Wireworld Gold Eclipse 7 XLR Review

[audioguy3107]

First off, thanks a lot to our fearless leader Ivan for a quick and easy transaction with a quick shipment of a pair of 1 meter Wireworld Gold Eclipse 7s. I have been running single ended MIT cables (no slouch by any means) between my Audio Research Ref 2 SE phono pre and my C2300, basically because I've been too lazy to order a balanced set etc etc. After sitting on them for quite awhile, I said it's time go XLR and lower the noise floor to where it should be. Keep in mind, my comparison will be against some Audioquest Colrado XLR since a comparison with the MITs wouldn't be apples to apples since they are single ended. the WW are up against an AQ cable that's been broken in, plus has the 72dbs system as well, so not even totally fair, but let's see what happens!

The Gold Eclipse seems to be the sweet spot in the Wireworld lineup, and everything I've read points to a no brainer, but we'll see. So I pulled out the Ayre SACD player and started with a comparison between my Audioquest Colorados XLRs, again no slouch as they retail for $1000.00 a pair.....not too far from the Wireworlds. Comparing them with the SACD player because let's face it, it's much easier to do comparisons with disc players rather than vinyl even though I'll move the winner to the analog rig.

I started with Rebecca Pidgeon's Chesky SACD greatest hits and the killer vocal track Spanish Harlem with the Colorados. First off her voice was nicely spread out very wide between the speakers if not slightly behind the plane of the speakers. The bass line was light and smooth. Switching to the WW I heard an immediate tightening up of the vocals...very interesting......her voice was more focused, much more lifelike, like she had the microphone right in the room, the easiest way to say it was that it sounded slightly more smooth and rounded, yet focused at the same time. The AQ sounded sloppier and looser, more like a live recording.

I next played Holly Cole's Night, the track Goodtime Charlie's Got the blues. The same exact thing happened, Holly's vocals were focused tighter with a more 3 dimensional feel to them, the AQ was more spread out and loose, smeared may be a good adjective to use. Bass was slightly tighter through the WW cables, not by a massive amount, but easy to tell with sharp ears.

The third disc was The Search by Son Volt, a southern rock and roll band....typical CD, nothing special except that Jay Farrar's voice can send strained and just a little rough on some recordings. This was a more obvious win for the WW cables....the band sounded tighter and more focused, again, the AQ just had a sloppier sound to them. Farrar's voice still had an edge, however the difference is that it was like a glaze had been removed, it was cleaner and easier to listen to, but still had the characteristic edge, some of the grain was removed.

Vocals with the WW cables were more up front, not louder, but seriously, they made CDs sound more like vinyl which was interesting. The most obvious difference was the WW cables just cleaned everything up and made the music tighter and more focused BUT WITHOUT a narrowing of the soundstage which is important. Overall a clear win over the Colorados even without any running in, straight out of the box. Now keep in mind, the AQ retail around $1000 a pair so we're not talking about the difference between a pair of Sonus Fabers and a pair of Best Buy speakers, the AQ held up pretty well, but as an audiophile, if you're looking for refinement, the WW are the way to go. I'll add another review when I compare the two cables with the analog rig, I suspect the differences will be larger with the vinyl rig than with the Ayre player, but we'll see. thanks again Ivan......now........if he could only get me a pair of 6 meter balanced for my amp/preamp for around $500........

- Buck