Date: 2022-07-19

提供六個位插座的 PowerHAUS 電源拖板基於原始設計，並提供兩種性能級別，即 S6 (Studio) 和旗艦 M6 (Master)，是 Chord Company 有史以來開發最長時間的產品之一，早在 2003 年就開始進行了初步研究。

多年來，Chord Company 見證了許多不同形式的佈線和結構，包括專業設計和一次性設計。 這些變化從使用帶有專業連接器和許多不同過濾器組合的重型電纜，一直到設備的硬佈線。 這些不同的方法有時是有限的改善，不幸的是這些設計中有許多是不符合當前的電氣安全法規。

這些由英國設計和組裝的電源拖板，具有英式和歐式兩種版本，體現了 Chord Company數十年來對訊號和電力傳輸的深刻理解。受益於該公司久經考驗的專有 ARAY 技術，將它演變成為MainsARAY 的新技術，並將這種技術應用於先進的配電設備中。

PowerHAUS 內部所選用的每個組件，都是專門為其預定的目標而建造。 因此，M6 和 S6 都避免使用雜訊濾波器、氖氣電源指示燈和電源開關，所有這些都會影響音響器材的聲音表現，拖板堅固的鋁製結構還大大減少顫噪的影響。

隨著時間的推移，有人要求開發適合更大系統的東西，需要更多的電源排插來啟動。 隨著現代音響系統中出現的 RFI 和開關模式電源的大量增加，在 Chord Company 看來，星形佈線不再是提供多個電源插座的首選解決方案。Chord Company 的長期研究表明，提升音質的最佳佈線配置方式是避免以星形佈線，而是以平行的三條分隔匯流排代替，從而限制接觸以降低高頻噪聲（同時保留在電路之外）。 將接地的匯流排與火線和地線分隔，在測試的過程中也帶來了進一步的音質改進。

Chord Company 之前開發了用於訊號線的 ARAY 技術，現在已經朝向成功完成的 GroundARAY 和 PowerARAY 技術來嘗試改進音響的電源供電系統。 它首先查看火線和零線的相互作用，並嘗試保持盡可能干淨的接地電源（地線上的任何噪訊都會導致最終性能出現問題）。

旗艦 M6 提供最直接的卓越性能，並利用三個並聯（而不是串聯）安裝的混合 MainsARAY 技術，MainsARAY 的成功實施促成了 PowerHAUS 的發展。

Date: 2022-07-13

When some Naim Audio retailers visiting from the USA asked for a good quality DIN to RCA phono interconnect, the folks at Naim's Salisbury factory couldn't recommend one. This was back in 1984, so it was a little odd that Naim hadn't thought about this problem before – RCA was near-ubiquitous outside Europe, and most British manufacturers were moving away from the German DIN standard popularised by Philips in the early nineteen seventies.

To cut a long story short, Sally Gibb, then married to a Naim executive, suggested that she could make some – and thus was born The Chord Company, with the blessing of Naim. To this day, both companies are based around Salisbury, Wiltshire – just down the road from Stonehenge. Nearly four decades on, the Signature is one of the company's many cables and has multiple termination options – including the aforementioned DIN plugs for old-school Naim users. The Signature range was launched in 1998, the manufacturer describing it as “the first interconnect to use seriously effective shielding… the result of intensive research into high-frequency interference.”

What we now call RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) – or a cable's ability to reject it – is one of many reasons why well-designed cables sound better than poorly and/or cheaply designed ones. As well as carrying a low voltage, alternating current signal from the source to the amplifier, an interconnect must not pick up extraneous electrical noise along the way. To this end, the Signature uses the company's so-called Tuned ARAY conductor geometry – separately shielded conductors in PTFE insulation, dual-layer foil and high-density braid shielding effective to very high frequencies. In addition, Chord says that the outer jacket of each conductor is FEP, and these are held in the correct configuration with a black braided outer jacket.

Much has been done to shield RF noise out then, but the other important feature is the metallurgy. Silver-plated, oxygen-free copper conductors are used – a combination that, in my experience, works very well. Pure silver can sound a bit stark, even if it is super highly etched, whereas pure copper tends to sound duller, fuller and softer with less detail. I believe that silver-coated copper gives much of the best of both worlds at a price closer to copper.

Although expensive, many cables at this price still employ copper conductors – making the Signature RCA good value for money for this reason alone. It's also nicely terminated, with quality plugs and PTFE plug surrounds for lower mechanical noise. The latter is also an important factor in cable sound. Overall it's a well turned-out product that feels robust and made with quality materials – one should expect nothing less at this price.

THE LISTENING
The Signature RCA has come a long way from Chord Company's first Chrysalis cable all those years ago. Its clean yet smooth sound performs the clever trick of sounding detailed yet not analytical. It gives an explicit and intricate rendition yet doesn't machine-gun detail at the listener. In absolute terms, it's ever so slightly soft around the edges yet never sounds bland. It has a capacious soundstage and handles dynamics in an effortless way, even if it's not the most 'seat-of-the-pants' listen. Its grown-up yet animated character makes it ideal for upper mid-price systems; it shows them off without getting too stark and revealing of their failings.

Tonally the Signature RCA is very well balanced, being just on the smooth side of neutral. Given the systems it's likely to find itself in, this should work well; it added the faintest whiff of warmth to my Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 DAC, driving my Sony (Esprit) TA-N86B power amplifier and Yamaha NS-1000M loudspeakers. Nothing sounded hard or grating, yet this interconnect did not make things boring. Quite the reverse; with I Hear You Now from Jon & Vangelis, it really got into the swing of things. I loved the rich timbre of the backing synthesisers and the delicacy given to Anderson's famously fragile vocals.

This was even more the case with the eighties indie strains of Everything But the Girl's Never Could Have Been Worse. It's a pretty grungy low rent recording, but Tracey Thorn's dulcet vocal tones shone through – giving a highly atmospheric, almost haunting portrayal. The overlaid guitar parts chimed out really clearly, pushing far stage left and right. At the same time, the drum work cut through powerfully, playing off the close-miked bass guitar. It was an excellent performance for an interconnect at this price.

THE VERDICT
This is a serious contender for being my favourite all-round audio cable in this part of the market. I actually tried it with a range of systems, and it seemed to bring the good out in all of them, never drawing attention to itself and having a fine time of things. Well worth an audition then if you're after near high-end performance at a mid-market price.