Acrolink 6N S-1400II speaker cable

The Acrolink 6N S-1400II sits about mid-way up in Acrolink's 6N speaker cable range and is a large gauge version of the S-1000II.

Full specifications of the S-1400II can be found at

 http://www.acrolink.jp/english/products/6n_s1400_2.html

(Picture from Acrolink web-site)

The S-1400II is a heavy but flexible cable and termination into your plug of choice is not difficult. There isn't much buzz about Acrolink speaker cables compared to their power cords (the 4030 being the most prominent of their line-up) and interconnects to a lesser degree.

If you have a look at my previous forays into the Acrolink family, I have come to a personal conclusion that Acrolink has a house sound - a delicate midrange and a high frequency extension and air that is not sonically neutral but artistically beautiful.

The S-1400II has the same delicate and refined midrange but a harmonically rich and heavy mid-bass and bass. In a complete Acrolink set-up, the combination works very well to add weight to the bottom end of the spectrum (which is not an Acrolink strength) as well as to keep the highs under control. Substituting out the S-1400II for a pair of Clear Day Audio Double Shotgun or a Goertz AG-1 (both cables are co-incidentally pure solid core silver cables) tipped my main system (Focal Micro Utopia BE) into excessive high frequency energy and harshness.

However, using the S-1400II in another darker system was far too much and the overall result was a shut-in sound that had the speed of molasses.

I suppose the difficulty in matching the S-1400II accounts for the number of used pairs up for sale (at steep discounts mind you) on local hi-fi forums. It's laidback and rich presentation mandates careful deployment. Unlike some other harmonically rich cables like the Canare 2S16 and 4S8 though, the Acrolink is far more transparent and resolving.

I have noticed that when using Acrolink cabling in pre / power set-ups, better results were obtained in my system by using a single Acrolink (A-2070II) between source and preamp, and an Acoustic Zen Silver Ref-II between the preamp and poweramp. This was better compared to using an Acrolink 2400II in place of the Acoustic Zen.

If you are interested in Acrolink speaker cables, have a look at my short write-ups on the 7N S-1000III and 7N S-1400III.

Conclusion - Very nice cable at current low second hand prices, but probably suitable only for full Acrolink setups or in overly forward and bright systems.