KLEI Essence®gZero6 InterConnect & KLEI Essence®gZero6 Speaker Cable Review

[padre_power]

KLEI Essence®gZero6 InterConnect & KLEI Essence®gZero6 Speaker Cable Review

I have been a long time user of Townshend Isolda DCT300 IC’s and Isolda Speakers Cables, feeling like the well know reviewer Jason Kennedy from the-ear-net, that they are about as good as it gets.

But curiosity got the better of me. After successfully trying the very good Katoen IC from Elijah Audio, I still wasn’t completely satisfied.

Thankfully I stumbled onto KLEI (Keith Louis Eichmann Innovations). Most of us have heard of Keith Eichmann and his famous Bullet plugs. He also took a foray into cable making and has recently formed a new venture called KLE Innovations.

Now I must admit that I am not technically savvy enough to understand the reasoning and science behind his newest RCA Plugs and Cables, but I am grateful that I have good enough ears to hear what they can do to your system.

Cable sceptics can stop reading now but may I suggest you let your ears do the thinking.

The cables arrived and upon opening the package I found some rather light weight, unassuming cables. Both IC and Speaker cable are hardly the eye-candy that so many crazily priced cables come packaged in and presented as. Yes they are well made but hardly woo you with their appearance. The pictures on the WEB Site hardly to justice to how unsubstantial they look, but then of course looks can be deceiving. And that’s just the way it turned out.

I will only inform you on the sound of the cables together, linking my Ayon CD5s to my Vitus RI-100 integrated connected to Magico S1s.

After allowing the cables to settle in and playing them for 20 hours without listening (KLEI had previously burned in the cables for me) I gave them my first serious listen.

The level of resolution and transparency was sensational, especially so as this new level of resolution and transparency did not come with any etch or brightness. Now I have never thought of cables (being passive devices) having distortion, yet what I was hearing sounded as if a whole level of distortion was removed and I was gazing into a perfectly clear and clean window into the music.

Bass is substantial, but more importantly imbued with notes, shape and texture.

The top end is clean as a whistle, open and free. The midrange pure and beguiling. Human voices sounding so real, and instruments have natural and true timbre.

They have helped create an even greater three dimensional space, opening a larger, wider and deeper soundstage than before, in which instruments are clearly delineated in their own acoustic space, yet not in a simple two dimensional cardboard cut-out way, but much more three dimensional, with genuine body and air. And despite being able to spotlight each individual instrument, yet the music flows as a whole.

How do you sum these up? You could say neutral, but that is a much misused word and can often mean bland and lifeless. This is not so at all with the KLEIs. I would sum them up as truthful, a beautiful open conduit for the music to flow from and through ones equipment.

Well done Keith Eichmann, in some ways you are a veritable genius to provide cables of this quality at the price asked.

Which bring me to the really good news. The combined price of these cables is less than my previous favourites, the Townshends. Better still they are substantially less pricey than nearly all the esoteric cables out there. In fact, they are a bargain.

Of course I haven’t had every cable and cable combination in my system. I have however had Townshend, Stereovox, ASI Liveline, Cardas, Grover Huffman, Siltech, Analysis Plus, Anti-Cables, others I can’t remember that well, as well as a combination of home-made cables in my systems over the years, and I can’t ever remember a cable loom leaving such a profound and positive impression on me as have these KLEIs.

Well done!

Please note: I have no commercial interest in KLEI.

[MakeItSo]

@@padre_power, they sound really exceptional but are they really that good...

[padre_power]

Ping

To my ears and in my system yes.

A friend who knows my system well came and listened over lunch today and he too was quite astounded.

[MakeItSo]

@@padre_power, sounds great... what length interconnect and speaker cable are you using and was the speaker cable terminated with bananas or spades

[padre_power]

1m IC and 2.5m Speaker Cable. SC terminated with Bananas.

[Phantom]

For those who may be interested

 

http://kleinnovations.com/

[steve u]

I'm trying them now, very impressed.

[wikeeboy]

Did you ever listen to the ETI quiessence range? They look very similar.. Wonder how they compare.

 

Are they available in a bi-wire version?

