TechRadar Verdict
Even if bass isn’t neutral, its extension and control are very attractive and imaging is also very good, contributing to a very enjoyable presentation
Pros
- +
Well-made
- +
Good control
- +
Precise imaging
Cons
- -
Bass not neutral
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We've seen Tango in its conventional non-bi-wire form – just two conductors – but this version adds a further pair of conductors to the construction.
As usual in bi-wire cables, the conductors are commoned into a single pair of plugs at the amp end, but terminate separately at the speaker. Off-the-reel costs are £30/pm.
Cable materials
Each conductor uses stranded copper of medium overall gauge, insulated in Black Rhodium's favourite material (silicone rubber), with an overall sheath of some 9mm diameter in soft plastic. It is a practical cable that is easy enough to route.
Although in this case the price differential against single-wiring is quite high, the benefits are very obvious.
We felt the bass of single-wired Tango was a little on the rich side and, at times, a touch loose with the bi-wire version.
Clear and detailed sound
However, control of the lower octaves is definitely a strong point.
There may still be a very small subjective boost to frequencies in the upper bass/low midrange region, something we've detected as quite a common feature of silicone-insulated speaker cables, but it doesn't seem to have any knock-on effect in terms of precision that we could detect.
Treble is clear and well extended: perhaps not quite as airy and open as some cables we've heard, but again certainly precise and with good tonality. Stereo imaging is pin-sharp laterally and just a shade compressed in the depth dimension.
Overall, the sound strikes a nice balance between musical enjoyment and analytical precision.
