Cables & Accessories

Joining Black Rhodium’s new range of premium interconnects, the Overture XLR takes many of the design principles of its sibling Chorale XLR interconnect, but simplifies the design with fewer components.

Internally, it uses the same cryogenically processed conductor wires as the RCA version and is also damped along its length to minimise vibration-induced distortion. The cable is screened with several layers of braided metal shielding to protect the signal from external interference.

The Overture XLR is fitted with Black Rhodium’s high-quality gold plated XLR connectors and has an outside diameter of 12mm. It is flexible enough to enable it to be fitted neatly behind the audio equipment and the stereo pair weighs a total of 370g.

Sound quality
I connect the Overture XLR between my Studer A810 pro tape machine and a unity-gain balanced-to-unbalanced preamp, and play a 15IPS copy-master tape of Grieg’s Cello Sonata Op.36 from UltraAnalogue Recordings. I am instantly impressed by the realistic performance in my listening room. The imaging of the cello and piano is both crisp and well-defined, while the excellent dynamic range of this recording is beautifully preserved by the cable.

To put it through its paces with a full orchestra, I play a tape of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade from Chasing The Dragon, which demonstrates the full, open and very detailed music. Impressively, it is fantastically clear throughout – even during the powerful loud passages. The violin solos are not at all edgy or harsh and the full orchestral sections sound dynamic and spacious.

For some female vocals, I spin a tape of Lyn Stanley singing Blue Moon from her latest album Black Dress Ballads. The soundstage is very believable, with excellent positioning of Stanley in front of her supporting musicians and her vocals are very clear and real.

The Overture XLR is a high-quality audio cable and is very much at home in a high-end audio system. NR    

DETAILS
Product: Black Rhodium Overture XLR
Type: Stereo interconnect