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JPS LABS ULTRACONDUCTOR 2 XLR Cable Review

Rate this Cable

  • 1. Waste of money (piggy bank panther)

    Votes: 239 94.8%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 2 0.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 11 4.4%

  • Total voters
    252

Robbo99999

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I can't believe it's not been said yet, but any chance JDS Labs came before JPS Labs?! I mean I don't know, but I'm thinking JDS Labs has a bit more credibility right, so I wonder if this is them trying on some subliminal osmosis! But either way we know that JDS Labs is the winner even if they were established later, which I don't know!
 

617

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Are these XLR connectors fastons or screw terminals inside?
 

sam_adams

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The cable differences will be in noise and/or interference. Like Shield Current Induced Noise current (SCIN).
Are these XLR connectors fastons or screw terminals inside?

Cut them open to see if they have the dreaded foil shield and drain wire or if they have well soldered connections. Let's see what 'magic' technology is inside that makes these worth four hundred dollars per foot. Come on @amirm, we all know you want to do it.
 

tomtoo

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And their F1 cars always looked the best to me. Just class.

4925333867_aef4edd989_b.jpg

As a child i build a kit, with real rubber wheels. ;) Still a amazing looking car.
 

Spkrdctr

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Same here... John Player Special's.

View attachment 270220


:facepalm:


JSmith
Wasn't that a Formula 1 car decades ago? I always liked their looks.
 

3125b

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Are these XLR connectors fastons or screw terminals inside?
Solder connections I think.

There are different Mogami cables.
Not sure what these cables are made with, but Benchmark tested some cables and found Canare L-4E6S (2.60€/m) the best for their interconnects. Mogami Neglex W2534 is popular too. The cost for two feet of cable is insignificant, no more than a 2-3$.
All of this is rather pointless in practice, even with very cheap two conductor microphone cables I had trouble measuring significant EMI, although they are not totally immune under extreme conditions. Only with a 6€ two meter long cable wound tightly around a loaded laptop power supply the effect was measurable, but still not audible.
 

audiotron

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Nice review. It's no surprise every high end cable so far has been a let down anyway.
 

Toxmarz

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This is a review, detailed measurements and listening tests of the JPS LABS ULTRACONDUCTOR 2 1 foot XLR cables. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $799 for a pair.
View attachment 270195
As you can see, there is no fancy braiding or termination. Cables are a bit stiffer than my reference but still pliable enough to interconnect two pieces of audio stacked up. Neutrik connectors are used which are good.

JPS LABS ULTRACONDUCTOR 2 XLR Cable Measurements
I used my Audio Precision analyzer as the "audio" source and destination to measure the performance of these cables. I used my lower cost measurement cable, the World's Best Cable (WBC) with Canare L-4E6S star quad cabling and Amphenol connectors. The WBC cables are 3 feet so at a bit of disadvantage relative to JPS cable. Let's start with wideband frequency response measurement going from DC all the way up to 90 kHz (4.5 times our hearing range):

View attachment 270197
Using my standard ± 5 dB deviation vertical scale, the two graphs land on top of each other, ruling out any tonality differences. To dispel the myth that we can't measure differences between cables, let's zoom all the way in:

View attachment 270199
At this zoom ratio (0.002 dB), we have a difference in favor of JPS labs of 0.002 dB. This is to be expected as the JPS cable is 1/3 of the length of WBC so hast ever so slightly less loss. The loss is linear in the range so it only serve to change the volume of your amplifier by the same 0.002 dB. Breath on your volume control and you likely change it more than this! :)

Comments are often made that the noise floor goes down with premium cables so let's check that:
View attachment 270200
The incredible dynamic range of Audio Precision analyzer let's us enjoy more than 22 bits of dynamic range/133 dB with either cable (4 volt signal). The tiny difference is run to run variations. So the noise floor has not changed either.

Lastly let's check for distortion using dual tones: 60 Hz and 7 kHz to cover both low and high basses:
View attachment 270202
The difference once again is run to run variation.

We could keep going but results will be the same so let's move on.

JPS LABS ULTRACONDUCTOR 2 Cable Listening Tests
I created a test setup using Toping D70s as the source and Topping A90 as the headphone amplifier. The output of the A90 then drove my Dan Clark Stealth headphones. I started with JPS cable and pulled up my reference test clips. The sound as expected was superb. So I swapped out the JPS for WBC cable. I immediately noticed more detail, and even slightly louder sound! The sound was that more enjoyable. I swapped back to the JPS cable and it was back to be slightly less loud and detailed. Once that difference had set in my brain, it was hard to get rid of it. :) Of course this is not a valid test. The switching took almost 30 seconds erasing any memory I had of the exact detail of the music I was playing. And at any rate, I was listening to a different segment of that track. But if you want to pick a winner, there it is: the $27 WBC cable!

