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No-Compromise Coax Cable with 6% Silver Plated Cardas Copper Conductor and Premium Prime 750 RCAs
Pangea Audio's Premier XL coaxial digital cable takes a no-compromise approach to digital audio, featuring precision-wound 18-gauge conductors using a Cardas Grade One Copper signal conductor with a 6% silver coating. It also boasts multi-layered nitrogen-injected polyethylene foamed insulation, premium Prime 750 RCA connectors, and a tough woven nylon braided jacket.
Breakthrough Digital Audio Cable by Jay Victor
In creating Pangea's new Premier digital coaxial cable, designer Jay Victor tackled the three big challenges of digital cables: transmission, shielding, and connections. Each of the three areas presents its own set of design challenges. While Jay had considerable experience in each technical area, his extensive research led him to develop new strategies to take advantage of the latest advancements in materials science.
Superior Signal Transmission
For signal transmission, Jay chose American-made Cardas Grade One Copper, "the best copper on the planet," according to Jay. Cardas Copper is mined in Arizona and then shipped to New England where it is SLOWLY drawn into wire in a custom-designed Argon gas chamber to insure no impurities get into the conductor.
The use of Cardas Grade One Copper is unprecedented at this price point.
Jay has the Cardas Grade One Copper wire shipped to a second factory, where the wire is plated with a 6% pure silver coating. "I have found silver plating is crucial to digital audio cable performance," reports Jay, "and I use it in all my digital audio designs."
Superlative Shielding
After years of experimentation, Jay discovered that proper shielding is crucial to digital audio cable performance. "Any noise or interference that enters a digital audio cable distorts sound," Jay says. "You can really hear a big difference between inferior and superbly insulated cables on standard CD-quality digital signals. With the introduction of new high resolution 24-bit digital files, the difference becomes even more drastic, and optimal shielding is crucial to great sound.
"I found that dual-layered shielding is essential, provided you use the best combination of materials. Triple-layered shielding is even better. However, quad-layered shielding is by far the best solution for accurate signal transmission.
"Quad-layered shielding can be tricky,” cautions Jay, “because simply piling on additional layers can add stiffness and certain layers won't work well in combination with others. In this cable I'm using three different types of shields and one in a dual layer. One layer is silver-plated because I found this sounds better than just using a copper shield. That's one of things you only learn after listening to a lot of test cables."
The Best Connections
Jay spent countless hours experimenting with RCA connectors and visiting factories in the Far East where connectors are made. "Most factories don't understand the requirements for high-end audio," observes Jay. "They think that gold-plating makes a connector 'audiophile quality.'" Eventually Jay found a factory that not only understood exotic materials, but also how to employ them to create the best connectors in Asia. "These guys get it," enthuses Jay. "They are a step ahead of everyone else. The Prime 750 RCA is a testament to their amazing expertise."
The Prime 750 RCA features a special ultra-low mass design that takes best advantage of the fine properties of exotic metals, while avoiding technical issues caused by using higher mass metal contacts such as eddy currents. Prime 750 has an ultra-low-mass, hollow, direct-gold plated Tellurium Copper center pin and ultra-low-mass direct-gold plated beryllium copper spring-type ground contacts. Instead of a heavier metal ring, Prime 750 uses an advanced polymer insulator to hold the connector together – further reducing the amount of metal required in the connector. The outer shell or cover is made from non-magnetic brass treated with a tough-as-nails scratch and chip resistant black chrome plating.
Add it up and Premier XL offers three radical cable innovations in a single coaxial digital cable design. Thanks to Jay's clever design and his superb relations ship to the manufacturers, Pangea Audio is able to bring you this cable at a surprising low price.
The Pangea Premier Coaxial Cable Story: As Perfect As Anyone Could Make It
When Pangea Audio first approached legendary designer Jay Victor and asked him to design an audiophile coaxial digital cable that would excel with hi-res music files, Jay became very excited.
"You won't believe this, but I've already worked on this problem for a while," Jay told Pangea. "A couple years ago, another high-end audio cable company approached me about designing coaxial digital cables. The owner of that company was very challenging to work with. He demanded that everything be as exact and perfect as possible before he would approve it.
"I worked countless hours with the factory on these designs, and I learned a great deal in the process. Finally, they were as perfect as anyone could make them. Then the company I was designing them for was sold. The new management team took the entire product line in another direction. All my designs and work were abandoned. I was really bummed out, not only because my designs weren't going to be made, but also because the cables I designed were so amazingly good for the money, I wanted others to enjoy them."
The Right Materials in the Right Combination
"What I discovered on the earlier project was that, while you can spend a fortune on exotic materials and make a very good – although very expensive – coaxial cable, it's really the right materials used in the right combination that makes this cable great," Jay said. "I found several combinations of the latest generation of materials that produce outstanding results but don't break the bank on cost."
This sounded great to the folks at Pangea Audio, and they green-lighted the digital coaxial cable project. A few months later, Jay got back to them.
Cardas Grade One Copper
"Sorry it took me so long," he said. "I wanted to review my designs and make one more change. I'm sure you'll be very happy with the results. The change I made was to use Cardas Grade One Copper for the signal conductor. I love the sound of the Cardas wire, and I've started using it in more and more of my designs."
George Cardas of Cardas Audio developed Cardas Grade One Copper for his own premium cables. George's copper is mined in Arizona, then shipped to a New England factory where it is very S-L-O-W-L-Y drawn into conductors in a process that includes reduction annealing between steps to further purify and meld the copper.
"I think it's the best copper on the market regardless of price," says Jay Victor.
Designed for Ultimate Sonic Performance
"I created three coaxial digital cables for you," Jay told Pangea. "The flagship Premier XL is for the discriminating audiophiles who want the ultimate sonic performance from their digital gear. It features Cardas Grade One Copper for the center conductor. Cardas Copper improves the sound in every cable I've tested, and I added a 6% silver coating for even more enhanced performance. I also used an exotic form of PE insulation that to my knowledge has never been used in a digital coaxial cable before. It's expensive, but I found it to be worth a modest price increase," said Jay.
"I terminated Premier XL with the Prime 750 RCA, one of the best RCAs on the market. The Prime 750 RCA has ultra-low-mass gold-plated beryllium copper spring-type ground contacts, an ultra-low-mass hollow direct gold-plated tellurium copper center pin, an advanced polymer insulator, and a premium hand-soldered connection. The hollow center pin reduces the effect of eddy currents that occur in a solid center pin."
Extremely Durable Baked-on Chromium Finish
Covering the RCA is a non-magnetic aluminum barrel with a baked-on chromium finish. We asked the designer, Jay Victor, why he chose this finish. "I've designed and built over one hundred RCA cables for various brands around the world and found that after months or years of use, paint will eventually flake off the barrel. This chrome finish is extremely durable and will last for years without cracking or flaking," answered Jay. "And besides, it looks sexy, doesn't it?"
"Put it all together, and Premier XL is an amazing cable at a very reasonable price," Jay concluded.