Edited July 30, 2014 by wikeeboy

[MakeItSo]

Reading the literature, it indicates that the same guy (Keith Louis Eichmann) designed the old Quiessence range and the new Essence range 

 

The Quiessence range is quite old (8 years or more) so I doubt that they are even close in performance to the Essence range and probably don't compare at all

 

That would be my assessment

Edited July 30, 2014 by Ping

[MakeItSo]

@padre_power, the part that is really interesting about your review is the mention of "a whole level of distortion was removed and I was gazing into a perfectly clear and clean window into the music".

 

Are you able to explain this a little more... very interesting

[Phantom]

@@padre_power.

 

Thanks for such an unambiguous review. It gave a great idea of the cable's capabilities and characteristics and left me in no doubt about how good it must be. In a similar way to what you described as a "clean window to music " your review was a clean window to understanding what the cables achieve. I am presently using some Quiessence Q 500 speaker and I/C cables and any evolution of that would be something special indeed.

 

I have tried the Q 500 against cables 3-4 times the price and it always beat them in simply presenting music in a coherent and natural manner so I can only imagine how good the Zero 6 cables must be. I will probably be placing an order for both Zero 6 speaker and I/C cables fairly soon and if anyone is interested, I will post some thoughts after it has had time to settle.

 

Thanks again.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Phantom

[wikeeboy]

@@padre_power.

 

Thanks for such an unambiguous review. It gave a great idea of the cable's capabilities and characteristics and left me in no doubt about how good it must be. In a similar way to what you described as a "clean window to music " your review was a clean window to understanding what the cables achieve. I am presently using some Quiessence Q 500 speaker and I/C cables and any evolution of that would be something special indeed.

 

I have tried the Q 500 against cables 3-4 times the price and it always beat them in simply presenting music in a coherent and natural manner so I can only imagine how good the Zero 6 cables must be. I will probably be placing an order for both Zero 6 speaker and I/C cables fairly soon and if anyone is interested, I will post some thoughts after it has had time to settle.

 

Thanks again.

Look forward to reading your comments

[frankn]

Any idea of price for 1m IC's. I looked on the site but couldn't see pricing.

[padre_power]

Price is on the Web site Frank. Just go to Prducts, then in right hand column the cable you want and it will open a window with info and price.

As for Ping's question re distortion...every piece of equipments adds artifacts to the signal, all are a form of distortion, that is, they distort the original signal. The Kleis seem to have a lesser deletrious effect on the signal thus appearing to have less distortion and being more faithful to the actual musical signal.

I am also looking forward to your thoughts steve u to see if they coincide with mine.

[Stump]

Nice looking cable Dev! Did you have the option of XLR interconnects??

Stump

[wikeeboy]

Nice looking cable Dev! Did you have the option of XLR interconnects??

Stump

 

I emailed about XLR's yesterday and was told XLR's should be available next year when the XLR range is released.

[agisthos]

$665 for a 2.5m pair. I'm definitely interested in trying those Zero 6 series speaker cables. 

[Green Wagon]

I know I'll cope flak for this post, but I have to say it...........................

 

 

As a believer in 'cable differences', these cables, may sound fantastic (Indeed I would like to try them myself as I am looking for new speaker cables).

But I just wish cable (and other) manufacturers would stop with the psycho babel bs.

It's enough to make me NOT buy their products.

Give us the real technical details, not the whimsical sprinkled with fairy dust rubbish.

I suspect consumers are fed up with this marketing fluffery.

 

Approach: The Essence®gZero architecture dynamically works to maintain a zero voltage Ground state, which is utilised and implemented…
in a manner to dynamically enhance electron flow in the Signal conductor.
to protect the Signal from capacitive, inductive, EMF, EF, EFI, RF, static charges, and other effects.
to facilitate a smooth uninterrupted signal flow from the amplifier to the speakers, effectively isolating and allowing them to perform their task without interference.

Utilises: Banana Plugs, KL’s proprietary Essence®gZero Signal/Ground Formula.

 

Zero voltage ground state.

really. so on a cable that is fed a variable ac waveform from a floating output their trying to enforce a ground with no voltage.

Please explain......

 

to facilitate a smooth uninterrupted signal flow from the amplifier to the speakers.

Noooooo really. And here I was trying to connect my speakers to my amplifier with wet string.

 

Signal/Ground Formula.

again, its a floating ac signal, which wire is the ground connection ?

