Introduction
Once in a while, an audiophile product will come along and grab your attention. In this case, these speaker cables from Voodoo Labs will make you scratch your head and exclaim, "What the Meow is going on?"
Voodoo Labs sounds like research into the paranormal, instead of the paramagnetic. They claim that their products are based on patent-pending technology. While I don't assign much weight to that, they licensed their technology to Audionet for their GAUSS footers. And Audionet certainly know more than a thing or two about audio!
Description
The Speaker Cable Grid consists of 6 individually insulated conductors (3 each for positive and negative) that pass through a hexagonal spacer. The cable conductors are made of tinned-OFC copper sheathed in oiled cotton dielectric and look very familiar (Hmm, maybe from somewhere far north of Hamburg, where Voodoo Labs is based?) The hexagonal spacer is meshed, with each cable passing through a specified hole. The center of the spacer is adorned with a cat design, which happens to be Voodoo Labs' logo. Each cable has 3 spacers, and each spacer has its own turbine-shaped footer. Now, kits, cats, sacks and wives, how many were going to St. Ives? The bare wire ends are twisted together, which sounds best according to Voodoo Labs. If that doesn't suit you, I'm sure you can speak to them about installing plugs of your choice.
Since the cables move freely through the mesh holes, you can slide the spacers according to your needs. The footer is friction fit and can be removed if required. Installation is either tricky or seamless depending on your setup. In my case, it was the former as the complex routing (most of which was in airspace) resulted in the footers being placed on the speaker or near the amp. I can imagine that installation would be perfect in the scenario where your amplifier and speaker binding posts are close to ground level.
According to Voodoo Labs, the footers are designed to avoid the smear caused by cables lying on the ground, where they are affected by different materials of varying permeability and permittivity. The material used is an Aluminium-Magnesium alloy (cleverly called AlMgTy!) which aims to achieve magnetic permeability and permittivity as close as possible to air. The general theory of the design (the footer and spacer) is to prevent electromagnetic harm to the signal as much as possible.
Sound Quality
During the switch from my usual speaker cables to the Voodoo Labs, William Whey of Audiosound asked whether I changed the volume knob. I knew why he asked - the volume appeared to be much louder!
The Voodoo Labs cast a very wide soundstage with great dimensionality. The tonality of these cables was firmly in the musical camp - a grainless presentation with full and wet bass notes. The midrange in particular remained expressive with good texture and nuance. High-frequencies had a natural fade which struck a good balance between air and long-term listenability. If you like a natural yet detailed presentation, these are really a worthwhile addition to your shortlist.
I liked these cables very much for their well-tuned presentation and low-noise floor. Their warm-neutral tone could work well in taking some bite out of aggressive systems. On the downside, they aren't the most propulsive or hard-hitting cable around. Mr. Usual Cable had a more linear and tighter bassline, but otherwise, Mr. Meow had it licked in every other way. The MSRP of Mr. Usual is similar to Mr. Meow, so I consider this to be a fair catfight.
Conclusion
Many audiophiles will outright dismiss the Voodoo Labs on account of its high price and seemingly pseudo-science claims. I actually think there is good logic and reason to its design, but here's one suggestion that will have most of the objectivists running for the door - give them a listen!
A big thanks goes to William Whey of Audiosound Singapore, a brand ambassador of Voodoo Labs.
Voodoo Labs VL WITCHCRAFT™ Speaker Cable Grid - USD 10,634 / 2m pair
http://voodoolabs.myshopify.com
