Performance for Price, neutrality

none so far

I have used these for at least 6 months now. I use them as interconnects between my Parasound HCA-2205 and my Parasound AVC-2500.

So far I have found no reason to replace them. They perform admirably for such a budget interconnect. The sound I hear from my PSB Gold i speakers is incredible. I believe I am hearing exactly what I am supposed to with these cables. I do not appreciate any loss of detail, artificial warmth or softness. The music arrives uncolored and neutral. Bass extension is good, bass is tight. Midrange is clear, and overall not too forward or bright.

Highly recommended. These cables will let you hear the music as it is intended. Compare favorably with more costly cables.

System:
Onkyo DX-C330 CD
Marantz PM-68 Pre/Main
Van Den Hul CS-122 hybrid Speaker Cable
PSB Stratus Gold Speakers

I really like this cable. As compared to the XLO Audio-Twinax and ER-4, and some lower end Transparent, I found this cable to compete quite well. It has a very detailed sound and delivers the lower (

Not sure

Lacks coherence and proper midrange

Purchased the XLO ER-5 for use between a new DVD player and the amp. After completing the manufactures recommended 24 to 36 hour cable burn-in, I still found the XLO's to lack any adequate midrange. All voices had a nasal quality to them. More importantly, it seemed also unable to blend efectively any movie dialoge with background sound effects. The dialoge was too soft and the sound effects too loud. To see if this was a characteristic of my DVD player or the particular DVD, I swapped my Harmonic Technology Truthlinks with the XLO's. Now everything was what it supposed to be. It surely showed the deficiencies of the XLO's. I do know the Truthlinks cost more, but I don't think I was getting an adequate audio value for the money spent on the XLO ER-5's. Even if it was only $50.
The compromise was not worth it.

Similar Products Used:

Harmonic Technology Truthlinks, Nordost Blue Heavens

Heard good things about XLO interconnects and saw an excellent review of a pair of XLO's in Home Theater which prompted me to seek out a pair. I called XLO directly and was assisted by a salesman in selecting the proper cable for my system. The ER-5's were within my budget (which was up to $100 a pair) and were said to offer performance as good as cables costing much more. My old inters were Tara Labs Prism 22's- a good cable, but I wanted to experiment. I have had a pair of the ER-5's for about 2 1/2 months now and they seem to be well broken in. A one word description would be "neutral". I am struggling to find words to describe the sound of these cables because there are none- they don't exhibit any brightness, no sense of tubbiness or unwanted warmth, no lack of bass or treble definition and no sense of the cables impeding transparency. All in all they are just an excellent, neutral, "clear" and smooth sounding cable. Comparing it to another cable, like my Tara-Prism 22's, I can see improvements in soundstage width and depth, and greater transparency in definition of the soundstage- especially at the outer edges in the revealing of overtones and hall re-creation. Midrange is more defined, extreme treble more smoothed and natural. I don't think you'll find better around the $50/meter pair. When comparing to others in this price range I have to give 5 stars.

Good clear signal. I like these cables a lot they gave my whole system a nice tweak. The sound quality was noticeably better. I intend on using them for future components.

musical, more defined bass

none

I agree with the reviewer below. This is a very clear, accurate cable. The bass got tighter and more defined.

Unlike the reviewer below however, I did no break in.
I listened to it right away and compared it to the products I've used. The change was noticeable right away. It is much more musically involving than the products mentioned above. More detailed. This cable made me smile because I knew right that I've found the right cable. I was getting tired of trying interconnects and want to just forget it and enjoy my audio system.

I would rate the interconnects I've tried as follows:

Kimber PBJ - 1 star - Too bright and way too expensive

Monster Interlink 250/400 - 3 stars - Not as detailed as the others, bass a bit muddy

WireWorld Solstice - 4 stars - This is actually a very good cable. But it's missing something the XLO has. A soul.
It gets 4 stars coz of value. It's only $15.

My Gear:
NAD C370 Int Amp
NAD C420 Tuner
NAD C541 CD Player
Vienna Acoustics Bach Speakers
Kimber 4TC Speaker Cables
XLO ER-5 Interconnects :-)

Similar Products Used:

WireWorld Solstice 3, Kimber PBJ, Monster Interlink 250 and 400

clear, dynamically expressive, tight bass

local dealers scarce

Audio System:
Philips/Magnavox 825
XLO/VDO ER-5
Harmon Kardon HK6500
Original Monster 10ga biwired, braided
Energy C-2 on sand-filled Target stands

Just replaced the cables on my primary source, a Philips/Magnavox 825 DVD Player. Replaced a one meter pair of Monster Interlink 400 with a half meter of XLO/VDO ER-5.

Please note that I did no listening whatsoever until the cables had burned in for 36 hours solid. I am a skeptic as to tweaks like this actually working and so burned the cables in by connenting my tuner directly to my tape deck, running the signal through the meters and changing stations every so often. I did this to avoid the psycho-acoustic aesthetic of familiarity which I believe is about 90 percent of the burn in phenomenon. After 36 hours of this “silent” burn-in I plugged them in for a listen.

The change was quite noticable.

Compared to the Interlink 400 (a review of which I am also posting--take a look, it’s not as negative as you might think), the ER-5 is more open; has greater clarity; tighter deeper bass; and much, much improved dynamic range. Everything just sounded better, more natural, open, and dynamically expressive. My wife called it “a night and day difference,” and went on to say, “that $40 wire actually makes your new speakers worth it.” Thus giving the ER-5 that all-important high SAR.

The only other cable I was considering was Tributries DCA-100 but then I read the reviews here and the XLO white papers.

Forty dollars very well spent, and a 6 out of 5.

Similar Products Used:

high quality mass market and Monster Interlink 400,100