Do you reverse this 'formula' for countries in the northern hemisphere ?

 

And while my old, cranky, "get of my lawn", suspicious mind is running rampant.

Which came first, the post or the review ?

 

KLEI Essence®gZero6 IC & SC Review by Detlev Vosgerau

http://kleinnovations.com/klei-essencegzero6-ic-sc-review-by-detlev-vosgerau-news/

[MakeItSo]

I know I'll cope flak for this post, but I have to say it...........................

If you haven't listened to them, then you probably should (actually you definitely should)

 

I'm sure padre_powers post is posting it as he is hearing it (in his system) especially as he has said that he has no commercial interest in KLEI.

 

Interestingly, it agrees with the other review on the KLEI site http://kleinnovations.com/klei-essence-gzero6-speaker-cablesc-review-by-steve-reeve/ which is a completely different audio system

 

Thanks padre_powers for letting us know

[MakeItSo]

$665 for a 2.5m pair. I'm definitely interested in trying those Zero 6 series speaker cables. 

@@agisthos, if they are as good as padre_powers (and his friend) and steve reeve indicate then they are definitely good value...

[MakeItSo]

... Approach: The Essence®gZero architecture dynamically works to maintain a zero voltage Ground state, which is utilised and implemented…

in a manner to dynamically enhance electron flow in the Signal conductor.

to protect the Signal from capacitive, inductive, EMF, EF, EFI, RF, static charges, and other effects.

to facilitate a smooth uninterrupted signal flow from the amplifier to the speakers, effectively isolating and allowing them to perform their task without interference.

@@Green Wagon, actually it states ... "dynamically works to MAINTAIN a zero voltage Ground state," ... I guess that means that a 0 volt ground/return is beneficial (seems reasonable)

Edited August 3, 2014 by Ping

[MakeItSo]

Signal/Ground Formula.

@green wagon, did some more reading it would appear that the Signal/Ground Formula is a further development of Keith Louis Eichmann's Eichmann Ratio (used by a lot of people/cable makers nowadays) and Fractal Resonance Control technology (done back in 2001/2002) ... http://kleinnovations.com/about-klei/ ... interesting

 

The same guy (Keith Louis Eichmann) developed the ETI Bullet Plug and now the KLEI Harmony Plug so ... seems reasonable

Edited August 3, 2014 by Ping

[Green Wagon]

I'm not arguing that this cable could sound good/bad/better/worse.

 

And I really couldn't care less who came up with the design.

 

two conductors and an ac signal.

the only time it gets near zero is when the signal changes from a negative to positive signal per conductor.

there is no ground potential. if there was, itd be an out of phase condition between the two conductors.

and again, most amplifiers have a floating output, one where neither the (misnamed) positive or negative have much to do with any sort of ground.

even class D amps are a floating output.

so, i ask again, WHAT zero voltage ground state ?

how can it have a 'ground state' when both conductors have an ac signal going through them ?

 

show me an ac waveform that is referenced to a ground state and I'll show you a standard mains signal that has active, neutral, and an earth (ground).

but even that earth is actually a safety connection to help stop people from being electrocuted.

 

im not even going to touch the bit about - to protect the Signal from capacitive, inductive, EMF, EF, EFI, RF, static charges, and other effects...

 

if someone can show me physical evidence of a two conductor cable with an ac waveform as having a 'zero voltage ground state' then i will stand corrected.

i have been known to be wrong in the past, and am happy to be proven wrong.

 

so, as they say in pubs and clubs, come at me bro

[MakeItSo]

As long as they work, all good  

 

Perhaps padre_power can give an update on how they are sounding with more playing time on them, that would be much nicer and on topic

[padre_power]

The cables have not changed in the time I have had them since beginning to listen.

I am still deeply impressed.

Also looking foward to steve u's comments.

As for green wagon I actually agree with him to some extent. As I say in my review I don't understand the rationale behind these cables. My maths and science expertise finished with HD's in physics and maths matriculation 44 years ago and since then all my brain expansion and growing has been in the humanities, a necessity of my work.

I do however have ears that I trust and the Klei's have seriously improved the sound of my system, regardless of the science or pseudo-science of the cables.

Edited August 3, 2014 by padre_power