What Hi-Fi? Verdict
An attractive price and pleasant way with treble and vocals can’t quite redeem that lazy approach to bass
Pros
- +
Nice treble
- +
decent performance with vocals
- +
good build quality
Cons
- -
Tubby quality to bass
- -
less rhythmic precision than some rivals
Why you can trust What Hi-Fi?
The Black Rhodium Disco’s hefty weight and construction belie its £3.95/m price. If its build is anything to go by, this no-frills cable should be promising.
We plugged it in to a reference system consisting of an Audiolab 8200CD player, Roksan Caspian M2 integrated amplifier, ATC SCM11 standmounters and Chord CrimsonPlus interconnects – every one a previous Award-winner – and fired up a few CDs.
At first listen with Nine Days’ open-sounding End Up Alone, the first impression is one of reasonable airiness and agility.
There’s definite ability here – but as our session goes on, through tracks such as Radiohead’s All I Need and Sibelius’ Symphony No.5 in E-flat, Op. 82: I it becomes apparent that the Disco has a slightly lazy approach bass. It’s on the tubby side, robbing tracks of attack and tempering that rather nice treble.
Overall, it’s not a bad cable – and you certainly can’t argue with the price. But if you want precision in your low frequencies, you can do better.
See all our speaker cable reviews
What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.