Audiofonia - A experiência da fidelidade

The Shielding

1. The Chord Company pioneered the use of high frequency effective shielding on interconnects and speaker
   cables. We believe the complex nature of modern hi-fi systems make a compelling case for the use of similar
   shielding on the cables supplying power to the components. All the cables in the Solstice range are fitted
   with extremely effective high frequency shields.
2. Existing shield designs were re-visited, refined and improved, and the shields fitted to Solstice cables offer the
   highest degree of signal protection available.
   Solstice interconnects and mains cables are fitted with a single wrap of very heavy gauge silver-plated foil in
   combination with an extremely dense silver-plated braid. The silver-plated foil is technically challenging to
   apply but when combined with the more conventional silver-plated braid, the results are exceptional. The
   shielding offers a higher level of protection than any we have previously used.
3. Chord Solstice speaker cable is fitted with an outwardly simple but technically complex shielding system. As
   before, silver-plated heavy gauge foil is used in combination with the more conventional but extremely dense
   silver-plated braid. However, instead of wrapping, the foil is woven around the insulation, producing 100%
   coverage, to extremely high frequencies.
   The shielding systems fitted to the Solstice cables set new standards, both technically and in terms of
   performance. The space and silence between individual instruments is astonishing, as is the level of musical
   information revealed.

The Conductors

1. Like many cables in the Chord range, Solstice cables use silver-plated multi-strand oxygen free copper conductors. In
   the case of the Solstice however, each strand that makes up the conductor has been precision made and polished to
   ensure a completely smooth surface before being heavily coated with silver. This aids signal transfer, particularly in the high frequency region, and when combined with the foamed Teflon insulation, helps to produce an astonishingly high signal velocity rate of 87% the speed of light.

The Insulation

1. The Chord Company’s commitment to refining and improving materials and techniques is typified by our approach to insulation.
2. Teflon is used extensively throughout our cable range. It has an extremely low dielectric value and we believe that
   its use is critical when employing silver-plated conductors. The Solstice cable range takes this a step further. The
   interconnects and mains cable both employ foamed Teflon insulation, with the speaker cable using air-spaced Teflon.
   Experimentation shows that reducing the dielectric value of the insulation produces a cable capable of carrying macro
   and micro dynamic information extremely accurately. Chord Solstice cables set new standards in their ability to
   accurately transfer dynamic information, making music more coherent, rhythmically more intelligible and above all,
   involving and exciting.

The Cable Geometry

In line with our policy of continual evolution, The Chord Company has refined and developed existing cable geometry.
The Solstice interconnect, like the Indigo Plus, uses a secondary return path conductor. This technique enhances a
cable’s ability to accurately carry an audio signal across an extended bandwidth.
The primary and secondary return path conductors used in the Solstice are identical to the signal path conductor. The
sonic advantages of using dual signal return conductors can be improved still further by separately shielding each set of
conductors. All three conductors used for each run of Solstice interconnect cable are fitted with the ground-breaking Solstice shielding system.

There is no doubt that the single signal path/dual signal return path configuration brings major benefits to critical
performance elements, making for an engrossing and involving musical experience. Our developments and
improvements to this configuration has helped lift the performance of the Solstice interconnect to a new level.
Solstice mains and speaker cables are more conventional in their configuration. However, critical to extracting the
full performance potential from any power cable is the wiring configuration within the mains and the IEC plug. The
decision to fit Furutech plugs gave us a chance to reconfigure the internal conductors and significantly lift performance

The Interconnects

The technical advances made during the development of the Chord Solstice make it one of the most flexible and
compatible high-performance cables available. Solstice interconnects can be terminated with RCA/phono plugs,
DIN plugs and XLR plugs. We have maintained a single material signal path by using silver-plated connectors
within these plugs. All the joints are made with a high silver content solder.
The low mass RCA/phono plug is a Chord Company design, surrounded by our unique acrylic, vibration-damping
plug surround.

The Mains Cables

In the search to obtain the best possible performance from the Solstice mains cable, we experimented with a
wide variety of mains and IEC plugs, before fitting the widely respected Furutech gold-plated mains and IEC
plugs. Not only were we very impressed with the overall build quality, in extensive listening tests they were
repeatedly chosen as the best sounding plug.

The Speaker Cables

The Chord Solstice speaker cable takes its configuration from our award winning Signature speaker cable -
likewise its heavy gauge, low resistance conductors.
Solstice speaker cable is terminated with our tried and tested gold-plated 4mm banana plug. Despite its apparent
simplicity, this plug does consistently well in blind listening tests, offers an extremely secure fit, with a high
pressure contact point and is extremely reliable. Solstice speaker cable can also be fitted with spade connectors
and if necessary, BFA Camcon connectors.