Atlas Asimi LUXE Daytona Red Cross-Stitch Speaker Cable - 2.5m Ex-Demo Pair

Atlas Asimi LUXE Daytona Red Cross-Stitch Speaker Cable - 2.5m Ex-Demo Pair

 

Please Note: This speaker cable pair is terminated with Transpose Expanding Rhodium Bananas on both ends. The cable comes in Daytona Red leather with white cross-stitching.

Atlas' ‘ultimate’ speaker cable. Performance without compromise. A reference class pure silver speaker cable engineered for the world’s finest audio systems. Asimi uses very high-purity OCC (Ohno Continuous Casting) silver conductors.

The OCC process is named after professor Atsumi Ohno, who, in the late 1970s, discovered that by heating the drawing mould to a higher temperature than the molten copper you intend to cast, then cooling it soon after, the result is one long, high purity (99.99997%) metal crystal. Criticism of silver cables as generally ‘bright’ is, in fact, the result of impurities and grain in the inferior conductors used.

The Asimi’s high-purity monocrystal conductors are arranged in a complex multi-stranded layout, with each cable leg composed of 3 pairs of solid conductors, each of different diameter, totalling 3.5mm² – an unusually high figure, given the cost of this purity of the silver. In most silver cables, the conductor size is compromised to reduce cost –which explains why some critics suggest silver cables offer the listener very sweet highs but no weight or authority at low frequencies. That’s certainly not true of the Asimi, with several reviewers commenting on the sense of physical presence conveyed.

Atlas also focused on the coating insulating and protecting the silver. The Asimi has these conductors enveloped in our microporous Teflon dielectric. This new air-spaced material improves on the performance of the best solid Teflon or PTFE (Teflon™) insulators by providing a 30% greater signal velocity and superior integrity, particularly in high-frequency delivery. This is achieved because the new material has a dielectric constant of around 1.5 (the lower the number, the better), significantly better than the 2.1 typically achieved by the PTFE (Teflon™) insulators, which were previously the best available in these applications.

This obsessive attention to detail – and the combination of materials & assembly methods, which was only finalised after exhaustive testing – produces a cable which HiFi World’s reviewer described as‘ the best he’d ever heard’ and HiFi Plus summarised as ‘one of the very, very best.’

Atlas's goal is to make cables with no discernable character or sound of their own, which would be a form of distortion – Asimi is engineered to ‘disappear’ in your system, conveying the performance of your equipment with total transparency.

It should be noted that Asimi requires a ‘burn-in’ period during which the sound will continue to improve. 

 

Features :

• Transpose Modular Speaker Connectors 
• OCC Silver Conductors 
• PTFE Dielectric 
• Solid Multi-Core Construction 

Transpose Modular Speaker Connector

The Transpose is a modular, cold-weld, air-tight, solder-free speaker plug. Interchangeable connector options are spade, Z-plug and expanding plug, available in gold or silver.

In a cold-weld connection, the metal of the connector plug and the wire are squeezed together under a calibrated pressure to form a robust, consistent, air-tight metal-to-metal contact with no damage to the cable dielectric. The result is a smooth, uninterrupted signal path that behaves as one continuous entity, with minimal signal degradation compared to soldered connections.

Ohno Continuous Casting Silver (OCC Silver)

The Ohno continuous casting method re-heats the extrusion as the molten copper is forced out of the mould and very slowly and gradually draws the grain or crystal down the conductor's length, creating a ‘single crystal structure.’ The benefits are obvious: with almost no crystal boundaries, the audio signal is no longer impeded down the copper wire, and more information and detail are delivered faithfully to the receiving equipment.

Silver, with its lower resistivity, is a better conductor than copper, but any conductor, whether silver or copper, must have a reasonable cross-sectional area when used for audio applications. Silver is much more expensive than copper, and to keep costs within reason, the cross-sectional area of silver audio cables is often compromised, and the resulting sound is ‘bass light.’ Good silver cables are, however, fast, dynamic and seamless through the audio spectrum and provide exceptional detail and instrument resolution. The Atlas Asimi cables employ OCC silver conductors, and in the case of the Asimi speaker cable, these are a substantial 3.5 sq mm in overall size to provide wide bandwidth and superior definition.

 

PTFE Dielectric 

PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) is cheap to produce and, as such, is the most commonly used insulation in AV cables. However, PVC is the worst quality insulation a Hi-Fi or AV signal can encounter, as its high loss causes a significant reduction in signal velocity. PVC is better suited to power cables and should be avoided in Hi-Fi and AV signal cables.

Other dielectrics in common use are Polyethylene, Polypropylene and Polytetrafluoride Epoxy (better known as PTFE (Teflon™) or Teflon) and the new and unique Atlas (PTFE).

Microporous PTFE (Teflon™) is a unique, low-density dielectric material, phase stable at room temperature, which offers significant performance improvements over solid PTFE (Teflon™) dielectric designs.

The table below shows the properties of a selection of dielectrics. Though not used as a dielectric in Atlas' cables, PVC is included for comparison purposes.

