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This double star
quad geometry "Flat Rock" cable does not look normal on the outside, and it is not at all normal on the
inside. A sophisticated combination of extraordinary materials and extremely refined design lets Gibraltar…
to equally honor all types of music.
CONDUCTORS: All eight of
Gibraltar's conductors are solid. Electrical and magnetic interaction between strands in a conventional
cable is the single greatest source of distortion, often causing a somewhat harsh, dirty and confused
sound. Solid conductors are the most important ingredients enabling Gibraltar's very clear sound. Whether a
conductor is solid or stranded, skin-effect is a prime distortion mechanism in speaker cables.Gibraltar
very simply keeps this effect out of the audio range by using conductor sizes that are below the threshold
for audible distortion.
PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+:
Gibraltar uses extremely high purity Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors. All conductors are solid,
which prevents strand interaction, a major source of distortion. Surface quality is critical because a
conductor can be considered as a rail-guide for both the electric fields within a conductor, and for the
magnetic fields outside the conductor. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface eliminates
harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other coppers. The superior purity of
PSC+ further minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries, which exist within any metal conductor.
DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM
(patent pending): Unfortunately, because insulation stores and releases energy, it is also a "dielectric."
In a cable application, all released energy is distortion. The misnomer "break-in" is often used to
describe the pronounced improvement in performance as the dielectric adapts to a charged state as the cable
is used. Whenever a cable does not have a charge on it, it is re-adapting to an uncharged state; it is
becoming new again. By maintaining a 36 volt dielectric-bias, far above the voltage of delicate audio
signals, the DBS system provides considerably better transparency and dynamics than is possible even from a
cable in continuous use. It takes a couple of weeks for the DBS system to reach maximum performance. Since
DBS battery packs are attached when Gibraltar cables are first terminated, Gibraltar will be approaching or
at peak performance by the time it is installed in your system. Since there is no "load" on the two
standard hardware-store batteries, they will last for years. A test button and LED allow for occasional
verification of battery performance.
GEOMETRY: The
relationship between conductors defines a cable's most basic electrical values (capacitance and
inductance). However, even when those variables are kept in a reasonable balance, the relationship between
conductors can be varied in ways that greatly effect the sound. The dual spiral construction of Gibraltar
allows for significantly better dynamic contrast and information intelligibility than if the same
conductors were run in parallel. The specific 4-cross geometry used in each half of Gibraltar maximizes
this advantage. SST (Spread Spectrum Technology): Any single size or shape of conductor has a specific
distortion profile. Even though radially symmetrical conductors (solid round or tubular) have the fewest
discontinuities, any particular size does have a sonic signature. SST is a method for significantly
reducing the awareness of these character flaws by using a precise combination of different size
conductors. The four different SST-determined conductor sizes used in Gibraltar allow an exceptionally
clear, clean and dynamic sound.
CONDUCTIVE INSULATION:
The four negative conductors in Gibraltar are insulated with partially conductive carbon-loaded
polyethylene. This remarkable material damps radio-frequency garbage from being fed back into the
amplifier. The sonic benefit is exactly the same reduction in hash and better dimensionality that comes
whenever RF garbage is reduced in an audio circuit.
BIWIRING: Gibraltar is
an exceptional Single-Biwire cable. When the halves are separated at the speaker end, the double quad-helix
design turns Gibraltar into a true double-biwire set thanks to the magnetic autonomy of each quad-helix. On
it's own; one quad would be a little light-weight in performance as it is biased towards treble finesse.
The other quad is biased toward the bass; it's more forceful and lacking ultimate resolution. Together they
form a completely optimized full range design, which was the first priority; but when separated the dual
star quads let Gibraltar be a maximum performance double-biwire in a single cable.
TERMINATIONS: AudioQuest
offers a wide range of high quality connectors that allow Slate to be securely attached to any type of
equipment. "Quality" is in the low distortion sound, not necessarily in the eye-candy effect. AQ ends are
either a dull looking gold or silver because these metals are plated directly over the connector. There is
no shiny and harsh sounding nickel layer underneath. AQ PK-spade lugs are soft because better metal is
soft, and facilitates a higher quality connection. For pieces requiring a banana plug or BFA connector the
AQ PK-BFA/Banana provides unprecedented performance over conventional brass versions. A combination of
these major ingredients, and many more subtle details add up to explain how even a reasonably priced cable
like Gibraltar can sound so good.
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Questions?
1.973.239.1799
