Chord Signature XL Speaker Cables
It was also the biggest, stiffest, brightest cable they’d ever made.
The conductors were oxygen free copper, the insulation was gas foamed
Polyethylene, Shielding was a three layer braid and foil combination,
effective to high frequencies and the outer jacket a flexible
polyethylene. It was just flexible enough to fit into a system. It
didn’t need a press release or a review, it took off so fast by word of
mouth, that for a while there was almost a permanent waiting list. It
remained unchanged for about ten years, until Chord could apply improved
building techniques and materials such as more efficient shielding,
silver-plated conductors and PTFE insulation that would produce a more
neutral tonal characteristic and a cable better able to carry detail,
dynamics and timbre. This became Signature Reference.
Signature Reference, like most of their cables, used PTFE insulation
(often referred to as Teflon™) and until the arrival of Taylon®, was our
“go to” material. Although expensive, it offered the best performance.
Material technology is constantly developing and improving and
alternatives to PTFE are now available. While the high cost of Taylon®
prevents them from using this in the Signature range, they were able to
find a suitable family of insulation materials known as XLPE
(Cross-linked Polyethylene). One version of this material looked
particularly interesting and following listening tests, proved to be
clearly better than the PTFE in Signature Reference.
Every set of Signature XL speaker cable is built to order and
terminated at the Chord Company UK factory with ChordOhmic 4mm banana
plugs or ChordOhmic spade connectors. Available in red/black or all
black colour combos.