In my last post (HERE) I told you about my first impressions of the Duelund DCA10GA tinned-copper cable as loudspeaker cables. Promising. I've been putting time on them and they are smoothing out and getting on song.

Mixing interconnects and speaker cables with conductors of different metals rarely works out well.

For example, when I mixed silver ICs & tinned-copper speaker cables to use with the Audio Note (UK) Meishu Phono Silver Tonmeister 300B SET integrated amplifier, it didn't sound nearly as good as using the all silver Audio Note (UK) ICs and speaker cables that the Meishu was designed with.

Hint: If you have an Audio Note (UK) audio system use their cables, as that's what they are voiced for. 

As an audio writer with a lot of components coming through to write about, the Duelund tinned-copper cables serve as my go-to for most all components, the Meishu excepted. 

With the various gauge sizes available, the Duelund tinned-copper cables are my Swiss Army knife of cables, with voicings to complement almost everything that comes through for review. The Duelund tinned-copper cables capture the beautiful tonal qualities of vintage golden era cables like those from Western Electric.

One of the things I really like about tinned-copper conductors is they are very good at relaying timbral textures in the music that you can feel as much as hear. 

I'll attempt an analogy: when you slide your fingers across unpolished granite, polished black walnut, or silk, they each have a distinct texture upon your finger tips.

In a somewhat similar fashion, musical instruments and voices all have a distinct timbral texture that you can feel as their sound-waves caress your eardrums. 

Tinned-copper conductors just seem to make those timbral textures sound more distinct, more tangible, more real. More feel. 

The Belden 8402 tinned-copper microphone cable interconnects - as one would expect - are very complimentary to vintage inspired Duelund tinned-copper speaker cables, and if you want that authentic high-fidelity 'microphone to magnetic era master tape' sound quality, they're a great choice.

A tip of the hat to friend Yazaki-san for telling us about the wonderful and affordable Belden 8402 tinned-copper microphone cable interconnects in his quest for "real sound". 

So to hear the new Duelund DCA10GA tinned-copper speaker cables in an all tinned-copper cable context, I decided I should order a pair of Belden 8402 tinned-copper microphone cable interconnects terminated for the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x Red Book CD player (XLRs on one end, RCAs on the other), from Best-Tronics Professional Audio.

BTPA is a pro-audio company with superb service, and they will make up perfectly crafted custom interconnects for you from Belden 8402 at very affordable prices. Highly recommended. 

The new Belden interconnects from BTPA were waiting for me when I got home from my motorbike tour, so I set about installing them between the sublime Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x Red Book CD player (above), and the equally sublime Triode Lab 45 EVO integrated SET amplifier (below) that I am using for the review of the new Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B rectifier. 

I'll be reporting on the Duelund DCA10GA & Belden 8402 combination as they get some more time on them. Just as an aside, I just installed the Belden 8402 interconnects into the system and already they are sounding very good together, as I was hoping. More to come.

Speaking of the Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B rectifier, its is next up in my review queue for Positive Feedback.

Did I mention that my favorite rectifiers in the 45 EVO - by a long shot - are 274Bs? They are. Nothing else has even come close. Superior tone by a country mile. 

I'll be comparing the new Sophia Electric Aqua II 274B rectifier to the original Aqua 274B (now sold out). They both sound great, but they do sound different from each other. More to come.