In life, very often we have to reconsider our views: something that seemed obvious yesterday seemed to be in doubt today, and tomorrow it can be perceived completely in the opposite light. So, for example, I believed that any replaceable cables for headphones - it's rather pampering, which makes no sense. But the line of Linum cables from the Danish manufacturer Estron managed to convince me of the opposite.
The usual "audiophile" headphone cable is usually a non-weaker cable, woven from several wires, sometimes reaching a diameter beyond the reasonable range. A good example of such a cable is the regular Kennerton Algiz wire, under his weight the headphones almost fall out of the ears (although he copes with his task just superbly). Is it possible to make a cable at the same time comfortable (read thin), good in sound, strong and invisible (the latter is sometimes important)? The Linum developers were the first to answer this question in the affirmative.
As it often happens, history begins in the production of hearing aids. Danish company is one of the leaders in the market for the production of cables and connectors for similar devices. In this industry, each fraction of a millimeter in size matters, so the company's developments allowed the creation of a line of headphone cables, which was called Linum.
To start a small digression. As is known, because of the skin effect in the conductors, the alternating current flows mainly in the surface layer, so thickening the wire to improve its properties is not a very effective solution. Where it is better to make cables, twisted from thin wires, each of which is isolated from the rest (usually with the help of a special lacquer). This will make it possible to achieve much better conductivity with a small diameter. Two German words "litzen" - strands and "draht" - the wire gave the name to such conductors, who are called literatrat almost all over the world. Of course, the audio industry could not pass by this invention, and very many cables are made from the litz. Did not become an exception and Linum.
Despite the small diameter of these cables, they are made of 6 veins of lithcitrat, which, in turn, consists of a series of 7 wires. Each wire is made of silvered copper, protected by a special enamel, which, first, protects the wires from oxidation and discoloration, and secondly, serves as an insulation for them. This design has made it possible to achieve good acoustic properties.
The next task, which faced the designers, is to provide strength. For this purpose, the threads of the aramid fiber were woven into the conductors of the cable, and the insulation was made from a special kind of nylon, which is certified for use in medicine, and also specially treated with ultraviolet in order not to change the properties from direct sunlight.
But to make perfect wires is not enough. You still need to turn them into headphone cables by equipping them with connectors. In Linum, several cable options are available, using standard two-pin "plugs" (pin diameter 0.78 mm, spacing 1.9 mm), MMCX connectors and a proprietary, specially designed T2 connector. T2 was invented to withstand many on / off trips, and is the smallest connector that can continue to function normally after more than 1000 similar operations.
Linum cables are designed so that, free of tension, reeled in compact rings, this protects them from tangling and turning into difficult to untie nodes, than often suffer from thin wires. A separate "plus in karma" to producers for the careful attitude to resources and for the fact that they did not try to "add value", using boxes of polished wood, huge cardboard boxes and other elaborate packaging options, Linum come in simple bags with a small instructions.
Also there are several options for the cable itself, depending on the sound preferences. It is executed on the balanced scheme with the separate ground for each channel and uses a 2,5-mm plug, suitable for players Astell & Kern. Further, in order of decreasing prices, there are models (similar to the balanced one, but uses the usual TRS-jack), and also and . They are distinguished by an increase in the impedance of the cable itself (2 Ω and 4 Ω, respectively), which affects the sound.
I have been tested by two top models - balanced and BaX, their impedance is 1.5 Ω, which is not small, and can theoretically affect the sound, especially if you have low-resistance headphones, so consider this factor. I read in the reviews that on very low-resistivity IEM models, Linum cables lead to a slight underscore of low frequencies and narrowing of the scene, so the company is working to further reduce the impedance of its solutions. I also tested these cables with Ambient Acoustics headphones, which use their proprietary impedance and source phase correction solution, as well as the dynamic HiFiMan Re600, so the possible influence of the cable impedance was leveled, and I only got advantages with full acoustic neutrality of the wires themselves .
Using headphones with wires from Linum corrupts quickly, you stop noticing the cable, and it seems that a wireless solution seems to be used, so they are lightweight and weightless. The weight of the headphone cable is one of those things that you do not notice until you get rid of it, so I recommend trying out the company's solutions to all users of top-end headphones looking for more comfort in wearing. You can purchase Linum cables from some IEM manufacturers, and , in which all current models are presented.
Are there any replaceable cables, especially expensive, money? I for a long time decided the question of what is worth, if they add convenience in wearing and pay does not become a sound (Linum in this respect is an ideal example). The rest are free to give their own answers to this question.
The article is based on materials .
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