in the top end. In fairness, they weren't burned in long enough as the literature recommends, but at least on my system and with my musical tastes (Baroque, Renaissance) I couldn't risk any graininess or brightness at all in the high frequencies. By chance I came upon the Ultraconductors, read the reviews, and purchased two sets (CD to pre, pre to power). Wow, is all I can say. Very quiet and clear, with no discernible coloration. Also nicely detailed, tonally nuanced and evenly paced, with really tight control of bass (which was a bonus since I was starting to feel that the Golds may be a little too flabby on the bottom end). All in all, it was like getting a new "component" in my system, optimizing performance by far more that I had expected. Plus, the Ultraconductors were supremely affordable, especially in relation to other 'budget' audiophile cables. Bravo.

Similar Products Used:

AudioQuest Coral & Viper

Everything about the sound improved!

Looks, that's about it

These interconnects might be the best cable between $100-$150. The Ultra Conductor doesn't sound like anything I have heard in this price range. About its sound, everything is more realistic. As if, it gave more life to the music. Bass is tight, solid, and well defined. Midrange is so clear and natural that I couldn't believe that my system is capable of this. The highs integrated well with the mids. Unlike the Kimber Heros, where they sounded a little too prominent in the high frequencies.

Another great thing about this cable is that it sounded great in every system I hook them up to. Most cables work well in different systems. This is because most of them are colored, some are dark sounding, others bright, and others just plain boring.
JPS is the best bet for high end sound without the high end price.

Similar Products Used:

Kimber Kable Hero, BetterCables, Cardas, Clarity Wires