Audience Conductor-e Interconnects

Audience, LLC was formed in 1997 by John McDonald and the late Richard Smith. With the company’s current electronics engineer, Roger Sheker, the three boast about 60 years’ worth of design experience. The Audience name is now well established in the audiophile world, and the company continues to strive to make a real connection with their customers.

The Conductor-e interconnect is Audience’s least expensive, at $379 USD per meter pair, followed by the Maestro Series ($442/meter pair) and their top line, the Au24 Series ($797/meter pair). Audience has made the Conductor line for some years now; but according to their website, in November 2007 they made available a proprietary technology to enhance their cables’ conductivity, which, they believe, improves their audio and video qualities. They call this upgrade "e," for Enhancement.

Description and setup

I particularly enjoy the Conductor-e’s appearance. Unlike flashier cables, including some very expensive ones, the Conductor-e cables are basic in construction, sleek and black. Like all Audience cables, the Conductor-e is said to be designed for low eddy-current resistance. Audience believes that low eddy-current resistance makes possible an audio or video cable of higher resolution.

Overall, the Conductor-e interconnect’s construction is simple and light. Only 4.8mm in diameter, it has a 24AWG conductor of super-flexible OFC copper terminated with Audience’s Au24 RCA connector, which is made of a gold-plated beryllium-copper alloy. The conductor is surrounded by cross-linked cellular polyethylene (XLCPE), this in turn sheathed in a soft PVC whose weave permits a great degree of flexibility. The Conductor-e can be easily snaked through any crevice, and blends nicely into the background.

During my time with the Conductor-e interconnects, they mostly linked a Sony CDP-CE375 CD changer to an NAD C 326BEE integrated amplifier. The NAD’s 50Wpc into 8 ohms drove two Klipsch RF-35 floorstanding speakers.

Sound

Right from the beginning, the Conductor-e cables were particularly efficient at producing a clear, vibrant, defined sound. The Conductor-e highlighted the mid- and high-frequency tones without harming the overall balance. These very positive first impressions of the Conductor-e made me anxious to try some of my favorite test tracks.

Sarah McLachlan’s ballad "Angel," from her Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan (CD, Arista 730263), has a deep soundstage through which notes carry easily to the listening position. After my initial assessment of the Conductor-e, I believed it would magnify the rolling tones of the song as they disappeared into silence. I was correct -- the Audiences provided a clear, distinct reproduction of McLachlan’s voice, and crisp distinction within note transitions. There was definitely a marked improvement in the clarity of the overall sound in the bass. In fact, with the Conductor-es I was able to distinguish two specific instances in which the bassist ran down a string on his instrument. I have listened to "Angel" many times through many different systems, but never before could I identify such delineations in the background.

Then I played "Gabriel’s Oboe," from Ennio Morricone’s score for the film The Mission (CD, Virgin 86001) -- one of the most beautifully arranged pieces of orchestral writing I have ever heard. The clear and distinguished sound provided by the Audience interconnects helped me to define the opening timpani solo, which is so often lost to the listener. When the oboe enters, the higher portion of the range of the instrument is again brought to the fore by the Conductor-e’s well-established midrange and highs. The string orchestra filling the background added depth to the arrangement. While the lower frequencies were not lost or diminished, the Conductor-e was slightly less effective at reproducing them; the bass was a touch lightweight.

I tried the Conductor-es with many other tracks from various musical genres. Today’s hip-hop, new age, and dance-music recordings contain considerable treble energy, and the Audiences excelled at producing sharp, distinct instrumental and vocal timbres. My most enjoyable listening experience with the Conductor-e was while listening to classical and adult contemporary tracks, each of which revealed the interconnect’s strengths of clean mids and highs while displaying consistent accuracy throughout the audioband.

Comparison

For the last six months my reference system has included DH Labs’ Silver Sonic White Lightning interconnects. In my review of the White Lightning I found that it produced a crisp sound, with well-defined highs and midrange. While at only $49.99/meter pair the DH Labs costs only a fraction of the Audience Conductor-e’s price, I thought that, given the two interconnects’ possible sonic similarities, the White Lightning could make for an interesting comparison.

I listened to "Revenge," from James Horner’s score for the film Braveheart, with the composer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra (CD, London 448 295-2), specifically for its ample quantities of percussion and low bass. Through the Conductor-es I heard greater clarity throughout the soundstage. For example, airy folk instruments -- e.g., the pan flute -- sounded clean and defined. "Revenge" is a complex and busy arrangement, but despite all the background activity, nothing was lost through the Audiences. The midrange and high frequencies were again accurately reproduced, particularly when the Uilleann bagpipes and chorus filled those upper ranges.

Switching to the DH Labs, I was surprised to hear a slight reduction in volume. The White Lightning’s soundstage, too, was less well defined, if not shallow. While its sound was pleasant overall, the White Lightning didn’t provide the precision of sound displayed by the Audience Conductor-e.

The Conductor-e provided clean, crisp sound with Josh Groban’s "Remember When It Rained," from Closer (CD, Warner Bros. 48450). Each instrument was easily distinguishable from the rest, and the sound was very well balanced. Again, the Conductor-e provided incredibly vibrant mid- to high frequencies -- which made it very enjoyable to hear this recording, whose focus is a tenor voice. Switching to the White Lightning, there was again a subtle yet immediate reduction in volume. There were also clear reductions in clarity and background detail. The White Lightning, while excellent at the price, couldn’t compete with the crispness and distinctiveness of the Conductor-e. With the DH Labs in the system, there were times when backing bands seemed to meld into a single instrument -- something that never happened with the Audiences.

As I said, I’d been listening to the White Lightnings for six months. I’d been very happy with their performance, and expected that they’d hold their own against the Conductor-es. Reviewing cables is particularly difficult because of the subtlety of the differences typically heard among interconnects. That said, and to my astonishment, there was a distinct improvement going from the DH Labs to the Audiences. You’ll have to decide if the $300 difference in price is worth it. To me, it is.

Conclusion

In every test I threw at it, Audience’s Conductor-e interconnect greatly impressed me by producing clean, well-defined sound, and by being particularly effective at accentuating the mid to high ranges. The Conductor-e’s ability to convey the natural tones of instruments and voices provided me with listening experiences that truly evoked my emotions.

I’m a cheapskate at heart, and it took me some time to believe that switching out cables could make a meaningful difference. While at first I felt that $379/meter pair was too high a price for an interconnect cable, I now have to admit: If I were looking for a midpriced cable that would provide high-end clarity and detail, I’d look to purchase a pair of Audience Conductor-e interconnects. They provided important improvements over the basic DH Labs cables I’d been listening to. Overall, Audience’s Conductor-e was an absolute pleasure to listen to -- a truly ear-opening experience. It is now my reference interconnect.

. . . Jarrett Dixon

Audience Conductor-e Interconnects
Price: $379 USD per 1m pair.
Warranty: Five years parts and labor.

Audience, LLC
120 N. Pacific Street, #K-9
San Marcos, CA 92069
Phone: (800) 565-4390
Fax: (760) 471-0282

Email: info@audience-av.com
Website: www.audience-av.com