Tellurium TQ Black speaker cables

Take no notice of us pulling your leg Trev 

I will admit that I admire your willpower though because I would struggle to stick to 6/7 days before putting my next new component in 

You are correct Trev, the Ultra Blue sits between the Blue and the Black in the TQ hierarchy.

I have owned the Blue, the Black and I much preferred the Blue in my system.  I was expecting the new cable to fit snugly between those two models, but read my opinions below:

Listening to to the Ultra Blue cables at the moment and it would be honest to say I am shocked and surprised.



They are certainly lively and vibrant, more so than I was expecting by a fair margin. But . . . . . . .



Everything seems to be magnified and etched, almost "amplified" in certain ways. The bass is full, but fuller than I would expect, not boomy or with overhang, almost like a spotlight is shining on it to say "I am here, pay attention to me". Treble too also has that spotlight on it and while it finds tiny nuances and textures in the music, it shoves it in your face with some impact. In between the top and bottom, I can't quite make out how the midrange is coping because the bass and treble almost dominates so it throws a weird sonic fog around vocals. Guitars in my opinion are also affected and the rhythm guitarist has become rather hard to follow. Drums too have lost their leading edge attack for me with the absence of that sharp taut 'crack' as the snare drum is struck and you would be hard pushed sometimes to tell if a drumstick or a sausage is being used by the drummer, the kick drum is rather woolly and vague, lacking the weight and power one would normally expect, but, the cymbals do have a sweet metallic crispness to them. Ambience cues in a live venue are well portrayed.



Overall then, there is a step up in performance from the Blue which is welcome and places it therefore into the correct place in the product hierarchy, with a livelier more detailed sound than it's sibling. Given that my opinion of the Black was that it is a softer more mellow sound than the Blue, the Black cable's real strengths are in delicacy and finesse rather than a snorting drag racer at full throttle. The Ultra Black however does manage attack, vibrancy, dynamics and dare I say it, a huge dollop of delicacy and finesse, but all of it is under control, in their correct scale and proportions, without smearing and with sophistication.
 A not insignificant step up in price too, so not a fair comparison to the other 3 cables being discussed.


Like all things in the world of hi-fi cables, these are the results in my system, in my listening room and my own hearing acuity, so the variables present need to be considered accordingly. Would the Ultra Blue oust the Ultra Black from my system? Nope, not a chance. Would I choose the Ultra Blue over the Blue? Nope again, because although less lively overall than the Ultra Blue, it means to me personally that the Blues are a less fatiguing cable for extended listening and I sincerely wouldn't like to trade hours of listening pleasure for short term dynamics and firecrackers in the presentation.  Some folks might view that differently and I have no issues with that at all.

Glad you like the TQ Blacks Trev

I don't have unlimited knowledge and experience in the world of hi-fi, but in my opinion given your choice of amp and speakers I didn't want to point you towards any of the TQ cables that have too much energy and vitality at the top end because I believed there would be a clash of personalities betwixt speaker cable and components. My guess was that the Blacks would blend in very well with your system and judging by your comments we have hit the nail firmly on the head. Splendid stuff

My best guess again will be that the SLIC will also be a compliment to your system and the Entreq earthing box will be the icing on the cake.

I can also forecast some late bed times in the coming days at Trev mansions LOL

The TQ cables are a world away from the QED's you had before, so it just shows that having the right cables is important to a system's final sound.

I think the days of off-the-reel generic "industrial" cables being used for hi-fi applications are going to become a thing of the past now we have the likes of TQ, SLIC and some very interesting new designs appearing on the USA market and elsewhere in the world.