| S T E R E O V O X - SEI-600S |
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"...At the risk of seeming indelicate, I must say that the Stereovox SEI-600 are far and away the finest interconnects that I have ever used. Were I truly an honest and courageous man I would write a review that consisted of but one forsaken word: Clarity..." - TNT Audio
"...With the Valhallas, there was a glare in John Fogerty's voice that I found unlistenable. I could listen through the Nirvanas for hours on end, but I just wasn't getting into the music. With the Stereovox cables, it all fell into place. For two weeks straight, I stopped tweaking and fidgeting and just enjoyed the music..." Brian Damkroger, February, 2007 Stereophile
"..Let us get the geek stuff out of the way right now. The SEI-600 interconnects have a very extended frequency range. They reach as deep as anything I've ever heard, and do so with complete and utter ease. Bass, whether electronic, acoustic or full-blown orchestral, was powerful and wonderfully distinctive. Mids were expressive, layered and natural. Vocal, in particular, took on a rounded, fully-developed presence that was especially nuanced and lifelike. Treble was extended, harmonically complete and quite natural. It was also completely free from grain and glare, so much so that at first I mistook the absence of the ordinary high-end anomalies to be a slight softness..." Enjoythemusic.com
"...Heads up! This is one of the four or five best interconnects that I’ve ever heard in my system, and therefore rates a "Ye Olde Editor’s ‘highest recommendation’."David Robinson, Positive feedback online
TweekGeek Impressions
After a relatively short breakin, the SEI-600s settled in and really impressed me with their superb dynamics. Both macro and microdynamics are unlike anything I have heard, adding a new dimension of realism to my system's presentation. Sonic textures, separation of instruments and vocals is superb. Air and 3 dimensionality was excellent as well. The SEI-600s interconnects are 85-90% of the Stereovox 600II, which makes it a huge bargain in my opinion.
Stereovox
Stereovox products are among the finest audio cables in the world, manufactured with the finest materials, use the finest Stereovox or Xhadow connectors, and are terminated by expert hands in our Atlanta, GA USA facility.
All of our cable and wire designs are manufactured to extremely tight tolerances by a military and aerospace contractor in the Northeast corridor of the USA … nothing “hand made” here. Our products are supremely accurate and extremely consistent because technology typcally employed to manufacture parts for use in electronic warfare, hi-tech surveillance, and military aerospace communication is also employed to make our cables. “Hand-Made” is a wonderful way to make a rocking chair ...
Our cables are grouped into different series, and geometries and technology can differ greatly depending upon the series. For instance: Analog cables in the Studio line employ tubular copper conductors in solid (high density) PTFE dielectrics, while cables from the Reference line use microfilar pure silver conductors encased in air-articulated (low density) PTFE dielectrics.
A word about connectors:
We employ Xhadow connectors or our own Stereovox connectors [on Vespa only]. These connectors employ pure copper, plated in silver for the signal-conductors and are designed to allow for ISC soldered termination.
ISC stands for Intimately Stressed Contact, and it simply means that the signal wire and the connector it is attached to are not only in electrical contact with one another – but that they are contacting one another under extremely high stress. This guarantees that the connection, or “joint,” is a perfect one before any solder is applied. Thereafter, solder is applied to create a hermetic seal – never to act as an electrical bridge between wire and connector.
The finest materials, the finest technology, the finest processes … Stereovox cables do what others only pretend to: They bridge the gap between Audio and Music.
Who is Stereovox?
Stereovox isn't exactly new. It was established as a cable company in 1999 by Chris Sommovigo and longtime partner Antonio de Almeida Santos, and Sommovigo's presence in the industry goes back much further still. He started Illuminati in 1992 with what was, arguably, the first true 75-ohm digital S/PDIF cable, and thus the first design to address the problem of reflections due to mismatched impedances. A later Illuminati model, the Orchid, is widely remembered as the first really killer digital cable.
After doing very well with Illuminati, Sommovigo eventually ended up accepting a position with Kimber Kable. He worked for a while working with Kimber, then made the decision to head out on his own again—to manufacture cables marketed under the Stereovox banner.
The first two Stereovox cables, the SEI-600 interconnect and LSP-600 speaker cable, were introduced, to rave reviews, in 1999. They sounded great and had unique, machined-from-rod aluminum connectors made by a company called Xhadow. Scratch the surface a bit and you find out that Sommovigo is part of Xhadow as well—his partner there is Stuart Marcus, of Vampire Wire and Sound Connections fame.
The Cables
All current Stereovox Reference analog cables share a common design: a twisted-pair arrangement of two identical coaxial conductors. At the center of each coaxial conductor is a fine conductor of solid-core silver. The signal wire uses "elliptical solid-core" high purity silver conductors. Mr. Sommovigo feels that solid-core wire offers the best small-signal transmission, but that round solid-core presents issues with skin affect that are intractable. By forming an elliptical cross section Stereovox attempts to minimize the "dead zone" found at the center round solid-core cable while avoiding the concentrations of energy at the sharp edges presented by square, rectangular and ribbon solid-core designs.
The conductors are surrounded by an Air-articulated, or bubbled, Teflon tape wrapped helically around the wire, after which the tape's surface is lightly sintered to produce a consistent interface with the next layer, the shield.
The shield is not a standard braided or foil type but an extremely fine, multi-conductor wire of silver-plated copper, which also is helically wrapped around the cable. Teflon is then sintered onto the outside of the shield. Two of these assemblies are twisted together, the bundle encased in a PVC jacket and an outer sheath of Nomex.
As for use, the Stereovox Reference cables are quite thin considering all that is going on inside, and extremely flexible making them remarkably easy to use. Considering all the care that Stereovox puts into building their cables, it should not come as a surprise that the cables carry a transferable, lifetime warranty.
ISC Method = intimately stressed contact resistance soldering process
The process is low temperature for a soldering operation, avoids subjecting the constituent parts to the dangers of thermal shock. This concern led also Mr. Sommovigo to develop his own low-melt solder formula, which flows at 143 Centigrade, or about 290 degrees.
The New and Improved SEI-600S
A single-jacket, stereo cable the SEI-600s is perfect for connecting your reference components within a dedicated rack. Pure, solid core silver delivers the signal while wrapped in air articulated Teflon tape ("Gossamer"), while a helically-wrapped silver-plated copper multi-filar shield protects the signal from interference. Xhadow Reference RCAs terminated by ISC method.
Press
Stereovox's Remarkable SEI-600 - Enjoythemusic.com
Positive Feedback Online Reviews the SEI-600
Stereophile reviews the SEI-600II
Robert Levi of PFO reviews the Balanced 600 and 600-SEIii Single-ended interconnects
Positive Feedback Online interviews Chris Sommovigo