Website: www.harmonictech.com
System.
Rogue 88 Tube Amp.
Yamaha Preamp. Antique Sound lab LHO1 Tube Preamp.
Belcanto Dac-2. Transport Oppo 970. PLC Chang 3200.
Speakers. B.G. 420 Bolender Ribbons.
My background: Electronic Tech, Telemetry/Radars.
25 years U.S. Gov. Audio/Videophile. 25 years.
Harmonic Technology's newly released Fantasy
Speaker Cable helps your system provide outstanding clarity in high
frequencies, midrange and tight natural bass. It has exceptional dynamic
contracts that allow for a deep and wide soundstage - even with the largest
speaker systems.
Harmonic Technology's Fantasy Speaker Cable
uses proprietary Single Crystal copper in an 11-gauge cable to transmit an
extremely accurate sound. Each group of conductors is insulated with foamed PE
(polyethylene) and PP to reduce strand interaction while greatly increasing
signal-to-noise ration and dynamic range.
Well folks I finally go my hands on a pair of
H-T speaker cable. My trusty AC-11 power cord is a nice cord for the money and
one of my little workhorses; I used this cord to compare all of my other power
cords in reviews. I have also herd the pro-9 speaker cable at dealers and
shows. But like I told big Jim, “Mr. single crystal ”
hearing cables at shows and dealer rooms are not like having cables in your own
system.
I was at the digital-ear store and they had
the pro-9 shotgun run with jumpers hooked up to a pair of Magnapan
1.6 ribbons. I went to go hear the Maggies not the
cable, hey that cable sounds good, I said to the dealer and a good match for
the ribbons.
But this is a Fantasy review not the pro-9
plus. Let me say this, the new Fantasy speaker cable is probably one of the
best cables I have heard period. I think big Jim may have made them to good and
for under $500 dollars 8-FT mono-pair, you wont find
nothing else like them. I can hear all the critics now, Bill you are crazy!
Well that’s what
I thought till I hooked them up! The first thing I said to Jim was, your cables
are the best looking cables I’ve seen, I hope they sound as good as they look,
All of his cables and connectors look very professional, no DIY here. Well how
do they sound, well what is your Fantasy!
Day 1. It was early
Saturday morning when I hooked them up to the Bolender
ribbons and I kept the A-P oval 12’s on the bottom, bi-wire. My speakers have a
2-way crossover with two sets of connectors, the woofers on the bottom from 70hz to 500hz and the ribbon from 500hz to 20khz. So most of my hearing is on the dipole ribbon. All I did was
replace the other set of oval 12’s with the Fantasy. Normally I listen late at
night and when everybody asleep. Well with only a week of burn-in on the cables
and lots of chores to do, I turned on the system for a quick listen. Wow! What
kind of speaker cables are these I said to myself. They cant
be that much better than my oval 12’s. Dollar for dollar the Analysis Plus oval
12 is one of the best cables on the market and has smoked most of the other
cables up for review. I have had the oval 9’s and Hi-Fi
Dave has the solo crystal oval 8’s and the Fantasy can run with any of them
including the silver oval.
Well I got so emotionally wrapped up in the
music, I forgot to pick up my pen and paper to write. I also forgot what time
it was and mist a birthday party at noon. Also at noon i
forgot to bid on a center channel speaker on e-bay. Darn that Fantasy cable,
but I was having lots of fun. The Fantasy is first class all the way and will
give most cables in the $800 to $1200 dollar price range a run for the money.
The first thing I notice was how clean sounding the cable is. What makes the
Fantasy so special is, its lower bass and upper
midrange. Most speaker cables sound good in the bass, midrange and high-end.
But very few can get the upper-mids and lower-bass
right; even most costly cables fail in this area. The fantasy got it right! My
system seems to breath much more and the soundstage
opened up a lot. At first I though this cable to be a little laidback, but
that’s not it at all. The Fantasy kicks
in only when the music calls for it, true rhythm and pace. My oval 12’s are a little upfront and closed
in with a smaller soundstage. Also the
midrange clarity was improved. The fantasy’s midrange draws the listener into
the music more. You have to move up to
the solo crystal oval 8’s to match the Fantasy.
In fact they remind me of the oval 8 but with much more bloom and
richness. This is a hard one to call
because both cables are so close. I
would have to say that the Fantasy is a better value. That extra three to six hundred dollars that
audiophiles are spending on high-end cables is a waist! Buy the new fantasy
cable and put that cash somewhere else.
Also let me say, just form memory on the pro 9 and pro 11, I think that
Fantasy is probably the closes you will get to the Magic-Ref series in the
Harmonic Tech line of cables. I have
even heard this same statement from other audiophiles. Possibly the Fantasy is 75% of the
Magic’s. I’m sure the new pro-9/11’s is
much better than the ones I heard in time past.
Call Jim I am sure he knows. I am
not going to waist a lot time and paper on this review and bore you with a lot
of audiophile buzzwords. This cable is
dangerous Sounding! And plastered me
to the listening chair. From 9:00
am to 12:00 o’clock noon I was emotionally caught off guard by the
fantasy. My listening room was filled
with music to the point of, I kept turning my head and looking behind me,
that’s what a good dipole speaker can do, especially with the right cables.
Conclusions:
In a nutshell you get lifelike bloom around
voices and instruments, detail in spades and an overall full-rich midrange and
bass. Micro dynamics were also very good
allowing me to pick out all the instruments on the recording without congestion
and smearing. It’s about time someone
came out with a stat of the art speaker cable under $500 dollars. It looks like Mr. Single Crystal has done it
again with the new fantasy speaker cables.
Pros.
Probably the best speaker cable for
under a $1000 dollars. Good
looking and sounds the part. Headphone effect and almost
organic sounding. Never offensive and wont break your wallet.
Cons.
Just a hair laidback with tube amps.
Highly Recommended
Bill Glenn
ibbillglen@hotmail.com