XLR Balanced Cable Iconoclast's XLR cable design takes the advantages of a star-quad cable to a new level: bare copper conductors suspended in four molded PTFE air tubes by Teflon-coated glass spacer thread, overlain with a PTFE separator layer and a dense bare copper braid, and jacketed in translucent PTFE.
TPC Electrolytic Tough-Pitch Copper: 99.9% pure; used in most quality communications cable99.9% pureOFE Oxygen-Free Electrolytic Copper: 99.99% pure, higher grade than traditional OFHC99.99% pureUPOCC Ultra-Pure Ohno Continuous Cast: 99.998% pure, made for specialty aerospace applications99.998% pureQuiet Star-quad architecture maximizes common mode noise rejection without the usual high capacitance of star quadPrecise Gen-2 product has four separate conductors in each tube, held a hair's breadth apart by a tiny X-splineAiry Conductors are suspended in air tubes by a unique glass-and-Teflon spacer
Design Details: Center Conductor:
The signal conductors are available in three copper grades: TPC, OFE or UPOCC. In Generation 1 cables, these are solid 25 AWG copper; in Generation 2, a tiny X-shaped spline separates four 30 AWG copper wires, for a significant reduction in inductance at only slight cost in capacitance.
The conductors: Generation 1, above, solid 25 AWG; Generation 2, below, four bare 30 AWG wires separated and helically wound around an X-shaped spline.
Separator:
Air is the best dielectric, but a conductor left in an air tube with no spacing separator will tend to press itself against the solid dielectric. To avoid this we use a unique round separator thread. If this were made purely in soft dielectric material, it would not be able to retain a rounded profile -- and hence minimal contact with the wire -- well through the cable; we have solved this problem by using a glass thread as the separator core, with PTFE extruded over it: a perfect combination of strength and dielectric quality.
Our Generation 2 conductor, with separator thread wrapped around it Spline/Air Tubes:
A star quad cable, favored for its high common mode noise rejection properties, requires four signal conductors; in conventional constructions these are individually insulated and cabled together. To allow the use of bare conductors, we mount each in its own air tube, helically winding all four tubes around a central spline; this prevents conductor-to-conductor contact, and the separation coupled with the primary use of air dielectric keeps capacitance much lower than in conventional star-quad designs.
Gen 1 and Gen 2 conductors contained in their splines for a star-quad configuration Shield:
Over the spline and air tubes is a PTFE tube to separate the conductors from ground, and over that is a high-coverage TPC braid. This shield serves as a first defense against induced noise, and provides a low-resistance ground contact to help keep devices at the same ground potential.
High-coverage TPC shield braid for added noise rejection and low-resistance ground path Jacket:
Atop the shield is a translucent PTFE jacket, color-coded by copper type: Red for TPC, Blue for OFE, and Green for UPOCC.
Translucent PTFE jackets Connectors:
One might expect an unusual cable to carry an unusual connector -- but nothing, in our judgment, really surpasses the familiar Neutrik BXX series of XLR connectors. Neutrik's unique ratcheting strain relief provides excellent protection from torsion at the cable-to-connector interface, and the mechanical construction is extremely solid. The Neutrik also provides ample room for the somewhat complicated end-prep which these cables require in order to prevent unwanted contact between the uninsulated conductors. Due to the limited flexibility of the cable, we try to orient these XLRs to fit your system; please fill out our XLR orientation form when ordering.
Right-angle XLRs are also available, but have their own quirks and require a bit of consultation; give us a call if you think you will need these.
Neutrik BXX-series XLRs
For a Deeper Dive:
All of the engineering work in support of these designs is laid out in a series of papers by Galen Gareis, available in our technical library: In particular, for these XLR designs, see the papers titled Time, RCA/XLR Design Brief, and 1x4 and 4x4 Design.
"The first thing I noticed was that the Generation 2 XLR cables just seemed to give the music an effortless flow. Instruments had more air around them and more precise localization."
XLR Balanced Cable
