Most people know Joseph Chow as the Audio Engineer who worked in the Kenwood FM Tuner division, and later with Schotz at Proton, and as the designer of superb electronics—a solid state DAC, a tube preamplifier, and a tube DAC all marketed under his Audio Horizons brand name, but few know that as recently as three years ago as an outside design consultant, Joseph’s created interconnect cables were sold for as much as $2000 per pair by one of the best known high end cable manufacturers.

But now in order to maximize the performance of superb electronics Joseph has perfected a new interconnect geometry that in the slogan of Audio Horizons, delivers “Superior Performance. Clearly.” These interconnects are among the cleanest, clearest, most transparent interconnects you’ve ever heard. We’re so confident you’ll agree that we offer a free home audition, freight prepaid. All Joseph’s cables are superb. One customer after comparing Joseph’s Premium AC Power Cord to his $2000 Shunyata power cord remarked, “I think Joseph’s might be better.” See his words of praise below.

We’re so confident you’ll agree that we offer a free home audition, freight prepaid. And because Joseph is selling it factory direct instead of through dealers, he is able to avoid the five times mark up required to sell through a dealer network. Thus this superb Premium Series X Interconnectis available not at $850 to $1000 but at $195.

One must have excellent accessories to complement the excellent components used, which is why ComponentPlus, USA has made available interconnects and speaker cable designed to realize the full sonic potential inherent in your equipment.

ComponentPlus interconnects and speaker cable are designed with the same eye for classic balance and harmony that characterize all ComponentPlus designs--the need is to maintain a harmonious balance between the signal carried by the positive and the signal carried by the neutral and ground. Imagine the positive and neutral wires to be a teeter-totter. It must be properly balanced or it will take more force on one end to raise the other. In a cable signal carrier this extra force gets translated into noise, compression, and masking. The same balance required in the teeter-totter is required in the wires, especially with respect to impedance if one is to reduce the force needed to move and transfer the signal. This concern with classical balance explains why ComponentPlus’ cable designs place as much importance on the impedance of the signal carried by the ground as by the hot wire. Preserving this balance is extremely important in the reproduction of harmonic texture—those identifying harmonics that distinguish a reedy clarinet from a reedy sax.

We know that one of the main reasons some people prefer tube designs, despite losses in the noise floor and their higher impedance, over solid state designs is because tubes generate better second order harmonics than do solid state designs. Proper harmonics is critically important in preserving that intangible musicality that we prefer, and that we ascribe to tube electronics.

Does that mean that proper cable design can compensate for the inferior ability of solid state components to generate second order harmonics? No, but we can by proper cable design diminish the listener’s subjective sense of sonic deprivation caused by poorer second order harmonics. The key is maintaining classic balance. Failure to ensure proper geometrical balance in the cable design alters the harmonic balance of the music. By maintaining a classic, balanced geometry, one that uses the wire’s Q in the design architecture, and by selecting the best dielectric—one neither too positive or negative—the overall balance of the cable makes the system more resistant to spurious material-generated harmonics. These harmonics mask the second order harmonics of the music we wish to reproduce.

Imagine the sound signal as a tightrope walker walking across a high wire. Imagine that ComponentPlus’ balanced geometry and matching Q act as a balancing pole the tightrope walker can use to preserve his balance as he travels along the high wire. Because the pole is so long, even the smallest deviations from perfect balance are magnified, permitting the high wire walker to compensate before the imbalance begins to create destabilizing motional gyrations. In your sound system, the equivalent of these gyrations is masking noise.

As a consequence of its classic, balanced architecture, the first thing that strikes one after listening to an ComponentPlus accessory cable is how quiet the signal suddenly sounds; then because of the lowered noise floor, one realizes that one has improved microdetail retrieval so that one can hear the reedy harmonic overtones of a saxophone more clearly than one has before, and string bass now really sounds like a resiny string bass.

The sonic improvement we describe when using ComponentPlus accessory cables will occur with any component.

Grannyring ended up ordering a second pair of Series X interconnects, and recently ordered a Transparency XLR interconnect between his preamplifier and amplifier.

