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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 Rockefeller… to equally honor all types of music.
CONDUCTORS: All eight of Rockefeller'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
Rockefeller's very clear sound. Whether a conductor is solid or stranded, skin-effect is a prime distortion
mechanism in speaker cables. Rockefeller 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+:
Rockefeller uses a carefully finessed combination of Long-Grain Copper (LGC) and 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. Extremely high-purity 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 Rockefeller cables are first terminated, Rockefeller 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 Rockefeller 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 Rockefeller 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 Bedrock allow an exceptionally clear, clean and dynamic sound.
CONDUCTIVE INSULATION:
The four negative conductors in Rockefeller 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: Rockefeller is an exceptional
Single-Biwire cable. When the halves are separated at the speaker end, the double quad-helix design turns
Rockefeller 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 star quad
helixes let Rockefeller 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 Rockefeller can sound so good.
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Questions?
1.973.239.1799
