These might not be the most detailed or obviously transparent cables on the market. They might lack the absolute dynamic delineation and explicit textures of a cable like Odin 2, or their sense of air and space. But while those things are undoubtedly nice to have, they are not fundamental to either understanding or appreciating the musical performance captured on a recording. Nor do they come cheap. What the ChordMusic cables do have is an effortless authority when it comes to pace and pattern. They make sense of the signal, make sense of the performance and make sense of the music. Whether that’s separating lead from backing vocals, sorting through harmonies, capturing the musically intimate chemistry within a rhythm section, or between that rhythm section and the soloists soaring above it, these cables have an understated musical authority, clarity, sense of purpose and concentrated energy that binds systems and recordings together, rather than pulling them apart. How much of that is down to the single-ended topology, with its connected (as opposed to floating) ground is an interesting question. Chord’s stance might be rooted in the history of UK audio development, but it’s the product of constant listening and assessment too. Like their cables, it would be a mistake to dismiss it without serious consideration.
If the biggest challenge facing any audio system is stitching back together all the musical content spread across two, separate channels to create a single, coherent and intelligible whole, Chord’s Taylon insulated cables make a major contribution to that task. No cable can improve a system’s performance: it can just do less damage. Whether you are talking Chord Music or the more affordable Sarum T, both cables get the musical fundamentals just right. Their natural sense of proportion and perspective, temporal and dynamic security make music familiar and accessible. Rather than struggling to recreate or understand the welter of conflicting information pouring out of your speakers, the musical picture is preserved intact, inviting you to dive right in and enjoy it.
We often talk about building a secure foundation for your system: the better the foundation, the higher you can build. But the solidity and integrity of your tower come down to more than just what it’s standing on. The building blocks might be the most obvious and important elements – physically at least. But the mortar that’s holding them together is what creates stability. If a mix-and-match cable loom has the adhesive qualities of wallpaper paste, Chord Music is more akin to musical Super Glue, a cyanoacrylate fix for musical continuity between components.
Quietly confident – or too quiet for their own good?
If the ChordMusic cables are so good, how come they don’t have a bigger reputation and receive more attention? In a word, price – and a degree of ill-considered reticence on the part of Chord themselves. The company doesn’t shout its virtues from the roof tops, while the relative poverty of the UK has made it necessarily cost conscious. It’s not alone amongst UK manufacturers in running shy of high-priced products and has always been recognised for the high-value as well as the high-performance of its cables. In a world where the Chord Music costs between a third and a fifth of the highest-priced competition, it’s human nature for customers with deep pockets and elastic budgets to overlook its understated excellence. Yet, given the chance, ChordMusic will punch way above its weight. There are ultra -expensive cables that do justify their asking price: but the simple fact is that most of them don’t. ChordMusic will have those ‘pretenders’ for breakfast, it’s sheer musical coherence easily trumping fancy exteriors and “look at me!” sonics. The Chord cables are more about “listen to me – and then you’ll see…”