Cedar writes: "Congratulations on the excellence of your Series X Premium interconnects. I've used the Series X interconnects for several months now. Prior to the ComponentPlus interconnects, I used Synergistic Research Resolution Reference X2 interconnects and, before that, various MIT interconnects. The ComponentPlus Series X delivers a purer sound, without coloration or edginess. Cables make a difference. I've listened to some of the most highly regarded interconnects and heard the improvement in my system. I found ComponentPlus Series X to be the best."

Gamecock writes: "I have had a chance now to get a real handle on the Premium power cords and interconnects. Let me come right to the point, both products are outstanding. As you know, my first experience with Joseph's cables was the premium power cord. I had purchased one as part of the upgrade package for my vintage Kenwood L-01T tuner. I thought that both the upgraded tuner itself and the power cord were outstanding sonically. . . . It offers superior performance at a real world price. I had a similar experience with Joseph's interconnect. I compared it with . . . [My very expensive] interconnects in my system. In absolute terms, I found the [expensive] . . . cables to be a touch more refined. But at [several thousand dollars] . . . per meter pair versus $195 for Joseph's, I could not justify the extra expense. In a blind listening test, I'm not sure I could easily distinguish between the two. I plan to sell the [X] . . . interconnects and purchase Joseph's for my entire system.  In short, Joseph's cable are a serious attack on the state of the art, and all at real world prices. With his home trial program, there is absolutely no good reason not to give them a listen. Potential customers can get the fine sound they seek and save a lot of their hard earned money in the process."

Audio Horizons Series X and Transparency Audio Interconnects. These interconnects utilize a low noise, rapid transfer, high Q wire. Again, the positive and negative wires have the same Q factor and are individually shielded to reduce EMI and RFI noise and twisted to insure stable capacitance in both wires across the entire length. The positive and negative wires are individually shielded so there is no mutual conductance, and to insure the lowest contamination or clean-transfer between hot and cold. Again, the cables use the superior dielectric of air and Teflon, and use a geometry that reduces that microphonic phenomenon that creates a nasal midrange so commonly found in popular coaxial geometric designs. The Transparency interconnects add an additional layer of insulation for even better dielectric and higher capacitance. Tarnish-proof Gold Plated RCA plugs with a center expansion plug and a cinch down jacket insure tight internal and external connection and thus a wide contact area and stable signal transfer. The XLR jacks are of equally high quality. Digital interconnects are designed to match the impedance where it is known of the output signal, whether that is 75 ohms or 110 ohms. To shorten the signal path as much as possible, interconnects come in varying lengths from 0.5 meter up. What emerges from these interconnects that balance the positive and negative and have matching capacitance and high Q is sound that emerges from a dead quiet background, one that seems both softer and less edgy and yet more transparent and airy. Highs are crystalline, mid frequencies clean and possess more presence, and the low end is more controlled and more impactful than before. Designate either RCA or XLR connectors.

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Audio Horizons Premium Speaker Cable. The Premium Speaker Cable uses the same 14 AWG low noise, rapid transfer, high Q wire used in the Premium audio Interconnects in order to achieve the same superior dielectric properties, and to take advantage of its immunity to humidity and rust. The Premium Speaker Cable will permit the amplifier to provide better signal control all the way to the speaker. This increased control will reveal itself as a more controlled, tighter and impactful bass, by softer edges and a more relaxed midrange, by wider bandwidth response, and finally by an enhanced sense of presence and richness to the music. For those who wish something even finer, ComponentPlus offers a Premium Ultra Low Noise Speaker Cable. Each strand of wire is shielded, just as in the Premium Interconnects, in order to shield against EMI and RFI interference and in order to further reduce the noise floor so that the sound emerges from a dark and silent background. This shielding also helps preserve the right capacitance ratio to insure that the signal is smooth and balanced across the entire audio spectrum. The high power factor present in the wire increases the transfer speed and results in even faster, tighter, more impactful bass. This Ultra Low Noise Speaker Cable comes in a handsome coiled sheath, and with gold plated terminals at each end to further insure superior conductivity over a long period of time