Gotham-Oyaide STAR SERIES UPF1 – Vertical Expansive Soundstage High-end Fully Balanced Rhodium over Silver XLR Cables

Description

Gotham GAC 4 /1 Starquad Ultra Pro is the highest range of cable in Gotham lineup. Each of the 4 conductors are individually shielded, resulting in immensely quiet and glorious soundstage. Few selected customers who have tried them have nothing but endless praises. Yet the cable has not been receiving the attention it deserves – understandably, as the termination with Neutrik gold-plated XLR, although economical in owning such highly underrated cable, is never a proper match in terms of potential and capability.

Undoubtedly the Starquad Ultra Pro can never be left out of the STAR SERIES, and the pairing of plugs to be terminated on such remarkable quality of cables has to be made from one of the highest calibre of material, plating, construction and in some sense even insanely intricate workmanship plus aesthetics. Japanese connectors are such a favourite for QA, and in fulfilling the above, Oyaide Focus 1 XLR plugs make perfect sense in pairing with the Starquad Ultra Pro.

The construction of the XLR plug itself is a work of art. Lifting these from Oyaide product page:

• Ball bearing system, manufactured by ultraprecision machining, is employed for its locking mechanism. These functions deliver smooth and absolute plug connection.
• The No.1 contact pin (earth) is 3mm longer than other pins, so that it contacts fast for the purpose of protection from POP noise at the moment of connection.
• The contact pins of FOCUS 1 are made from phosphor bronze bar which is precisely shaped by CNC machining. After careful machine barreling, silver (inner) and rhodium (outer) are directly plated on them.
• The body and housing, processed by CNC machining, are high-density and have high shielding performance compared to an existing lost-wax processed body.
• For its surface treatment, hard chrome plating is coated like a body of camera.
• The design of FOCUS 1 is inspired by an appearance of lens on a camera which projects subtle and exquisite image.
• For the identification of channel L and R, the SWAROVSKI rhinestones, blue and red, are enchased on the surface of its body.

Rhodium over Silver plating is not uncommon but is only commonly seen in very high-end application. Cardas did it similarly on their XLR plugs. Two of the highly-prized plating in audio application being used in interconnect is an appropriate choice in providing the highest resolution and clarity. Saying it colourises the sound is an overstatement, because it renders them so highly accurate that it is super versatile in providing character based on whatever genres of music thrown at them.

The complementary effect in pairing Oyadie Focus 1 with Starquad Ultra Pro to create the UPF1 is the vertical axis of soundstage expansion becomes all the more apparent from the concise transparency of the background – imagine hearing details and nuances coming from the top and bottom left-right corners of your listening sphere. On well-recorded piece of music, certain notes will emanate into regions of space, giving you the listening enjoyment of being in the music.

The high purity in metallurgy used here – copper, silver and rhodium – will sound best on at least 30 hours of breaking in, but begin to work wonders in under 3 hours where you should hear very significant improvement.

Meticulously hand sleeved with silver PET and PP cotton for both strength and flexibility to match the precise CNC silver body of the Oyaide Focus 1 XLR, each cable is hand-crafted in Singapore with highest quality and aesthetic in mind. All terminations are soldered with authentic WBT 4% Silver content solder. Sleeve colour change can be requested at no additional cost subjected to availability. All parts used in STAR SERIES are guaranteed to be truly authentic.

Made to order in 12-14 days. Lend-to-try at S$250 (fully-refundable deposit) for 2 days. Comes with extended 2-year warranty from QA.