Vacuum RIBBON
Smooth, clean "pure silver" sound for just $1000
The VR (Vacuum Ribbon) can be used full-range with practically all loudspeakers on the market (except for extremely low impedance
full-range ribbon-type loudspeakers), but it really shines as the mid/high cable in a true bi-wire or bi-amp configuration.
The flat solid core VR conductors are made of
custom 99.997% pure silver (certified purity silver). This silver
material is custom made for us, then tested for purity and
certified. A stereo set (not bi-wire) of these cables consists of 4 separate cables: two go to the right loudspeaker, and two go to the left one. Using two separate cables per speaker is better than using two cables in one common jacket because for a given type of cables,
this configuration offers MUCH lower capacitance, and thus increased bandwidth, and the stability of power amps (unstable amplifiers sound harsh).
The "wire" used to make VR cables is solid 99.9% pure silver, flat single core conductor 1/8 inch wide and 0.01 inch thick. In
VR, no real dielectric is used - at least, in the conventional sense: the silver ribbon is just inserted into a flexible (but strong) transparent outer jacket 1/4 OD, and covered with semitransparent black mesh for
strength; the tube is filled with Helium* and then hermetically
sealed, so the flat silver wire is surrounded by very light and
absolutely chemically inert gas. When such construction is measured, the dielectric constant is equal to approximately
15-fold vacuum (1.001 versus pure vacuum 1.000 and (the closest
up) solid Teflon being 2.2 to 2.5 depending on the Teflon type (all other known solid dielectric have higher constants; the closer the dielectric constant to 1.000 - the better for the sound because low dielectric constant means low energy storage, which offer fast transients and the lowest distortion).
Standard termination is Ultra light gold plated beryllium copper
Z-banana plugs or well-known Cardas Rhodium-plated copper spade lugs (6.4 mm
or 8 mm). Optional (and recommended) termination is Stealth brand solid silver spade lugs:
just $25 extra per lug ($200 extra per a stereo set of cables) over the standard termination.
The "Vacuum Ribbon" FEATURES SUMMARY
- pure solid silver flat (low inductance, low skin effect) wire;
- STEALTH Para-Vacuum dielectric (Helium fill)
- additional transparent layer of mesh insulation;
- Ultra light gold plated beryllium copper Z-banana plugs, or
Cardas Rhodium-over-silver plated spade lugs.
OPTIONS
PRICING
Suggested retail price for a 1.5 meters or shorter pair of Vacuum Ribbon speaker cables is
$1,000
(standard termination), or $1400 with the STEALTH solid silver lugs;
$1200 for a 2 meter pair (standard
termination), or $1600 with the STEALTH solid silver lugs; and
$800
for each extra meter after 2 meters;
* STEALTH
para-vacuum tube is a hermetically sealed flexible tube filled
with Helium; fist, Helium is approximately 15 times lighter than
air, and therefore its energy storage properties are extremely
good: about equal to that of a 15-fold vacuum; the dielectric
properties of such environment are even better: Helium is inert
and has no ozone or other ionized molecules, and therefore there
are absolutely no leaks of any kind - and this is better than
any realistic vacuum. In addition, being surrounded by Helium,
the wires will never oxidize or deteriorate. And the last - but
not least, sine - unlike any vacuum - the Helium pressure is
exactly the same as the atmospheric air pressure, there is
nothing to force our Helium to leak, plus the tubes remain
flexible, and the Dream cables are user-friendly - unlike all
other "vacuum" cables (which are very stiff and inevitably lose
vacuum with time - i.e. unlike the Dream, need periodical
service to maintain the performance).
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