Dielectric Material Comparison (0.3mm Diameter)
Property	Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)	Foamed Polyethylene (PEF)	Polypropylene (P.P)	Teflon (FEP or PTFE)	PTFE
Dielectric Constant (@ 50 -106Hz)	4-8	2.3	2.25	2.1	1.3
Dielectric Strength (kV mm-1)	23-30	30-50	30-50	20-25	N/A
Loss Tangent (% @ 50 - 106Hz)	8-15	0.02-0.05	0.02-0.06 (@ 106Hz)	0.02-0.07	N/A
Volume Resistivity (Ohms.cm @ 20°C)	1012-15	>1017	6.5x1014	>1016	N/A
Tensile Strength (Kg mm-2)	1.0-2.5	1.0-2.0	3.0-4.0	1.9-2.2	1.0
Melting Point (°C)	-130	112-120	155-160	275	275
Max. Continuous Operating Temp. (°C)	60	75	90	200	260
Min. Operating Temp. (°C)	-15 to -40	<-60	-5 to -45	<-60	-250

Solid Multi-Core Construction

Monocrystal conductors are arranged as three pairs of solid conductors with different diameters.

 

Contact Enhancer Option

Future Shop recommends the DeoxIT Gold G-Series contact enhancer to ensure the best possible connection between your systems.

DeoxIT Gold is carefully applied to the plug contacts of your cable and is a unique conditioning solution designed to improve conductivity and provide long-lasting protection on gold, base metals and other precious metal contacts and connections. DeoxIT Gold penetrates plated surfaces, molecularly bonding to the base metals to seal and protect both surfaces.

The benefits of applying DeoxIT gold are:

• Improved Conductivity
• Maintained optimum signal quality
• Reduced wear & abrasion
• Prevents fretting/dendrite corrosion
• Forms a protective anti-tarnishing coating
• Stabilises connections between similar and dissimilar metals
• Reduces arcing, RFI and intermittent connections

Please select this option from the above ‘Contact Enhancer’ drop-down menu, and our engineers will apply the contact solution to your cable connectors prior to shipping.

 

“The bespoke leather sheath is also something not seen elsewhere and adds to the luxury feel. Plug these into your system and you will definitely hear a difference.” (Read More) Cable Review - Hi-Fi World - April 2019

"While many exotic cables will illuminate the musical soundstage, Atlas’s Asimi Luxe is far subtler. There’s no veil-lifting, jaw-dropping Damascene moment but you will find its ease-of-listening, its resolution of subtle details and dynamic shading creep up on the corners of your consciousness. And you will feel its absence if removed." (Read More) Hi-Fi News - Editor's Choice Award - December 2018

 

Specification :

• Construction: Solid multicore 
• Material: OCC pure silver 
• Dielectric: Microporous PTFE (Teflon™) 
• Capacitance: 34.06 pF/m 
• Inductance: 0.529 µH/m 
• Resistance: 0.0046 Ohms/m 
• VOP: 0.79 
• Outside Diameter: 16.3mm
• Length: 2.5m

 

Termination

This cable is professionally terminated by Atlas Cables using Atlas's Modular Transpose Speaker plugs, available as gold-plated banana or spade, silver-plated banana or spade, or silver-plated expanding banana. Cables are professionally terminated using a cold-weld method by Atlas's engineers and guaranteed for 10 years. Cold-welding does not involve solder, which means the plug is crimped around the conductors at 360 degrees' under very high pressure to form an air-tight seal which prevents the conductors from oxidising. This forms a better contact than soldering. Furthermore, the conductor is in full contact with the plug, which is in 360-degree contact with the binding post of your equipment, which means the signal flow is maximised from the cable into your equipment.

 

 

About Atlas Cables 

Atlas Cables, a distinguished company headquartered in Scotland, embodies engineering excellence, showcasing an unwavering commitment to research, development, and quality manufacturing. The company's foundational ethos is rooted in an unyielding love for music, from which stems its innovative approach to designing and crafting audio cables and accessories.

What sets Atlas Cables apart from many other brands, often called 'assemblers,' is their control over the entire creation process. While many competitors settle for assembling products from 'off the shelf' components, Atlas delves deeper, ensuring that each element of their products - from core conductors to insulating materials and terminations - is precisely tailored to meet or exceed performance specifications. This control translates to consistency in assembly and a robust quality control system backed by a five-year guarantee.

Manufacturing primarily in Scotland, a region known for its longstanding tradition of engineering brilliance, Atlas Cables takes pride in building products unique to its brand. Their approach circumvents reliance on pre-existing components and instead focuses on original thinking and total control. This philosophy has led to the development of groundbreaking technologies like the low-mass/high-bandwidth Achromatic & Ultra RCA plugs and the more recent Metik connectors tailored for the personal audio market.

Atlas Cables' comprehensive in-house capabilities encompass everything from CAD concept drawings to listening room tests, ensuring synergy across their entire product range. This ability to innovate, paired with rigorous testing and attentive listening, is more than a business strategy; it's the company's unique 'DNA,' ensuring that every product reflects the love of music that fuels the brand.

In a market where others may settle for assembling existing parts, Atlas Cables continues to push boundaries, seeking better ways to design and build their products. Their insistence on originality and excellence allows them to offer advanced technology remarkably cost-effectively. The final result? A portfolio of cables, plugs, and accessories you'll not find elsewhere is truly unique to Atlas, reflecting a profound connection between engineering excellence and the deep love of music that inspired it all.