Conclusions
The results here are no different than other cables we have tested. But we have had no coverage of JPS cables so is good to add data about it to our database. As noted, the differences in cables are absolutely measurable. And I am talking about direct difference in amplitude level. Alas, at 0.002 dB, it is not a meaningful difference and was most likely due to JPS cable being shorter than my reference.

Listening tests produced the typical response of the "second cable sounding better" which in this case turned out to be the much cheaper $27 cable. Of course the test did not follow proper protocol and test of repeatability. But such is the standard in premium audio tweak business. So going by that, "my ears told me the WBC cable was better than JPS!"

Needless to say, I can't recommend JPS LABS ULTRACONDUCTOR 2 XLR cable. Save that money and put it toward more music, better speakers/headphones.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Am assuming on loan from same member as the USB cable. Just can't wrap my head around having $1800 burning a hole in my pocket to spend and merrily getting home with a USB cable and a couple xlr cables to show for it.
 

fpitas

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Am assuming on loan from same member as the USB cable. Just can't wrap my head around having $1800 burning a hole in my pocket to spend and merrily getting home with a USB cable and a couple xlr cables to show for it.
Yeah, that's a kind of fun I don't understand, either.
 

GWolfman

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@amirm I wish you didn’t have to waste your time testing these, but unfortunately some people just don’t know!
 

HuubFranssen

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How can these people ever decide which speaker sounds better?? :D

Take your time. When the second cable ‘always sound better‘ and the first keeps sounding worse the ear-brain system just needs some time. And in the end you finally hear the small differences… when they are there.

In some situations cables make no difference. My Neumann KH420’s sound the same with every cable but with my Naim NCS 222 streamer I hear ‘big’ differences with every power cable I try… the worst sounds relatively dull and the best sounds almost too good (many details but less typical Naim sound). So I use the second best. And after some time I try it again until I’m completely sure.

Tip: after some time, do a second compare in reversed order to prevent the ‘second cable is better’ problem. And if the ear-brain system is so clever that it is aware of you’re plan it is OK too.
 

Killingbeans

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but with my Naim NCS 222 streamer I hear ‘big’ differences with every power cable I try… the worst sounds relatively dull and the best sounds almost too good (many details but less typical Naim sound).

I was going to say that the streamer has a serious defect in its power supply, and that you need to get a refund. But then I realized that any such "defect" is are just as physically impossible as the effects you're descibing.

Dude, there's a very, very high risk of your conclusions being based on simple confirmation bias.
 

HuubFranssen

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I was going to say that the streamer has a serious defect in its power supply, and that you need to get a refund. But then I realized that any such "defect" is are just as physically impossible as the effects you're descibing.

Dude, there's a very, very high risk of your conclusions being based on simple confirmation bias.

Do you think the confirmation bias holds over weeks, even when you also compare other gear and listen to other systems? Is there a huge database to keep all that information in sync? And a common database to let people think that Naim sounds great, Krell has good bass, B&W sounds a bit sharp at times and JBL and Klipsch are not always high end but do rock?
 
OP
amirm

amirm

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Am assuming on loan from same member as the USB cable. Just can't wrap my head around having $1800 burning a hole in my pocket to spend and merrily getting home with a USB cable and a couple xlr cables to show for it.
Yes, he sent me the XLR, USB and Power Cable (which I just reviewed). It all went with the XIAudio amplifier I reviewed. I believe all were recommended by the seller as a package for him to get the "best experience." :)
 

RF Air

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Yes, he sent me the XLR, USB and Power Cable (which I just reviewed). It all went with the XIAudio amplifier I reviewed. I believe all were recommended by the seller as a package for him to get the "best experience." :)
Where have I heard that before? There's nothing like "a package" for the "best experience". Relate-able for me.. ;)
 

delta76

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Am assuming on loan from same member as the USB cable. Just can't wrap my head around having $1800 burning a hole in my pocket to spend and merrily getting home with a USB cable and a couple xlr cables to show for it.
I assume this is the owner (he took it very well) https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...yss-xiaudio-stack-looking-for-opinions.41124/

the important thing is that he came here and learned. as I said in the thread, I felt bad for him initially but it ended up positively ...
 
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